Australian Tennis Magazine - June/July 2016

THE HEALTH ISSUE THEHEALTH Perform at your peak

RECOVER FROM A LOSS COMPETE

2016

ROLAND GARROS REVIEW

FOR LIFE GUARD AGAINST

INJURY Plus

MUGURUZA’S BREAKTHROUGH

STOSUR’S

The Career

SERENA

DIMITROV

SLAM CLUB RESURGENCE

MILLMAN

JUNE/JULY 2016

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NOVAK DJOKOVIC ETCHES HIS NAME IN HISTORY

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contents

JUNE/JULY 2016 VOL 41 No. 7

49

THE HEIR APPARENT With her first Grand Slam title at the French Open, the charismatic Garbine Muguruza underlined her potential to take Serena Williams’ mantle as world No.1.

FEATURES 20 THE SILVER LINING

A string of 30-something champions shows that players who spend lengthy periods on the sidelines can reap surprising benefits late in their careers.

24 STRONGER THAN EVER Recovery is an individual process for every player, but the world’s best show how you can return stronger than ever after an injury or form setback.

28 A HEALTHY OUTLOOK

John Millman, who has experienced more injury battles than many of his peers, explains why it’s worth persevering through the pain.

30 BOUNCING BACK

Losses are inevitable – but that doesn’t make them easy. It helps that you can make constructive changes from the most difficult defeat.

32 BATTLING ON

A refusal to give up despite a horror run of injury has reaped a top 40 return for the ever-popular Marcos Baghdatis.

52 MOMENT OF TRUTH

What are the storylines that could unfold at SW19? Major milestones loom at Wimbledon 2016.

62 DEPTH: THE 4TH DIMENSION

Power, spin and accuracy are rightly touted as essential ingredients for quality groundstrokes or serves but the ability to hit with depth often provides the greatest impact.

16

WELCOME BACK, SAM

Decisive and devastating in equal measure, Sam Stosur was back to her best as a French Open semifinalist.

AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE

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JUNE/JULY 2016 VOL 41 No.7

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THE COMPLETE SET Novak Djokovic joined the most rarified company in tennis with the completion of his Career Grand Slam at Roland Garros.

REGULARS 10 BREAKPOINTS 59 GEARING UP 60 FROM THE COACH 66 FITNESS 68 INJURY WATCH 72 IN FOCUS 74 RANKINGS 76 SCOREBOARD 80 20 QUESTIONS 82 LAST WORD

37

LIFE LESSONS

Comparisons to Roger Federer came early, but Grigor Dimitrov learned that imitating the Swiss star’s prolific success would take considerably longer…

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AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE

EDITOR Vivienne Christie ASSISTANT EDITOR Leigh Rogers FOUNDING EDITOR Alan Trengove GRAPHIC DESIGNER Andrea Williamson

ADVERTISING MANAGER Nicole Hearnden ADMINISTRATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Camille Green PHOTOGRAPHS Getty Images, John Anthony COVER PHOTO Getty Images COVER DESIGN & PHOTO EDITING Andrew Hutchison, Rebekka Johnson

Australian Tennis Magazine is published 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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TRANSFORMATION EDITION CHANGE FOR THE BETTER

INNOVATE

RO LA ND GA RR OS PR EVI EW

TRAINING

WTA

ANALYSE

DJOKOVIC'S

DESTINY

TECHNIQUES LEARN FROM

THE PROS

SEASON OF

CHANGE? CUES FOR CLAY

S NICK K YRGIO

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18/04/2016 10:31 am

FIRST SERVE

WEATHERING the storm

T

he rain, thunder and lightning that so seriously disrupted the 2016 French Open seem somewhat symbolic when you consider it was the first Grand Slam in 65 majors that didn’t feature Roger Federer, and the shock mid-tournament withdrawal of injured nine-time titlist Rafael Nadal.

But if there were storms to be weathered on Roland Garros’ famed terre battue, there were still many competitors capable of doing so – even amid the scheduling challenges that arose.

