Tag Archives: novak djokovic

a new champion

Posted on July 3, 2011 | 2 Comments

All is well in the world.  Novak Djokovic won the men’s singles Championship at Wimbledon today, a dream he had had since he began playing tennis at the age of four.  Twenty years ago.  He grew up in war torn Serbia, his family, including his two younger brothers, has sacrificed in service to Novak’s talent and budding career.  Today, with his longtime coach Marion Vadja, and other members of his team packed into his box and dressed in white (more appropriate attire than has often been the case, remember the t shirts at the US Open with large images of Novak on the front?), Novak brought it home.

He beat Rafa and he did it convincingly.  They went neck and neck to 4-4 in the first set and then in the blink of a moment, almost literally, Novak broke Rafa and then served for the set.  Done.  The second set took little more than thirty minutes, a short amount of time even for players who play quickly and these two do not.  6-1, Novak.  Six one?

What’s amazing to watch when these two take the court is Novak really sticks it to Rafa and since we have seen that happen so rarely, we also know very little about how Rafa handles it. What adjustments does he make, how does he work his way through it, or does he?    When Roger plays Rafa, you always are wondering if he can beat him, sort of hoping and praying.  With Novak, you’re not sure he’s going to be the victor, even at two sets to love up, but you know he can manhandle him in a way that’s fun to watch and may very well garner the win.   He can keep up in the long points and win his share of them, already that makes things different than when Rafa plays against most opponents.  And these days, Novak is actually a little bit faster than Rafa, the two are the best movers in the game, and it’s an advantage.

Rafa took the third set and must have given Novak palpitations, but he most of all knew this was not going to be easy, so he took it in stride and suited up for the fourth.  Again at 4-4, Rafa played a loose game, Novak had three break points and converted on the third, then served for the match and gave us a few more tense moments before settling the matter once and for all.

His first Wimbledon.  He’s the number one player now in the rankings, that happened on Friday, but imagine how it would have felt to be that but not win the final, not walk off with the trophy.  A lot different.  Kind of bummer different.   So this was good.  He earned it,  he beat Rafa.  He’s number one and he’s the new Wimbledon champion.  No ifs ands or buts.  Done.  One dream converted to a reality.

For both the ladies’ and mens’ champions, it was that kind of finals weekend at the All England Club.  Living the fairy tale.  And we all get to share the pleasure and excitement.  Why not?

By the way, I forgot to mention that Kvitova won her match on Saturday with an ace.  Her first and only ace.  Pretty classy.

The matches have all been played, including the doubles which the Bryan brothers won, go Mike and Bob, and we’ll have to wait another year for the gates to open and the grass courts to be filled with tennis balls and tennis stories. Tennis dreams.

It’s not that easy to predict the winners and losers.  From my perch on high in the women’s bracket, my standing plummeted to about the middle.  But with Novak’s win today, my standing in the men’s bracket ended up in the top 5%, so I’ll take that and live to write, and make more predictions, another day.

Summer hard court season coming right up.  Davis Cup in Austin (!) next weekend, US vs. Spain.  Always more tennis, which is good news.

Thanks for joining me at Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot, for the Championships.

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the semis

Posted on July 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

The semifinals at Wimbledon are matches almost in a category of their own.  It’s rarefied air, but not quite the experience of a final.  Where you might have a one-sided final, you’re more likely to have great battles in the semis.  And in its own distinct way, the psychology is different as well.  This is where nerves and experience really enter into the equation and affect success.

Yesterday the four women semifinalists took the court.  First up were Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova.  This one could have gone either way and it did go the distance.  Kvitova dominated the first set and took it 6-1.  She doesn’t move as well as Azarenka but she has even more power, on average hitting the ball ten miles faster than her opponent.  And Vica hits the ball hard.

The second set was the inverse, with Azarenka dominating as Kvitova started to feel the occasion and make more errors, especially off the forehand side.  But she learned her lesson from Paris just last month, where she imploded in her fourth round match against Li Na, which she should have won.

This time she didn’t melt down.  She came back in the third set, composed and playing her game.  When all was said and done, she took the last set 6-2, and won the match.   Petra Kvitova, who played in her first Wimbledon semifinal last year, now does herself one better.  On Saturday, she will play in her first Wimbledon final.  So there.

The other semi between Maria Sharapova and Sabine Lisicki played out a little differently.  Lisicki came out gangbusters and went up for a 3-0 lead.  But Maria, being Maria, fought back and evened things at 3-3.   Even though she was having a very rough service day, dumping in more than ten double faults, the combination of her spot on return to serve and her legendary tenacity took her to the victory.

She won the first set 6-4 and then the second 6-3.  After a strong start, Lisicki began to look like the newbie she is.  Her own serve let her down and after awhile she resembled the proverbial deer in the headlights.  As John McEnroe said at one point, she didn’t know what hit her.   Maria is a force to be reckoned with, as we all know and surely Sabine knew it, but it’s one thing to know it and another to face it.

