Tennis world issue 19

September - numro 19

TENNIS WORLD A Slam Apart

CiCi Bellis Age Doesn’t Matter

Lucic Baroni A Long Journey Home

Tennis e Alchimia Harmony On The Court

Sampras, Agassi and their historic rivalry at US Open

by Princy Jones

“Jeopardy - Seinfeld, eggs - butter and jam, independent - republican…”; an excerpt from a NIKE commercial featuring Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi goes like this. The list goes on, showing how contrasting they are in life, with their differences extending beyond the court.

One is reticent and nonchalant while the other is flamboyant and charismatic; people and the press deem one boring, while the other a showstopper. Sampras and Agassi constitute two extremes, no wonder their rivalry was so enchanting!

Before Federer and Nadal, it was Sampras and Agassi. Tennis of the 90s was mostly about these two Americans, who were almost of the same age. Agassi turned professional in the year 1986; Sampras two years later. Agassi’s phenomenal success in his teens earned him No: 3 rank soon, and he was touted as the star of the future. He also had a huge fan base, thanks to his killer looks and flashy attire on the court.

Furthermore, he made headlines when he denounced Wimbledon

for being too traditional, attacking their dress code. The talented young rebel was a star in every way. ampras, on the other hand, had a slow start.

Unlike Agassi, he had no records to his name, and suffered many early exits at the tournaments. However, his major breakthrough happened when he reached the fourth round at the 1989 US Open.

When these two young players (Agassi 20; Sampras 19) met in the finals of the US Open in 1990, the odds were in favour of Agassi, who had a better career record when compared to Sampras that time. Contrary to all expectations, Sampras thwarted Agassi in a rather lopsided final - 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. The world watch in disbelief when a shy teen from California upset a buoyant, long-haired superstar from Vegas. That was a watershed moment in the history of tennis, and also the lives of both the players.

Becoming the youngest US Open champion in history changed Sampras’ life and career. He was catapulted to fame and his ranking rose to No: 5. In a matter of few years, Sampras became the World No: 1 and a winner of multiple Slams.

Although he faced tough opponents like Jim

Their rivalry had always been special. Even though stats show Sampras way ahead of Agassi with his 14 Grand Slams (6 more than Agassi).

Courier, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Goran Ivanisevic etc., nothing could fuel the excitement as much as his rivalry with Andre Agassi.

Their rivalry had always been special. Even though stats show Sampras way ahead of Agassi with his 14 Grand Slams (6 more than Agassi).

Both were the best of their times - Sampras the best serve-and-volleyer; Agassi, the best returner. Sampras held a 20-14 head-to-head record, with 4-1 in the Grand Slam finals alone.

While Sampras had a steady career, Agassi’s game suffered a major setback owing to his lifestyle and personal issues. His brief hiatus from the game after a declining form took away a lot of excitement from tennis. Sampras famously remarked: ''The game really needs him a lot;

Sampras displayed some amazing tennis against his arch-rival even during that time he's the one guy that puts tennis on the front page of the sports page. But I think he'll come back. He's a tennis player.'' When Agassi made an amazing comeback in 98, no wonder Sampras was among those who took great pleasure in the ‘return of the prodigal’.

When Sampras’ form started to decline towards the end of 90s, it was a period of ‘second coming’ for Agassi, who once again started winning the majors. After Sampras’ historic Wimbledon triumph of 2000, he suffered a Grand Slam drought, one of the longest streaks of his career.

The 13-time Grand Slam champion suffered two devastating losses against much younger players Marat Safin (6-4, 6-3, 6-3) and Lleyton Hewitt (7-6, 6-1, 6-1), respectively in 2000 and 2001

US Open finals, indicating that his class was no match for the youthful power and agility.

Yet, Sampras displayed some amazing tennis against his arch-rival even during that time. His’ 2001 US Open quarterfinal match against Agassi is considered one of the greatest matches in the history of the game. Sampras won 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6, in a match where both the players failed to break each other’s serve.

When the match finally finished, the crowd gave a standing ovation.

The following year witnessed the culmination of their enchanting rivalry when they met once again in the finals in Flushing Meadows. It was their third US Open final, and also the third consecutive final for Sampras.

He ended it where it all had started

He looked comfortable and confident against Agassi, a rival whose moves and tactics he is familiar with, more than any other player. As expected, Sampras upset his arch-foe in a significant fashion -- 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 -- thus marking an end to his longest drought and career. For Sampras, it was the perfect way to sign off, after having won his 14th Grand Slam title.

He ended it where it all had started - the same ground, the same rival. Rarely does history repeats itself, and on that day, Flushing Meadows witnessed one.

Nadal’s Trials And Triumphs At Flushing Meadows

by Laura Saggio

World number two and defending champion Rafael Nadal did not play in this year’s US Open.

And so, once again, Rafael Nadal did not go to New York. The troubled relationship between the Spaniard and the season’s last Slam is a long-running affair which has generated many headlines over the years. The US Open has seen Nadal at his best (it was the tournament he required to complete his career Grand Slam) and worst (he has often missed the event due to injuries), and this year is a case of the latter.

Let us now look back at Nadal’s triumphs and tribulations at Flushing Meadows.

We begin in February of 2009. Nadal beat Federer in the final of the Australian Open, his sixth Slam after having won Roland Garros four times and Wimbledon once. All he needed to complete his career Grand Slam was the US Open, and early that year it seemed pretty likely that he would achieve that feat.

We begin in February of 2009. Nadal beat Federer in the final of the Australian Open, his sixth Slam after having won Roland Garros four

times and Wimbledon once. All he needed to complete his career Grand Slam was the US Open, and early that year it seemed pretty likely that he would achieve that feat.

Unfortunately for him, however, 2009 turned out to be one of the worst years of his career. He suffered his first and only defeat at Roland Garros at the hands of Robin Soderling, and was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon (where he was defending champion) due to tendonitis.

Though he did return in time for the US Open, he suffered the worst Grand Slam defeat of his career against Juan Martin Del Potro in the semi-finals, losing 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

2010:The year of Rafa. After a defeat in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, the Spaniard went on to win three other Slams that year, along with his first and long-awaited US Open. Victory at Flushing Meadows gave him his career Grand Slam, where he joined Roger Federer as the only active player to have achieved that feat.

2011: The year of defeat. Nadal lost all six finals he played against Novak Djokovic, including

Wimbledon and the US Open.

2012: The year of the accident. Conquest as usual at Roland Garros, but a new injury (chronic inflammation of left knee tissue and a partial rupture of the patellar tendon) affected his game at Wimbledon and forced him to skip the Olympics. He also missed the entire second half of the season, including the US Open.

2013: The year of the rematch. While he missed the Australian Open, he won for the eighth time in Paris. Though he lost in the second round at Wimbledon he got revenge on the American hard courts, beating his nemesis, Djokovic, in

the US Open final.

2014: Injury today, injury tomorrow. A small detachment of the articular cartilage in the ulna of the right wrist, which occurred on 30 July during a training session, prevented Nadal from defending any of his US hard court titles. The date of his return is still unknown, as he explained to IB3 TV: "For me it is hard to think of objectives like the Davis Cup. What matters is that I missed three opportunities to play three very important tournaments. It is difficult to say when I come back, for now I just have to think to heal. I'll come back when doctors will tell and when I can hit the two-handed backhand without pain."

Perhaps the extreme stress to which Nadal has submitted his body is finally catching up to him.

That strength and tenacity may have taken him to number one, but it also took a toll on him physically.

What the future holds for the Spaniard is uncertain, but the tennis world definitely hopes that it will be a long future indeed.

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Putting Djokovic’s Legacy In Perspective

by Adriano S.

Novak Djokovic is the king of the ATP rankings.

After his two-year reign at the top between 2011 and 2012 was rudely interrupted by Rafael Nadal last season, the Serb seems poised to reclaim the year-end number one title at the end of this year yet again. Indeed, the Serb has earned some incredible accolades over the past four years, especially in the Grand Slams. In fact, he has played in 75% of the Slam finals during that period, averaging a frightening 3 out of 4 every year. This run has coincided with his (theoretical) physical peak, which is generally considered to be between 23 and 27 for male athletes.

These are certainly incredible numbers, but not quite enough to outshine Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Here is a summary of their results

compared to his for the same period of their careers.