For the first time in 16 years, an entire day of play in Paris was lost to rain on the second Monday, meaning some players needed to compete on every day that remained.

With victory requiring a potent blend of physical and mental fortitude, Novak Djokovic fittingly emerged as the new men’s champion. The Serb completed a rare career Grand Slam with a typical display of flawless tennis and remarkable mettle to enter rarified territory as just the third man to hold all four Grand Slam titles at once. Djokovic also created the possibility of winning a Golden Grand Slam – all four majors and an Olympic gold medal – in 2016.

"I don't want to sound arrogant, but I really think everything is achievable in life,” said the world No.1 of that possibility. “Winning this trophy today gave me so much happiness and fulfilment.”

Sparkling opportunities undoubtedly beckon for firsttime women’s champion Garbine Muguruza too. While nerves had shaped her first major final at Wimbledon 2015 – also against world No.1 Serena Williams – the Spaniard was fearless this time around. With her straight-sets victory over the three-time and defending champion, Muguruza showcased qualities that could eventually see her usurp Serena at world No.1.

“I really think everything is achievable in life.”

– Novak Djokovic, on the possibility of completing a calendar-year Grand Slam.

Not that Serena will readily surrender her well-established dominance, the 34-year-old having experienced countless peaks and troughs in her many years on tour. The same is true for Federer and Nadal, who understood that even the most prolific careers occasionally require time out.

Some absences are far more dramatic than others. As this issue went to print, news broke that Maria Sharapova had

been banned from competitive tennis for two years following her positive test for meldonium at the Australian Open. The five-time Grand Slam champion immediately announced her plans to appeal the tough sentence, but there are many questions surrounding her longterm future.

Recovery – be it from form slumps or injury battles – is a theme of our annual health issue, with many top players

sharing their advice on returning from a break, recovering from the most difficult losses or managing expectations in a tennis comeback.

For any player experiencing such difficulties, there is inspiration in the newly crowned French Open champions too. As the historymaking Djokovic lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires for the first time, the sun briefly emerged in the dark Parisian sky. There was yet more symbolism at Roland Garros: as Wimbledon and an intriguing second half of 2016 loomed, there were undoubtedly even brighter days ahead.

Vivienne Christie editor@tennismag.com.au AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE

9

FEATURE

WELCOME

BACK Sam

Decisive and devastating in equal measure, a resurgent Sam Stosur underlined her ongoing influence as a French Open semifinalist.

By VIVIENNE CHRISTIE

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AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE

JOHN ANTHONY / ISPA

wins together until the clay court season began. In Australia’s high-stakes Fed Cup tie against the USA in April, she surrendered significant leads to lesser-ranked opponents Christina McHale and CoCo Vandeweghe. After more than 12 full seasons as a professional player, the former world No.4 had dipped outside the world’s top 25; some even wondered whether it was time for the 32-year-old to start thinking about retirement?

But if there’s an upshot to age, it’s experience. For the seasoned Stosur – the second most senior quarterfi nalist at the French Open after 34-year-old Serena Williams – it was a quality that contributed to self-belief when it was most required.

JOHN ANTHONY / ISPA

FF

or players who’ve already achieved major success, a third round Grand Slam win is pleasing yet hardly surprising. But when Sam Stosur progressed to the fi nal 16 of the French Open with a 6-3 6-7(0) 7-5 win over 2015 fi nalist Lucie Safarova, it was clearly an achievement with a broader significance.

“I said to everyone after the match, I was like ‘Jeez, I can’t remember being so happy to win third round’,” she laughed. “Yeah, it means a lot.”

Stosur was right to be so delighted. Apart from tipping a 3-11 head-to-head record against Safarova more in her favour, the hard-fought victory was a reminder of the powerful and decisive tennis that had taken her to the French Open fi nal in 2010, and to the US Open title the following year.

Utilising her potent groundstrokes and an even more devastating serve – Stosur hit 14 aces and saved eight of the 10 break points she faced – the most pleasing aspect was the Australian’s composure.