Apparently, when Maria walks from the locker room to Centre Court, the famous walk down the long hall and then down the interior steps to the double doors beneath the Royal Box area of the the court, she is now accompanied by her fiance, NBA basketball star Sasha Vujacic, a fellow Russian; he walks a few feet behind and waves and says hello to everyone while Maria acknowledges no one, keeps her fist clenched and her eyes straight ahead.  You almost never see Maria smile during a match.

Everyone was pumped to see the two men’s semis today.  Djokovic against Tsonga to begin, followed by hometown boy Murray against Rafa.

Novak came out a bit nervous and the first set was settled by a tiebreak which he won.  As he worked his way into the match, becoming more and more comfortable, it looked like it was going to be a three and out.  But at the end of the third set, Novak served for the match and couldn’t close the door.  The set went to a tiebreak, a wonderful, entertaining affair where match points and set points alternated until finally Tsonga took the set 11-9.

But Novak broke Tsonga in the second game of the fourth set and that was all it took.   The 35 minute set went quickly and at the end, with so much on the line, Novak fell to the grass, legs splayed.  As he got up, he pivoted and shared the moment with his box.  A look of disbelief and relief, and you could see the four year old boy who began to play tennis, saw his first Wimbledon on television in Serbia, and has been dreaming ever since of being just where he is today, all these years later.    Winning this match not only meant he was into the finals on Sunday, it insures his status on Monday as the number one player in the world.   After shaking hands with Tsonga and embracing him, he fell to the ground again and kissed the grass.

It’s hard to imagine exactly how all that would feel but you know it’s fantastic and satisfying, deeply.

When Rafa and Murray took the court for the second match, it was time for yet another tennis experience.  Murray played the best he has ever played and won the first set, an amazing start.  But it’s just too hard to do that for a second and third set, and who can fault the guy?  Rafa is the freak he’s always been.  I just heard Mary Carillo quote Jimmy Connors who described Rafa’s game this way:  he plays like he’s broke!

Too true.  He does spend a small portion of his vast bank account on a new Play Station wherever he goes, but Connors could not have stated it better.  However this man is put together inside, I think it’s safe to say none of his motivation is dampened by the fact that he has enough money to retire for a couple hundred years.

So the final on Sunday will be between Novak and Rafa and Novak has beaten him four times this year.  I’m all in on Novak this time, not only because he was my pick before play began to win the tournament, but because I’d like to see him win Wimbledon.  Rafa’s done it, gloriously and repeatedly.  Let this be Novak Djokovic’s time.

Enjoy breakfast at Wimbledon the next two days.  Is there a better way to spend the holiday weekend?

Thanks for reading Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.  Cheers.

 

PS – I’m watching the Nadal Murray match again, always interesting to hear both the NBC commentary and ESPN.  A few more words about Murray’s performance today.  Sometimes there is a definite turning point in a match and today that was the case.  After winning the first set and striking the ball so well, and serving well, the score was 2-1, Murray up, on serve.  Rafa was serving and went down love-15, then love-30.  On the next point, Andy had an easy forehand that would have given him three break points and he missed it long.

He lost the game and then on his own serve in the next game made two forehand errors and missed an overhead, basically donating the break and the lead to Nadal.  Nothing was ever the same after that.  Even Nadal termed it the turning point in his post match comments.

What Murray doesn’t quite have is belief.  And though he has changed things significantly in terms of his on court attitude, he doesn’t have that mental fortitude and positiveness that you need to work your way through a difficult match, especially five setters.  In a word, Murray needs to play as if he’s broke.

That said, Rafa was the most gracious of critics.  When asked what Murray needs to do to win a Slam, he said really nothing more, that he needs a little luck.  (And it’s true, luck enters into it and Andy hasn’t been that lucky.)

You have to feel for Murray, Rafa certainly did.  Three times he has made it to the semis in his homeland, three times the country has rallied behind him.  Three times he has bounced.  It must be dispiriting.

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the grass is green, and wet

Posted on June 12, 2011 | 1 Comment

And just like that, clay is a memory.  Now it’s all about the grass.  It’s a strange and delightful part of the tennis year.  So short.  Three weeks, four if you make it to the second week of Wimbledon.  That’s the grass court season.  Is that a season?  Blink and you’ll miss it.

Add the rain factor and you might just miss it due to weather.  Today, Sunday, I was looking forward to seeing the finals of the Aegon International outside London, between Andy Murray and Jo Wilifred Tsonga.  They were looking forward to playing, but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow, hopefully.  Rain!

Ditto for the Birmingham competition on the women’s side.  That’s a final I really want to see.  I watched the semis yesterday.  Hantuchova took it over Ana Ivanovic.  Sabine Lisicki delivered a beatdown to Peng.  When the Racquet Bracket comes out for Wimbledon, I’ll be looking to see where these two girls are because they both are there to play.  I think Daniela Hantuchova is realizing time is not on her side and she’s just done with choking at the important moments.  She wants the good feelings that come from not choking.  Great to see, she’s got a good strong game.

And Sabine Lisicki doesn’t have a history to overcome, she just hasn’t yet gotten the top results and she’s all in.  So let’s see who wins the final between them and then how they do in Eastborne and Wimbledon.