Nadal 2009-2013: AO W, RG R16, Wi A, USO SF, AO Q, RG W, Wi W, USO W, AO Q, RG W, Wi F, USO, AO F, RG W, Wi R16, USO F, AO F, RG W, Wi R1, USO W Federer 2005-2009: AO SF, RG SF, Wi W, USO W, AO W, RG F, Wi W, USO W, AO W, RG F, Wi W, USO W, AO SF, RG F, Wi W, USO W, AO F, RG W, Wi W, USO F Djokovic 2010-2014: AO Q, RG Q, Wi SF, USO F, AO W, RG SF, Wi W, USO W, AO W, RG F, Wi SF, USO F, AO W, RG SF, Wi F, USO F, AO Q, RG F, Wi W, USO SF Legend: AO – Australian Open, RG – Roland Garros, Wi – Wimbledon, US Open – USO; Final – F, SF – semi-finals, Q – Quarter-finals, Round of R16 – R16.

What actually weighs more when comparing Rafa and Roger to Nole is the percentage of wins in Slam finals.

Djokovic, with a streak of 21 quarters and 15 semi-finals in a row, has reached 12 finals out of 20 Grand Slams.

Nadal reached 'only' 11, but played just 17, with three appearances lost due to injury.

Federer is impressive, having reached 17 of 20 finals, with a streak of 36 quarter-finals, 23 semi-finals and 10 consecutive finals.

What actually weighs more when comparing Rafa and Roger to Nole is the percentage of wins in Slam finals.

If Rafa (who during this period only lost to Novak in Slam finals, on 3 occasions in a row in 2011) and Roger have a 72% and 65% conversion rate respectively, Djokovic is hovering around 50%.

With all of this being said, Djokovic might still improve on his stats, and if he manages to win Roland Garros our opinion of his legacy might change. Right now he can be considered as truly spectacular, but not quite as spectacular as his two main rivals.

A Slam Apart

by Giulio Nicoletti

The burning ball that has for some time been the logo of the US Open is rather appropriate, given that the year’s last Slam has always been a little different from the others. In fact, you could probably replace the ball with a picture of a taco or chicken wings – both of which are sold throughout the tennis complex where the event takes place – and nobody would be offended.

The US Open is different, more relaxed and always ready to have a laugh.

And laughing is what has been necessary for a while if you are an American tennis fan – else you’d cry. Well, that’s true when it comes to the men’s game at least. It has been 11 years since a local won the men’s trophy, and it doesn’t seem as if that is going to change any time soon.

But that isn’t the end of the world. This is the US Open, and there is still plenty of fun to be had here no matter what. This is the tennis tournament furthest away from stuffy traditions of Wimbledon. At Flushing Meadows, close to the sparkling lakes Corona Park and a stone’s throw

from La Guardia Airport, things are done differently.

Here, nobody constantly calls for silence, and nobody minds the shrieks that the ladies make with each and every shot. Here, people bring picnic baskets with them to the court, turning their seats and those of their neighbors into a cornucopia of food and drink.

Flushing Meadows is different to all other Slams from its foundations upwards. It is built on an old landfill, one which used to be the biggest in all of New York until the 1970s. It was perhaps the perfect location for New Yorkers, who often considered the sport to be too elitist and full of itself. The old US Open was played at Forrest Hills, an exclusive club near the Atlantic Ocean, and was generally not an event for the masses.

The rules there were the same as at Wimbledon, though they were not executed with the same class and subtlety.

The rethinking of the US Open came from many considerations, the main one being that tennis was becoming more popular, and a bigger, more accessible venue was needed. Along with greater popularity also came greater sponsorships – and greater riches. Companies who had little

The first tournament in 1978 revolved around a match between Jimmy Connors and Adriano Panatta. McEnroe still remembers it as one of the three best matches he’s ever seen. interest in confining their brand to the elegant halls of a club house in Forrest Hills suddenly perked up. The US Open was finally going to be a Slam they could get excited about – an American Slam instead of a poor copy of a British one.

Of course, New York being the crowded space it is, finding a site was difficult, but Flushing Meadows was ultimately settled on. Work began in 1976, the landfill was covered, and ponds and trees took the place of garbage and muck.

The courts would not be grass or green clay, as they had been at Forrest Hills, they would be concrete.

And the main court would be name after Louis Armstrong, who never played tennis, but spent most of his life in New York.

New York embraced Connors as one of its own

The first tournament in 1978 revolved around a match between Jimmy Connors and Adriano Panatta.

McEnroe still remembers it as one of the three best matches he’s ever seen.

"Every shot was a point," Panatta recalled later, "but to beat Connors you had to win the point three times over, because he would run down everything."

The match, with its incredible flair and shotmaking, attracted all the players as well as spectators.

Eventually, Panatta went up 5-4 in the fifth set and served for the match. At 30-30, Panatta hit an angled shot that graced the line, a shot that would have been a winner against anyone else.

But Connors somehow tracked it down and won the point, to the delight of the crowd.

"I saw Connors cheer like crazy. Then I apologized, and I made ​a gesture to indicate that a I had never seen such luck.

But, it was not luck, just pure and simple survival instinct."

New York embraced Connors as one of its own. At the time of Jimbo and Adriano’s clash, the tournament was enveloped by the smoke and smells of the restaurants that arose around the complex.

Players training on court two often had to put their shirts over their noses to get some relief from the fiesta of odors.

Today, of course, things are much bigger and better.

Today, of course, things are much bigger and better. Arthur Ashe long ago supplanted Louis Armstrong stadium as the main court, becoming the biggest tennis stadium in the world with its 25 000 seats. From the top of cheap seats, the court looks like a videogame, but the view of New York is spectacular if the seagulls looking for food leave you alone.

In the 15 days of the tournament, Flushing Meadows attracts 730 000 spectators. The prize pool is a massive $38.3 million, and will rise to $50 million by 2017. There might not be an American men’s champion by then, but the tournament will continue to get bigger and more glamorous no matter what, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.

The Quiet Fighter

by Diego Barbiani

A graduate of the legendary Spartak Tennis Club, her game reminds many pundits Agnieszka Radwanska. At 21 years of age and with very little Grand Slam experience, Aleksandra Krunic took the US Open by storm, beating Petra Kvitova and very nearly knocking of Victoria Azarenka.

"I do not know how I did it, really! I went on court hoping to win a set and have fun, but I never thought about winning!" These were the delighted words of Aleksandra Krunic after she defeated Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova at

the US Open. It took just 90 minutes and two sets for her to oust the Czech, who many had considered to be the favourite to with at Flushing Meadows. Her emotional sideline interview won her many fans in New York, who always enjoy an underdog. And underdog she certainly was: at just 1.63m, she looked positively miniscule against the towering Kvitova, but the Serbian’s huge heart won out in the end. Just a few days earlier she was overjoyed after beating Madison Keys, but she would have never imagined this kind of success against a Grand Slam champion. Krunic has never had any Slam success other than at the US

Open, and this year she topped all her previous efforts.

A native of Moscow, her family is of Serbian origin, a fact of which she is proud – she loves representing her country in Fed Cup play.

“Family is a very important,” she said in New York. It is thanks to each of them that I can find happiness in the small things, even after a defeat." She particularly loves to talk about her grandmother, who was the first to buy her a ball and a racket at the age of three.

"I was pretty rowdy," Krunic remembered. "I was running everywhere, I hit the ball everywhere, destroyed a lot of plants. I started playing properly at a club close to our home, and

that’s where it all really began."

She eventually joined the Spartak Tennis Club, which boasts alumni like Anna Kournikova, Elena Dementieva and Anastasia Myskina.

There she met Eduard Safonov, who has been her coach for ten long years.

"I owe him all my technique, my shots," she said. "When I went to Slovakia I had at my side Mojmir Mihal, and at the US Open this year I have Branislas Jeremovic."

Her parents work in a factory that makes household appliances, while her sister Anastasia is still studying. She has been lucky in that a childhood friend of her father’s has been supporting her tennis dreams since she was 14 years old.

Krunic has always been a unique player. She hits the ball hard, but not without a sound strategy behind each and every shot. She likes to mix up the rhythm and take initiative away from her opponents. Slow balls are often followed by deep loopy ones, which are in turn followed by hard flat shots. One cannot help but compare her to Agnieszka Radwanska, of whom Krunic is a big fan.

Though she is extremely fit, Krunic still wants to lose a little weight and put on more muscle. For now, her lack of physical prowess is more than made up for by her huge heart. That heart took

She received plenty of attention in New York, though she does not crave it much her far at Flushing Meadows, and for two weeks she lived her dream.

