Australian Tennis Magazine - May 2010

MAY 2010

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FRENCH FAVOURITES CLIJSTERS v HENIN

COURTS

WITH CLASS

GAINS IN THE GAME

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SERENA • RODDICK • YOUR GAME

HOW TO PLAY ON CLAY EXTREME WEATHER PLAN EAT FOR ENERGY SPORTS SCIENCE SUCCESS

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MAY 2010 VOL 35 No.5

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FEATURES

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A Rivalry Reignited

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P aris Dreaming

Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin have thrilled in their 2010 matches and will be hoping to reignite the rivalry at Roland Garros.

While many former champions will be favourites at Roland Garros, other credentialed names are also dreaming of Paris success.

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T he Raging Bull Recharges

Rafael Nadal returned to the winner’s circle in Monte Carlo win; can the battle-scarred champion now claim a fifth French Open?

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C arsten’s Call

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T ennis in the 21st Century

Ten years into the 21st century there have been some fascinating developments in the game.

He might speak with an American accent, but Carsten Ball loves representing Australia.

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T he Secret Lives of Players

Meet the tennis stars with political aspirations, social consciences, academic minds and ambitions that extend beyond their title counts.

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C ourting Class

With recent developments providing a boost, new courts are being built and old ones refurbished – which is great news for grassroots tennis.

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MAY 2010 REGULARS 7 12 39

Top Spin

FROM THE EDITOR

Your Serve

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Court Talk Rankings

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Scoreboard

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My Game

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My Coach

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Club of the Month

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a wrist e the words emblazoned on ttitude” and “composure” wer and ond e when she claimed her sec band Samantha Stosur wor ton last month. biggest career title in Charles in the top Australian, ing increasingly prominent Those attributes are becom claim a 6-0, 6-3 l against Vera Zvonareva to who hit 36 winners in the fina history. shortest in the tournament’s victory in just 52 minutes – the onne) an Australian woman since (Ev “It’s the best final I’ve seen from American on iver Shr in 1980,” commented Pam Goolagong won Wimbledon for the e urit favo top four tennis and will be a TV, adding “Stosur is playing French Open.” enters the ned herself beautifully as she Certainly Stosur has positio 2009. There’ll in al i-fin with a first ma jor sem tournament that provided her that on – e er to replicate – or improv be pressure for the Queensland ton Hewitt faces larl y as the injury-affected Lley performance in 2010, particu top form. the tough task of regaining d the next s, Stephen Healy was electe new In other Australian tennis t. A Tennis prin as our current issue went to President of Tennis Australia nis New South the current President of Ten Australia board member and tration experience yer who also has vast adminis Wales, Healy is a former pla

“A

in the game. il October when the role of President elect unt The Sydney lawyer will fulfil nis Australia’s ard retires from the role at Ten current President Geoff Poll Annual General Meeting.

Healy believes tralian Open is in great shape, While acknowledging the Aus ment requires an ots level, just as player develop attention is needed at grassro ongoing focus. paign, Healy ate Paul McNamee on his cam Congratulating beaten candid ressing those issues been important to tennis. Add e hav s ate deb ent rec ed add nths ahead. more news on that in the mo is a big task; we’ll bring you

VIVIENNE CHRISTIE, Editor

EDITOR CONSULTING EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR ART DIRECTOR ADVERTISING MANAGER ADMINISTRATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER MY COACH CONTENT PHOTOGRAPHS

COVER PHOTO

Vivienne Christie Alan Trengove Daniela Toleski Naomi O’Bryan Jackie Cunningham Sherryn Dove Travis Atkinson, Karen Clydesdale 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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The much-feared Y2K bug never eventuated, but 10 years into the 21st century there have been countless other developments – especially, as Joshua Jennings reports, in tennis.

B

e it the revival of Roger Federer, the comeback of Justine Henin or the schoolyard tiffing of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, the 2010 tennis season

is churning out the plot twists at a more breakneck speed than a daytime soap.

The full flight of the 2010 season marks the dawning of a new era too: the end of the

first decade of 21st century tennis and the commencement of the next. Here’s a recap of how the sport has morphed in the 21st century so far.