The weather was dry in Halle, Germany and that is a gorgeous looking stadium.  Turned out to be an all German final, between Philipp Kohlschreiber and Philipp Petschner.  Two Phillipp’s even and yes, they spell it with two p’s.  Kohlschreiber took the title after a first set tiebreak and two games of a second set where he was up 2-0 and Petschner retired with a back injury.

The big excitement this week will be seeing Venus and Serena Williams both playing after long absences due to injury and illness.  All of us want to see how they look on court.  They’re planning to play Wimbledon and that’s their playground more than any other tournament.  Venus comes to life on grass like a new woman.  Serena’s powerful serve makes her difficult to break and therefore difficult to defeat.  It they’re playing anywhere close to form, they are both top contenders for the title.

I think Kim Cliijsters will be in Eastborne and she’s another one we need to see before making any predictions for Wimbledon.  If her foot is healed from the wedding dance double insult, she should be at the top of the short list.

Neither Roger nor Novak played this past week, and Rafa looked tired.  He almost let Tsonga beat him in the quarterfinals.  I’m not sure it was that great an idea to run right over to England.  Maybe a week in Mallorca would have been a better thing in the long run.

I’ve been thinking about the men’s final a week ago in Paris.  They’ve shown it again a few times during the week.  At one point towards the end of the first set, beginning of the second, when Roger should have won the first set and didn’t, Ted Robinson was quoting some sports person, whose name I didn’t recognize at the time, as saying something along the lines of “you have to keep your foot on your opponent’s neck”.  It’s a strong image, and clear, no wondering hmmm, exactly what does that mean?

Basically, he was saying that’s what Roger had needed to do at that crucial time in the first set when he was up 5-2.  And he didn’t.  So guess what?  Rafa volunteered.  As unpleasant as the image and concept might be, you can’t say it’s irrelevant.  So if you have an opponent, you might want to remember to keep your foot on his or her (her!) neck.

That’s the brutal truth from Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.  Thanks for reading.

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finally the women’s final

Posted on June 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

Two weeks ago as the tournament got underway, the women’s field was as wide open as it ever has been.  No Serena or Venus, no Justine, Kim bounced out early.  Any one of a dozen or more players could have won and we all just had to watch the action unfold and see which way the wind eventually blew.

Few thought Francesca Schiavone, the defending champion, would get to the final today or hoist the trophy for a second year.  Few thought she’d ever win it once, or any other Grand Slam.  She nearly didn’t make it as she looked down the long lonely barrel of the rifle in her quarterfinal match against Pavlyuchenkova, down a set and 4-1.  So for her to take the court today was at least a little surprising and a testament to her clay court skills and fighting spirit.

Across the net, a woman no one thought could play on clay, including her.  Growing up in China, her parents didn’t even know what tennis was and there weren’t any clay courts, that’s for sure.  Today at least 30 million Chinese watched at 9 PM Beijing time as Li Na took the court for the final of the French Open.

Li has a new coach and he has encouraged her in this direction.  He must have known something because Li has done well in Madrid and Rome before coming to Paris.  Her former coach left her to work with Maria Sharapova, so it had to feel just a little extra good when she beat her the other day.  Li Na’s husband was her coach until recently but after the Australian Open she fired him and that seems to have been a good decision.  Now he can just be a husband.  Much better.

Li reached the finals of the Australian Open end of January and she played a three setter against Kim Cliijsters.  It was her first Grand Slam final, she lost, but she learned.  Today she knew how to be, how to play, and as it turned out, how to win.

You could learn a lot about tennis from the match they played.  Li’s game is a power game, she’s strong off both wings and she hits flat and hard deep into the court, often the corners.  Francesca’s game is to get to net as much as possible, where she is very adept at put away shots, and to throw out a variety of shots and spins to keep her opponent guessing, and, importantly, running.  Li was so dialed into her game for the first set, she utterly deprived Francesca of the chance to play hers.  Most of the set, and most of the match, Li dictated while Francesca reacted.

Li never seemed nervous.  She was ready for the stage and for the win.  In the second set she had chances to go up a double break practically insuring the victory, but Francesca fought back and started to be able to play her game as Li started to miss and began to feel nerves.

It was great to see Francesca come to life.  She very nearly got back into the match and if she had won the second set, who knows what a one set winner takes all scenario would have looked like.  But in the tiebreak that decided the second set, Li just played brilliantly, shots with depth but also cat and mouse encounters and odd shots that required improvisation.  She played like a clay courter a bit, and she won the tiebreak without giving away a single point, 7-0.

As Francesca’s shot went long on the last point, Li slid and fell to the clay.  It was over.  She was and is the new champion, the first Chinese person, man or woman, to win a Grand Slam title.

You think they’re going to build clay courts in China now?  People have talked for awhile about an imminent explosion of interest in tennis in China and surely that’s here now.  Ten years from now all the kids who are going to start playing in China these days because they are inspired by Li Na, we’ll be seeing their names at the top of the game.  If you sell tennis racquets and have an entree into the Chinese market, chances are good you’re going to take some very nice vacations very soon.