"It was an honor to share the field with a champion like Petra Kvitova. I was so excited that I had I had to keep reminding myself not to tremble in-between points. On match point, I did not know what to do. I just wanted to put pressure on her and hoped that she would make a mistake." “I do not like too much to go to parties, but I love to have dinner with the other players. I watch so many documentaries on YouTube, I want to learn many things about nature and would love to find out more about flying airplanes, although at the moment flying is my greatest fear. Finding out

Her New York dream was finally ended by Victoria Azarenka, but not before she came within an inch of victory more about what I fear is something that interests me, and I'm also passionate about psychology and criminology.�

Her New York dream was finally ended by Victoria Azarenka, but not before she came within an inch of victory.

"This girl has a great future," the Belarusian said after the match. We certainly hope she is right, since it was a delight watching the young Serbian at Flushing Meadows.

Cream Of The Croatian Crop

by Fabrizio Fidecaro

A star is…Borna.

After seeing him at work in Umag last year, we couldn’t help but think there was something special about Borna Coric. He had been given a wild card for the event, and faced Argentine Horacio Zeballos in the first round.

Zeballos was fresh off a victory over Rafael Nadal in the final of the Vina del Mar event, and was playing extremely well.

Coric was just 16 years old and ranked 752 in the world. Though he had won a Futures title in Bournemouth three months before, he was rather out of his depth – or so many assumed.

He put up a massive fight, and though he lost in three sets he showed a tremendous amount of potential. Just a few months later he won two other minor titles in Turkey before going on to win the junior US Open title.

He also made his Davis Cup debut, where he gave Andy Murray a run for his money, and before the year was out he had won two other Futures trophies.

His 2014 campaign got off to a quick start, and he immediately started making some noise on the Challenger circuit. In early April, he recorded a massive Davis Cup victory over Jerzy Janowicz in five sets, a truly remarkable physical achievement for such a youngster. He returned to Umag as well, where he played even better than he had a year before. He ousted Top 50 Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the first round before finding himself once again up against Zeballos. This time Coric did not falter, beating the Argentine with surprising ease. He then moved on to his first ever ATP quarter-final against Fabio Fognini.

"In this first year on the professional Tour, I learned that it is more difficult than the juniors,” he said at the time. “In the sense that nobody gives you the match at all. At the same time, however, I realised that the level is much higher.

The players are better, but if you get used to it, everything can change quickly."

Arriving in New York full of confidence, Coric entered the US Open ranked 204 in the world.

He qualified for the main draw and blew away Lukas Rosol in the first round, losing only seven games.

His mentality seems the right one, and his athletic and technical knowledge is top notch. In short, it would not be surprising to see him quickly climbing the rankings.

It is true that the Czech was not at his best, but Coric certainly was.

The fact is that Coric did not let slip his chance to eliminate a seed in a major tournament. It was assumed that he could have gone even further, but in the second round a left thigh problem forced him to withdraw against Dominican Victor Estrella Burgos.

Still, it was a good event for him, and time is on his side. In the race of recent juniors trying to make it on the Tour, he has already surpassed Alexander Zverev, who he ousted in the junior US Open last year.

"I think we're getting there," he explained at Flushing Meadows. "There are maybe four or five guys, more or less my age, and some are

bit younger. We need to prevent injuries and not go crazy, and then we'll see who can get into the Top Ten, or even better. Maybe we're motivating each other. However, I do not watch so much the others. Kyrgios has done an amazing job at Wimbledon, and showed that even the youngest can compete with the very best. But at the same time this does not mean much, I just look at myself."

Fellow countrymen Goran Ivanisevic and Marin Cilic have been gracious in their praise of the youngster. "I talked a lot with them and I am grateful, they helped me so much," he said. "The situation for us is not easy, we do not have the best conditions to train [in Croatia], we have no money. If you want to succeed you have to be tough. We are not spoiled, we work hard."

The Dominator

by Giulio Nicoletti

The rise of Dominik Thiem

"The Dominator." With a nickname like that, it’s clear that many people have lofty expectations for Dominik Thiem. Born in Wiener Neustadt in Austria on 3 September, 1993, Thiem had tennis in his life from a young age, with both his parents avid players and coaches.

Combine that sort of upbringing with his physical gifts, natural talent and formidable ground strokes, it was only a matter of time before he started making an impact on the professional circuit.

In a recent press conference, Thomas Muster assessed his young countryman’s prospects.

"One thing is important, will he be to be able to

handle the pressure the public will put on him?

In Austria, there is this problem, there are too many expectations. But with him, we have a player who could progress to the top of the rankings. He has yet to achieve important results, but has all the potential to make it."

It is a valid point, certainly. On the surface, Thiem has everything required to be successful on the ATP Tour, but one can never truly tell what is going on in a young man’s mind.

Pressure can do terrible things to people, but Thiem seems pretty confident about the future.

He has been playing tennis all his life, and doesn’t get easily fazed on the court.

"I was 11 years old,” he recalls about the time when he started playing tennis seriously. “My father wanted me to get professional coaching and so I went to the Academy of Gunter Bresnik in Vienna. At first, I was playing once a week with him. Then we increased the number of classes, and two years later he became my official coach. When I trained for the first time with Gunter, I had a two-handed backhand and I was a very defensive player. He changed everything.

"I love my country and I am convinced that if we all play well, we can win.”

I went to the one-handed backhand and that let me adopt a more aggressive style of play. It was tough, because at that time I was the number one junior in Austria and with all these changes my ranking dropped a lot. But now I'm sure that it was worth it."

For a coach to invest in such a young player is a big risk, of course, but Thiem’s early results proved to be very encouraging. He reached the quarter-finals of the ATP 250 event in Kitzbühel last year, and also advanced to the second round of the ATP 500 tournament in Rotterdam, where he fell to Andy Murray – but not without a fight.

He built on those successes with strong performances in Indian Wells and Miami, as well as a third round showing at the ATP 1000 event in Madrid.

And there is still plenty of room to grow as far as Thiem’s game is concerned. Though he is technically and tactically proficient, he has room for improvement in all aspects of his game.

Experience should do his prospects a world of good. Of course, time is on his side, and he will have plenty of opportunities to improve his current Top 50 ranking.

“My dream for this year is to win a tournament in Austria,” he adds. “While the primary goal is to climb higher in the rankings. It is difficult, but if I continue to play so well and I can do it consistently, I should manage. It's really nice that my family is no longer obliged to support me. Now I am economically independent.

Finally on Davis, I think it's nice to play in the team 2-3 times a year."

Age Doesn’t Matter

by Francesca Cicchitti

Cici Bellis at the US Open

Until a few days before the US Open, she was still engaged solely in junior tournaments, an unknown name to even the most hardcore tennis fans. Yet in the blink of an eye she was overwhelmed by media interest following her incredible first round victory.

Of course, what makes Cici Bellis’ victory so wonderful is that she was just 15 years old and ranked 1208 in the world. While tennis is no stranger to young prodigies, it has been quite a while since such a youngster has made waves on this big a stage.

Her first round match was on such an obscure court of the Billie Jean King National Tennis

Center that there weren’t even any cameras covering her contest. There was a small crowd, however, which quickly grew when it became clear what was happening. When word spread that she had won the first set, interest intensified even more, especially considering that she was playing against Dominika Cibulkova, Australian Open finalist from just a few months ago and seeded 13th.

Eventually ESPN sent a camera to the court to capture her victory, which many observers immediately likened to the exploits of Arantxa Sanchez, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati when they were also so young.

Her win was greeted with a standing ovation.

Cici was able to enter the main draw thanks to a wild card she earned by winning the under-18 American championships, something Lindsay Davenport had once also done. Cici’s distinguished junior career includes a win at the Orange Bowl when she was just 12 years old.

And so, the United States fell in love with Cici Bellis. For her aggressive mindset, her grit and her tactical awareness. She is a self-possessed girl who speaks clearly and does not mince her words – in short, the perfect television personality. Bellis is currently number two in the junior rankings, and many pundits predict she will make an easy transition to the pros. Her forehand is fierce, her backhand is good and her mental toughness is a huge asset.

match. ‘If you play well you can win, but if you do not believe you have a chance, you won’t have one." To be honest, I knew it was a great opportunity for me, but I did not think I would actually win.

