Tennis World 10

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INTERNATIONAL number 10 ISSN 2075-6526

Count On Kim The Queen Of New York Triumphs Again

Nadal’s Career Grand Slam On His Way To Becoming The Best Ever?

Pro Advice

Interviews

Which Is The Best Backhand?

How To Hit The Perfect Volley

Vera Zvonareva Raven Klaasen Johan Kriek

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Tennis World Published by Matchball Tennis

Editor’s Letter

Editor & director Federico Coppini federico.coppini@matchballtennis.com

Utter Domination: Nadal And Spain Rule The US Open

Contributors Pietie Norval, Danie Morkel, Matt Traverso, Jaco Burger, Wendy Chadwick (SATA) Collaboration Tennis World is published in collaboration with Matchpoint Tennis Magazine (Italy).

Special thanks to director Daniele Azzolini and his editing team.

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In this issue

With the US Open having come to a close, we can confidently say that Rafael Nadal is truly the best player in the world. He won an incredible three out of four Slams this year and, at just 24 years of age, has already completed a career Grand Slam and bagged nine Majors.

Federer’s record of 16 – which seemed so far ahead just a few months ago – could now be in real jeopardy.

For 41 years no tennis player has managed to complete a calendar Grand Slam, but with Nadal having won three straight Slams on clay, grass and now hard court, he seems poised to one day hold that coveted record as well.

Federer, on the other hand, seems to have been reduced to the role of observer as the other players pass him. Nadal, and a number of others, have worked hard on their games and are constantly improving. The Spaniard realised that it is no longer good enough to be the best only on clay – he wants to dominate on other surfaces as well, and has tweaked his serve and other elements to this end.

Schiavone

Perhaps more impressive than Nadal’s run at the US Open was the number of Spaniards who joined him in the round of 16: no fewer than six!

In contrast to this, I have not been able to register much growth in the women’s game. Quite the opposite, in fact. I am thrilled for Kim Clijsters, who has once again defied the odds to win her third US Open title, but her triumph raises a question: why is it that the “veterans” always dominate the scene?

The Americans did poorly on their home turf, and didn’t achieve anything of note. However, there are some encouraging signs at the junior level. It would be great if America could again have its say in the world of tennis.

Gasquet

From this issue onwards, Tennis World comes to you in three different formats: −

www.tennisworldsa.com – for South African readers

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www.tennisworldusa.org – for American readers

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www.tennisworlditalia.com – for Italian readers

Tennis World now boasts three magazines and as many sites that will bring you the most relevant tennis news every day. As of the end of October, Tennis World will also be available for the iPad. And of course we also have our iPhone app, where you can find all the latest news, interviews and pictures of your favourite players and tournaments. More importantly, a section on tennis technique with videos and information will help you improve your game. Tennis World is proud to always be one step ahead, just like its readers!

Federico Federico Coppini federico.coppini@matchballtennis.com

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Contents

TennisWorld #10 PLAYER FEATURES

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Mardy Fish Richard Gasquet Mikhail Youzhny Ryan Harrison Francesca Schiavone

US OPEN 2010

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Nadal Conquers Flushing Meadows The US Open in Review The Big Debate: Is Nadal the Best Player Ever?

Disappointments and Revelations at The US Open Down Memory Lane – A Trip to Forest Hills Courting Controversy: Foot Faults US Open Juniors Men’s Scorecard Men’s Draw Women’s Draw

FEATURES 48 Davis Cup: France Into Final 64 Classic Tennis Reads – Corina Morariu 74 Kainos Tennis Academy INTERVIEWS 47 Vera Zvonareva 66 Raven Klaasen 69 Johan Kriek PRO TALK

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The Art and Science of the Perfect Volley The Better Backhand Debate Primal Tennis Visualisation in Tennis

© 2010 TWSA. Permission Required to re-use any information in printed or digital format.

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From Worst To First

Rafael Nadal’s Incredible Return To The Top

By Francesco Posteraro

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ust over a year ago, the tennis world was treated to one of the most merciless beat downs the sport had seen in a long time. It was the US Open semi-final, and Juan Martin Del Potro was the only man standing between a Federer-Nadal final.

With only a handful of people cheering him on from his box – compared to the dozens the other top players continually cram into their courtside space – the young Argentine set about dismantling his opponent. What followed was the worst Grand Slam loss of Rafael Nadal’s career – he won only six games. It set the tone for the rest of his year, which ended with him failing to

win a single set at the prestigious ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Fast forward to a year later, and things couldn’t be more different. The very people who had written him off in January are now again singing his praises, with some even calling him the greatest player ever. It is a statement Nadal himself wants nothing to do with – he believes history will be his judge, not today’s fickle journalists.

Yet whatever he says, he cannot deny that he now truly ranks among the sport’s greatest legends. By triumphing at Flushing Meadows he is only the seventh man in tennis history to com-

plete a career Grand Slam (the others being Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer).

This year Nadal won three straight Grand Slams, a feat so extraordinary that only one other man has managed it in the Open Era: the great Rod Laver.

But what sets Nadal’s accomplishment apart is the fact that he won all three his Slams on different surfaces. In Laver’s days, the Slams were played only on grass and clay.

Of course the US Open was the Spaniard’s ninth Major victory, which Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

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Yet Nadal’s brilliance lies beyond numbers. His solidity on the court is truly breathtaking, and it seems fair to say that he is one of the greatest defensive player ever to set foot on a tennis court – even on a bad day you have to hit three winners against him before walking away with a point. His focus never wavers, and he plays each point as if it’s the last. He can raise his game at the drop of a hat and is constantly improving his game at a technical level – as was obvious with his serve at Flushing Meadows. He was broken less than half a dozen times throughout the whole tournament, which is a testament to how powerful that shot has become.

When Nadal is in this kind of form there is only one man who can truly rival him.

Unfortunately, Roger Federer has not been at his best since January, leaving Nadal without any real competition on the Grand Slam stage. It is true that time might finally be taking his toll on the great Swiss maestro, and a quick study of Grand Slam history reveals

that very few of those hallowed trophies are won by players as old as Federer. But there are exceptions – Andre Agassi’s incredible late blooming comes to mind – and if he can stay healthy there is every chance that the reigning Australian Open champion will return to top form at some point. It probably won’t be for long periods, as has been the case in the past, but those times will still be glorious. One can only hope that his future peak periods will bring him in contact with Nadal, for it is undeniable that they have given us the greatest rivalry in tennis history.

Together they have accounted – since Roland Garros in 2005 – for 21 of the 23 Grand Slam titles. That is truly an incredible proportion. It is something the sport has never seen before, and will likely never be seen again. These two men have defined tennis over the past five years, and it just won’t be the same once they stop winning everything in sight.

But who will step up once they are gone? Andy Murray has long been mentioned as a possible candidate for Grand Slam glory, but so far he has only disappointed his many fans. At the US Open – where many people thought he was the favourite – he failed to even make it to the second week. The two finalists at the European Majors also failed to live up to expectations. Robin Soderling was overpowered by an awesome Federer, while Berdych delivered

Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

places him ahead of Jimmy Connors but two short of Bjorn Borg. His is also just behind Borg in another incredible category: number of Slams won at the age of 24 (Borg had just one more than Nadal has now). But there is certainly no shame in finishing second to the legendary Swede in that race. Indeed, at his age Wilander and Sampras had only seven, and giants like Laver and Federer had six each. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that such a statistic cannot be taken simply at face value. Some players mature later than others, and just because they are successful early in their career doesn’t mean they will be later on. That being said, it is still an unbelievable feat that shows just how dominant a force Nadal has been.

a meek performance in the first round against Michael Llodra.

Novak Djokovic surprised most pundits by making it to the final of the US Open for the second time in his career. The Serb has been far from consistent this year, and struggled initially to find his rhythm (he was pushed to five sets by Victor Troicki in the first round), but after that first stumble he never looked back. He came into the final with a winning record against Nadal on hard courts, but he struggled from the get-go to assert himself. His serve, which has lost much of the bite that it had during his victorious 2008 Australian Open campaign, earned him few cheap points, and his ground strokes didn’t quite have the power to conquer the speedy Nadal. He also has the potential of becoming a true rival for the world number one, but there are things in his game that he needs to address before that can happen.

Perhaps with the return of Juan Martin Del Potro we will see a renewed competitiveness in the Top 5, but as things stand at the moment there is really only one name in men’s tennis: Rafael Nadal. (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

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US Open 2010

The Beautiful Game

By Stefano Semeraro

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eauty is a sensitive topic to deal with, and sport is no exception.

Sofia Loren, or Cate Blanchett – to stay within the Open era – are stunning women without a doubt, but you can be certain that a discussion on the topic would inevitably prompt someone to explain to you that true beauty is instead to be found in Grace Kelly. Ancient Greece was fond of proportions and symmetry, the Baroque period of quibbles and deceit.

“So what? What has this got to do with tennis?” you may be wondering. A lot, actually. While watching the men’s final of the last US Open, John McEnroe said something like “Look at what Djokovic and Nadal are doing! It’s unbelievable to see how these new materials and training methods have changed the sport.”

McEnroe, of course, sparred with Jimmy

Connors, Ivan Lendl, Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker, using deft touch and sneaky angles to overcome his opponents.

These days it’s all about brute power.

Was it a “beautiful” final, then? Personally I would say it was. Not a classic, but as beautiful, intense and exciting as a boxing match could be. Not the most beautiful final in the history of the US Open by far, but good enough to make us understand that each era has its own standards, and that behind what seemed simply like a show of force there was balance and finesse, strategy and quick wits.

Rafa’s career Grand Slam Behind the New York final there is also, of course, history. History made by Rafael Nadal, who became, at only 24 years and 3 months, the 7th player in

history to have won each Slam at least once. The US Open was his third straight Major victory – his ninth in total (Federer had only six at his age) – and only his second on hard courts. It’s worth remembering that he also won the Davis Cup with Spain and an Olympic Gold medal in singles.

Many thought he would never conquer Flushing Meadows. Indeed, it is the Slam that has given him the most problems in the past, and he never even reached the final before this year.

He was perhaps aided by a soft draw: Teymuraz Gabashvili and Denis Istomin were cannon fodder, and first-time-dad Gilles Simon’s mind was obviously elsewhere. Feliciano Lopez crumbled like he always does, and Fernando Verdasco was exhausted after a marathon match David Ferrer in the quarter-finals. Mikhail Youzhny played poorly in the semis, leaving many to wonder how he got there in the first place. The only man who could have plausibly stopped Nadal – Andy Murray – once again wilted in the heat and expectations of the Grand Slam stage.

Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

Without a single set Nadal arrived at the big match without having dropped a set throughout the tournament (he has only lost six in the last three Slams). In addition, he had only dropped serve once. Truly impressive, but again half the credit should go to his less-than-stellar competition. In the final, though, he played like a monster – by far the best we’ve seen from him in New York.

“The frustrating thing with Nadal,” Djokovic said at the end, with good humour we might add, “is that he gets better each time you play against him.”

There’s no arguing with that. Nadal has changed his strings to give him more 14

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spin with less effort. He’s also changed his serve, turning it from one of the worst in the Top 10 into one of the best.

He relies more on his slice backhand and flattens out his forehand with greater efficacy than ever before. Without a doubt this is Nadal 2.0, and he hasn’t stopped improving yet.

“He is so strong mentally, so dedicated to this sport,” Djokovic continued. “I don’t know for how long he will play. He now has the right tennis for every surface, he has won all the Slams. He has demonstrated that he is the best in the world at the moment, and he already has what it takes to become the strongest of all time.”

That last statement is already being discussed by tennis fans the world over.

Federer’s defeat in the semi-final raises questions about his candidacy for being called the greatest of all time. What does the loss mean? Sunset, pause, decline? Drawing conclusions based only on one tournament is often risky – even Djokovic said so – but looking at a whole year is perfectly normal, and so one must say that after the dazzling performance at the Australian Open, Federer has been pretty average.

Although he played well in New York through the quarters, he was very unconvincing against the Serb. His serve was off and he disappeared for two sets when he should have closed out the match. Perhaps worst of all is the fact that he let two match points slide without much of a fight. The explanation he provided for his performance left many perplexed: “I let those two sets almost slip away because I was thinking of the fatigue I would accumulate ahead of the final,” he said. “When you play match points and you’re not serving you always try to play safe, because you don’t know

if you’re going to get more.” Those are certainly not the words of the Federer we know.

Despite all the doom and gloom surrounding Federer at the moment, there is little doubt that he will regain his form at some point. He is pretty likely to win another Slam at some point, but one thing is certain: he’ll never again dominate the Majors as he did in the past.

Murray disappoints again After dumping his coach and winning Toronto, many expected Murray to make a deep run at the US Open. Unfortunately for his fans, they were again treated to a sub-par performance from the Scot.

Passive play and inconsistency hurt him against Stanislas Wawrinka, who played a great match and was able to overcome a sloppy Murray. It was once assumed that he would win a Slam eventually, but after so many missed opportunities one cannot help but wonder if that day will ever come for Murray.

Youzhny’s second wind After four years and seemingly out of nowhere, Mikhail Youzhny returned to the US Open semi-final. He was the beneficiary of an easy draw thanks to Murray’s early exit and Wawrinka’s exhaustion, but the Russian played well and deserved to be in the last four. Sadly he showed why he hasn’t been playing in the latter stages of Grand Slams once he came up against Nadal. He just doesn’t have the firepower to compete consistently with the big dogs, and the Spaniard easily picked him apart.

Six Spaniards in the last 16 Now for some team performance. The Spaniards were utterly dominant at this year’s US Open, advancing no fewer than six players to the round of 16. One entire

quarter of the draw was monopolised by the Spanish Davis Cup team that triumphed in 2009: Nadal, Lopez, Ferrer and Verdasco. The last time something like that happened was in 1981, when the Americans dominated similarly.