Recovering from a 0-3 second set deficit to force a tiebreak, Stosur also held tight when she lost that tiebreak to love.

“I really backed myself with my serve today. Right from the fi rst game I knew I was feeling good,” she said after triumphing in the tense third set. “I was able to keep making good decisions all the way through. Playing someone like her where you often feel a lot of pressure, to be able to do that was really pleasing.”

For some observers, such form had seemingly been consigned to Stosur’s past. While the Australian’s long-held preference for clay had again revealed itself in a runner-up performance in Prague and a run to the Madrid semifi nals, she entered Roland Garros with a left wrist injury that forced her withdrawal from the Strasbourg quarterfi nals.

There was also uncertainty surrounding her coaching situation, with the French Open the last scheduled event under the guidance of David Taylor.

More troubling still was an overall year in which Stosur struggled to string back-to-back

“Tennis in general is very 6-0 in less than an hour. Far from reactive,” Stosur pointed out. dwelling on that humiliation, a “You can have a great year or two steely Stosur simply pondered and then you have a slump and what she needed to do differently. everyone writes you off. Things “I wasn’t losing sleep over the can turn around very quickly Madrid match, because I was and I think I probably move really sure of what happened better now than back then. Now I there and what I needed to have more belief.” change,” she noted.

Stosur showed as much when Maintaining the dominance she defeated Simona Halep with a quarterfinal win against 7-6(0) 6-3 in a fourth world No.102 round match that Tsvetana Pironkova, ACING IT: Relying on her spanned over three Stosur went on biggest weapons, Sam Stosur served 29 aces days due to rain to reach her first delays. Overcoming a in a French Open run semifinal at a Slam that included wins over 3-5 deficit in the first since the 2012 former finalists Lucie Safarova and Simona set, the Australian French Open. There, Halep (above). was clearly the more eventual champion settled competitor in Garbine Muguruza the difficult conditions. ended her inspired run, but “I felt like each time we went not before Stosur had regained back out on court I was ready her sense of belonging in the and I was focused and knew business end of Grand Slams, the exactly what I wanted to do,” Australian believing there are she said. “You know, the rain more finals runs – and perhaps and all that, it is what it is. I'm not even titles – in the future. letting it get to me. You take your “That would be a nice chances when you get them.” achievement,” she smiled.

That focus wasn’t the only “Certainly I don’t feel like the lesson that Stosur provided in her tennis I’ve played is, you know, important victory. In the Madrid out of myself or something that semifi nals several weeks earlier, I’m not able to replicate. I mean, Halep had crushed Stosur 6-2 you’ve got to be able to do it, but AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE

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FEATURE

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AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE

THE

R E V SIL G N I N LI

s p e nd o h w s r e y la show that p s n io p m a h c ed fits later in n e o n s e a b e s p f a o e r g n in a A st r idelines c s e h t rising n p o r s u s d a io s r e e r p lo y p length L LOPE ex O R T T T A M . their careers b s e nce s . a d e d n e t x e f upside o

T

here was a radiance about Flavia Pennetta that struck everyone at Singapore’s WTA Finals in October 2015.

Here was a player, once possessing a reluctance towards media commitments and a brisk demeanour when doing them, now laughing and joking with the press. Fielding any question for seemingly as long as the journalists were willing to ask them. Accepting additional media requests.

Just a couple of minutes spent observing her confirmed it – this was a player, and a person, who seemed truly happy.

It made sense. Six weeks earlier, Pennetta realised a dream that, at 33 years of age, she must have surely thought was beyond her. Out of nowhere, the Italian veteran overcame a succession of quality opponents

to win the US Open. During the trophy presentation, she dropped her retirement bombshell. Her triumph meant that her ranking skyrocketed, qualifying her for the elite eight-player field in Singapore for the first time. So she played out the season, competing relaxed, saying proper goodbyes at her last stops and experiencing the atmosphere of the WTA Finals before ending her career for good.