Why is your name so curious? "My first name is Catherine and my second name is Cartan, so I decided on Cici."

Explain your decision to give up the $60 000 that you would have been granted for reaching the second round. "For now I want to think only of the court, and as a player I want to remain an amateur. I want to keep the way

Catherine, how did you manage to win such a big match? "I had to be convinced I would be able to win, I had to have this mindset.

My coach had me repeat it many times before the open for university, you never know, I might get injuries…"

Would you like to turn pro one day? "Yes, I'd like to turn pro, but it is not yet time. For now I want to focus only on the court."

Can you tell us what your first memory of the US Open is? "I was born in San Francisco and played tennis since I was three years old.

One of my earliest memories is of when I was six or seven years old, I saw Sharapova playing."

Hopefully that dedication will pay off in the long run, since American tennis can certainly use a new star.

Is she your favorite player? "No, I have always preferred Kim Clijsters. I followed her career until she retired. I loved the way he moved on the court, and even more later, when she returned from becoming a mom and won even more than before. I've always admired her."

Like Kim, Cici Bellis has always played tennis, but had a moment of indecision because of another passion of hers: soccer. Ultimately though, tennis won out, and she has been very dedicated to it. If she wasn’t for her mother’s insistence that she take at least one day a week off, she would be playing each and every day.

Hopefully that dedication will pay off in the long run, since American tennis can certainly use a

David Goffin: “I will never want to be a BIG guy”

by Ivan Pasquariello

From New York

David Goffin arrived at the 2014 US Open as one of the “hottest” players on the ATP World Tour. Putting together a 25-match winning streak, the 23-year-old won his first ATP title in Kitzbuhel and climbed the rankings all the way back into the top 50 at the end of the American Slam, where he reached the third round for the first time. Interviewed exclusively by Tennis World, the skinny blond Belgian talked about his pride in being little, in a tour of “big” guys.

New York – David Goffin doesn’t really look like the modern stereotypical kind of tennis player.

He is not tall, muscular. He doesn’t showcase a perfectly tanned body wearing ultimate fashion wardrobe. David could easily be mistaken for a tennis fan that sneaked into the media center to assist to celebrity interviewees. Blond, with blue eyes, many girls would identify his features with a prince of the fairy tales, definitively the good guy.

A strong candidate to portrait the little prince in the eventual film adaptation of the classic novel written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

First impressions though, are nothing but the name they bear, impressions. Nothing to do with the reality of things and it would take approximately five minutes watching the Belgian playing, to understand that not only Goffin is indeed a professional tennis player, but a very good one, a talented rising star in the making.

The shot making is all about timing, and David barely misses a ball long or wide by too many inches. The control is impressing, the rapidity of the movement, the elegance of the touch.

The 2014 season has been another breakthrough year for David. Since the first round played at the Scheveningen challenger tournament in the Netherlands, David put together an impressive 25-match winning streak which, in a little more than month, brought him back into the top 100 and with his first career ATP title conquered in Kitzbuhel. Approaching the US Open he was suddenly a name to watch for, an unseeded trick many top players would have happily avoided to find on their side of the draw, especially in the early stages

of the tournament. Before reaching the third round and challenging Grigor Dimitrov for four sets, David met Tennis World exclusively in New York City. The Belgian, who speaks English with a funny French accent, talked about the perks of being a middle-ranked player in a world of giants, a challenge he faces with pride, because David will never want to be just another “big” guy.

David you have won 25 matches in a row this season. You are getting used to victory, but do you still remember the first match you ever won in the ATP? “I do, it was in 2011. It was in Chennai. I went through the qualification draw and I beat Devvarman, a local player, so it was extra special

It was such a great emotion, I was very nervous coming into the match, but I cherish it as a very good memory. It is good to remember those moments”.

Did you believe back then that you were going to go all the way up into the top 50 just 12 months after? “I believed in me and my tennis for sure, but back then I was just trying to enjoy the moment. I was very young and I didn’t have high expectations for myself. I always tried to stay feet on the ground, and see what happened next, giving my best”.

Obviously the breakthrough for you was in 2012, with the fourth round reached at

the French Open and the match played on Suzanne Lenglen against your idol Roger Federer. Do you remember that moment? “Of course, everybody talks about that moment still. I remember that the interview they did on court was very funny and a little embarrassing for me. I remember I said that Roger was my idol growing up, that I had a big picture of him in my bedroom. I was meeting my idol right there, and I didn’t know what to answer to the questions I was asked. It was a great moment however” Have you ever spoken to Roger since that day? “Yes, he has always been very kind to me.

We met many times after that in the tournaments, and I asked him to practice together. He always said yes, that he likes to practice with me. He also gave me some advice and suggestions. He has always been very nice to me. It’s good you know, because when you meet your idol things can go wrong, but with Roger

it all went well and I am very glad things went that way”.

Back then before the match you said that you didn’t care about the score, you just wanted to understand what your level was. How do you think your level is now?

“That match was a great motivation for me, it made me want to go back on court and practice very hard. Compared to 2012 I believe I have improved a lot. I changed my coach, and I started to hit better, be more continuous. I think my game has improved consistently over the years, and is good now to finally see the results of the hard work made in the past”.

Tennis has become a very physical game.

You see the top players, and they are all tall and muscular. Then seeing you, you don’t exactly look like the prototype of the new tennis player… “I know, I am very skinny and little compared to the other guys in the tour, clearly I don’t look muscly like Rafael Nadal. I look more like a normal guy. To be honest though, I don’t want to be another “big” guy, I would never want that for myself. I like my being skinnier and lighter. I run fast, have a very good movement on the court, also my arm is very fast hitting the ball. I also read the ball very

well, and have a good timing on my shots. You know, there are a lot of goods coming from being little, compared to the others. I will not run to the gym to put more muscles on, I worked mostly on my resistance, and I like it like that”.

A compatriot of your, Justine Henin, faced the same issues in the women’s tour, being a very little girl in the middle of the Williams physical revolution. Did that ever inspire you, or do you consider yourself sort of the Henin of the men’s tour? “Justine was a very great champion.

Many people talked a lot about her in Belgium and sure it was an inspiration growing up.

Yes, I think you can say I am sort of the Henin of the men’s tour, and I like it like that. I remember seeing Justine beating the Williams sisters, it was very fun to watch and I have great memories about it”.

Did you ever meet Justine or Kim Clijsters? “We come from different generations, so we never had a chance to meet on the tour. When they were winning Grand Slams I was winning my first matches on the tour, so unfortunately I couldn’t talk to them on the tour. Outside however I had the pleasure to meet them, talk a little and it was very nice”.

They say that tennis becomes a remunerative job only when you break into the top 50, was that the case for you?

“Yes, obviously the money is more and you can afford to travel without too many worries. But for me the most important thing is that being in the top 50 you can be seen around, and you have a better choice to work with great professionals.

For me having more money means being able to have the best team with me. I have the money to pay them and bring them around the world with me, so that’s the biggest chance. You are allowed to work with the best, thus you keep on improving your performance. At the same time,

"..I can try to go further and break into the top 30. I hope so" to break into the top 50 also means that you have to stay there and that’s tough. You meet better players, so sometimes you lose early on and you have to wait one more week to play again. It’s hard to keep your confidence up, so it’s hard to stay there. Now I am feeling better compared to 2012. Now I believe more in myself, and now that I break back into the top 50 I am ready to stay there”.

What’s your goal now for the end of the year? “I have no points to defend until the end of the year and I am already back into the top 50.

So maybe I can try to go further and break into the top 30. I hope so”

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A Long Journey Home

by Diego Barbiani

At the age of 32, Mirjana Lucic knows that nothing happens quickly in the world of tennis. It takes years of hard work and dedication to slowly see your fortunes and ranking improve. At least, that is what she thought. The US Open proved her wrong, transforming her world in the blink of an eye by beating Simona Halep, the second seed, after being down 2-5 in the first set.

To be completely fair though, Lucic has had a transformative moment before, when she reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 1999.

than a decade before she experienced such elation again.

Her story begins long ago, since she exploded onto the scene at a young age. In fact, before the turn of the millennium she was tipped to be a future world number one. Born in 1982, she was just fifteen years old when she won her first WTA title. At seventeen, she had reached a Slam semi-final and seemed to be headed for the top of the world. But just as quickly as she had appeared in the spotlight, she faded away, devastated by a series of personal problems.