Spaniards have always done well at the US Open. Arantxa Sanchez won here in 1994, and Juan Carlos was a finalist in 2003. The only thing that has changed is the fact that there are now more of them doing well. This is all thanks to the fact that these days Spanish tennis focuses as much on hard courts as it does on traditional clay courts. It is a tactic that has worked well. “It is not a matter of their physical attributes,” John McEnroe says of the Spanish, “but of what they learn.”

The Spaniards were born on clay, “where making a mistake is a crime,” says Josè Higueras, who works for the US Tennis Federation these days. “They have transferred the same mindset across to cement,” he explains, “they have never been afraid of running for kilometres to score a point. But now they also know how to run forward, not just sideways.”

But if the secret for success was this simple, he would have shared it with the Americans. Unfortunately for them, however, they again failed to produce a star at their home Slam.

Sam Querrey was the last Yank standing, but he lost in the fourth round to Wawrinka. Ryan Harrison was a bit of a bright spark, but he fell to Sergiy Stakhovsky in the third round. The old warhorse, Andy Roddick, didn’t even make it that far. Incredibly, no local favourite has won his home Slam since Roddick in 2003, and by the look of things that’s not likely to change anytime soon. (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine TennisWorld

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Like Fish In A Barrel Nadal dominates Flushing Meadows

By Rino Tommasi

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EW YORK - Yes, Rafael Nadal is the best player in the world. If there were any lingering doubts in some people’s minds, those were surely put to bed at the US Open. But no sooner has that argument been settled than another one reveals its ugly head. Before the awards ceremony was even finished I was already girding myself for the inevitable debate: is Nadal the best player ever?

The best we can do is make a list of the greatest tennis players who ever lived, and leave it at that. This latest US Open has done nothing to change that list: Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Rod Laver and Andre Agassi all deserve to be mentioned, but then again so do Lewis Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Jack Kramer and many others. Beyond that the decision of who is the best of them all boils down to personal taste and which statistic or accomplishment you focus on.

Instead of dwelling on an argument we cannot possibly resolve, I am more interested in thinking about the end of last season. Nadal was absolutely destroyed by Juan Martin Del Potro in the US Open semi-final, and left the ATP World Tour Finals without even the consolation of a single set. Many had written him off, saying his career would go into a downward spiral from now on.

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Djokovic put up a good fight in the final at Flushing Meadows – stealing the only set of the tournament from Nadal – but ultimately he was unable to tame the Spanish bull. Perhaps he had spent too much energy in defeating Federer in the semi-final. Only a few months ago, after his Australian Open win, people were proclaiming the Swiss as the greatest ever, but at the US Open it was once again his failure to covert opportunities that undid him.

Many people – myself included – consider the ability to play big points well one of the most important talents

Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

Those who have the patience to read my columns will know that my position on this subject is very clear, even though it may be unsatisfactory to most. There is no way, as far as I am concerned, of identifying the best player who has ever set foot on a tennis court. The reasoning is simple: there is just no adequate method to compare the players from various eras because they are simply too different.

Yet here we are a year later, and instead of discussing his decline we are debating his greatness. He can now proudly add his name to the small list of career Grand Slam winners, even though he is still somewhat shy of the calendar Grand Slam that Don Budge and Rod Laver both managed (the latter twice).

Of course these days it is much more difficult to win all four Slams in the same year, as three different surfaces come into play instead of two. That being said, winning three in the same year is still a wonderful accomplishment indeed.

a tennis player can have. One can only wonder how the rivalry between Federer and Nadal would have changed had the Swiss maestro not let those two match points slip in Rome back in 2006. Is many ways it set the tone for their rivalry from that point on.

Federer has had particular trouble taking advantage of his opportunities this year, squandering match points in Indian Wells against Baghdatis and in Miami against Berdych, not to mention against Djokovic at the US Open. One can even think as far back as his missed match point opportunity against Marat Safin at the 2005 Australian Open. But of course nobody is perfect, so we can forgive Federer these small mistakes in

an otherwise truly stellar career. And Roger was not in bad form at all at the US Open – the way he dealt with Robin Soderling in tough conditions was truly inspiring, so it’s not all bad news for the Swiss.

I know I have said this before, and I don’t like to repeat myself, but I just have to once again condemn the tradition of Super Saturday at the US Open.

If the directors of the BBC, which broadcasts Wimbledon, were to propose a similar thing to the All England Club, they would be laughed out of the room. It is unfortunate that the ATP and WTA do not seem concerned about the problem, and it seems we will be stuck with Super Saturday for years to come.

Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

Another controversial topic at the US Open is that of the roofless stadium. For three straight years the men’s final has had to be postponed due to bad weather, and it looks as if a solution to this dilemma is far off.

Even Wimbledon – where rain had become part of the tournament’s tradition – has finally relented and roofed its Centre Court. When Arthur Ashe Stadium was built the organisers should have recognised the opportunity to build a roofed stadium, but instead opted for a bigger one that is exposed to the elements. It is a shame, since we will have to live with the consequences of that decision for a very long time.

Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

To come back to Djokovic, its worth pointing out how hard he fought to reach the final. The Serb has had a topsy-turvy season, and didn’t start the tournament well (he very nearly lost a tight five setter against countryman Victor Troicki in the first round). However, he really turned it around after that, dismissing Fish, Monfils and Federer.

Nadal just proved to be a bridge too far.

Of course there was also a women’s tournament, but I hope readers will forgive me if I don’t spend much time analysing it. The event was a bit of a disappointment, and the absence of Serena Williams and Justine Henin was sorely felt. I predicted from the start that Kim Clijsters would again win the tournament, and I was proved right. It is remarkable that she has been able to come back and win this Slam twice after such a long absence. Unfortunately, the final was a blowout that brought little joy for tennis fans. Vera Zvonareva didn’t learn from the lessons of her Wimbledon final and was completely overwhelmed by her Belgian opponent.

I hope that the injured elite of women’s tennis will make a swift recovery, and that a highly competitive Australian Open awaits us. (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine TennisWorld

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The Calm After The Storm US Open 2010

Men’s draw The tournament has just ended and, as always, nostalgia is settling in. The crowd, the energy and the constant noise have been replaced by silence, reflection and contemplation. It is in such a mood that we look back at the 2010 US Open, surveying the highs, the lows and everything in-between.

The two sides of Roger Federer It seems that each time Roger Federer steps on a tennis courts there is some sort of first taking place. The first man to win 16 Grand Slams. The first man to make it to 23 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals. The first man to be world number one for 237 consecutive weeks.

Yet this year has been one of many negative firsts for the Swiss maestro – something he is definitely not used to. For the first time in five years he didn’t make it to the semi-finals at Roland Garros, and he failed to make the final at Wimbledon for the first time since 2003. The US Open was also the scene of an unhappy first – he didn’t make the final, something he has done every year since 2004.

Yet despite his relatively poor form since the Australian Open, there have been signs of life late in the season. The “old Roger” reappeared in Toronto and Cincinnati – the Roger who is focused from first point to last, whose footwork is always perfect and whose offensive masterstrokes consistently overwhelm opponents. He carried those traits into the US Open, and for the first five matches destroyed everyone who crossed his path without dropping a set.

But in the semi-final he was hesitant and sloppy, beating himself without any help from Novak Djokovic. After that performance the whispers started up again. Has he lost his touch? Does he still care about tennis? Is he injured? He has hinted that his back has been far from perfect lately, and judging by his 18

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semi-final showing at Flushing Meadows we can easily believe it. That being said, we would be fools to write off the great Roger Federer. With Paul Annacone in his corner Federer has been steadily returning to his old self, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he came back strongly sooner rather than later.

Rafa on a roll With his great rival struggling, Rafael Nadal has been reigning uncontested over the ATP World Tour. So far this season he has won three Grand Slams and three Masters Series 1000 events, and he’s stacked his schedule for the rest of the year, so it seems he’s far from done.

Perhaps most impressively, Nadal has seemed more comfortable on hard courts and grass than ever before. This is no doubt due to his greatly improved serve, which is allowing him to win more free points than in the past.

Even though he’s completed a career Grand Slam, we can rest assured that Nadal’s focus won’t waver for one second. I’ve never seen anyone able to hit each ball from January 1st to December 31st with the same intensity and energy, and each new milestone seems to spur the Spaniard on rather than dim his motivation. If he can stay healthy, he could totally prevent Federer from winning another Slam.

Djokovic returns to the top Nobody struggled more in the first half of the season that Novak Djokovic. His serve totally abandoned him – he still averages more double faults than aces – and he had his fair share of healthrelated issues. It seemed that his freefall would continue at the US Open, as he came within a few points of losing his first round match against Victor Troicki.

But after that early hiccup he went from strength to strength, dismissing formidable opponents one after the other. He seems to have finally gotten his groove

back, and he exorcised a number of demons by beating Federer in the semifinals. It must be said, however, that the Swiss was far from his best on that fateful Saturday, and Djokovic proved himself to be no match for a red-hot Nadal in the championship match. The Serb is certainly on the right path, but there is still a long way to go before he becomes a legitimate contender for the Majors.

Unfulfilled promise: Murray and Berdych Nobody would blame Andy Murray’s fans for feeling utterly disillusioned after his performance in New York. Again he was one of the favourites to win the title, and again he came up short in a big way. He’s really having a disappointing season, especially considering that he reached the final at the Australian Open. Once touted as a shoo-in for the number one spot, he’s now barely hanging on to his number four ranking.

As has been the case throughout the season, Murray was unable to remain consistent in his third round match against Stanislas Wawrinka. The Scotsman is capable of the most wonderful things on a tennis court, but unfortunately he too often follows the sublime with the ridiculous in the same match. He can’t decide if he wants to be passive or aggressive, and though the blending of these two styles often serves him well, at critical points his indecision costs him dearly.

Tomas Berdych is similar to Murray in many ways. He was marked at a young age as a future Grand Slam champion, but has failed to live up to his abilities and the great expectations people have for him. He has greatly improved over the past year, reaching the final at Wimbledon and the semi-final at the French Open, yet he is still wildly inconsistent.

You never know what you are going to get when he steps on the court, and

his lack of diversity hurts him in tight situations. This was all too clear in his first-round match against Michael Llodra at Flushing Meadows. He couldn’t mix up his game enough to trouble the wily Frenchman, and the result was a very early exit for the Czech.

The Other Also-Rans It’s worth mentioning both Marco Baghdatis and David Nalbandian, who have returned from horrific injuries to play very well over the course of the American summer. Unfortunately, however, they aren’t quite ready to contend with the big dogs on a regular basis. As they become more match fit, however, this should change. Keep an eye on these two over the coming months, as they are sure to make a big impact on the Tour in one way or another. Marin Cilic, too, has been struggling of late, but such a talented young player cannot be out of the mix for too long. He’s sure to make a big push as the season comes to a close.

Women’s draw A mostly disappointing level Overall, the women’s game is going through a bit of a dry spell. None of the players are competing at a consistently high level, and it seems that each week someone new is hitting a hot streak only to fade away at the next tournament.

The US Open did nothing to reaffirm our confidence in women’s tennis, with onesided battles and uninteresting matches dominating throughout the two weeks of the event. The final in particular was a major disappointment, and it seems like forever since we were treated to a competitive Grand Slam final.

Clijsters is the boss With that in mind, and remembering that Serena Williams was out of the US Open thanks to an injury, it comes as no surprise that Kim Clijsters again dominated in New York. There’s just something about Flushing Meadows that turns the Belgian – who has been inconsistent throughout the year – into an unbeatable monster. Her footwork was incredible in every match, and she used her wide variety of shots smartly to confuse and

befuddle her opponents. She might not have a major weapon, but she doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses either. Her ability to take the ball early helps her on the fast courts at the US Open, and that was ultimately what helped her outdo players like Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva.

Waiting for Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki was the biggest disappointment of the US Open, despite the fact that she made it to the semi-final.

She was widely seen as the favourite to win the event, seeing as she bagged three titles in a row coming into the US Open. Her forehand and fitness are much improved, and she used those elements to good effect early in the tournament. In the semi-final, however, they broke down completely. One cannot help but wonder: was it the pressure that got to her, or was she simply exhausted from playing too much tennis this summer? It seems likely that both factors played a role in her implosion, and next year she would be well advised to take some time off before coming to Flushing Meadows.

Zvonareva – So close and yet so far Vera Zvonareva showed that she belongs in the top tier of women’s tennis by following her Wimbledon final appearance with another one at the US Open.

Her newfound confidence has helped her to stay calm in situations where should would have lost control in years past. She can play with pace, but also likes to slow things down and move her opponents around. It’s good to see her finally living up to the vast potential she’s always had, and all of her hard work seems to be finally paying off. The final was a blowout – as it had been in Wimbledon – but we have no doubt that she’ll be able to take that final step to Grand Slam glory soon.

Shining beacons in the dark While most of the women’s matches were rather boring affairs, there were still some truly delightful encounters.

Sam Stosur played a wonderful match against Elena Dementieva, and the Australian can certainly beat anyone when the mood strikes her. She still struggles

with consistency and mental toughness, but hopefully that will come in time.

Her opponent in the French Open final – Francesca Schiavone – also played some beautiful tennis on occasion. She has a wonderful tactical mind, always trying to outwit and outmanoeuvre her opponents.

Andrea Petkovic deserves a mention as well, since she always seems able to thrill the crowd with her grit and perseverance. She won her match against Nadia Petrova 7-6 in the third, saved three match points against Bethanie Mattek-Sands and finished that match with a mesmerising forehand winner. She might not be particularly consistent, but it’s still joy watching her play.

Players to watch out for While they might not have done enough to make deep runs at the US Open, there were several player who displayed some potential. Among them are two formers top players: Ana Ivanovic and Dominika Cibulkova. Ivanovic has been working hard of late and seems to have a calmness on the court that we haven’t seen for years. Her forehand is a weapon again, and if she can keep healthy we’ll be seeing some big things from her in the near future.

