Australian Tennis Magazine - August 2012

AUGUST 2012

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BIGGEST EVER WIMBLEDON UPSETS

SERENA WILLIAMS

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STORMS WIMBLEDON

TENNIS MYTHS

DEBUNKED

ROGER FEDERER

ANGELIQUE KERBER LLEYTON HEWITT SARA ERRANI

THE GREATEST EVER

AUGUST 2012 VOL 37 No. 8

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FEATURES

14 19

Roger Roars Back

A record-equalling seventh title, a record-extending 17 Grand Slams.

Roger Federer added more lustre to his legend at Wimbledon.

The Strength Within

Serena Williams bravely overcame illness and injury to sweep a fifth Wimbledon title.

26

Perspective, Please Not all doom and gloom for Australian tennis at Wimbledon.

30

Top 10 Wimbledon Upsets

Lukas Rosol’s defeat of Rafael Nadal tops our list of all-time Wimbledon upsets.

32

Hewitt’s Wimbledon High

Lleyton Hewitt reflects on his titlewinning run a decade ago.

43

Top 10 Tennis Myths

Some long-standing tennis conventions are more fusty than trusty tennis wisdom.

Australian Tennis Magazine | August 2012

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AUGUST 2012 REGULARS 7 Topspin 13

Your Serve

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Aces & Places

46

Tennis Talk

49

My Game

56

My Coach

68 Rankings 70

Club of the Month

43

FROM THE EDITOR

and Roger marvel as Serena Williams here were many reasons to Wimbledon tering records at the 2012 Federer added to their glit time records alltheir superlative skills, Championships. But among fact – at age 30 and our rolls, was one standout and familiar return to the hon mpion is showing er active players, neither cha oth any n tha jors ma re mo with ire to achieve more. the slightest drop in their des pting it might be to when you consider how tem That’s especially admirable torturous slides that ary records unsullied by the walk away with their legend ween Grand Slams nted, it’s been two years bet befall many champions. Gra ks – especially for ir perseverance amid setbac the but s, ion mp cha h bot for legacies. blems – only adds to their Serena, after her health pro ous, as signified e younger and more ambiti Their opponents will becom ionships. The h faced at the 2012 Champ by the first-time finalists eac contender for the top Radwanska highlights a new improvement of Agnieszka formance in a Grand while Andy Murray’s best per honours in women’s tennis, top three men ial shift in the dominance the Slam final, points to a potent past 30 majors. have achieved in 29 of the Rafael Nadal unexpected challenges , as No pla yer is immune from nation protected to Lukas Rosol. Nor is any discovered in a shock los s ence of any was highlighted by the abs by its glorious past, which h situations suc l, Stil ledon’s second round.

Australians beyond Wimb achieved her US perspective. Sam Stosur require both patience and continued progress n a year ago, and there’s Open bre akthrough les s tha young doubles list Luke Saville, as well as from Wimbledon boys’ fina and Nick Kyrgios. champions, Andrew Harris understand the yers as Federer and Serena Even such accomplished pla ther event. The focus g – and there’s always ano competition is intensifyin land Club. Neither o to be staged at the All Eng now is on the Olympics, als gry to remind us – medallist; both will be hun s gle sin a is st titli on led Wimb ions. The game is lucky once-in-a-lifetime champ yet again – that the y are to have them.

T

VIVIENNE CHRISTIE, Editor

EDITOR CONSULTING EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER ADVERTISING MANAGER ADMINISTRATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER PHOTOGRAPHS

COVER PHOTO

Vivienne Christie Alan Trengove Daniela Toleski Suzi Petkovski Andrea Williamson Breanna Kray Ben Carenco Getty Images, John Anthony (All photographs by Getty Images unless specified) Getty Images

Australian Tennis Magazine is published monthly by TENNIS AUSTRALIA LTD, Private Bag 6060, Richmond, Vic 3121. Ph: (03) 9914 4200 Email: editor@tennismag.com.au Distributed by Network Distribution Company Printed in Australia by Webstar The views expressed in Australian Tennis Magazine are not necessarily those held by Tennis Australia. While the utmost care is taken in compiling the information contained in this publication, Tennis Australia is not responsible for any loss or injury occurring as a result of any omissions in either the editorial or advertising appearing herein.

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Australian Tennis Magazine | August 2012

TOP 10

Wimbledon 2012 may well have featured the biggest upset in the history of The Championships, with Lukas Rosol’s five-set ousting of Rafael Nadal. It tops our list of Wimbledon upsets. By Suzi Petkovski

WIMBLEDON UPSETS

1.

Lukas Rosol d Rafael Nadal 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, second round 2012

Arguably the biggest boilover ever at SW19. The 26-year-old Rosol, ranked 100 and playing a Wimbledon main draw for the first time, had only once strung together two wins on the main tour. Yet he blasted twotime champion and three-time runner-up Nadal with 65 audacious winners.

“Like a B-team from the Czech Republic beating Real Madrid,” joked the winner.

“It was like he put (a) million (dollars) on red,” marvelled Rosol’s countryman Radek Stepanek, “and it was there, every single time.” The lanky Czech inflicted Rafa’s earliest Slam exit for seven years by not allowing Nadal to get into a rally. He either slapped an error or hit the back of the lines.

Rosol ended the match with 22 aces and 10 straight winners – against arguably the greatest defensive player ever. “More than unbelievable,” as Rafa himself put it.

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Australian Tennis Magazine | August 2012

2.