She later revealed that her father had abused her for years.

"Here, go get yourself some ice cream," her father once told her, after he had given her a beating for losing a match. It was not an isolated case, and indeed it was a pattern of behaviour that had repeated itself since Lucic was five years old. The pattern of ill-treatment had been repeated since she was five years old.

Marinko Lucic was a decathlon athlete who had participated in the Olympics, and had as much sympathy and compassion for his athlete children as his handlers had showed him.

Compassion was not a concern, victory was all that mattered. Is she was not perfect, she was not worthy of her father’s love.

She routinely hid in her bedroom, crying herself to sleep under her sheets, hoping that her father’s wrath would not break the silence of the night. Eventually, it all became too much. Aided

by Goran Ivanisevic, she escaped from her house during the night, and after 19 days in hiding fled permanently to the United States. Her father raged at the perceived betrayal, at times there was even talk of kidnap and murder, but she persevered in keeping her out of her life.

But though he was physically gone, he still managed to hurt her in other ways. The full story has never been confirmed, but according to reports he stole her money and worked at every turn to undermine and humiliate her. There were even accusations that he tried to turn her in for drug use, and that he even sued her.

With all of this turmoil going on, Baroni moved away from the courts for many years. She eventually managed to cobble together a peaceful life, marrying the Italian entrepreneur Daniele Baroni, who she credits for providing a stable and loving atmosphere in her world.

With a supportive new husband and a newfound passion for tennis, she returned to the sport fulltime, and soon again found herself in the Top 100. She had to deal with several physical problems, but her overall trajectory was upwards. All of that hard work finally paid off in a big way at Flushing Meadows.

Even at 32 it is not too late to write a new chapter in her life It is almost a storybook ending, really. She arrived in New York ranked 121 in the world, having to qualify for the main draw. When she played Halep, she looked like it was she one who deserved to be world number two instead of her opponent.

After her exploits there, she is now ranked 80, and is carrying a head full of confidence into the rest of the season.

Even at 32 it is not too late to write a new chapter in her life, and it seems that is perfectly willing to embrace that opportunity.

John Isner interview

by David Cox

“I never thought I could do what I’m doing now”

“I never thought I could do what I’m doing now,” says John Isner with an air of mild frustration. “I’ve been ranked four years in a row in the top 20. Didn’t think I could do that. I was never pegged to be the next great American player. I went to college for four years so it’s very different. I’m doing good things and I don’t care what anyone else says. I’m just trying to do what I can as long as I can and that’s it.”

The tag of American no.1 doesn’t sit especially easily with Isner who finds himself growing a little tense with the media ahead of the Grand Slams as his nation waits in vain for another world-beater to come along.

These are testing times for American men’s tennis with an unprecedented drought at the top of the game and as the first in the firing line it’s often Isner – a player who has overachieved considerably - who finds himself bearing the brunt of his nation’s dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs.

“I’ve done pretty good things. I’m 15 in the world so it’s not too bad,” he insists.

But when will America produce another player with the ability to rival the heights scaled by Sampras, Agassi, Roddick, Courier, to name but a few.

“I really don‘t think it’s any of my concern actually,” Isner replies. “I do believe that there’s some players behind me in the rankings, a little bit younger than me that are only going to continue to get better. Jack Sock being one of them.”

“He’s actually just moved down to Tampa as well from LA so that’s his base. I’ve been spending a lot of time with Jack and I know how talented he is and he’s working hard. He’s a guy that you’re going to have to keep an eye on along with Steve Johnson, Ryan Harrison. And Sam Querrey, it’s only a matter of time before he’s gonna turn it around. It doesn’t look that good on paper right now I guess but really, it’s not as bad as it looks.”

Isner doesn’t always admit it but behind the scenes he’s been doing his bit to encourage and nurture some of the youngsters, just as established stars James Blake and Mardy Fish did when he was a newcomer on the tour.

"Fish and Blake were so nice to me and let me into their environment, let me into their homes" “It was great for me because when I moved down to Tampa right after college, Fish and Blake were living there and I knew them pretty well. Both those guys were so nice to me and let me into their environment, let me into their homes. I’d eat dinner with them, play golf with them and they sort of showed me the ropes. I got to practise with those guys early on in my career and it was a very good experience for me. I consider myself very lucky.”

As a rookie going from the comparatively different atmosphere of college tennis to the cutthroat environment of the tour, it took a little while for Isner to find his feet but once the wins started coming he never really looked back, making the third round on his US Open debut.

“It was a tough adjustment at first because I was so used to being on a team and really having a lot of stuff just done for me,” he says.

“In college they really treat you so well, especially when competing for the team. Back then I never had to worry about plane tickets, never had to worry about hotel reservations, this and that.

I was always with the team and going out to dinner with friends and stuff. But once I started getting accustomed to the pro tour, it became a lot easier.

When I first started out I was trying to cut corners here and there and luckily for me I had some success and don’t have to worry about that too much anymore.”

Isner is still searching for the extra ingredient which can take him past the quarters of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.

Isner says he has always considered himself a team player and it’s no surprise that some of his best performances have come in the Davis Cup, the only competition in tennis which produces anything like the camaraderie of college tennis.

“The environment’s sometimes more rowdy,” he says.

“There’s a lot on the line in Davis Cup, there’s a lot of pressure and you have to sort of embrace that pressure and go out there and enjoy it. Just like in any match. But when you’re playing for someone other than yourself and you’re playing for your team-mates, your captain, your coach and your country, it becomes a lot bigger.”

Some have wondered whether Isner could gain more of an edge on the tour by getting a bigger team around him to recreate some of that atmosphere on a weekly basis, just as Andy Murray has done successfully, but he disagrees.

“It’s more like team-mates which makes the difference if you know what I mean,” he says.

“I travel with two people which I think is definitely plenty.

Most of the top guys travel with two people, at least the top 30 anyway. It’s my coach and my chiropractor and you know, he’s more than just getting me adjusted and what not, he does a lot of good stuff.”

The New North American Superpower

by Alessandro Varassi Milos Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard are tearing it up right now, but the United States won’t let Canada become North America’s tennis superpower without a fight.

The recent Rogers Cup, which took place in Toronto and Montreal, gave local fans a chance to see their country’s top tennis talent for themselves. Milos Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard are more than just players with potential now, having both already posted some strong results on the ATP and WTA Tours. With these two young stars, Canadians can look with optimism to the future, and can realistically expect to be a tennis powerhouse for some time to come.

Just across their southern border, however, a different scenario is playing out. Even though the United States still seems to have more tennis talent than Canada, with more than triple the

amount of players in the Top 150, the feeling in the States is one of general decline. Most of the players in the Top 150 are ranked pretty low, and behind the likes of John Isner and Sam Querrey there is a massive gap before the next Americans are encountered. Steve Johnson, Jack Sock and Ryan Harrison, long believed to be future top players, have failed to live up to expectations, at least so far.

In contrast, Canada’s top two players on the men’s side are Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil, who reside in the Top 10 and Top 30 respectively. Raonic has already come close to Grand Slam glory in the singles, while Pospisil

Though Eugenie Bouchard has shot up the rankings of late, there is not much talent in her wake. won Wimbledon in the doubles. Their ages are also telling, with Raonic and Pospisil being under 25, while Isner is 29 and in the tail end of his career.

The argument changes slightly when we starting talking about the WTA. Serena Williams is still the number 1 in the world, and behind her Venus and the young Sloane Stephens are playing good tennis. Though Eugenie Bouchard has shot up the rankings of late, there is not much talent in her wake. The next highest ranked Canadian is Sharon Fichman, and she is some ways behind her compatriot.

That being said, the Williams sisters are most certainly in the twilight of their careers, and once they depart the women’s Tour will be wide open.

One of the keys to her success, according to some pundits, has been her willingness to embrace foreign trainers and coaches Eugenie Bouchard (a semi-finalist in Melbourne and Paris, as well as a finalist at Wimbledon) seems the only logical choice to rise to the top of tomorrow’s WTA Tour. Already a media phenomenon and the highest-ranked Canadian women ever, her star continues to rise at a spectacular pace.

One of the keys to her success, according to some pundits, has been her willingness to embrace foreign trainers and coaches. Her coach, Louis Borfiga, is French, and has worked with the likes of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon. His experience and advice has proved invaluable in her rise to the Top 10. Raonic followed a similar path, leaving Canada to train in Croatia and Spain as soon as

he was able to afford it. Bouchard also trains a lot in Florida in order to get as much experience as possible on all the available surfaces.