Cibulkova – the former world number 13 – is still young and showed some tremendous improvement at Flushing Meadows.

Her footwork is amazing and should help her climb the rankings again. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrea Petkovic are also players that are poised for big finishes to the year. The young Russian has had a good summer and reached the fourth round of a Slam for the first time in New York. Her game is solid and powerful, and should develop into something extraordinary over the next few years.

The German has also improved a lot this season, and her prowess as both an athlete and a gusty fighter helps her a lot in her matches.

So even if it wasn’t the most exciting US Open from the women’s perspective, there is hope that things will get better in the near future. (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine TennisWorld

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Down Memory Lane

A Trip To Forest Hills

By Gianluca Atlante

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EW YORK – Early morning, and a date with history awaits. On a cool, windy Saturday, we make our way to the Waldorf Astoria, 301 Park Avenue, Midtown East. Waiting for us at the hotel is out our friend and esteemed ATP tour manager, Vittorio Selmi.

“Ready?” he asks. But of course.

Despite our taxi driver wrestling with

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his Tom Tom, we eventually reach our destination: The West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills, the home of the US International Championships from 1915 to 1977. A slice of the Big Apple that is light-years away from Arthur Ashe stadium and the chaos that accompanies the US Open every year. Here you breathe in a different kind of air, and the peaceful surroundings are only occasion-

ally disturbed by the arrival of a car.

The sun is already high in the sky when we step into the historical club, and the smell of history grips us immediately.

A distinguished lady asks us about the reason for our visit, and Vittorio tells her: “We have an appointment with the Director, Bob Ingersole.” We make our way to the Pro Shop, through a corridor

adorned with images of past tennis greats, and meet Thomas Gillilard, Ingersole’s assistant. He is ready to lead us along the avenues of what was once home to the third Grand Slam tournament (Australia used to be played in December). The Pro Shop might no longer serve the legends of yesteryear, but it is still busy. Tennis is very much alive in Forest Hills, and the members are all aware of the club’s proud past.

have always respected this rule,” Gillilard tells us. “To them this is much more than a home – it is a refuge to come and relax.” We take a few photographs, which we shouldn’t do (as someone pointed out to us afterwards), but we couldn’t help ourselves. This is a moment to treasure, after all. We savour everything: we relive history step by step, never letting a single detail slip by unnoticed.

Like Wimbledon, Forest Hills requires players to wear only white. “Members

As we approach Centre Court, our hearts race. You can almost hear the stands

surrounding the court creak under the weight of its memories and history.

Green clay is no longer in use here, as it was when Jimmy Connors and Guillermo Vilas played the final match here. Instead, the surface is that of a traditional hard court.

Centre Court was built in 1923 and is today left mostly to its own fate. There is some sadness in that, as cracks can already be made out in some places. “Indeed,” admits Bud Collins, the legendary American broadcaster, “the central court

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at Forest Hills has been abandoned to its own fate. What a pity, it would be terrible if it had to disappear altogether, it would be like erasing history, but this is life.”

As we get back to Flushing Meadows we run into Jimmy Connors. When we tell him about our visit, his eyes light up with happiness, but also some melancholy. He could not help but cast his mind back to those bygone days: his ’76 final against Bjorn Borg, or the last one on grass at

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Forest Hills in ’74, where he faced old Ken Rosewall. He asks us about Centre Court, about the rickety stands that are no longer usable. “My heart bleeds, I prefer not to think about it,” he says sadly. “I have fond memories of Forest Hills, which go beyond the two victories against Rosewall and Borg. Forest Hills will always be in my heart.” Then, shaking his head, he leaves.

In tennis, it’s sometimes hard to think about the past when so much is happening in the present. The ATP Tour runs throughout the whole year, and there’s little time to stop and reflect. But our visit to Forest Hills reminded us that the present is only what it is because of the past. As long as Forest Hills remains, the history of its glorious years as a Grand Slam venue will be kept alive in one way or another. We just hope that it remains there for a long time to come. (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

Controversial Calls: The Foot Fault US Open 2010 It’s the call no linesman wants to make. No matter how blatant the infringement, a foot fault is always greeted with incredulity and rage by the players. Serena Williams’ infamous outburst at the 2009 US Open made headlines around the world, but this year’s event also brought its fair share of foot fault controversies.

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ndy Roddick embarked on a lengthy rant when he was called for a foot fault during his second round match at Flushing Meadows. It carried on for such a long time that the crowd’s amusement eventually turned into annoyance. His foot clearly did cross the line, but he was outraged that the lineswoman couldn’t correctly identify exactly

which foot it was – something she is not at all required to do.

It’s a bit of a mystery why players get so upset at these calls. They don’t yell at the umpire when they hit double faults or dump balls into the net, so why should they target the person who points out that they make a similar mistake with

their feet? Despite the obvious logic of simply accepting their own role in the blunder, players hold on to these grudges for ages. A commentator for the Tennis Channel recently summed up the situation perfectly: “Last year when they called a foot fault for Serena, I thought immediately, ‘What bad timing to make a foot fault’. The two commentators next

Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine TennisWorld

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Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

to me, former players, immediately said: ‘What bad timing to call a foot fault’.”

There seems to be an obvious solution to all of this: install special cameras to check for foot faults. However, the US Open – which for some reason always seems to be the venue for these incidents –isn’t exactly falling over itself to address the issue. While officials were quick to adopt the Hawk Eye system when it was introduced nearly five years ago, they aren’t in a rush to spend more money on foot fault cameras. Their argument seems to be that it’s a waste to spend so much time and resources on something that is, at the end of the day, a pretty easy call for the linesperson.

That’s a pretty good point, and it’s also worth considering that foot fault controversies happen very rarely indeed. Hawk Eye is usually used at least six times in a match, but such a system would 24

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only be useful once or twice in a whole tournament – if that. Anyway, Roddick was clearly wrong, and having a camera there would have made no difference.

The umpire should have simply told him to accept the call and get on with it.

We should rather be focusing on getting a roof over Arthur Ashe stadium.

Unfortunately, organisers seem more concerned with increasing the capacity of the already huge show courts than with covering them. Trying to pin them down on the issue is a bit like trying to catch the wind. “Various hypotheses are being evaluated for the roof,” they explain. “We can say that it will be done, but cannot provide exact timeframes, as we are in the process of evaluating various projects.” Not exactly a clear mission statement, is it?

The biggest problem that the officials face is one of their own design: the

gigantic Arthur Ashe stadium has 24 000 seats. It will be an absolute nightmare to try and build a roof on such a monstrous structure. But John McEnroe implored them, when the stadium was built, to make it slightly smaller and put up a roof. They ignored him, and now they are stuck with a headache of epic proportions.

Yet the US Open cannot put this matter off forever. The Australian Open and Wimbledon already have covered courts, and Roland Garros is in the process of planning similar features. Soon Flushing Meadows might be the only Slam left to the mercy of Mother Nature. Considering that the final has now been delayed due to rain for three straight years, that’s not an ideal solution for anyone. The USTA will have to act soon, whether they want to or not. (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

US Open 2010

Mardy Fish’s (Almost) Magical Summer

By Rossana Capobianco While Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were having a rotten time on the court in the months after Wimbledon, Mardy Fish was dominating the circuit. He won back-to-back titles in Newport and Atlanta and very nearly beat Roger Federer in the final of the Cincinnati Masters 1000 event. No one was as red-hot as the American, and going into the US Open he was widely tipped as a dark horse to make a deep run.

Unfortunately, his wonderful streak on US hard courts ended at the hands of the eventual finalist Novak Djokovic. “I haven’t played many fourth round Slam matches up to now,” an obviously disappointed Fish said after his loss. That is true enough – he has gone further only once before, reaching the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows in 2008.

Yet such an excuse sounds flimsy, and Fish knows it. We expected much

more from him, and he expects more of himself.

But why were our expectations so high?

How did Mardy Fish come to be one of the hottest players on the Tour? He’s been around for a long time, after all, and has never been considered a real threat at big events. The answer is simple: this isn’t the Fish of old. The old Mardy was 15 kilos heavier, two steps slower and growing tired of tennis.

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The new Fish is a different animal altogether. He’s faster, smarter and has a renewed passion for his job. He has beaten Andy Murray three times in a row, and his game has raised the eyebrows of even the most jaded veterans in the game.

“He is a totally new player, completely different,” says Andy Roddick, who has known Fish since the 1990s and used to share a house with him. Fish has always been a bit of a dangerous player, but his game was limited. He had a good serve and could play very aggressively, but if that didn’t work he was at a loss.

In modern tennis, with slower surfaces and guys like Nadal chasing everything down, that style of play doesn’t cut it

anymore. To survive he had to adapt, and that’s exactly what he did.

It wasn’t easy, however. Losing so much weight and becoming mega fit is a long and arduous process, and at times it can be maddening. “There were times, at a certain stage, when I was suffering hunger pangs,” Fish remembers. “The beginning was traumatic.” Gone is the junk food he was so fond of, replaced instead by a personal chef who cooks only healthy meals.

The net result is that he can now do something that has always eluded him in the past: stay in long rallies. No longer forced to artificially shorten points, Fish can hang in a rally and wait for an

opportunity. He now has a defensive game plan as well as an offensive one, meaning that his options are effectively doubled on the court. The huge jump in his ranking – from 108 to 19 – is a testament to all the hard work he has been doing, and for Mardy seeing the fruits of his labour is a wonderful feeling indeed.

Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

In many ways he has come full circle.

He has had a magical summer before – in 2003 he made the final in Cincinnati, where he lost to his friend Andy Roddick in three heartbreakingly close sets. A few months later he claimed his first ATP title by beating a 19 year-old Robin Soderling in the final at Stockholm. But a series of injuries stymied his development, and he never quite lived up to his full potential, at least until now.

The close loss to Federer in Cincinnati was eerily similar to the one in 2003, but this time there was a difference: Fish actually looks younger and fitter than he did back then, and he’s going to put this new lease on life to good use.

So what is Fish’s plan going forward? It’s simple, really: play as much good tennis as possible while staying healthy. Indeed staying healthy involves more than just eating right, and he knows it. Early in his career he often overfilled his schedule, which in turn lead to his numerous injuries and slump in form. This time around he’s going to be smart about it, playing only as much as his body wants him to.

The biggest challenge in tennis is not playing well – anyone can do that on their good days – but playing well consistently. Fish now has the experience and will to do just that, and like his countryman Andre Agassi he might just be poised to play his best tennis towards the end of his career. Late bloomers are common in tennis, and Fish doesn’t mind being one. Better late than never. (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

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Signs of Life

Richard Gasquet’s Slow Climb Back To The Top For a brief moment at this year’s US Open, we saw a glimpse of the Richard Gasquet who made the Wimbledon semi-final in 2007. His backhand was almost unplayable for the first three matches, and his serve had the kind of bite and pace which nearly toppled Roger Federer in Canada three years ago. But will this resurgence lead the Frenchman back to the top of men’s tennis?

Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

The talent of Richard Gasquet is a sensitive topic. From the age of nine – when he was featured on the cover of Tennis Magazine – Gasquet has repeatedly been played up as the future Grand Slam saviour of French tennis. At first it seemed as if he would soon fulfil that potential.

At 15 he travelled to Monte Carlo and became the youngest ever winner of a Master Series match. Three years later at the same tournament he defeated world number one Roger Federer, and many observers thought the Frenchman was the equal of the Swiss in one very important category: talent.

He again pushed Federer hard in Hamburg a few weeks later, and followed up a loss in the final there with his first title in Nottingham – on grass. This was the kid everyone thought would win the French Open, and here he is winning a tournament on grass as well. French fans were in heaven.

Three titles in 2006 and another Masters Series final seemed to be only the start, but in reality it was Gasquet’s best year.

Though he reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2007, he won only one title that season. The slump deepened,

and the golden son started struggling. He would go nearly three years without a tournament win, and his name disappeared from conversations about possible Slam winners. As the years went on, he revealed himself to be mentally fragile, often losing important matches even when he seemed to be in complete control.

As if his on-court troubles weren’t enough, in the spring of 2009 he was given a suspension for a positive cocaine test (though he was later cleared and the suspension dropped). He missed many TennisWorld

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months of tennis, and had to essentially rebuild his career from scratch.

Despite all the criticism and the fact that few people still see him as the answer to France’s Grand Slam drought, Gasquet picked up the pieces of his game and started over. It hasn’t been an easy process, but in 2010 there have been definite signs of life. In January he made the final at Sydney, and in June finally claimed another ATP World Tour Title – his first since 2007. The way in which he won was just as impressive as the win itself. Up against Fernando Verdasco, he came back from behind in an extremely contentious and often openly hostile match, defying his reputation of lacking mental toughness.

But these are minor successes, and arriving at the US Open the Frenchman didn’t

have high hopes. His draw was tough and he’d been struggling with some injuries, so nobody expected much. Yet it seems that it is in these kinds of situations that Gasquet flourishes – he likes to prove everyone wrong. His forehand suddenly started working, his backhand was like magic and his serve was unreturnable.

He pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, beating world number six Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets.

nities and did nothing when he got them.

“He played some set points in the second set and could have easily got ahead of me,” Monfils said of his opponent afterwards. “But he didn’t and he showed that mentally he wasn’t so tough.” It is a brutal analysis, but an honest one.

“Richard does not like pressure. He likes to play big, but not fight big. He doesn’t like the involvement of the crowd around him.”

“I take things one match at the time,” Gasquet said humbly. “I don’t want to make any plans.” For veteran Gasquetwatchers, those words spelled doom.