Peter Doohan d Boris Becker 7-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, second round 1987

Some parallels with Rosol–Nadal.

Becker too was a two-time champion (and defending the title) when he was ambushed in the second round by the 26-year-old Aussie (same age as Rosol).

But the chip-and-charging Doohan was higher ranked at No. 70 and at ease on grass. Becker’s mature response, at age 19, has echoed down the years: “I didn’t start a war. Nobody died.”

3.

George Bastl d Pete Sampras 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, second round 2002

Seven-time Wimbledon champion Sampras went out with a whimper in his last appearance at SW19. Losing to a sublime young talent in 19-year-old Roger Federer the year before was no disgrace, but it was painful watching the great champion drown in a sea of self-doubt against journeyman Bastl, a lucky loser ranked 145. In his earliest Wimbledon exit in a decade, Sampras read inspirational notes from his wife during the changeovers, in a desperate search for hope. But our pity was typically wasted on Sampras. Weeks later, the 31-year-old made a defiant last stand to win the US Open over archrival Andre Agassi and walk out of the game a winner.

“That,” the champion declared with his final performance, “is how you will remember me.”

4.

Andrei Olhovskiy d Jim Courier 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, third round 1992

Courier was the dominant No. 1 going into Wimbledon 1992 – reigning Australian and French champion, finalist at the US Open and riding a 25-0 winning streak.

Shooting for a fourth-straight Grand Slam final, he was tripped up by the improbable figure of serve-volleying Russian qualifier Olhovskiy. Ranked a lowly 193 and with just two wins to his name on the main tour, the 26-year-old Muscovite took down the world No. 1 in his Centre Court debut with a nerveless display of attacking tennis. He later explained to an agog press that he developed his serve-volley style on fast wood and plastic courts at home. Olhovskiy went on to a top 10 ranking in doubles, while Courier reached the Wimbledon final in 1993, going down to Sampras.

5.

Jelena Dokic d Martina Hingis 6-2, 6-0, first round 1999

The biggest women’s upset. Hingis, champion in 1997 and reigning No. 1, was totally outplayed and overpowered by the 16-year-old Aussie qualifier. At No. 129, Dokic was the lowest-ranked player to defeat the No. 1 seed at a Grand Slam in the Open era. The Swiss Miss was coming off a traumatic meltdown in the French Open final against Steffi Graf barely a fortnight before, and feuding with her mother and coach. But the off-court dramas didn’t account for the demolition.

6.

Ivo Karlovic d Lleyton Hewitt 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-4, first round 2003

The rocket-serving Croat, tallest man on tour at six feet 10 and shod in size 16s, loomed as a danger man to defending

champ Hewitt. But no one picked the upset, given that Karlovic was making his Grand Slam debut and Hewitt, seeded No. 1, was the best-performed player on grass and the canniest of competitors. The defeat shook Hewitt – the first defending men’s champion in the Open era to lose first round – and he tumbled from No. 1 to No. 17 in the rankings by year’s end.

7.

Kevin Curren d Jimmy Connors 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, fourth round 1983

This shock result added to the lore of Court 2 as ‘the graveyard of champions.’

Defending champ and No. 1 seed Connors was bombarded by 33 aces from the rangy South African. It was just the second time in 12 years (from 1974 to 1985) that the combative Connors failed to reach the semis at a major. Curren repeated his upset of Jimbo in 1985, and added the scalp of defending champion John McEnroe for good measure, only to lose the final to wunderkind Boris Becker.

8.

Kathy Jordan d Chris Evert 6-1, 7-6(2), third round 1983

An aggressive net-charger and leading doubles exponent, Jordan was no rank outsider – she broke into the top 10 and made the Australian Open final later in 1983. But her defeat of an illness-weakened Evert, who led 4-0 and 5-3 in the second set, ended the American’s peerless run of 33 Grand Slams as a semi-finalist or better, stretching back to her US Open debut in 1971. Even more momentous, as the reigning US, Australian and French champion, Evert lost her shot at a Grand Slam sweep.

9.

Lori McNeil d Steffi Graf 7-5, 7-6(5), first round 1994

As with most of the giant killers in the women’s game, McNeil was no battler but a 30-year-old veteran with athletic spring and slick hands who excelled on fast courts.

Nor was this the 22nd-ranked American’s first win over No. 1 Graf. Blowing secondset leads with costly unforced errors, Graf’s rapid self-destruction earned her a dubious place in the record-book: never before had a defending champion crashed in the opening round.

10.

Conchita Martinez d Martina Navratilova 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 1994 final

“Perhaps the most unlikely Wimbledon champion of all time,” noted our correspondent Eloise Moss in these pages back in 1994. Strange call for a No. 3 seed but such was Martinez’s fear of grass that until her Wimbledon debut in 1992, she would take summer holidays during The Championships and watch them on TV! Yet in her third Wimbledon and 14th match on the hallowed lawns, she found herself the champion, a tennis version of Alice falling down the rabbit-hole.

Graf’s first-round exit had opened the door to a tantalising 10th Wimbledon for Navratilova. The 37-year-old was heavily favoured against the topspinning Spaniard, despite being seeded behind her at No. 4.

Navratilova had all the experience – the final was her 132nd match at Wimbledon – but with age came anxiety at the precious opportunity to add a last Wimbledon title to her gaudy tally.

And so Martinez took an improbable Wimbledon title while Navratilova took home a sentimental snippet of grass.

Australian Tennis Magazine | August 2012

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