While many USTA officials will strongly argue that the future of the sport in America is strong, it seems a long time since the days that Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras dominated the ATP Tour. If something is not done soon, Canada will have some very serious bragging rights over its Southern neighbor.

A Match Made In Heaven

by Brent Kruger

Errani-Vinci

From now on we will call them "moments of Vinci," and I don’t think there is anything disrespectful or risky in that statement. If the late David Foster Wallace was in a trance watching the exploits of Roger Federer, I feel similar sensations when watching Roberta Vinci.

At Wimbledon, like Thelma & Louise, the 31 year-old Vinci and her partner Sara Errani, finally won the elusive title that completed their career Grand Slam ambitions. Should they now also jump into the Grand Canyon, their exploits will already be fondly remembered as some of the finest in tennis history.

Not too many doubles pairs have achieved the same feat. Indeed, Errani and Vinci are now in rare company: Navratilova/Shriver, Fernandez/Zvereva and the Williams sisters are the only ones to have done the same. The final of the Championships will forever be etched in my memory. It was raining outside and the roof was closed. Across the net, the two Italians faced a pair that was separated in birth by only a few days in May of 1993. One was the Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic, and the other the Hungarian Timea Babos. Babos had already won the trophy as a junior, while Mladenovic had won the mixed doubles just the previous year.

On paper, the Italians were the favorites, although grass was not their best surface.

On paper, the Italians were the favorites, although grass was not their best surface. But this year there was a feeling that things would be different.

They had to survive five match points in their second round match against the Kichenok twins from Ukraine, and after overcoming that match it seemed like they were destined for greatness.

Adversity, as they say, tends to strengthen you.

And so it proved to be.

The next rounds were comparatively easy, with the Italians mostly dominating.

The Australian pair of Barty and Dellacqua did take a set off them, but it would be the last one they lost at the Championships.

Errani and Vinci often seem to be playing a different sport from one another. At times the one will be fierce and powerful, while the other will be poetic and classy. But in the final they seemed to be on the same page, quickly going for the jugular and brutally eliminating their opponents’ chances of victory early on.

There were plenty of shots to admire in the final, with the Italians seemingly competing with one another for the best shotmaking. A brilliant volley from Vinci that left the crowd speechless was quickly followed by a spectacular baseline winner from Errani. In the first set there was hardly anything their opponents could do, and they lost 6-1.

The second was slightly tighter, but the outcome was the same.

But for me it was ultimately Vinci who stole the show. She knew they had a date with destiny, and played like a person assured that she was about to etch her name into the history books.

Her backhand volley winner after 19 minutes of play was a shot for the ages, and her forehand volley after 35 minutes left me speechless.

And so we arrived at 6-1, 5-3 and 30-30. An ace and returnable serve later, it was all over. The Duke of Kent handed them their long soughtafter trophy, and confirmed their place in Wimbledon history.

Lost in all of this is the fact that the Italians have upended the prevailing train of thought in women’s tennis.

The theory has long been that power is all it takes to win, even on the women’s Tour.

If you do not have the muscles of a Venus or Serena Williams, you are going to struggle, or so it was said.

But this diminutive pair has proven that nothing could be further from the truth.

Vinci turned 31 on 18 February 18. When she was fourteen she played doubles with Flavia Pennetta, winning two Futures events in 1998 and the Junior French Open two months later.

At that time, the WTA circuit had not yet been monopolized by the two-handed backhand. Graf and Navratilova before, Henin and Mauresmo after, took up the cause of the classic backhand.

Francesca Schiavone most recently took that shot all the way to the French Open final, which she won. et, in Melbourne this year, Roberta Vinci told me that her backhand is much less effective today than it was ten years ago. The game has changed, she implied sadly, and it seems unlikely as if the one-handed backhand will be popular again in the near future.

Maybe, I thought, but, in the extreme standardization of women's tennis, a lone voice if often able to stand out and succeed despite bucking the prevailing trend.

Long a doubles specialist, Vinci made her second appearance in a main draw in Doha on 18 February 2001.

In the same year, she reached the quarter-finals in Paris, the semi-finals in New York and the final in Zurich, earning a qualification for the year-end Masters.

I do not mean to go through both these girls’ entire careers, but I will mention that Vinci changed partners early on in her career. She only started playing with Errani after the Fed Cup in 2009, and she has never looked back since.

Their first success came in Hobart, where they reached the semi-finals.

They did not have to wait long to celebrate their first victory, however, which came in Marbella the following April.

There they defeated the team of Kondratieva/Shvedova in the final. The following week they also won in Barcelona but, although that would be their last title for 2010.

2011 was a successful year in which they won a number of smaller titles, but it was only in 2012 that they truly started dominating the doubles Tour. They reached the Australian Open final, where they lost a close match to Kuznetsova and Zvonareva, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. The clay season of that year was the real turning point for them.

Successful trips to Acapulco, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome all culminated in Paris, where they won their first Major title together. They defeated the formidable team of Kirilenko/Petrova in the final, and a dynasty was born.

Beaten in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon by Hlavackova/Hradecka, Sara and Roberta cemented their reputation as the top doubles pair by winning the US Open a few months later.

After that victory, they became the world number one doubles team.

Of course, they often have to play each other in the singles draws of events, but when they do it never becomes a bone of contention. They simply move on from whatever the outcome was and focus on their doubles play.

Yet even though they held the top ranking, many people questioned their legitimacy, since they had not defeated the Williams sisters in a Grand Slam yet. Those critics would be silenced the following January, when they beat the Americans in the Australian Open quarter-finals 3-6, 7-6, 7-5. They went on to win the event as well, beating hometown favorites Barty and Dellacqua in the final.

Unfortunately, they lost in the final of Roland Garros to Peng/Hsieh, putting an end to any hopes of a calendar Grand Slam. It was ironic that they should lose there, since it was the launching platform for their continued success.

It was just a bad day – even the best players have them from time to time.

Though they lost early at the US Open, they reached three of four Grand Slam finals this year, and are still very much the team to beat.

They will be heading into 2015 full of confidence, and will be hoping that their dreams of another Grand Slam – this time a calendar one – is still alive.

Money Machine

by Laura Saggio Eugenie Bouchard is quickly rising up the WTA rankings. Not surprisingly, she is rising in the estimation of sponsors as well.

Eugenie Bouchard, the 20 year-old Canadian who has taken the WTA by storm, is not afraid of anything or anyone. She has already beaten some of the top players in the sport this year and seems to be getting better with every passing week. Her fearlessness is not limited to the court, either. Like Maria Sharapova, a player who she resembles in more ways than one, she seems intent on conquering the business world as well.

Sharapova’s business acumen has become legendary. For the past eight years she has been by far the best-paid female tennis player in the world. Indeed, for that stretch she has usually

world. All of this is, of course, due to sponsorships and endorsements, which earns Sharapova much more than her tennis winnings every year.

Bouchard is seemingly following in her footsteps. She recently signed a deal with CocaCola to become the face of its products in Canada. That is in addition to her existing deals with Nike, Babolat, Rogers Communications and USANA. Naturally, this pales in comparison with Sharapova’s stable of endorsement deals, which includes the likes of Avon, Porsche and Tag Heuer, among many others. She has even

Bouchard’s numbers aren’t exactly mesmerizing as of yet. She has beaten Top 10 players, but only won only one title

launched her own brands, most famously her launched her own brands, most famously her "Sugarpova" line of candy products.

That move, however, was not met with the same enthusiasm by everyone.

"I find it quite objectionable for athletes to support unhealthy foods like candy and soda pop," Tom Sanders, professor of Diabetes and Nutritional Sciences at King's College London, told the Financial Express. “We have seen the habit of smoking lessened over the past thirty years. Now is the time to do the same with unhealthy products."

Coke also has a line of sports drinks which many health advocates claim are extremely unhealthy, but so far nobody seems to have raised any objections to Bouchard’s link to those.

But of course in order to land these lucrative deals off the court, one needs to be very successful on the court. While things are certainly looking up for her, Bouchard’s numbers aren’t exactly mesmerizing as of yet.

She has beaten Top 10 players, but only won only one title (Nuremberg, where she beat Karolina Pliskova in the final). That being said, she is in the Top 10, and is already the highestranked Canadian woman in history. Early exists in Montreal and Cincinnati can likely be chalked up to inexperience, and she is likely to post quite a few more victories before the end of the year.