They sounded like insurance for when he loses, and indeed he did. In a tough match against his friend and countryman Gael Monfils, the old Gasquet suddenly reappeared. He was sloppy, detached and error-prone. He earned few opportu-

But Gasquet has heard it all before. As Monfils was giving his on-court interview just after the match, Gasquet threw his towel at his friend and flashed him a smile. He has not lost his sense of humour, despite all his hardships, and he seems determined to remain positive despite the loss. His climb back to the top is going to be a slow one, but for him, tennis fans are willing to be patient.

Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

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(c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

Second Time Unlucky Four years after making the US Open semi-final for the first time, Mikhail Youzhny once again found himself among the last four at Flushing Meadows. This time, however, he would fall to the very same man he beat to make it to the semis back in 2006 – Rafael Nadal.

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hen world number one Rafael Nadal took to the court in Arthur Ashe stadium on the second Friday of the US Open, an unlikely opponent greeted him from across the net. Mikhail Youzhny and the Spaniard have quite a long history. They have played 11 times, and the Russian has had a surprisingly successful time against Nadal, winning four of those

encounters. Not a winning record, mind you, but better than most people can boast of. In 2006 it was on that very same court that the two men clashed, and on that occasion it was Youzhny who prevailed in four tight sets.

So there was some reason to believe that this match would be close. The crowd was hoping for that at least,

since the semi-final that many had been expecting – between Nadal and Murray – was doomed when the Scot fell to Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round.

Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

Youzhny had two things going for him heading into the match: his backhand and his passion. The latter is wellknown, and can be easily observed in a video of him playing in Miami some years ago. Raging at himself over a lost point, he repeatedly hit his own head with the racquet until he drew blood – quite a lot of it. The former is one of the best shots on the Tour, and when it’s on it can be devastating. Not many players these days have one-handed backhands, and no one else pulls off this shot quite like Youzhny. He has an unorthodox technique, keeping his left hand behind the racquet right up to the moment of impact.

It’s a bit strange, but an absolute joy to watch.

The Russian is also famous for his sense of humour, and when asked what his best shot is, he coyly states: “it is always difficult to answer these questions, particularly when they are about yourself. I can say that Federer has the best forehand, Roddick or Isner the best serve.” He then pauses dramatically, and with a smile adds “and I have the best backhand.”

Youzhny is one of the most popular players on the Tour, among both the players and the fans. He is especially TennisWorld

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Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

revered by fellow Russians for his Davis Cup heroics. In 2002 he was called upon to replace Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the decisive match of the Davis Cup final. Obviously nervous, he quickly went down two sets to love against Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu. Incredibly, however, he managed to pull off the greatest comeback in Davis Cup history, becoming the only player to ever recover from that deficit in a decisive final rubber.

Unfortunately, he has struggled to reproduce that incredible match on the ATP Tour. His career has been a successful one by most counts, having won six singles titles and reached two Grand Slam semi-finals, but many people expected more. Like Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga he is immensely talented, but like them he has struggled to be as mentally strong as the very best players in the world need to be.

Yet on occasion he can still pull off miracles, recovering from seemingly hopeless situations to save match points and eventually win. It’s just a shame that he hasn’t done this in the two Slam finals he was a part of. Still, Youzhny enjoys his life and his tennis, and is happy to stick with what he knows. He’s been with the same coach, Boris Sobkin, for 18 years – an absolute eternity in professional tennis. He’s also had the same victory celebration for what seems like decades: after every win he turns to each section of the crowd and delivers a pseudo-military salute.

The military overtures of his salute suited his time at the US Open, as he had to battle hard to make it to the semi-finals. After dispatching of the 30

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dangerous Andrey Golubev and always tricky Dudi Sela, he had a tough fight against big-serving John Isner. Tommy Robredo also put up a heck of a fight, and the marathon quarter-final against Wawrinka was a classic – an epic clash of superb one-handed backhands that went to five sets.

When asked whether he wanted to stop the Federer-Nadal final that everyone was hoping for, Youzhny smiled and said “Of course I do. I love to be the bad one.” Though the dream final would ultimately be killed off, it was Djokovic who did the dirty deed in the end. Exhausted

and facing a red-hot Nadal, Youzhny collapsed to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 defeat. “Above all, I was mentally tired,” he said afterwards. “My shots were OK, except my serve. It was my brain that was thinking too slowly.”

Even though he didn’t make it to his first Grand Slam final, the Russian can console himself with the fact that he is back in the Top 10 for the first time in years. And with relatively few points to defend until the end of the year, he’s likely to stay there for quite a while. (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

Tomorrow’s Stars US Open Juniors Event Home is a good place to be for young Americans tennis players, and at this year’s US Open they enjoyed success where their senior counterparts failed utterly. Ten years after Andy Roddick lifted the trophy, young Jack Sock followed in his footsteps. The eighteenyear-old from Lincoln, New England, entered the draw thanks to a wild card, but he justified the organisers’ faith in him by playing the best tennis of his life. The final was a closely contested affair, but Sock ultimately came out on top with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over countryman Denis Kudla.

photos: Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

On To The Big Leagues Even in the senior event, Sock showed that he could mix it up with the big boys by taking a set off Marco Chiudinelli.

He played some solid tennis, and his exploits from the previous week taught him a couple of tricks that he used against his Swiss opponent. One such example came in the final of the junior event, when Sock was a set and 2-2 down against his tenth-seeded rival.

Instead of simply trying to outhit Kudla, he played smart tennis instead, outwitting his opponent and reeling off four games in a row.

“I remained calm and confident that I could recover,” he explained afterwards. “I had played well throughout the tournament. I knew that if I could reach the same level I would have recovered and that’s precisely what happened.” Some credit goes to Novak Djokovic, who gave the young American some advice while they were training together. The most meaningful message, however, came from Roddick himself, who has finally found a successor. “He congratulated me and encouraged me to train with passion and consistency and to follow the advice of my coach Mike Wolf.”

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nice boost for US tennis after the poor performances from the men in the main tournament, and hopefully is a sign of things to come. photos: Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

Sock’s journey to the final was far from simple, and as early as the second round he had to pull of some miracles in order to advance. In his second match he eliminated Bosnian Damir Dzumhur (the fifth seed and reigning European

champion), and the victory gave him a great deal of confidence moving forward. He then defeated 13th seed Victor Baludain in the quarter-finals and second seed Martin Fucsovics in the semis. Sock’s victory represents a

Russian Domination Daria Gavrilova had a September to remember in 2010.

Just a few weeks after winning a gold medal at the Junior Olympics in Singapore, she claimed her first junior US Open title.

The Russian, who trains at the Patrick Mouratoglou Academy in Paris, came through a very tight semi-final against Sloane Stephens, which he had to win in a third set tie-break. In the final, however, the top seed dominated her countrywoman Yulia Putintseva, crushing her 6-3, 6-2.

“I struggled so much against Stephens that I could not sleep,” she said afterwards, “so I thought a thousand times about the game I could have played against Yulia. I couldn’t have prepared better for the match.” The pressure of being the overwhelming favourite didn’t phase her at all, and she used her knowledge of her opponent to gain the upper hand in the championship match.

“Putintseva was one of my first opponents as a child,” she said. “We know each other very well. It wasn’t a good match because we were both tired, so it was just a matter of finding the right motivation.” Daria’s title comes five years after Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s, and it promises to bolster the already strong ranks of Russia’s women’s tennis. (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

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US OPEN JUNIOR WINNERS MEN

US OPEN JUNIOR WINNERS WOMEN

2010 Jack Sock (USA) 2009 Bernard Tomic (AUS) 2008 Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 2007 Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 2006 Dusan Lojda (CZE) 2005 Ryan Sweeting (BAH) 2004 Andrew Murray (GBR) 2003 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 2002 Richard Gasquet (FRA) 2001 Gilles Muller (LUX) 2000 Andy Roddick (USA) 1999 Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) 1998 David Nalbandian (ARG) 1997 Arnaud Di Pasquale (FRA) 1996 Daniel Elsner (GER) 1995 Nicolas Kiefer (GER) 1994 Sjeng Schalken (NED) 1993 Marcelo Rios (CHI) 1992 Brian Dunn (USA) 1991 Leander Paes (IND) 1990 Andrea Gaudenzi (ITA) 1989 Jonathan Stark (USA) 1988 Nicolas Pereira (VEN) 1987 David Wheaton (USA) 1986 Javier Sanchez (ESP) 1985 Tim Trigueiro (USA) 1984 Mark Kratzmann (AUS) 1983 Stefan Edberg (SWE) 1982 Pat Cash (AUS) 1981 Thomas Hogstedt (SWE) 1980 Mike Falberg (USA) 1979 Scott Davis (USA) 1978 Per Hjertquist (SWE) 1977 Jan Winitsky (USA) 1976 Ricardo Yzaga (ECU) 1975 Howard Schoenfield (USA) 1974 Billy Martin (USA) 1973 Billy Martin (USA)

2010 Daria Gavrilova (RUS) 2009 Heather Watson (GBR) 2008 Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 2007 Kristina Kucova (SVK) 2006 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 2005 Viktoria Azarenka (BLR) 2004 Michaella Krajicek (NED) 2003 Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 2002 Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 2001 Marion Bartoli (FRA) 2000 Maria Emilia Salerni (ARG) 1999 Lina Krasnoroutskaia (RUS) 1998 Jelena Dokic (AUS) 1997 Cara Black (ZIM) 1996 Mirjana Lucic (CRO) 1995 Tara Snyder (USA) 1994 Meilen Tu (USA) 1993 Maria Francesca Bentivoglio (ITA) 1992 Lindsay Davenport (USA) 1991 Karina Habsudova (TCH) 1990 Magdalena Maleeva (BUL) 1989 Jennifer Capriati (USA) 1988 Carrie Cunningham (USA) 1987 Natalia Zvereva (URS) 1986 Elly Hakami (USA) 1985 Laura Garrone (ITA) 1984 Katerina Maleeva (BUL) 1983 Elizabeth Minter (AUS) 1982 Beth Herr (USA) 1981 Zina Garrison (USA) 1980 Susan Mascarin (USA) 1979 Alycia Moulton (USA) 1978 Linda Siegel (USA) 1977 Claudia Casabianca (ARG) 1976 Marise Kruger (RSA) 1975 Natasha Chmyeva (URS) 1974 Ilana Kloss (RSA) TennisWorld

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Calling Private Ryan The Current Crisis It seemed only natural. The era of Sampras and Agassi had come to an end, and the Americans believed they had found the heir apparent: Andy Roddick.

He won two titles before he was even 19, and clinched back-to-back Masters 1000 trophies (Toronto and Cincinnati) in 2003 before storming to victory against Juan Carlos Ferrero in the US Open final.

It seemed like a done deal. A few weeks later he became world number one – just twenty weeks after Agassi’s reign came to an end, an American was again on the throne.

But this was the way things had always been, so nobody thought it strange. We are talking about a country that – just looking at the Open era – has produced number one players in the form Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Jim Courrier, Andrey Agassi and Pete Sampras. Surely there was no reason to believe American dominance was to come to an end. But fate had other plans, and since the first of February, 2004, no American has held the top ranking.

Then again, neither has anyone else.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have

greedily been hogging that spot for seven years, so not having an American number one is hardly the end of the world. But when we look at US presence in the Top 100, it does seem that there is a bit of a crisis developing. In 1983 there were 42 American men in the Top 100. Today there are seven. Furthermore, this year the US claimed another sad record: the longest streak without a local champion at their home Slam. The previous record dry spell was six years (from 1984 with McEnroe to 1990 with Sampras). In 2010, we are at seven years and counting.

So who is going to save US men’s tennis? Many believe that man will be Ryan Harrison. Though only ranked 220 before the US Open (he reached a career-high 170 after his performance at Flushing Meadows), he was earmarked by many observers as a player to keep a close eye on. He made his way steadily through the qualifying rounds, and got a tough draw once he made it to the tournament proper – Ivan Ljubicic was his first opponent. The Croat, who won Indian Wells this year, is not to be trifled with, and his huge serves and booming groundstrokes still give the best players in the world headaches.

Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

A defeat will make me famous Against all odds, and in brutal conditions, he managed to beat Ljubicic in four tight sets. But it is for the match he lost that Harrison made headlines.

He played Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round, who had just come off a tournament win in New Haven. After hours in the broiling sun, the American held three precious match points in the fifth set. The crowd was going nuts and he seemed sure to pull through, but sadly his nerve failed him. He lost five straight points to gift the win to the Ukrainian, who would end up retiring in

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his next match. Yet despite this defeat, he left the court to a standing ovation.

The crowd knew they had witnessed something special that day – the future of American tennis.

After only two seasons (2007 and 2008) on the Junior circuit – where his best ranking was 7– and at the age of 16, Harrison decided to go pro. After only a few months he became the third youngest player in history (after Gasquet and Nadal) to win a Tour-level match, beating Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas, then number 130 in the world.

His best asset is his mind Harrison is a very enjoyable player to watch. He may not have any major weapons, but his variety makes up for it (he is also still growing, so the power will probably come later on). Harrison boasts a decent serve, a solid two-handed backhand and a forehand that can be dangerous if he has time to set it up, but his greatest asset is his strategic mind.

This year Harrison had already beaten players like Taylor Dent, Michal Przysiezny and Karol Beck - all ranked in the Top 100. Without the power of his idol Pete Sampras, he has to rely on his wits to win him matches. He credits his dad with the creative angles and constant changes of pace that helped him beat Ivan Ljubicic. “I started playing like this since the beginning,” he says of his

Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

The beginning It was his father who first introduced him to tennis. Pat Harrison, a former college player in Oklahoma State and Mississippi, did a brief stint on the Futures and Challenger circuits before calling it a day. He encouraged his son to take up the sport, and young Ryan had his first important victory at the age of 12, when he finally managed to beat his dad.

playing style. “My father was a college tennis player and then, for a short while, he was also a professional. He has always been convinced that I am athletically strong, and so he tried to set me up with a complete game, making sure I would also learn net and attack play.”