Both of these players are likeable, so whichever of them had won it, it was going to be a happy thing.  After the ceremony, after the photo shoot and on-court interviews, finally Li Na got her gear and waved to the remaining people in the stands, walking out the door from which she had entered three hours earlier.  Ball kids carried the all white huge bouquet of flowers that each of the players received before they came on court and all of the ball kids were lined up on both sides of the hallway and stairs, clapping, as the new champion smiled and descended a flight of stairs into the locker room.

One more match tomorrow and how bad can that be?  Federer vs. Nadal.  Have at it, boys.

And on a final note today.  What a bungled deal that whole thing was this week with Fabio Fognini, the Italian player who beat Albert Montanes in the round of sixteen.  He had leg cramps during play and in the middle of a game received treatment.  It was the chair umpire who went out of her chair and on to the court to say whatever she said and after that play stopped.  You are not supposed to receive treatment for leg cramps, in the middle of a game or on a changeover.  So I don’t know why the umpire did what she did.  And funnily enough, she was the one who officiated the final today.

Then, it turned out that more was wrong and the doctor for the tournament weighed in by saying Fognini probably shouldn’t play for a couple of weeks.  But before that, he withdrew from the tournament, his decision, rather than wait a day or so to see if it got better and then decide if he was well enough to play, and his camp apparently said he decided not to play because it was Djokovic he would face.  Maybe if it had been someone else he would have tried, but Djokovic?  He was saying why bother, I’m going to lose.  I had thought he felt bad to miss the opportunity but apparently not.  He’s no Francesca Schiavone.  That’s a little too lazy and spineless for my taste.

Enjoy the final match wherever you are.  More from Cupcakes and Tennis tomorrow and thanks for reading.

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give it your all

Posted on June 3, 2011 | 2 Comments

If tennis players live to win Grand Slams, tennis fans live to watch matches like the two men’s semifinals played today on Court Chatrier.  My personal request to the gods to provide sun and calm were only half heard; the first part of the day was sunny and extremely windy, the second part of the afternoon cloudy and somewhat less windy.  But in both matches wind was a factor.

Today is Rafael Nadal’s birthday, and he has celebrated it in Paris five of the last six years.  Usually there is some incredible cake the likes of which you would only find in this city.  Whatever else he did today, though, Rafa spent over three hours on court taking care of business in a match against Andy Murray that put on display some of the best tennis each player is capable of.

No small thing for Murray who, in addition to coming in with the handicap that every other player comes into a match against Rafa on clay, was playing with a massively strapped ankle.  It didn’t seem to inhibit his movement, fortunately.  It was a three set match but a long one.  Both players were deliberate in the extreme, but with the wind, who could blame them?  And anyway, where else did you want to be?  The men’s semifinals at Roland Garros is one of the best tickets of the tournament.

The final score was 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 and as it indicates, Murray really kept up with Rafa.  The Spaniard looked even better than he did two days ago in his quarterfinal match and I think it’s safe to say that the Rafa who will play in his sixth final on Sunday is the real Rafa.   Today, he was, as he always is, especially on clay, the that much better player although there were certainly many points that Andy Murray gave him plenty including a fabulous volley for a winner in response to a passing shot from Rafa that was incredible itself.

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer began their match at exactly six o’clock which meant they had 3 1/2 hours of light to get off the court, hopefully with a completed match and a winner ready to go the distance on Sunday.  And that is exactly what it took.

This was a riveting match.  Federer came out the more relaxed of the two.  In an interesting twist, this was really the first time Roger came out onto Chatrier with no pressure on him.  He has flown under the radar nearly the whole tournament, few picked him to win this match-up.  It turned out to be a blessing.

Novak, on the other hand, started nervous, tight.  The first set was a seesaw affair.  They traded breaks to begin.  At 4-5, 15-40, Djokovic had two set points on Roger’s serve.  Roger served himself out of trouble and held for 5-5.  Then Novak found himself in a hole at 15-30 in the next game and at that exact point the umpire decided to give him a time violation warning.

The two took the first set to a tiebreak and Federer showed his stuff for an early lead but in the end he won it by the narrowest of margins, 7-5.  First set to Roger.

Novak still wasn’t in this match.  He seemed lacklustre, he didn’t seem to be feeling or showing how much he wanted it.  For the first time in his glorious year of winning, he was in a foul mood.   Roger took advantage and went out to a 4-1 lead.  Novak finally started to find himself and his game, but in the end the second set went to Roger, 6-3.

Roger has a 174-0 record when he wins the first two sets.  Whether Novak knew that fact or not, he knew he was in deep trouble.

Novak might have disappeared at that point and it would have been a shame if that had happened.  Fortunately, it didn’t.  He fought back.  Took a 3-0 lead in the third set and ended up winning it 6-3.

At that point there was less than an hour of daylight left so it was clear either Roger would win or they would leave the court for the night and come back tomorrow to play a fifth set.  Which would it be?  They held serve to 4-4.  Then in a very long ninth game, Djokovic finally broke to take the lead 5-4.  Surely he would hold his own serve and force a fifth set!