As for the outcome when Bouchard and Sharapova meet…it’s been pretty one-sided so far, with Sharapova winning all three their encounters.

If Sharapova had said that ten years ago, we would not have blinked. Perhaps they are even more alike than we thought.

Their latest clash was at the French Open semifinal, where Bouchard showed that she might soon be ready for the student to become the master.

At the moment, it seems a questions of “when” rather than “if” Bouchard will rise to the top of the sport.

Her motivation is very strong in this regard, and she has spoken at length that she wants to minimize distractions off the court.

“It is difficult to cultivate friendships, especially with women, in this arena,” she said recently.

“There are economic interests at stake, as well as our dreams.”

Competitive fires still burning for Martina Hingis

by David Cox

20 years after she first announced herself on the women’s tour as a 14 year old prodigy, the competitive fires remain undimmed for Martina Hingis. The five time Grand Slam champion has already retired twice from the game, but the lure of competition and the nagging suspicion that she’s still got what it takes to mix it with the best just keeps on pulling her back.

Having spent lengthy periods trying to replace the thrill of competition with horse riding, skiing and travelling, Hingis has grown to accept that her life will always be intertwined with tennis in one way or another. She’s dabbled with coaching, enjoying a brief but successful spell

with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in 2013 before joining forces with Sabine Lisicki for a period this year. However rather than leading to the onset of her next career, both ventures only served to convince Hingis that she’s not quite ready to hang up her racket competitively just yet. “I practised with Anastasia and we played a practise set against (Elena) Vesnina and (Ekaterina) Makarova,” she said. “Afterwards I thought I maybe still had some matches in me and that I should try it.” Hingis made her comeback during the North American hardcourt season alongside old friend Daniela Hantuchova last year.

However their partnership proved unsuccessful, yielding just three wins in five tournaments.

She considered retiring for good but then came Lisicki and a new role as coach/doubles partner.

The duo beat three of the best pairings in the world to win the Miami title in March and Hingis’ zest for the big time was back.

“I wouldn’t continue if I was just losing second round, third round all the time,” she told me.

“Winning a title kind of gives you confidence that you can still do it and that’s the goal right?

To go to the tournaments and win them. It was nice of Sabine to make that happen for me again.

I’m not there just to participate that’s not my thing.”

At 33 Hingis is still three months younger than recent Rogers Cup finalist Venus Williams and just a year older than Serena. And compared to the 43 year old Kimiko Date-Krumm she’s a spring chicken but she insists she has not plan to a resume a singles career.

“You can’t compare Kimiko Date to normal people,” she said. “I think she’s a real exception.

She was running marathons when she wasn’t playing tennis. I wouldn’t do that. Doubles is obviously not as physical as playing singles. You only have half a court to cover. You require a completely different attitude and dedication to playing singles while I’ve been on and off the last two, three months.”

Hingis split with Lisicki just before Wimbledon but she revealed that was largely down to different desires. Lisicki is looking to cut down her doubles appearances to focus on the singles game while Hingis would rather continue to play the occasional doubles tournament for now instead of throwing herself completely into fulltime coaching.

“It wasn’t a sudden decision with Sabine,” she said. “She has to focus on her singles and doing doubles was a bit too much for her as she really wants to focus on one thing. And doubles has gradually become my main focus again. Maybe we can work or play together again in the future but doing both became too much.”

Hingis has known Lisicki since she was ten years old, when she arrived at her mother’s training centre and both continue to provide her with advice as she seeks to reach a second Grand Slam final. For now Hingis has major ambitions of her own as she chases a big title with old friend Flavia Pennetta. They reached the Eastbourne final in June but Hingis says that she has to be a little smarter with her planning these days as recovery isn’t quite as easy.

“Playing four consecutive matches was a little tough,” she smiled. “Once you’re back into the routine again it’s a little easier but you have to be smart about your body.”

Hingis is also getting used to seeing another of her former adversaries around on tour, in Amelie Mauresmo – now the coach of Andy Murray. Hingis beat Mauresmo in the 1999 Australian Open final and they weren’t always the best of friends but she says she has huge admiration for the Frenchwoman in taking on such a high profile job.

“That takes a lot of courage,” she said.

“Especially taking it on before Wimbledon, the tournament he won last year. It shows character.

I mean what do you want to teach Andy Murray?

It can turn out great or it can go both ways. It’s definitely a different level. She’s helped Llodra before so she’s been around the boy’s game before but it’s still a different level to the women’s game.”

If Hingis herself returns to coaching in a few years, she says she definitely won’t be coaching on the ATP Tour but she believes Mauresmo has the qualities necessary to succeed.

“One thing which makes a difference is that she’s very smart about the game plan and everything. Regarding what she can teach Andy Murray, I think sometimes it’s about giving them the motivation and the courage and just so they have someone who believes. I think at this level that can make the difference.”

Money Matters

by Alessandro Varassi While the allocation of prize money has seen some changes over the past few years, especially at Grand Slam level, many players are calling for more to be done for lower-tier events and Masters 1000 tournaments.

"The players want more," Eric Butorac, the vice president of ATP Player’s Council, recently said at the Masters 1000 event in Toronto. He was speaking specifically about the prize money being awarded to the top players at the event, in relation to how much the tournaments earn.

Though prize money does increase on a yearly basis, players argue that while tournaments are benefiting from the increasing popularity of men’s tennis, they are not seeing a proportional increase in prize money.

The central argument, which is supported by most players, is that events benefit from the popularity of men's tennis in general, and top

players like Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray in particular. Yet these players are not getting a big enough slice of the pie, or so the argument goes.

A doubling of prize money is sought within four years, though much lower is reportedly being offered. Expect some intense negotiations in the coming years.

At the opposite end of the scale, players in smaller tournaments are suffering even more.

Futures events in particular are feeling the pinch of low prize money. Matteo Trevisan, a former world number one junior, is now ranked between 300 and 400 on a regular basis.

After recently winning the ITF tournament in Pontedera, he says he earned a profit of €840.

And it was, in his opinion, one of the best tournaments he’s ever had, since he lives quite close to the tournament and saved on accommodation. The situation is much worse for players who fall out in the early rounds. If you only play in the first round, you will earn as little as $100 in prize money for your troubles.

For players who don’t qualify for the main draw or play only doubles, the returns are almost laughable, especially considering that the doubles prize purse is usually only 25% of the total prize money for the tournament.

The winner of the Masters 1000 event in Toronto got 1000 rankings points and $600 000. A first round loser earned $11 000. In the doubles draw, a first round loss paid out $6 000.

ATP president Chris Kermode has addressed the inequality in prize money in the past, and has said it is a priority for the ATP. However, it has proven difficult to implement, given the strength of the top players in negotiations. The career of a tennis player is not long, and everybody is out to make as much money as quickly as they can. But the fear is that the income gap will only become bigger as time passes, with everyone playing at Masters 1000 and Grand Slam level being able to live well, while the other players live in near poverty.

Those who decide they cannot live on so little money, of course, have to find jobs after tennis, which can also prove hugely challenging. Not everyone can become a coach, and even those who do often earn very little.

How to intervene then? The answer is not easy, since Futures tournaments, like the Grand Slams, are organized by the ITF, not the ATP. It would thus take a lot of coordinated effort to make sure that players of all tiers are earning a living wage.

A few thousand dollars less in prize money for Federer or Nadal, while it won’t change their lives, can drastically aid a lower-ranked player.

Players competing weekly on the dusty fields of Futures and Challenger events are hoping that something can be done to help them That extra money could help them travel to tournaments previously financially out of reach for them, and might just be a stepping stone to them achieving greater success in the future.

Botorac’s words have echoed far and wide in the tennis world. Players competing weekly on the dusty fields of Futures and Challenger events are hoping that something can be done to help them in their quest for tennis fame.

The journey certainly won’t be easy, but hopefully the first steps have been taken.

Harmony On The Court

by Sara Di Paolo

The day starts with a train at 7:20 and a flight at 9:50. After a stopover and arriving at the hotel, it’s directly to a training session at 18:00.

Heavy bags are lugged along every step of the journey, and the only company is an iPod loaded with the latest songs.

This is, for many tennis players, a typical day.

Not a complete reflection, of course, but close enough. Many people think that a good physique and a strong forehand is enough to make a success of oneself on Tour.