Great Ambition He might only have reached the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time, but Harrison already has his sights set very high indeed. “Of course I am not the happiest person in the world right now,” he confessed after losing to Stakhovsky, “but it was a great experience nonetheless. I am number 220 in the world and I want to make it into the Top 10. One match won’t change this. What matters to me is playing these kinds of matches.”

For Ryan – and also for his young and promising little brother Christian – ten-

nis is everything. Whenever he can, he trains with top players. “He is a sponge,” says Mardy Fish. “He asks lots of questions, sometimes too many. In my opinion, he is destined to make it to the top.

I see some of young Roddick in him.” Of course it was Andy Roddick, nine years ago, who was the last US teenager to beat a Top 20 opponent in a Grand Slam event (he defeated Alex Corretja, world number 11 at the time, in the third round of the US Open).

“Andy has been giving me a hand for the past two, three years,” said Harrison.

“He is always very helpful whenever I meet him. We talk a lot about what he felt during his early days on the tour.”

Harrison hopes that some of Roddick’s magic will rub off on him, and if it does it will be a good thing not only for him, but for a whole nation of tennis fans. (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

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Men’s Scorecard

By Daniele Azzolini

Roger Federer 9/10

Rafael Nadal 10/10

Well, what can we say about Nadal?

The word “perfection” comes to mind.

But then again, he did drop that one set in the final...and he was broken a grand total of five times throughout the whole tournament. So maybe not perfect, b u t

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pretty darn close. The US Open has long haunted the Spaniard as the one Slam he couldn’t crack, but all of that ended this year. Truly an awesome display.

Novak Djokovic 8,5/10

Yes, he reached the final, but it was thanks to an implosion from Federer that he did so. It was thanks to another implosion (by countryman Victor Troicki) in the first round that he was even alive after his first match. Still, Djokovic played better than he has for quite a while. Not his best, mind you, and certainly not as well as when he won the Australian Open in 2008, but better. He still serves more double faults than aces, but the US Open was definitely an improvement for him. We hope he gets back to his old self sooner rather than later, because he’s still no match for Nadal in his current form.

Andy Murray 4/10

Another Slam, another disappointing performance from Andy Murray. He’s been seen as the favourite for these events more times than we can count, and yet his trophy case still has no big trophy in it.

Firing his coach just before the US Open certainly was a questionable move, and he can blame his performance on that,

but this pattern has become all too familiar from the Scot. He needs to shape up, and fast, or he might never win a Major at all.

Robin Soderling 7/10

He wasn’t in blistering form at Flushing Meadows, and nearly got knocked out in the first round, but Robin Soderling is proving to be a reliable presence in the latter stages of Grand Slams. He still doesn’t quite seem to believe that he can win one of these things though, but if he keeps improving that day might very well come sooner than most people believe.

Fernando Verdasco 6/10

Verdasco seems more hopeless against Nadal than Andy Roddick does against Federer. He should have won the first set with ease, and yet meekly crumbled to a quick loss. He has been playing poorly since the clay season ended, and if he doesn’t watch out he might not make the ATP World Tour Finals.

photos: Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

Nine out of ten? And he didn’t even reach the final? This might seem like a bit of a high score, but we must take into account how Federer’s year had been progressing up until the US Open. He lost early in pretty much every tournament he played after the Australian Open (including Roland Garros and Wimbledon), and many people thought he would be lucky to make it to the second week at Flushing Meadows. The Swiss maestro proved his critics wrong, however, and played some of the best tennis we’ve seen all year in his first five matches. He might have lost his focus a bit in the semi-finals, but he still had match points. This tournament was a step in the right direction for Federer, and we hope it is a sign of things to come.

Rafa Reigns Supreme

Women’s Scorecard

By Raffaella Reggi

Kim Clijsters 10/10

What is it about the hard courts at Flushing Meadows that turns lovable Kim Clijsters into a tennis monster for two weeks? We don’t know, but we hope that she keeps on doing whatever it is she’s doing. She was unstoppable throughout the week and the final was a blowout of epic proportions.

Vera Zvonareva 9/10

Venus Williams 8/10

Without sister Serena there to spoil the party, this year’s US Open was the ideal opportunity for Venus to win her home Slam. Unfortunately, she didn’t play her best in any of her matches, and couldn’t cope with a red-hot Kim Clijsters.

Caroline Wozniacki 7,5/10

She played like a woman possessed until the semi-final, but her jam-packed schedule finally caught up with her. She looked a sure bet to take the trophy this time, but poor planning ultimately cost the Dane her first Grand Slam title. We hope she learns to pace herself next time.

Francesca Schiavone 8/10

The French Open champion has hit a rough patch of late, but at the US Open she reminded us why she triumphed at Roland Garros. Her match against Venus Williams came down to only a few points, and she could very well have walked away with the win there. Still, she’ll be happy for discovering some form at the right time, and will no doubt be looking forward to the rest of the year and the Australian Open in January.

photos: Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

Another fantastic tournament from Zvonareva, and reaching the final for the second Slam in a row certainly cements her as one of the top female players at the moment. However, we expected more of her in the championship match, and it seems she still has quite a long way to go before she takes that final step to Grand Slam glory.

You Can Always Count On Kim

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 Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

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US Open 2010

The Queen of Paris Heads to New York After her early exit at Wimbledon, some people questioned whether Francesca Schiavone’s triumph in Paris had been a fluke. But if there was any doubt as to her ability to perform at Slams, she snuffed it out at Flushing Meadows. It was not quite the same performance as at Roland Garros, and perhaps she will never again scale those heights, but Schiavone put together a string of great wins at the US Open, and looked more comfortable and confident than ever.

By Marco Rebuglio

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ooking back, her loss at Wimbledon makes a lot of sense. It’s not easy to digest the reality of winning your first Grand Slam, and coming to grips with it in the short time in-between the French Open and Wimbledon is almost impossible. Between a meeting with Italy’s Prime Minister (Silvio Berlusconi) and television appearances she barely had enough time to catch her breath, let alone practice and prepare for the short grass season. In addition to a lack of preparation, she also had to deal with the pressure of suddenly being one of the favourites to win Wimbledon – a burden that few can cope with effectively.

But even with that in mind, Schiavone’s poor performance during the hard court season was troubling. She suffered a series of surprise defeats: to the unheralded Elena Baltacha in Istanbul, to Elena Vesnina in Cincinnati and to Dinara Safina in New Haven and Montreal. Suddenly that French Open win seemed like ages ago, and some observers started wondering if she had lost her motivation after fulfilling her lifelong dream of winning a Slam. Luckily for her and her fans, however, she still has a lot of fight left in her. Despite being 30 years old now, Schiavone has made it clear that she still is 100%

committed to the sport and eager to learn more every day. “I have to learn to have a winning mindset in the more important moments,” she said in the press conference after her loss to Venus Williams at the US Open. “I have to learn.” Not many players know how to say that after 12 years on the Tour.

Even though she lost to the American, Schiavone enjoyed a great amount of good press in New York. Her Federerlike between-the-legs shot against Alona Bondarenko was the toast of the town, and a number of articles were dedicated to the French Open champion. Her varied style of play delighted the crowds, who have grown tired of the often identical styles of most top female players. She attracted crowds wherever she went, and all but filled Grandstand court when she played her first three matches there.

There’s no doubt that the Italian’s confidence received a massive boost after her victory at Roland Garros, and at New York it really showed. Tennis is mostly a mental battle, and she showed that she has grown tough in that department over the last few months. She now boasts a swagger when she walks on the court, a supreme confidence in her own abilities. In her matches lead-

ing up to the quarter-finals she utterly crushed her opponents. She lost only 13 games in four matches – an incredible statistic. Challenging matches were dealt with easily, and even Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova could only manage three games in a 6-3 6-0 blowout. For a moment it seemed as if she could go all the way, and if it wasn’t for a certain Williams sister, she very well might have.

A few months ago I would have been able to swallow such a result with little trouble. “A pity, but a good result nonetheless,” I would have written.

But Schiavone had looked so good up until the quarters, so unbeatable, that it is hard to get over what might have been. She was the architect of her own demise in the Williams match, and had she played her best tennis I’m sure she would have triumphed. But when, at 5-5 in the first set tie-breaker, she committed two unforced errors, she broke my heart. It is no wonder that Schiavone, who is normally so composed and lucid, was visibly upset in the press conference afterwards. She has been the best story in women’s tennis this whole year, and I just hope that this loss motivates her to dazzle us as she did in Paris and, for at least a week, New York as well.

(c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

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 Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

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Back To Her Best

Francesca Schiavone gears up for a strong finish to the season

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EW YORK – It’s been more than four months since Francesca Schiavone stunned the tennis world by winning the French Open, yet still she is followed around by the press and fans as if it happened two weeks ago. Well, maybe not quite, but the Italian is still basking in the glory of that victory and enjoying her new reputation as a tennis superstar.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t quite been playing like a superstar coming into the US Open. She suffered a string of uncharacteristic losses, and many observers started wondering if her run at Roland Garros was simply a fluke.

But if the criticism got to her, Schiavone certainly didn’t show it, and from her first match at Flushing Meadows she displayed the kind of confidence one expects of a Grand Slam champion.

She barely broke a sweat until the quarter-finals, where she ran into the formidable Venus Williams. For a set, it seemed as if Schiavone would continue her charmed run, and she had more than her fair share of chances to take the lead in the match. Unfortunately, her nerve failed her at the worst possible time – the tie-break. Williams doesn’t need to be asked twice to take control of a match, and that’s exactly what she did after that point.

“I had several chances to go ahead,” the Italian lamented afterwards, “but I could not use them properly. It was a question of centimetres, of more informed choices. It was a match I could have won, but instead I lost it.” But despite the loss, the Queen of Paris took some confidence away from the tournament, and believes in herself now more than ever.

“I feel I have the tennis to beat even the world number one,” she said.

Indeed, if she is going to qualify for the year-end WTA Championships – and perhaps even win it – she will have to play her very best tennis from here on out. The Fed Cup final is also on the horizon, and her country will be counting on her to lead the team to victory against a

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tough US opponent. Schiavone needs to focus on these goals and try to sustain the momentum she regained at the US Open. It is often difficult for players to get over their first Grand Slam victory, since motivation often becomes an issue. At the age of 30 it is especially important – now more than ever – for her to set clear goals for the near future.

Scheduling also becomes important, and the focus must be to play intensely for short periods of time. That is easier said than done, of course, but players like Roger Federer have proven that this is the key to staying healthy and fit late into one’s career. With Schiavone playing the best tennis of her life, she needs to pick her battles and stay fit.

Corrado Barazzutti, who played for Italy’s only winning Davis Cup team in 1976, concurs. “Tokyo and Beijing are just around the corner,” he says. “The important thing is to keep the concentration high, to not lose sight of her goals. From a strictly technical point of view, she is definitely there at the top.

But if you want to stay at the top, you need to ride the ups and downs and make the best of them. She is playing well and feeling very comfortable on the court. From what we saw in New York, she is determined to get to the end, to make it to the WTA Championship and do well in the Fed Cup final.”

We certainly hope Barazzutti’s right.

Schiavone has breathed new life into the WTA Tour, and it can only be a good thing for the sport if she continues to do well at all levels of competition. (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

 Gianni Ciaccia (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine

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Late Bloomer – An interview with

Vera Zvonareva

by David Cox Vera Zvonareva’s stunning run to the Wimbledon final this summer cemented her name firmly in the consciousness of tennis fans worldwide. Zvonareva has been overshadowed for years by her more glamorous compatriots Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, but right now there’s no doubt – she is the number one Russian tennis player.

Early in her career Zvonareva had plenty of success in doubles – winning two US Open titles – but after a string of injuries she wants to focus largely on singles play. With her versatile all-court game she will definitely be a threat at every Grand Slam, and the young Russian is determined to go that final step and claim a Major crown for herself.

Q: First of all, tell us about your Wimbledon experience this year.

day so I was very motivated going into Wimbledon and felt like I was hitting the ball well.

Q: It has been a fantastic couple of years for you with your run to the semis at the Australian Open last year in your career ?

I think I have gotten in better shape and I feel like I am just more mature and smarter on the court. I think I am more aware of my strengths and weaknesses and have improved some things.

Q: Has it given you a lot more belief in your game, knowing you can beat players like Kim Clijsters and Jelena Jankovic on the biggest stages?

You got off to a fantastic start, not even dropping a set before the quarters. But going into the tournament, did you feel you were in the sort of form to go deep in the draw after a couple of early losses at the French Open and Eastbourne?

After having ankle surgery back in November 2009, I knew it would take some time for me to get my timing and match confidence back. My results for the first part of this year were a little up and down but I was feeling better each 46

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I have always believed in myself, but it has definitely helped I think.

as well as your success at Wimbledon. What would you say has made the biggest difference to your tennis in the past couple of years, you seem so much more confident and assured in the big events compared to earlier

Q: We know you love the grass but how do you find the US Open? Do you feel the surface and the conditions suit you out there?

I love playing in New York and I like hard courts so I always look forward to the US Open very much. Sometimes the crowds can be a distraction but that is also what

makes the tournament so exciting and gives the site such a buzz.

Q: What would you say has been the toughest patch of your tennis career?

Hurting my ankle in Charleston last year was very tough and then trying to play through pain at the end of the season. I was so limited in my movement and having surgery was scary. I was not sure if I would ever get back the range of motion and speed I had before injuring myself. It put my career in question but everything has worked out well.

Q: Have you had a lot more attention from the media back home as a result of your Wimbledon run?

There has been more but I have not been back home for more than a few days, so it hasn’t been too overwhelming.

Q: How well do you feel your sport is covered in general by TV and newspapers back home?