Roger would not have it.  He returned the next three points to perfection and then squared things to 5-5.   He served and held for 6-5.  Then Novak took things to the tiebreak.

At 4-3 in the tiebreak, Roger hit ace number 17, then added another service winner to go up 6-3.  Three match points!  Incredibly, Novak survived a lucky net cord for 6-4 and hit an ace for 6-5.  But then Roger, who had been having an exceptional serving day, came up to the line.  He threw up the ball, followed through with his elegant motion and delivered the ball right up the T, for an ace!  And for the match.  Could there have been any more fitting conclusion?  I think not.

This time, in the fading light, unlike Wimbledon in 2008, it was Roger who held court.  And here was the former number one proving to be the spoiler.  Had Novak won, he would have become the number one player in the world and his winning streak would have jumped to 42 and would have remained, at least for another couple days, unbroken. Not to mention he would have advanced to his first final in Paris.   Didn’t happen.  The moment meant a lot to Roger as you could tell from his reaction after the win, holding up one finger, feeling right at home in victory.  The best player in the history of the game trumped the best player of the year.

All was well in the tennis world.

The umpire for the first match was the one and only Kadir Nooni, he of the midnight blue voice.  His voice is so remarkable and low and beautiful, I suspect it is something everyone who meets him comments on.  You can’t help but notice it.  It’s a thing of beauty, like Federer’s movement, like Gasquet’s backhand.  At one point, John McEnroe said “I hope he doesn’t smoke.”, explaining that he hoped that voice wasn’t the result of cigarettes and therefore harder to endorse.  Hey, the French smoke, still.  A lot.  I don’t care how he got the voice, just keep talking.

We’re down to the finals, the bittersweet ending.  The women’s final tomorrow between Schiavone and Li Na.  The men on Sunday between Roger and Rafa.

Thanks for reading Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.  Enjoy the finals, I’ll be here the next two days and for a wrap-up, before we head over to England and the run-up to Wimbledon and then the Championships.  This is a great time of year for tennis fans!

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happy memorial day

Posted on May 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

Here it’s Memorial Day Monday, in Paris it’s Day 9 of the French Open.  If you were judging from the packed stands on Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen this afternoon, though, you’d swear it was a holiday.

One of the most exciting matches of the tournament so far was the two parter between David Ferrer and Gael Monfils.  With Monfils up two sets to one and Ferrer  up 2-0 in the fourth set, play was suspended last night due to darkness.  The two opponents had to wait out a five setter between Chela and Falla, the former taking the victory, before they could get on court today to finish.  There was a great shot of them in the players’ lounge hanging around until they were called with Ferrer sitting up right next to a reclining, possibly sleeping, Monfils.

Finally on court, Ferrer continued to press in the set he already had a lead in and took it rather quickly 6-1.  But then Gael actually did wake up from his nap and the fifth set was completely riveting.  Gael broke early to take a 3-1 lead.  At 5-3 Monfils served for the match. The crowd was just wildly excited.   He had two match points and relatively easy shots for the win on both of them and he dinked them into the net.  Ferrer ended up breaking for 5-4.  That quieted the crowd down.

They go into fifth set no tiebreak battle.  In the next game, Monfils had another match point, his third, and couldn’t convert.  Ferrer got out of that game, 6-6.   At 7-6, Monfils in the lead, Ferrer quickly dug himself in a deep hole, 0-40,  and all of a sudden, Monfils is looking at three more match points.  After squandering three, who knew he would get all these chances again, and so soon?  He was not to be denied this time, winning the match on the fourth match point with a no guts no glory passing shot down the line, 8-6 in the fifth.  The French crowd, not a seat empty, were rewarded and could go have dinner.

In the 6-5 game, there were a couple of dicey line calls on Monfils’ serve.  On the first, Ferrer walked up to the line and immediately rubbed out the mark, indicating it had been good.  But shotspot showed it had been out.  It happened again, Monfils now with two serves instead of a second serve only, and the chair umpire came out to have a look and called it good, giving Monfils another first serve, but shotspot again showed it to be out.  Now the technology isn’t one hundred percent, but it’s pretty close.  At moments like these in matches, this kind of thing gone wrong can be terribly expensive, can cost someone the match.  Ferrer ended up winning that point, but still.

Monfils will face Federer in the quarterfinals and I imagine it will be a lot of fun to watch, but I don’t think Roger is going to walk off the loser.  I’m a big fan of Ferrer, but I doubt he would have given Roger trouble in the end.  Against both these players, Federer has been dominant.

What is great is to see Monfils doing more with his talent than he has previously.  His coach, Roger Rashid, has been with him for three years, a record in itself apparently as Monfils has gone through coaches like they were paper napkins.  Rashid coached Lleyton Hewitt, a player who is more like Ferrer, no work too hard or too much, fighter spirit, utterly maxing out on what they’ve got to work with on small frames.  For Roger Rashid to make an impact on Monfils has been exceedingly difficult it seems.  He’s tried hard to get Gael in better physical condition so he won’t suffer all the injuries he’s had, and you can actually see him shouting at Gael on court to play harder, want it more.  I’d bet there have been more than a few times that he thought of throwing in the towel, I don’t need this shit, and getting on a plane back to his family in Australia.