In reality, that is not nearly enough.

human issues. For example, being a touring pro means you spend many weeks and months away from home, family and friends.

Your coaching team, if you are lucky enough to have one, becomes your family. But for most pros having a full-time coach is not affordable.

They are forced to befriend other players on the Tour and use them as stand-in family and friends. Sharing hotel rooms with these people, which might seems uncomfortable for others at first, becomes a welcome reprieve from the loneliness for many a touring player.

The strength you need When you think about what tennis players need to succeed, it rarely comes to mind that they have to deal with some very mundane, but very real,

And so you survive...

Yet relying on fellow players for friendship and companionship is a double edged sword. The Tour is a very competitive place, and everyone is out to make a name for themselves. Often the realities of the court intrude on friendships.

"I'm not sure that the court is the best place for friendships,” Eugenie Bouchard said recently.

“Tennis is rivalry. It is important to remember that we are facing each other every week. We are not here to do a reunion – this is really a very

competitive environment. Some people have friends on Tour. I do not. That's it."

A formula for harmony Thoughts dictated by age? Or perhaps just the tensions generated by some healthy competition?

Yet good chemistry between us and the people around us is vital to a happy, healthy life. It affects many aspects of our games as well, both from a physical and mental standpoint.

Harmony on the court is a difficult thing to achieve, but ultimately very important.

When one is not alone, everything becomes easier. A sorrow shared is halved; happiness

shared is doubled.

Sharing life Nestor and Zimonjic, Llodra and Mahut, Soares and Peya, Roger Vasselin and Benneteau, but also Vesnina and Makarova, Babos and Mladenovic, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.

These doubles pairs have been playing together for years and seem bound at the hip.

But how do you get there? How do you manage to play so closely with another person for so long and not become irritated with one another?

“Mike and I have shared our lives since we were kids,” Bob Bryan said of their relationship. “In addition to our contests on PlayStation, tennis has always been the center of our entertainment.

Our secret lies in the fact that we are able to both encourage and challenge each other. Thanks to our special bond, we know when it's time to push and when it’s time to pull back. Together we are good, and on the court we are one."

But it's not just about the blood ties, as in the case of the Bryan brothers.

Sure, family ties can help a doubles pair, as we have also seen with Venus and Serena Williams, but they are not enough to ensure success.

Players need to be willing to sacrifice for each other, share common aspirations and have a good chemistry. A lot of things need to click for a good doubles pair to play well together.

Errani and Vinci Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci have been the top doubles pair in the world for some time now.

"Our passion for tennis allows us to have fun taking advantage of what we do every day. Our teams and our families are always there ready to support us. Without them it would be impossible for all of this. We have a desire to compete which has never abandoned us. Thanks to the experience we had in Fed Cup, we were able to build our relationship.�

What is their secret? It’s not easy to say.

A supportive affection is important, which is free from all antagonism (which is difficult in an individual sport like tennis).

An often overlooked fact is that they do not neglect their doubles play in order to do better in singles. This might make them more money, but they choose to focus more on doubles because it strengthens their partnership, which in turn leads to better results.

Finding the perfect doubles partner is not easy, and we can see this reality from the fact that so many partnerships end soon after they begin.

But once players find the perfect partner, they almost always stay together for years.

This speaks to the fact that we all want positive influences in our lives.

In the case of the players, this applies to both on and off the court.

At the end of the day, a good forehand will only get you so far.

Living in harmony with your environment and the people in it is ultimately much more important.

The Concept Of Peak Performance

by Laura Saggio

n previous issues, we focused on attentional capacity, its refocusing and the importance of visualization. Today we will look at mental preparation as a function of competition. Mental abilities play an important role in any sport, and some are the same in all sports (anxiety management, focus, concentration) while others are more specifically related to the intricacies of specific sports.

In tennis (which is an individual sport that does not include the possibility of a tie, which has no time limit and in which the result is guaranteed only at the end of the match), mental preparation is incredibly important. It is often said that in tennis the mind makes the difference, and this is true. The player who is stronger mentally is more likely to come through, even if that player’s technique is not as good as his opponent’s.

Mental Training consists of learning different psychological techniques that aim to control and modify certain behaviors and mental experiences.

The purpose of these techniques is to work on the psychological development of the athlete in order to improve performance and efficiency.

Thus, Mental Training is a systemic training of mental attitudes, and as with all forms of training can be learned and practiced.

Fatigue, stress and tension are all factors that can affect technical, motor and mental aspects of a person’s game.

One of the objectives of Mental Training is to achieve peak performance, a particular psychophysical condition, which is the result of the balance between the functions of the two cerebral hemispheres: 1) Left hemisphere: dominant, analyzer, home centers and mathematical language. Responsible for the contraction of muscles, motor activity, learning of technical movements and tactical strategies.

2) Right hemisphere: supplemental, interested in image processing, creative processes, presides over the control of automatic movements.

The more an athlete can, through mental exercises, control the functions of the left hemisphere and walk on court with the emphasis on the right hemisphere, the more

If you learn effective cognitive strategies, you will have a significant advantage over an opponent who is struggling to focus. easily peak.

This is the “state of grace” that allows for an “easy” performance.

The main features of peak performance are: • Overcoming usual standards of play • Clear focus • High level of performance • Spontaneity and strong sense of self The sportsman in a state of peak performance feels fluid and technically proficient, as well as free, safe and lightweight with better timing, concentration and focus. He is able to manage anxieties and make accurate strategic decisions.

Seen from outside, the tennis player seems almost absent, as if nothing could disturb him.

He is fully focused on his feelings and tactics.

Once again we have seen that the mind is the central engine of the sport.

If you learn effective cognitive strategies, you will have a significant advantage over an opponent who is struggling to focus.

Check out your mind is the first 15 of each game.

SpingGen - more spin, less effort

by Ly Yang

The modern game of tennis is dominated by the amount of spin that players can impart to the ball. Creating more topspin allows players to hit the ball harder while still keeping the ball in control. Teninova has developed a product, SpinGen, to enhance string performance on a tennis racket. In just five minutes anyone can treat their strings to generate more spin and achieve greater control over the ball.

Despite the importance of spin, until recently it was not well understood how spin is generated.

A 10,000-frame-per-second high speed camera has shown that spin is generated by the slide and snap back movement of the main strings on the racket. SpinGen works by roughening the top surface of the main strings only where it is needed - where the string touches the tennis ball. The main strings can then grasp the tennis ball better. Underneath, the smoother interstring surfaces allow strings to slide freely. This ensures that the main strings can slide and snap back efficiently for spin generation.

Many string manufacturers make shaped/profiled strings as well as textured/rough strings that can grasp the ball well when they are new. However, they become smooth quickly on the racket sweet spot after only a few hours of play and are no longer effective in spin generation. With SpinGen, you can revive the strings to make them effective again for spin generation.

Besides reviving the shaped and textured tennis strings, SpinGen can also be used to roughen traditional round and smooth strings, such as the popular Luxilon Alu Power string. By roughening only the top surface of the main strings, SpinGen can make your stringbed ideal for spin generation. he SpinGen can also be used to revive the spin strings when their top surfaces become smooth as shown in the 3 pictures below. Left: Textured spin strings when new Middle: After 2-3 hours of play, the top surface of the string becomes smooth in the racket sweet spot, and can no longer effectively generate spin. Right: Use SpinGen to roughen the top surface of the main strings to regain the spin generation capability.

We conducted a simple rebound experiment to measure the increased spin capability. We shot batches of tennis balls at an angle to a mounted tennis racquet, before and after SpinGen was applied to the strings, and then we marked the locations where the balls landed (red spots are from the strings before SpinGen was applied, blue spots are from the strings after SpinGen was applied).

The balls consistently bounced off the SpinGen roughened string bed with more spin, which is why the balls curved more towards the center line perpendicular to the string bed.

The strings roughened withSpinGen grab the ball with increased friction and snap back with more power for spin generation.

Our website has more information on this experiment and data analysis.

The SpinGen idea came about when Lu lost a tennis match using a newly strung racket with round, smooth strings coated with Teflon. Lu is an avid tennis player and noticed it was harder to generate spin with these smoother strings. As an engineer, Lu started to think of ways of roughening the strings for optimal spin, and decided to design a tool to make only the top surface of the strings rough, while leaving the rest of the string smooth for quick slide and snap back action. http://www.highspintennis.com