I think tennis in Russia has definitely grown a lot. We have had a lot of top female and male players for some years now and I know there are a lot of good young players too. I think the sport is still overshadowed by hockey and maybe football, but I think it is growing in popularity.

Q: We are interested in how much the top players like yourself plan ahead before key points. Do you visualise how you would like the point

to go, what is likely to happen or do you not think about it too much?

I go into each match with a plan and try to execute that plan for each point as well as I can. Sometimes though, the plan changes based on conditions or how the other girl is playing.

Q: It’s been said that the biggest battle in tennis is in the mind. How much attention do the top players like yourself pay to the psychological side of the game? Do you buy into sports psychology at all?

It is very important and something that we all struggle with. In tennis there is no one to blame and no one to help you perform during a match but yourself. I think sports psychology is something that can help but it is up to each individual.

Q: Tell us about your fitness regime in-between tournaments I work out a lot and know how important my fitness is in relation to my on-court performance and health. In the offseason I do a lot of work and in-between tournaments I do more maintenance work to keep injury free.

Q: How does this differ during a tournament?

During tournaments it becomes more about recovery so I do a lot of stretching and get some massages and treatment.

Q: The year-end WTA Championships last year saw a string of injuries. Do you think the Tour is too long? What is the toughest thing about life on Tour?

I think the season is very long and we have to play a lot of matches all over the world. I know there are other sports that require athletes to compete a lot too but they aren’t travelling to every continent.

That is what really wears you down. You are always in a different time zone trying to catch up on sleep and adjust as quickly as possible.

Q: Have you thought much about what you will do after tennis? Do you study part-time like some of the other Russian players?

I am not really sure what I want to do but I am interested in politics. I am currently working on my second degree in International Relations at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I do want to stay active in my charity work after I finish playing as well. I am on the Board of Founding Directors of the Rett Syndrome Russia Association and have done some work with the International Rett Syndrome Foundation in the US. (c) Matchpoint Tennis Magazine TennisWorld

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A Day To Remember France races into the Davis Cup final for the first time since 2002

F

RANCE – “I hope the best is yet to come,” an ecstatic Guy Forget said after his team whitewashed Argentina in the Davis Cup semi-finals.

The French captain could barely contain his excitement as he talked to reporters.

There is little doubt that in the back of his mind he was remembering 1991, the last time that France won the most prestigious team competition in men’s tennis. In that year, he was the man who won the rubber that handed his country victory over the powerful United States.

“I am very proud, they’re all here together, the seven of them, those who played and those who also contributed to this victory,” Forget added. And proud he should be. Last year the picture was very different for the French Davis Cup team – they lost in the very first round of World Group play to eventual finalists the Czech Republic. Forget hinted that this success was rooted in that defeat, and that the team has worked incredibly

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hard for this opportunity to reclaim the Davis Cup. Michael Llodra, the wily 30 year-old veteran, was the star of the semi-finals in many ways. He won his singles rubber against Juan Monaco and teamed up with Arnaud Clement to clinch the doubles as well.

“This is fabulous. I am, with my mates, in the Davis Cup final. I’m so happy,” he said, smiling. “It’s magical live these moments. I was excited in 1991, cheering in front of the TV. In my head I said that it would be nice to live in similar situations.

Like today. It is fabulous.

There’s something magical in reaching these goals.”

His doubles partner, Arnaud Clement, said, “Lyon is an incredible place to play tennis. The crowd loves and supports the French team. It’s great to play with Llodra, we know each other perfectly. Even though we were 2-0 up after the first day – which gave us peace of mind – there was still a

lot of pressure. It was important to close today.”

The Argentine captain, Tito Vasquez, was obviously disappointed. “We knew it was hard to come and play here,” he reflected afterwards. “We respect them, as they respect us. We wanted to give our people the dream of another final at home, we are very sorry for that. The first day, we could have been two points up, but we were down by two. It was very difficult. The kids mostly had little experience in Davis Cup. They started with me 4-5 months ago, and have played few matches with tension like this. I guess the defeat could still help them in their careers.”

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03 Dec - 05 Dec 2010

(c) * 1 4 (s)

1 (s) (c) 4

France Argentina

3 (s) (c) 2

(c) 3 Final 2 (s)

Result

Chile Czech Republic

Result

Result

Serbia Semifinals Czech Republic

Result Quarterfinals

Result

1 (s) (c) 4

Russia India Result

(c) - 11 Jul 2010 4 09 Jul 1 (s)

(c) 1 4 (s) Spain

Germany France

Result

0 (s) (c) 5

28/09/10 01.07

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World Group, 2010

4 (s) (c) Preview 1 Spain (c) France

1 (s) (c) * 4

World Group, 2010 Serbia United States

Spain Switzerland France Serbia

Chile Czech Republic

(c) * 1 4 (s)

Losing nations contest World Group play-offs

Seeded (s) Choice of ground (c) Choice of ground decided by lot * Page 1 of 1 Choice of ground for future rounds

Winning nations qualify for World Group in 2011.

Key

SeededRepublic 2 - 3(s) Serbia Czech Choice of ground

Rubber Choice of1ground decided by lot Choice of ground for future rounds Viktor TROICKI (SRB)

(c) *

Radek STEPANEK (CZE) Rubber 2 Janko TIPSAREVIC (SRB) Tomas BERDYCH (CZE) Rubber 3 Novak DJOKOVIC / Nenad ZIMONJIC (SRB)

6 4

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6 2

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7 6 (5)

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1 6 6 4

Tomas BERDYCH / Radek STEPANEK (CZE) Rubber 4 http://www.daviscup.com/results/printabledrawsheet.asp?lstYear=2010&zone=&division=WG&roundtype=M Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB) 4 6 6 Tomas BERDYCH (CZE) Rubber 5 Janko TIPSAREVIC (SRB) Radek STEPANEK (CZE)

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7 6 (6)

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http://www.daviscup.com/results/printabledrawsheet.asp?lstYear=2010&zone=&division=

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The Art and Science of the Perfect Volley In this article, we will look at one of the most important yet often neglected shots in tennis: the volley.

At the net, the pace of play greatly speeds up, and your movements need to be precise and compact. An aggressive approach shot and good volley places a lot of pressure on your opponent, and is a good way of quickly ending a point in your favour.

In analysing the stroke, there are four key areas we need to focus on: 1) Opening phase and preparation 2) Stroke motion 3) Impact 4) Follow-through Grip As you will be aware of, the grip you use for each shot has a big impact on its effectiveness.

This is especially true of the volley. Because you have so little time to make adjustments at the net, it is advisable to use the same grip for both forehand and backhand volleys.

The grip universally recognised as the most suitable for volleying is the Continental (photo 1), since it allows you to easily play both the backhand and forehand stroke with relative ease. As a beginner you might find it easier to use an Eastern grip (photo 2) on the forehand side, but I recommend that you change to a Continental on both sides as soon as possible.

It really does save precious time not to have to change grips.

Holding position This aspect of volleying is too often neglected or ignored by club players. By holding position I mean the position you are in as you wait to hit your volley. This early preparation step is critical, and can make the difference between a winner and error.

In order to maximise your time usage, it’s advisable to keep your racquet well above netheight as you wait for the ball (photo 3). Too often players keep their racquet head low, which means that you’ll have to bring the racquet up to hit the volley. Though this might only take you a split-second, it is a split-second too long.

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Photo 1

As you can see from photos 3 and 4, your legs must be slightly bent with your torso leaning forward. Keep your balance on the front part of your feet (photo 4), as this will allow you to fly forward more effectively when you move to hit the volley.

1) Opening phase and preparation Being close to the net significantly reduces your opponent’s ability to react to your shot. You must keep your movement as compact as possible, and move quickly to intercept the ball as it crosses the net. It is very important to remember that you must make contact with the volley well in front of your body (photo 5), so you must get the racquet in the proper position as quickly as possible.

2) Stroke Motion The stroke motion will be short – much shorter than any other ground stroke. Do not attempt to use the kind of takeback common to other shots, as it will likely cause you to hit the ball late.

In fact, it is best to go directly to the ball with the racquet without bringing it back any more. Keep Photo 2 your racquet level, with the face of the strings facing the opponent (photo 6).

3) Impact Especially in the early stages of learning, the impact should be stable, and you shouldn’t use your wrist to try and generate pace. It is a good idea to try and “lock” the string bed on impact, keeping it oriented towards your target. Keep the racquet still and steady upon impact, as this will give you much greater control and stability.

This might sound simple enough, but in practice it is very difficult to teach players how to keep their arm and rac-

Photo 3

Photo 5

quet stable during impact.

Here are some key points concerning the impact phase of the volley: - The impact should ideally take place in front of the body

and to the right of the right shoulder (for the forehand

volley).

- For the backhand volley, the situation is a bit more

“elastic,” and impact can take place in front of, in line

with or even slightly behind the shoulder.

- Keep the strings steady and facing towards the target.

- Hold your wrist steady throughout, and do not change the

angle of the shot by moving the wrist. This is especially

dangerous if you are a beginner, as control is drastically

reduced.

- If you manage to keep the racquet steady, the head of the

racquet will not end up on the other side of your body .

4) Follow-through As I’ve already mentioned, the follow-through should generally be very short (photo 7). This might differ slightly according to the type of volley you are hitting, but you must never have a major follow-through when hitting this shot.

and into the ball, thus giving it some pace. Remember, if you are hitting a forehand volley, your opposite foot (left foot) must step forward, and vice versa for the backhand volley. It is critical to remember that your foot must make impact with the ground at the same time you make contact with the ball (photo 8). In this way your body momentum goes into the ball, whereas if your foot hits the ground before contact, that momentum is lost .

Photo 6

Photo 7

Footwork When hitting a volley your footwork is of paramount importance.

Because you cannot have a big takeback with this shot, all the power must come from your footwork, which pushes you forward

Photo 4 Photo 8

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Rafael Nadal (Esp) Aeropro Drive racquet, Pro Hurricane string - Dinara Safina (Rus) Aero Storm racquet, Pro Hurricane string #1 ATP & WTA as of April 20th 2009 - Photos G. Livin - R. Angle

T A L O B Dinara

BwitAh Rafa and

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#1

The Better Backhand Debate

part 1

One or two hands?

by Scott Mitchell

One the longest-running debates in tennis concerns the backhand. People often want to know if it is better to use two hands (as Rafael Nadal and most professionals do), or one hand (like Roger Federer and some other elite players). Personally I believe it is a preference, and that the one isn’t necessarily better than the other. However, there are some differences in the way both are executed and there are some pros and cons to both. Let’s have a look at some of these differences: ONE-HANDED BACKHAND Pros - Much easier to hit low balls - Easier to reach for balls - Can more effectively cover shots hit directly at your body - More comfortable to adapt and hit a slice backhand if

needed

Scott, a former #1 Mixed Doubles player in the United States, is the Head Tennis Professional at Charlotte Country Club (CCC) in North Carolina.

CCC is ranked one of the Top 14 country clubs

by Platinum Clubs of America-Club Forum.

Scott was the Assistant Coach for Georgia Perimeter College when the team won four straight National Championships. In 2009, he was named PTR Clinician of the Year.

He is currently working on a tennis DVD. In this issue we’ll focus on the two-handed backhand, and I’ll give you a couple of tips on how to best hit the shot.

Cons - Tough to hit balls that rise high on your backhand side - Not nearly as powerful for most players as the two handed version - Can be more difficult to hit sharp angles - Can be more difficult to hit heavy topspin TWO-HANDED BACKHAND Pros - Easier to hit balls high above the shoulder - Two hands on the racquet generally gives you more

power - Can create more angles with the correct wrist movement - Easier to generate topspin on most shots Cons - Tough to play balls that are below knee height - Footwork needs be much better since two hands limits

your reach - Tough to cover balls hit directly at you - More difficult to hit slice backhands since you aren’t used

to letting go with one hand Remember, these aren’t all the pros and cons that relate to the one-handed and two-handed backhands, but they are perhaps the most important. Both backhands are great and both have their limitations. The best advice I can give you is to give both shots a try and see which one feels the most comfortable.

Picture 01

Picture 01 You can see in this picture that the racquet head has relaxed below the wrist and the flight of the ball. This allows for greater racquet head speed, which in turn generates more topspin and power.

With the squared stance, the shoulders are turned parallel to the sideline and ready to rotate into the ball.

Picture 02 Here the legs bend in order to generate power off the ground.

Remember, the energy starts from the ground and moves into the legs, hips, etc. Don’t

Picture 02

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try and generate power and spin with just the upper body or just the arms.

Picture 03 In this photo you can see the amount of shoulder turn for the two-handed backhand. The back of the right shoulder is point-

Picture 02 ing towards my target. The head stays still and focused on the contact point during the swing and stays there briefly after the swing is complete.

the two-handed backhand should be just in front of your leading foot. With the open stance the contact point should be just in front of your body position.

The stance in these photos is mostly squared and might be slightly open if attempting to hit more cross-court.

Picture 05 On the two-handed backhand, notice the non-dominant arm fully extending towards the target. This is very important for control. Once the non-dominate arm is extended it relaxes over the opposite shoulder to finish the follow-through.

Picture 06 This last photo is just before the final finish, where the racquet would wrap over the shoulder. In this picture you can still see the left arm swinging towards the target and then relaxing over the shoulder. Notice the hips have now turned into the shot and face the net.

Picture 05

Picture 04 With both the squared and closed stance, your contact point on

Picture 04

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Primal Tennis

By Ken Guendel

W

e are physical animals and we know how to move things. All our lives we’ve moved things and have watched others move things.

We have used tools (forks, knives, irons, needles, axes, shovels, hammers, etc.) and have observed others using tools.

In my 33 years of teaching, I have yet to have a student show up on the court holding the frame of the racquet face and say, “I’m ready coach!” Nor have I had a student attempt to hit the ball with the edge of the racquet frame. I give my students a lot of credit for understanding the physical world.