That’s the thing about coaching, it takes you on the road for weeks and weeks every year.  If you’re going to do it, you damn well better have a player who makes it worth your while.

Nadal won his match against 32 year old Ivan Ljubicic, in straights, but in his press conference afterwards, he spoke candidly about how he still isn’t feeling quite right out there.  Not as consistent, more nervous at times.  If Rafa thinks he’s a different Rafa, at least so far, on court at his beloved French, I guess we ought to believe him.

Meanwhile, fierce contender and Superman tennis player Novak Djokovic is into the semifinals.  He won’t be playing a quarterfinal match because Fabio Fognini had to withdraw with what indeed wasn’t just cramping yesterday.  He’s got a muscle tear and it won’t get better in time for him to play the match tomorrow.  You had to feel bad for the guy.  His best result in a major, about to have the opportunity to maybe be the one who breaks the Novak streak, or at least have the challenge of playing him on Chatrier, a huge pleasure and privilege, and he can’t do it.

Andy Murray and Victor Troicki played the last match of the day on Lenglen and they’ll have to finish it tomorrow.  At first it looked like Murray was having real difficulty moving, the result of a bad ankle tweak two days ago.  But he fought back and the players walked off at darkness with one deciding set yet to be played.  Don’t miss that tomorrow.

On the women’s side, Li Na defeated Petra Kvitova, both surprising and not.  Either one of them could have won that match, but Kvitova beat herself.

Maria Sharapova faced off against Agnes Radwanska and piled up huge numbers of winners and unforced errors in a game of total aggression on her part and steady play by her opponent.  But Maria is playing well and when you combine that with her dogged determination, she’s going to come out on top.  Aggie had five set points to win the second set and take it to a third and she couldn’t close the door.  Maria did it instead winning the match 7-6, 7-5.

And on Court One, Andrea Petkovic, the German player who has come into the spotlight this year, won her match in three tough sets against Maria Kirilenko.  Last year she lost on the same court to Kuznetsova, so it must have felt good to her to take the victory this year.

Finally, Azarenka dispensed with Makarova in two easy sets.

So it’s down to eight women and you still don’t know who’s going to win.  Sharapova, Li Na, Schiavone, Petkovic, Azarenka, Pavlyuchenkova, Kuznetsova and Bartoli.  Do you know?  I don’t.  The quarterfinal matches should all be interesting.

And it’s down to seven men.  Nadal, Soderling, Chela, Monfils, Federer, Djokovic and either Murray or Troicki.  Besides Novak, already there, who else will be in the semis?

Still some great tennis to come as we now head into the true business end of the tournament.  Thanks for reading Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.

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smack dab in the middle

Posted on May 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

Last Sunday, it all kicked off.  The eager crowds mingled through the grounds and play began.  Next Sunday, the only match to be played will be the last, the men’s final.

Today, the middle Sunday, some of the story has been told, but not all.  The round of sixteen started and the second match on Lenglen between Fabio Fognini and Albert Montanes turned out to be a more than four hour five setter complete with twists and turns, and a lot of drama especially in the last set.

When I turned on the television after seven this morning,  I heard Leif Shiras saying someone had 97 unforced errors.  Not having seen who was playing or the score, I figured if there were that many errors it had to be a five set match.  With a cup of coffee, I watched the exciting finish to a match that was 8-8 at that point.

Earlier in the set, Fognini was experiencing leg cramps and they don’t go away.  By the time I tuned in, he could barely walk or even stand up but he played the match out, withstood a slew of foot fault calls, including on his own game point and even his own match point (and he didn’t even blanch, much less walk over and shout Italian obscenities at the linesman…)and saved five, count them, five!, match points before finally closing down the match at 11-9.  It was pretty incredible.

He was both cheered and booed, the latter because of some controversy surrounding the leg cramping and whether he was entitled to any medical treatment.  Leg cramping can only be treated during changeovers or change of ends and during that allotted time.  It doesn’t qualify for a medical treatment time out.  But the trainers said Fognini’s troubles were not leg cramping, so I guess he was entitled to what he took.  And if the crowd didn’t like the way he won, take it up with the umpire who allowed everything that happened.

The match brings up one of the trickiest circumstances a player can face on court, that of the injured opponent.  You’d think it would make it easier, your opponent is hampered in some way, you’re not, just play your game and win.  But it really isn’t as simple a it seems.  Your concern for the other player enters into it, so now you have trouble competing the way you were before.  And you’re trying to calibrate how you need to play against the injured player, go for more, hold back, and it all gets confusing.  Change one thing, change everything, as a friend of mine always says, and so it is.

It was a good day for Italy because after that absorbing match, on walked Francesca Schiavone, the defending champion, and Jelena Jankovic for a war that was both expected and realized.  Not surprisingly, it went the distance with Francesca taking the first set, Jelena the second and they went neck and neck to 4-4 in the third for a very tense finish.