It was heartwarming, given the struggles she had endured.

As she admitted in Singapore, it was a wonder she was here at all.

“I had in my career a lot of injury.

Was not like really easy career.

I have two wrist, one knee … I had like a big virus when I was 18, 19. I spent 20 days in the hospital, like in the room where nobody can come in. Good thing happen and bad thing also

happen,” she reflected. “I have to say with the injury on my wrist, the right one, in 2012, I spend nine months out. So I think in that time my body just have time to recover. I had two or three years more maybe, that’s why.”

It sounded counterintuitive – injuries actually serving to extend a player’s competitive career, rather than cutting it short? Pennetta seemed to think so. And it’s a theory with merit.

Speaking with Australian Tennis Magazine, ATP World Tour senior physiotherapist Paul Ness said: “Many players have numerous aches and pains and do not always have enough time in the day to attend to them so it is possible to have the ‘main injury’ treated, but also other niggles to be ironed out. On top of that there is the mental freshness that can be regained. Many players spend most of the year on the road and

can become stale, so a break can be great for restoring motivation and a love of the game.”

Professional tennis is full of Pennetta-like examples. Serena Williams over the years has spent heft y chunks of time on the sidelines due to chronic knee problems, as well as the scary lacerated foot/blood clots/ haematoma saga of 2010–2011.

Her sister Venus has suffered wrist, abdominal, knee and elbow injuries and later in her career has battled a debilitating auto-immune condition. Add it all up, and the superstar siblings have collectively missed years of competition. Yet they endure well into their 30s and are still forces in the game.

There are comparative male examples. Lleyton Hewitt was perennially injured – most notably hip, foot and toe ailments – and played increasingly

AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE

21

FRENCH OPEN

THE COMPLETE

Set

Novak Djokovic joined the most rarified company in the game as he completed his Grand Slam collection at Roland Garros.

By VIVIENNE CHRISTIE

N

ovak Djokovic has long stood apart in the most extraordinary way. Overcoming the unimaginable difficulties of developing his game as a junior in war torn Serbia, he became a Grand Slam champion at age 20 with victory at Australian Open 2008. In an era of unparalleled quality, he subsequently improved on the sublime standards set by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal,

winning three of the four majors in 2011. He established an even greater dominance in 2015, where he was a finalist in 15 of 16 events contested, his eventual 11 titles again including three Grand Slams.

But the absence of a French Open title was a dark asterisk on the Serb’s otherwise sparkling resume. Three runner-up performances added to an arguably tortuous relationship with Roland Garros, those performances underlining the AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE

45

FRENCH OPEN

The Heir

APPARENT With her graduation to Grand Slam champion at the 2016 French Open, Garbine Muguruza also stepped up as the most likely successor to Serena Williams at world No.1.

VIVIENNE CHRISTIE reports

E

ven as Serena Williams was notching record after record in the most impenetrable period of her career, many observers were wondering who’d eventually end her record reign at world No.1. Despite claiming three of the four majors among her five titles in 2015, it was inevitable that time, injury or improving opponents – or a combination of all those factors – would eventually catch up with the prolific champion.

At the 2016 French Open, Serena’s most likely successor at last emerged, Garbine Muguruza claiming her maiden Grand Slam title with a glorious blend of power, flair and unflappable self-belief. That she fearlessly defeated the world No.1 in the final only added to the sense that Muguruza is poised to replicate her major achievement many times in the future.

Near flawless throughout the rain-soaked fortnight in Paris, Garbine surrendered just one set in becoming a major champion.

That glitch occurred against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the opening round, Muguruza subsequently dropping just 35 games – or an average of 5.8 games per round – in the six matches that followed.

Among those emphatic wins were straightset progressions against 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and 2010 finalist Sam Stosur. It was the final against three-time victor Serena, though, which showed the best of the heavy hitter.

“Every match I played until I reached the final I was a little bit improving,” Muguruza reasoned after prevailing 7-5 6-4 against the