This is why guided discovery works so well. If you ask a student who is standing at the baseline to toss a ball to the service line, they will figure out the length of movement they need to perform the task. Ask them to throw progressively farther away and you will notice them engage more and more body parts, including, possibly, the use of the overhand throwing action. This is why the standard teaching method has been so effective. It allows the player to explore, progressively, lengths of swing needed to send the ball varying distances.

Teaching proper concentration is logical and fairly easy to do. Executing proper concentration is very challenging, mostly because of the many intellectual interferences that are present on the tennis court.

I want my students to understand how the mind works when completing everyday tasks. So, the first question I might ask them is, “When was the last time you looked at a light switch until you finished flipping it on or off ?” 99.9% answer, “Never.” Duh. We usually shift our attention out of or into the room as we’re flipping the switch. When you make a phone call from a landline, as

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you reach for the receiver, your eyes shift to the key pad. This is how our brain functions all day long. This same shift of attention can happen on the tennis court. The following describes what concentration means while playing.

Assuming a player has a sense of the swing, we can proceed. The three primal skills required to function on the tennis court are catching, hitting and throwing. Each skill has a particular

should be. Toss a ball to your student and ask them to catch it. Most likely there won’t be a problem. You can ask them if they were thinking about hitting the ball. No, Silly. Of course they had a pure catching thought. Put a racquet in their hand and the challenge starts. Of course they will be thinking about hitting it! That’s why they’re here!

If your student is thinking about hitting the ball while they’re in the catching/

Ken was the Director of Junior Tennis at the Aspen Hill Club in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was also Head Coach for the USTA Area Training Center and Head Coach for the National Championship Junior Team in Ecuador, as well as a consultant to the Ecuadoran Tennis Federation. Ken has been ranked #1 in both singles and doubles in the Mid-Atlantic Section. He was a featured speaker at the PTR International Tennis Symposium and the USTA Tennis Teachers Conference. Ken was named the first USTA/Maryland Teaching Pro of the Year in 2003, and in 2008 he earned the USTA/MAS Lifetime Service Award. He has written extensively for TennisPro.

thought and eye function attached to it.

A play on a tennis ball has a sequential thought process. Here is where we, as pros, have to learn to keep our students on task mentally.

The first skill our student is executing is catching. They are looking at the ball with the purpose of seeing its movement and positioning themselves to take their most comfortable swing. Seems like a simple enough request. Let me suggest a few things that might interfere with this simple thought/action and why these might affect the student’s performance. “Turn!”, “Racquet back early!”, “Move your feet!” are all common exhortations heard from pros and are all potentially detrimental in their effect on the student’s performance. If we are working on the catching/positioning skill, that is what their primary thought

positioning phase, what won’t they be thinking about? If your student is thinking about moving their feet, what won’t they be thinking about? If your student is thinking about getting their racquet back early, what won’t they be thinking about? So, they get the racquet back early and they still hit the ball late. Heaven forbid they say, “Coach, I can’t get the racquet back any earlier!”

Where does one go from there? How can Agassi return a 149mph serve from Roddick? I don’t think it’s by thinking to get his racquet back early. If our student is kept on the task of seeing the ball’s movement and moving to where and when the contact (catch) will be, they will never have a problem with time.

Well then, when should the student get ready to swing? If your student is running to position, they are already turned

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and their footwork will be fine as long as their thought is on getting into position for the incoming ball. As for when to get ready to swing, the simple answer is, when it’s time to get ready. When walking in a park and there is a bench ahead and you want to rest, when do you get ready to sit? When you’re 12 feet from the bench do you turn, face your butt toward the bench and start backing up?

Yet, this is what we do to our students when we tell them to get their racquets back early. If they have a sense of their swing and understand the ball’s movement and time frame, they will get ready in a timely fashion.

I would like you to do an exercise. Sitting where you are, find something in the room on which to keep your eyes focused. Something small is best. See that object clearly, keep your eyes on it and then, while your eyes are on the object, visualise the interior of your car. Go ahead, I’ll wait here until you get back... (whistling)... (tapping my toes)... Ah, there you are. Now, if you did it properly, your eyes would have been on the object (the ball in tennis), yet at the same time you could actually see the interior of your car. The question is, where was your mind? Your eyes were on the object (ball), but your mind was in the car.

Here’s the analogy to playing. If your primary thought is where you want the ball to go, or where your opponent is, or the degree of ease or difficulty of the shot, or getting your racquet back early, you think you’re looking at the ball, after all it is in your vision, but your mind is elsewhere. When you get back to the ball, it’s, “Oops, what is it doing this close to my body?” or “Oops, what is it doing bouncing that short?” or “Oops, what is it doing here already?” If your primary thought is not on the primal catching skill things can go wrong. It is not your student’s inability to position properly, it is their lack of attention to the primal skill of catching that challenges them.

The next stage in the sequence has to do with the primal thought of hitting.

The eye function in the hitting skill is to see the object we want to touch/hit and use a finger to touch it, or a tool to 60

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hit it. In the case of a stationary object, for example the Number 1 on the phone key pad, your eyes go to the 1 when you go to touch it. They don’t know what else to do. The natural function of the eyes is to look to where the touch/hit is happening. Oh, if it were that easy in tennis. The ball is moving. This is why the catching skill is a crucial part of the mental sequence. During the catching/ positioning phase, you are assessing where the contact is going to be and when the ball will arrive there. Timing.

The catching skill sets up the hitting skill.

The hitting skill is just as challenged by intellectual interference as our catching skill. The swing takes, for arguments sake, 0.4 seconds from beginning to end. If we can agree that concentration means to pay attention to what we’re doing, then when we swing, we should be concentrating on our swing for 0.4 seconds. The problem is that at about 0.2 seconds into the swing, the hit happens, and the intellectual interference is that we’re smart enough to know a result is also happening. Being goaloriented, we want to see the fruits of our labour. If we revisit the light switch analogy, when we start our swing we can shift our attention ahead to the ball going back over the net. What effect does this shift of attention have on the hit?

Before I answer that question, I have to address the third primal skill, throwing.

The concept that there is an “over there” is a throwing thought. When you throw a ball where do your eyes go? They go to the target. They don’t know what else to do. You can’t play tennis or any other sport if you don’t understand the concept that there is an “over there”. So, if you are thinking about where you want the ball to go as you are swinging, guess where your eyes are going to go? They are going to look up. They don’t know what else to do. Understanding this, we need to encourage our students to get their mind on their swing and keep it there until the end of the swing. Try not to think about the ball flying away. Not an easy task, however, the more they

are able to do this, the quicker they will learn to identify what they do to produce the results they want.

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to interview and write about players on the tour and what they were thinking and what was important to them during the point. There has been a lot of talk the past few years about Federer and his eyes at the contact. Ten years ago, Graf, Edberg and Sampras were the players who did this pretty well. I asked Edberg twice if seeing the ball at contact was an indication of good concentration. His response the first time I asked him was, “No.” The second time, three years later after he retired was, “I wasn’t even aware that my eyes were at contact.” In that answer is an interesting problem for us as teachers. Do we suggest to our students to see the ball at the contact? We see Federer with his eyes at the contact and extrapolate, “OK, eyes on the ball at the contact (thanks, McEnroe).” Here’s the problem - if you are encouraging your students to see the ball at contact, their mind will not be on the swing, it will be on the ball. Federer’s eyes are at the contact because his mind is on the swing and where the hit is happening. His eyes are where the contact is happening, not on what is at the contact point. He exhibits a primal hitting skill without the intellectual interference, without the shift of attention. He is totally into his swing.

A good drill for you and your students to try is hitting with your eyes closed. It is a little unsettling at first, but once you get the idea, it can be an eye opening experience. The key to doing it successfully is to close your eyes once you have started your forward swing and keep them closed until the end of the swing. If you close your eyes before you start your swing, you won’t have great success. It is a good lesson in understanding you don’t need to look at the ball when you swing, but you do have to think about your swing. It is also a good exercise to practice taking the temptation of the results away during the swing. There’s nothing to do but get your mind on your swing. I have students complain they hit

better with their eyes closed!

I will usually expose players to these ideas in their first lesson. Before I think there may be a problem, I want to see what happens when they are concentrating properly. Many problems we see are positioning or timing issues (catching thought interferences), and many can be swing concentration issues (hitting thought interferences). Without a ball, many people can demonstrate a reasonable swing. Why fix anomalies in the swing due to poor concentration?

The way I introduce these ideas is to have students at the baseline with me.

Before I feed any balls, I ask them if we can agree what concentration means (as I’ve discussed earlier). They will, of course, agree. I will have them show me some swings. Swings they’d like to feel. I’ll ask them to have their mind on the swing from beginning to end. I will explain about the 0.4 seconds and challenge them to concentrate for 0.2 seconds longer than they normally do. I’m not asking for much. Just 0.2 seconds longer. I will then drop feed balls, standing next to them and let them practice keeping their mind on the swing for 0.4 seconds. You’ll be amazed at how challenging this will be for most people.

Some get it right away, but generally, you notice they still sneak a peek, or look up. Just encourage them to keep their mind on the swing until the end of the swing. Don’t think about the ball flying away until the swing is finished.

Come on, four tenths of a second! You can also suggest that they keep their eyes still when they swing.

Do not say, “Keep your head down.” Do not say, “Keep your eyes on the ball.”

Do not say, “Don’t look up.” Any of these suggestions will take their mind off of the swing.

Once I think they have an idea of the swing concentration, I’ll back up and start tossing and introduce the positioning thought to them. While they are moving to their best position, I don’t want them thinking about hitting the ball or about their swing. When the

brain says it’s time to swing, that’s when they should start to think about their swing, not before. Thinking long and hard about the swing is not what makes it happen. Providing the brain with real time information will give them the best chance to execute the swing they want.

They won’t forget to hit the ball. As I get farther away, their positioning skill is more challenged. I keep their thoughts primarily on positioning. Then when it’s time to swing, I encourage them to get their mind on their swing.

How do we apply strategy to the sequence? Shot selection and court positioning need to be taught. When your opponent hits the ball, you have a whole package of information. The primary thought should be on positioning. Your secondary awareness through peripheral information is the configuration on the court. Your strategic thought, “over there”, is a throwing thought.

That thought needs to be translated to a position, a point of contact and a swing selection. If you decide to hit crosscourt with topspin, this decision has to translate to something you do on your side of the court. Once the decision is made, you are looking at and moving to the ball with a purpose – getting your best position and anticipating where and when the ball will arrive at your crosscourt contact position. If you are thinking primarily about your swing as you move to the ball, your position and timing will suffer. If you are thinking primarily about where you want the ball to go as you move to the ball, your position and timing will suffer. If you are thinking primarily about hitting the ball as you move to the ball, your position and timing will suffer. Keep your thoughts out of the interior of your car! Once you brain says, “Time to swing!”, you have to leave your positioning thought and get your mind on your swing thought (topspin) and where the contact point (crosscourt) is going to be. For 0.4 seconds.

There are error management benefits that come with this understanding. As pros, we are trained to ‘see’ the physical manifestation of the swing and to identify what went wrong. Then we try

to fix these physical manifestations, which are usually caused by poor concentration. Do you ever ask your student why they made a mistake? I used to ask myself, “Why don’t they get it?” and “What’s wrong with them?” Now I know. And, if you teach this mental component to your students, they will know also.

The mantras we use as pros are universal. The students can repeat them by heart. When they are out of position, their correction is to move the feet more. When they feel their swing stopped short, their correction is to follow through. Do we ask why they were out of position? Do we ask why they stopped the swing? If they know how to do it, then they’re either paying attention to doing it, or not. If they are not paying attention to doing it, why not? What was taking their attention away from what they should be thinking about? Why weren’t they thinking about their position?

Thinking about moving their feet won’t solve the problem. (Again, if you’re thinking about moving your feet, what aren’t you thinking about?) Why didn’t they take the whole swing? Thinking follow through won’t solve the problem of the swing thought being interrupted.

What was interfering with their swing thought? So, if the student understands the thought behind the physical action, they can better self-correct. They become aware that they were thinking about where their opponent was and, therefore, were not thinking about their position. They become aware that they were thinking about where they wanted the ball to go and, therefore, were not concentrating on their swing properly.

You are empowering them to be in control of what they are doing when they are playing.

Primal Tennis is not a theory, it is the truth. It is why there were players before there were teachers. These primal skills are the reason there is sport. They were our survival skills for tens of thousands of years. We’ve just started applying them to sport once we took care of that survival thing.

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VISUALISATION IN TENNIS Dr. Marina Gerin Birsa Sports Psychologist www.psymedisport.com The ability to visualise must be learned and practiced in order to help athletes fulfil their true potential. Visualisation helps tennis players recognise their own technical mistakes and correct them. It also helps in eliminating distracting factors, strengthening motivation and resolve, and managing anxiety and stress. Perhaps most importantly, visualisation assists players in clearly seeing their goals.

In most sports visualisation is not properly utilised. Where it usually manifests itself is in “spontaneous strategy,� which includes imagining where a ball will bounce before it does, for example.

Young athletes tend to use their imagination more frequently than their adult counterparts, which makes training them to properly use visualisation from a young age important.

Visualisation can be either external (as if watching ourselves on film) or internal (where we turn our gaze inwards, as it were). An athlete does not need external stimuli in order to imagine, but visualisation can be aided by watching other tennis players doing the things we want to do ourselves.

Effective visualisation makes use of all the senses – one must not simply focus on the visual element, but the auditory and tactile ones as well. The more faithful the image is to real life, the more useful it will be. The image must be as vivid as possible, not muddled or blurred, and its contours must be clear and well defined.

After few weeks a player must be able to control his/her imagination, and when practising visualisation it is essential to remain focused throughout. Above all, do not fall asleep while practising visualisation techniques! Visualisation does not 62

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equal total relaxation, and you must approach it with the same attitude as you would an on-court training session.