Both of these girls are emotional and it’s fun to watch.  John McEnroe, Mary Carillo and Ted Robinson commentated the match and there was plenty of laughter and teasing as Francesca yelled at her box and Jelena yelled at hers.  A lot was on the line for both players.  Jelena has never won a major and at twenty six the window starts to close, so she really wanted to win this match and advance.

For Francesca, she’s the defending champion and she’d like to take it home again.  Not to mention that the first match of the day on Chatrier saw Vera Zvonareva, the number three seed, lose to the fourteenth seed, Russian nineteen year old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.   So she’s really thinking maybe she can go all the way.

Meanwhile, there’s a match to finish as all these emotions swirl and bubble up.  And Francesca broke Jelena in the next game to take a 5-4 lead and then serve for it.  She did just that and won it.  Before she left the court, after signing a few of those big tennis balls, she got down on the court and kissed it.

By that time it was nearly seven o’clock and once again there was concern if the next match between David Ferrer and Gael Monfils would be able to finish.  Ferrer came out the same as he always does, ready to fight to the last.  Monfils came out as he always does, so athletic you think he’s made of plastic you can shape and mold, so much the showman you can’t help but be charmed.  On Kids Day a few days ago, Gael entertained on Chatrier by doing a one handed handstand!  Are you kidding?

So was it to be slow and steady or flash and flamboyance that would take the day?  We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.  The players got in three sets, with Monfils up 2-1, there was still some daylight so they opened the fourth set.  But no television coverage then, so I listened to RG Radio for the last bit.  Monfils injured himself in some way, Ferrer broke him to go up 2-0 and play was stopped until tomorrow.

Roger Federer has traveled under the radar so far, but he hasn’t dropped a set yet.  He played his fellow Swiss and friend, Stan Wawrinka, and won in straights.

Djokovic did the same against Richard Gasquet.  What was Richard doing, standing ten feet behind the baseline the whole time?  Certain things in tennis are determined by the laws of geometry and physics.  If you stand that far back, you can’t create angles and your opponent can.  And standing back that far it takes longer for your ball to travel back to your opponent which gives him more time to set up for the next shot and you less chance of winning the point.

If you know you can’t win from back there, why be there?  You might as well make it a walkover and go have lunch.    Hug the baseline, get into net when you can and if you still lose, well, okay, at least you had a chance to win.

Still, no one expected Richard Gasquet to win the match today and it would have been a complete miracle if he had.  It’s great that he got to the round of sixteen and now I hope he does as well or better at Wimbledon.

The French were consoled by the win of another countryman, or woman in this case.  Marion Bartoli advances to the quarterfinals, and she’ll have plenty of energy since she only played one set and two games before Gisela Dulko retired with an injury.

The final match to talk about today took place on Court One instead of Lenglen, because of the long matches there.  Kuznetsova against Hantuchova, it went three and Sveta won it.  So she’s a former champion and Francesca is the current champion, and Maria wants to win it to complete her Grand Slam wins.

And maybe none of them does it.  Maybe Azarenka wins or Kvitova or Petkovic.  It’s still wide open, perhaps even more so with the top three seeds and Stosur all gone.

Lots more tomorrow, what better way to spend Memorial Day weekend?  See you then and thanks for hanging out with me at Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.

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down to the wire

Posted on March 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

Okay, let’s start right up front with the men’s semi-finals decided just moments ago by the outcome of the Nadal/Berdych match played in front of a totally packed house.  Nadal won in three sets.  The first he played like a maestro, and then he had to fight for the rest of the match.  It looked like maybe he had the same stiff neck after the first set that prevented Gilles Simon from playing his full match against Roger this afternoon (he retired at 3-0 in the first set to the great displeasure of the crowd; they booed as he left the court which I thought was bad form, the guy would not have left the court if he could have played).  Still, Rafa won, whatever the physical difficulty was, and tomorrow night I will be there along with thousands of others to watch Rafa and Roger play for the first time in North America since 2005.  This is real tennis excitement.

And I love that of the final four, you’ve got Rafa, Roger, Novak Djokovic, the top three players in the world and who else?  Number fourteen, Mardy Fish!  Go Fish.  Love Mardy.  I don’t think he’ll win against Novak, who is unbeaten this year.  That’s right. Twenty matches, twenty wins.  Or is it twenty one?  That kind of winning streak does not happen often.  John McEnroe had a 39 match winning streak, and someone else almost as many, not remembering right now.

I do have to say that Brad Gilbert is truly impressive when it comes to knowing tennis history.  Last night, when Cliijsters was down 1-5 in the second set against Azarenka, Mary Joe Fernandez was asking about other consecutive match dig outs (Kim had saved five match points the night before against Ivanovic.) and Gilbert came up with some pretty obtuse information and he was right.

Kim lost last night.  She seemed flat after her late match the previous day and only at the end when defeat seemed a short step away did she rally.  There comes a point in many matches when the loss is nearly inevitable and it’s always interesting to watch how the almost defeated player just loosens up and goes for his or her shots, what the hell, and often it can turn a match around.  One thing I think is clearer when you are watching tennis live is the mental game.  You can follow that thread more easily, you can see the players during the changeovers, you can see a lot of things you don’t/can’t see on television.  You can just read that story in a way you can’t otherwise and tennis is such a mental game, it’s a huge part of it to be able to know what’s going with the players internally.