When practising visualisation, especially during the early stages, it is essential to have a quiet environment in which to reflect. Even shortly before a match it is a good idea to find an isolated spot to relax in.

The best results are gained with constant practice and repetition, and you would be well advised to spend time on this every day. Taking a few minutes on a regular basis to revise the phases of the serve or forehand will do wonders for your game.

Even when you are tired or don’t feel up to practicing you must. In fact, it is a good time to do so, since it emulates match conditions. You will not always feel well or rested on the court, but at those times you must be able to pull yourself together. It is important when visualising to always stick to positive images. Do not imagine making mistakes, and above all do not end a session with an image of a mistake!

It is also a good idea to visualise in slow motion. By slowing everything down one can focus on the smaller details, which often provides an enormous amount of insight into one’s own game.

I will now give you a relaxation and visualisation exercise which you can try for yourself:

RELAXATION AND BODY FOCUS -

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-

Close your eyes. Breathe in and out slowly.

Feel your body becoming heavier and more relaxed. Concentrate on your feet, which are becoming incredibly relaxed and heavy.

Slowly turn your attention to your calf muscles. Feel them relax and become heavy. The sensation moves up your

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-

calves and into the rest of your legs.

Go on stretching all the muscles of your body, moving from the lower limbs upwards. Your abdomen, arms, hands, neck and face muscles are all completely relaxed.

You are feeling good – very good: calm and peacefulness engulf you.

COURT FOCUS - Now imagine yourself as you are

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-

-

-

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stepping on the court. It is a cloudy, cold day and you can feel the cool breeze on your face. You are participating in an important – a very important – competition.

Visualise the court, the stands and your opponent. See the colour of your clothes and listen to the sound of the ball. Feel the weight of the racquet in your hand and the ground underneath your feet.

You are now feeling loose and relaxed. You can visualise the trajectory of the ball with great certainty and accuracy.

Imagine yourself as you are reaching the objective you have set: you are focused, the objective is well defined, specific and you are deter mined to attain it, you are able to attain it.

You are focused and confident – you know you have prepared well for this occasion.

All your thoughts are turned to your objective. You feel your motivation growing and energy fills you with strength and positivity.

Now slowly start stretching and open your eyes.

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Classic Tennis Reads

By Philip Maré

Name: Living Through The Racket Author: Corina Morariu Pages: 152 Publisher: Hay House First Published: 2010 Rating: 7/10 Athletes deal with and overcome various forms of adversity all the time. In team sports, this is made slightly easier by the fact that you have teammates to help you through the tough times. In tennis, you are largely on your own, and no matter how much money or how many titles you may have, when you step out on the court you are completely on your own. That is perhaps why the top tennis stars in general are more grounded and responsible than the average superstar athlete. But sometimes a sportsperson is dealt a blow that they could not possibly have prepared for – one that is so devastating that it threatens not only their careers, but their very lives. This is exactly what happened to Corina Morariu, the former world number one doubles player. Living Through The Racket is her account of how she survived Leukaemia and eventually learned more about herself from the disease than she did from years on the tennis court.

Survival stories in the sports world are not uncommon. Lance Armstrong survived cancer and came back to win the Tour de France seven times. James Blake broke his neck on a practice court, yet returned to tennis to make it to the ATP World Tour Finals and the Top 10. Both of these stories – and many others besides – have been turned into successful books, and are

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undoubtedly great reads and inspirational tales. Yet one cannot help but feel that only half the story is being told. Blake in particular, in his book Breaking Back (which we reviewed in last month’s issue), is very careful not to step on anyone’s toes or relate any unsavoury or unpleasant incidents. This is fair enough – after all, these athletes are trying to focus on the positive side of things. However, readers are often left thirsting for a more complete picture of events.

In this sense at least, Corina Morariu’s new book, Living Through The Racket, is a refreshing change. She starts off with a relatively brief description of how she got into tennis, as well as her early career, which included Grand Slam titles in the Wimbledon doubles and Australian Open mixed doubles events. She then delves into a detailed and often gut-wrenching account of her battle with Leukaemia, from her early denial about any illness to her ultimate recovery and return to the WTA Tour.

So far, so good. This is the kind of thing one expects from inspirational books. But this takes one only about halfway through Living Through The Racket. Morariu also goes on to talk about

her post-recovery struggles, which prove to be every bit as challenging as the cancer that nearly killed her. She speaks very candidly about her marriage to her coach – with whom she had been romantically involved from about the age of 16 – and its eventual collapse. The impact her divorce has on her family also takes up a substantial part of the book, as does her tumultuous relationship with retired ATP player Justin Gimelstob.

Throughout all of this Morariu is astoundingly honest about the mistakes she makes, the flaws she has and her battle to correct them. One really gets a wonderful picture of a fleshand-blood human being who is just as imperfect as everyone

else. Once she is cured of her disease she doesn’t suddenly become a saint, nor does she want to portray that image. She might have rid her body of Leukaemia, but the disease reveals emotional wounds and inadequacies that takes her years to come to terms with. The journey is not always smooth, and often one actually struggles to sympathise with Morariu, but ultimately her honesty allows one to fully appreciate her physical and emotional transformation.

The biggest problem with Living Through The Racket is that it’s very short. It only clocks in at around 150 pages, and dedicated readers will find themselves finishing it in a single sitting.

Details about her tennis career are also relatively scarce, and while she gives a pretty complete overview of her career, fans looking for a more thorough reflection of her playing days will be disappointed. That being said, there are enough little titbits about famous players like Lindsay Davenport – who comes across as a thoroughly decent person – to satisfy one’s curiosity about Morariu’s relationship with the other pros of the day.

Overall, Living Through The Racket is a truly enjoyable book that breaks the mould when it comes to inspirational storytelling. Allen Rucker, who helped shape Morariu’s story into a coherent narrative, does a fantastic job of telling an utterly compelling – and ultimately very touching – tale. It’s a shame that the book isn’t 100 pages longer, but it is certainly a mark in its favour that it leaves you wanting more by the time the last page is turned. If you enjoy this kind of subject, Living Through The Racket certainly won’t disappoint, and it definitely counts as one of the better additions that the genre has seen over the past few years.

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An interview with

Raven Klaasen Di Alessandro Varrassi When did you start playing tennis?

“I’ve been around the sport all my life, but I think I got my first racquet when I was about six or seven years old.”

sional tennis player?

“I always knew I wanted to play tennis at a high level.

At 14 I stopped competing in other sports. I realised that tennis was the only thing I wanted to do.”

Why did you choose tennis?

“When I was younger I played many sports, but tennis was my favourite and I decided at 14 that I wanted to play professional tennis one day.”

What music do you listen to?

Does anyone else in your family play tennis?

Do you listen to music before a match?

“Tennis is very much a part of our family. My parents and both my siblings also play.”

Who was your first coach?

“My parents introduced me to tennis so I’m going to say both of them. They have both claimed that position but I’m not sure!”

When did you realise you wanted to become a profes-

“Initially I listened to mostly hip hop and R&B, but these days I’m definitely enjoying all sorts of music.”

“Yes, it’s a big part of my prematch routine.”

What is your routine before a match? Do you have any superstitions?

“I like to put on my iPod and just try to cut out everything else. It’s a good way to get your mind focused on the job at hand. Then I just get my equipment ready. I’m not that superstitious but I do always

put my left sock and shoe on first.”

What is never missing from your tennis bag?

“I always have my iPod in there. There is lots of time off during competition and it gets me through that.”

Can you explain a typical day when you’re playing a tournament?

“Well depending on when I’m scheduled to play, I like to make sure that I have eaten enough to get me through my match. Also I always get to the club about 90 minutes before my match so I have enough time to warm and go through my pre-match routine.

Then just get out there and compete as hard as I can!”

Do you have a girlfriend? How does your tennis affect your relationship?

“I do have a girlfriend. Her

name is Celeste. My travelling schedule does make it hard but she is very supportive of what I do. These days the technology also allows us to stay in touch much easier.”

Do you ever play video games? What kinds do you like?

“I’m not really a big gamer.

But there is one game I enjoy. It’s a car game: Gran Turismo.”

Do you like reading? If so, what kind of books do you prefer?

“I do enjoy reading but don’t read as much as I would like to. My favourite books are autobiographies.”

Do you have a Facebook page?

“Yes, I am on Facebook. It’s a great way of staying in touch with friends and family.”

What do you feel during the most important moments of each match?

“Usually those key moments are accompanied with some edginess, but I’m always excited to play in that situation.

It’s why you play professionally: to measure yourself when it really counts.”

How do you feel after losing important matches and how do you cope with that feeling?

“It’s one of the hardest things about playing professional tennis. After losing big matches I’m always very disappointed. But that’s part of the game. You have real 66

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highs when you feel great and the lows are tough. I try to focus on the big picture and try to take all the positives from the experience and look to be better next time in a similar position.”

What has been your most memorable tennis moment?

“I have to say winning my first round match at the SA Open in 2009. I was an amazing feeling playing at home and receiving the kind of support I got from everyone! I grew up hearing stories about the tournament’s rich history and being able to compete there was special.”

When was the worst patch of your tennis career?

“From 2005 to 2007 I missed playing tennis due to some bad knee injuries. It required three operations and took very long to recover. That was definitely the toughest part of my career.”

Who is the best player you’ve ever faced?

“The best player I’ve played was Thomas Johansson from Sweden.”

Who was the best player you’ve ever beaten?

“I’ve beaten a number of Top 100 players but my best result was probably beating Rajeev Ram in Newport this year. He was the defending champion there.”

Which is your favourite surface and why?

“My favourite surface is a medium-fast hard court. That’s what I grew up playing on in SA. And I feel that’s where my game is at its best. But the grass is always fun and Wimbledon is my favourite

tournament.”

What is the strongest part of your game? What about the weakest?

“My serve and my volleys are the strongest part of my game. For weakness I think sometimes I’m not assertive enough on the court.”

How many hours do you spend on the court every day?

And in the gym?

“During training I spend about three hours on court and another hour in the gym. I used to do more but after the surgery I prefer doing more intense shorter workouts.”

Could you walk us through a typical day of training for you?

“I start my day with a good warm-up and dynamic stretch.

Usually I do a private session with my coach, Stephan De Kock, in the morning and a live ball session or points in the afternoon. Then I end my day with a gym session and stretch.”

What is your favourite movie?

What is your least favourite part of training?

“Actually I enjoy training but it’s the next morning that’s tough. Waking up sore and doing it all over again.”

What is your favourite food?

“There is nothing better than a good old SA braai! I can do that all day every day.”

Do you like tasting all kinds of different foods when you travel abroad for tennis?

“It is fun learning about new foods and cultures but I’m more careful nowadays as I’ve had some food poisoning before and that’s no fun.”

“I’d have to say my favourite movie is Gladiator.”

Who are your favourite actors/actresses?

“My favourite actor is Robert Downey Jr. and actress is Cameron Diaz.”

What was the last electronic gadget you bought?

“I recently bought an external hard drive. It’s crucial to have some music and movies for the hotel rooms. “

stop playing tennis?

“Tennis is my passion so I definitely want to stay involved in the sport when I stop playing professionally. I’d like to teach tennis in SA.” What do you think about the state of tennis in South Africa?

“Tennis has been growing in popularity of late in SA. But there is a long way to go to get back to where we once were.”

“Yes I travel with a laptop.”

What could be changed to make tennis in SA bigger and better?

Have you ever thought about what you will do when you

“We need more tournaments.

It will just give local players more opportunities to make

Do you have a computer?

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points. Most players on the rankings make most of their points predominantly in their home country in their favourite conditions.”

your life?

What do you think of SA’s chances in the Davis Cup this year?

Have you read Andre Agassi’s autobiography? What do you think about it?

“We have performed exceptionally well for the last few years so I think we have a good chance in the upcoming tie. But it will be hard to play away on clay as most of us aren’t used to that surface.”

What is your favourite pastime?

“I’ve started playing golf lately and really enjoy it.”

Who is the best – Federer or Sampras? Clijsters or Henin or Serena Williams?

“I think Federer is better.

Some of his records I don’t think will ever be broken. For the ladies I think Serena. She has proven that she is the hardest women to beat in Grand Slam tennis for the last many years.”

Do you have any nicknames?

“Not that I know of.”

Which is your favourite tournament?

“Wimbledon is my favourite tournament.”

Which is your dream about tennis?

“To play on Centre Court at Wimbledon.”

Which city do you most like to visit?

“I always enjoy London in the summer, but coming back to Cape Town beats everything.”

Who do you admire most in

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“The person I most admire is Nelson Mandela. He is an amazing man.”

“Unfortunately I haven’t read his book but have been told it’s a good read. “ What are your tennis goals for 2010?

“My goals are to improve my singles ranking to inside 200 and my doubles to 100.”

How was your 2009?

“Since coming back to tennis it’s been getting better every year. 2009 I reached many of my goals so I would say it was a good year.”

What string tension do you like to play with?

“Right now I’m playing with 55lbs. But it varies depending on the conditions and altitude where I’m playing.”

Do you change your string tension when you changes surfaces? How drastically?

“I do change my tension but it usually only a few pounds up or down.”

What kind of strings do you use?

“I use a blend of poly strings.

It gives me some added durability because I break string

very often.”

What grip size do you like?

“My grip size is 4 3/8. And I use an overgrip which makes it slightly bigger.”

What makes you angry during matches?

“I’m pretty controlled on court but I do get angry if I feel I’m not playing as well as I could.”

What is your first feeling when you step on the court for a match?

“I normally have a little bit of nervous energy but that settles down as soon as things get going.”

Do you read Tennis World SA? What suggestions do you have?

“Yes I read it and think it’s a great magazine.”

Not for sale to persoNs uNder the age of 18 years

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