Back to Mardy Fish for a moment.  I didn’t give him much of a chance against Del Potro and he pulled that out, so who knows?  Still, I love it that Mardy is in the semis.  If he wins tomorrow, he’ll be in the top ten, a major goal of his.  I don’t know what the weather conditions will be for their afternoon match.  Today it was just plain a bitch for Sharapova and Petkovic.  The wind was constant and strong, it was extremely hot and humid.  Petko played a great first set and then just went away.  So Maria is in the final, and will be in the top ten for the first time in over two years.

She’ll play either Azarenka or Zvonareva who are doing battle as we speak.  God help us if it’s Victoria because she shrieks as loud as Maria.  Vera is quiet.  Please win Vera, tonight and Saturday.

The stadium looks different on television than it does in person.  On tv, it looks huge and kind of stretched out.  Actually, it’s a good size but still feels intimate.  As I wrote earlier, I like it the best of the three large tennis stadiums in the U.S.

I’m going to check on Vera and Victoria, then catch some sleep.  Big tennis tomorrow.

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upside down down under

Posted on January 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

It’s far away, Australia, and the water circles down the drain in the opposite direction from the northern hemisphere.   And when tennis is played, the results can be startling as well.

Take the women’s semifinal between Li Na and Caroline Wozniacki.  Caroline took the first set 6-3 and it made it look like her general modus operandi, to defend well and hit conservatively, keeping her unforced errors down and letting her opponent make all the mistakes, would prevail.  The second set was harder fought and Li Na cleaned up her unforced error to winners ratio considerably.  Still, at the business end of the set, it was Caroline who served for it, at 5-4, and she had a match point.

But Li Na saved it and went on to win that game, even it up at 5-5, and grab the second set 7-5, an unexpected result.  And in the deciding third set, Li Na showed the beauty and reward of no guts, no glory.  She kept going for her winners and making them and it made Caroline’s game, which really needs a winning shot, look a little dowdy.

On court afterwards, Li Na told us in a thoroughly delightful manner about her husband’s snoring that had kept her awake the night before and how prize money had motivated her to keep going when she was about to lose the match and how her mother has a life of her own and doesn’t want to come with her daughter to watch her compete.  She’s a lot of fun both on and off the court.  And talk about turning things upside down, Li Na is the first Asian woman to reach the finals of a Grand Slam, a new historic benchmark to go along with many others.

You will remember two things before this final.  One, Li Na is the only woman to be in the quarters both last year and this, and two, Li Na just beat Kim Cliijsters in the final in the run-up tournament in Sydney.

It’s Kim who will be on the other side of the net for the women’s final on Saturday evening in Melbourne.  She made quick work of Zvonareva who tried everything, but failed to better the Belgian.  It was two sets, 6-3, 6-3.  And whichever woman triumphs, she will be a first time winner of the Australian Open.

The women’s semifinals are played back to back, but the men’s stretch out over two consecutive evenings.  Tonight, yet to be played, we’ve got David Ferrer, fresh off his win over Rafa, and Andy Murray.  One of those two will play last night’s winner, Novak Djokovic who played the match of his life against Roger and won it in straights, 7-6, 7-5, 6-4.

The first set was an even trade, no breaks of serve.  Roger might have been a little more aggressive on a couple of points in the tiebreak, but basically both were strong.  The second set was a crazy roller coaster with Novak down a break, then up a break, then down 5-2 and everyone, myself included and possibly Roger, thinking, well, that’s a wrap, soon it will be one set a piece and then let’s see what happens.  Wrong.  Novak brought it even to 5-5 and never looked back.   With a two sets to love lead, Roger really had his work cut out for him.  The problem was not that he was playing badly, it was that Novak was playing better.  And Roger’s groundstrokes played right into his hand.  He couldn’t get to net, another problem.  It seemed to work when he mixed up the pace and gave Novak some junk balls, but ultimately, Novak was not to be denied.

With Rafa out, Novak knows this is his chance.  He’s won the title once before, his only Grand Slam victory, so if there’s a court he can win on, it’s Rod Laver.  Not to mention the loud and large Serbian fan contingent who dress, put on make-up, wave the flag, cheer and sing at high volume.  During last night’s match, there were some moments you could tell Roger was getting irritated.  Novak’s box seemed to be behaving themselves, but Roger kept looking up there.  There’s history there, the world number one has not always been pleased.

Who will win tonight?  Ferrer or Murray?  It should be a good match, a slugfest, probably a long match with long rallies.  Both Andy and David are major counterpunchers, both are capable of running everything down, making incredible gets, producing shots from anywhere on the court.  Expect some brilliance.  I’ll give the slight edge to Murray in a five setter, and if it’s a Murray/Djokovic final, I’d say Novak will come out on top.

But it’s Down Under, so it could be and probably will be Upside Down.

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