Slower courts In 2001, the pristine grass courts of the All England Club were dug up and replaced with 100 percent perennial ryegrass in a bid to stop the courts becoming patchy over the course of the Wimbledon fortnight (and to thus reduce the bad bounce count).

However many believe that the perennial ryegrass slows the bounce of the ball. In 2002, Tim Henman remarked that the grass at Wimbledon was the slowest surface he’d played on that year.

Some have lamented that the different court speed has spelt the end of serve volley tennis at Wimbledon, while others have welcomed the slower court

speed as a means to create longer, more dramatic rallies at the All England Club.

Brad Drewett, former Australian journeyman player and current CEO of the ATP World Tour, believes court surfaces in general have slowed down.

“Courts are slower now than they were 20 years ago,” Drewett says. “There’s always debate about what the ideal speed is, and if you ask 10 players you’ll probably get 10 different answers, because the slow court player wants it slower and the fast court player wants it faster … There’s never going to be an exact answer to what the right pace court is. Pete Sampras obviously likes a faster court and Nadal likes a slower court.”

A second arena Picking the prime real estate at Melbourne Park became considerably harder when Hisense Arena – then known as Vodafone Arena – became the new jewel in the Melbourne Park crown in 2001. Basically, the only players you won’t see gracing Hisense Arena’s hard courts are the game’s two biggest giants Rafa and Roger, and patriot favourite Lleyton Hewitt (all three play exclusively on Rod Laver Arena in Australia). This year, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Serena Williams, Venus Williams and any other marquee player you can name slammed balls around in Hisense and sometimes the interest factor in these matches trumped those in Rod Laver Arena.

Spectators could initially watch the action in Hisense Arena for the cost of a ground pass but you normally had to join the back of a long queue to get a seat. Costs have risen but the queues have eased up and Hisense Arena is still the more accessible vantage point of the two arenas. Hisense Arena tickets also remain cheaper than Rod Laver Arena and you have a greater likelihood of scoring seats close to the action.

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Hawking Hawk-eye John McEnroe fans will rejoice that Hawk–Eye’s pro tennis debut happened long after the former world No. 1 gave the game away (McEnroe retired in 1992 and Hawk–Eye debuted at the Hopman Cup in 2006). Had instant replay technology been around in McEnroe’s era, it would have derailed the American’s motivation for abusing umpires, cracking racquets and generally smashing up anything within arm’s reach.

Thanks to Hawk–Eye, players are no longer at the mercy of human error, which Serena Williams will tell you can wreak havoc at particularly cruel times (dodgy line calls cost Williams her quarter-final against Jennifer Capriati at the 2004 US Open). The technology gives players the opportunity to right the wrong calls and fans love it because it gives them a chance to be vocal when their favourite player challenges a decision and the outcome is beamed via instant electronic replay on the big screen.

Drug Debates While the tennis world reeled at Andre Agassi’s revelation that the dyed-blonde mullet he sported in the young-upstartpunk phase of his career was in fact an advanced wig he clipped to his head, the Las Vegan spent much of a 2009 whirlwind promo tour for autobiography Open explaining the other bombshell too – his rendezvous with crystal meth and the dog-ate-my-homework excuse he used to get off the hook with tennis authorities about it.

The announcement occurred in the wake of the ITF becoming a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Agency code in 2009 – a code under which top 50 players must inform testers of their whereabouts for one hour of every day. At the start of 2009, drug testers paid a heavily-jetlagged Andy Murray a visit back in London after his fourth round Australian Open loss to Fernando Verdasco and the world No. 4 took issue to the tester’s insistence that Murray produce a urine sample in full view of the tester. Nadal also stated the same year that the surveillance makes him feel like a criminal.

Debate about updating drugs testing rules also raged late in 2009 after Belgians Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse were each fined and banned for a year – overturned on appeal – for failing to fulfil the often-complicated whereabouts requirements.

A web of intrigue Want to know what Andy Murray had for dinner? Care about the music Serena Williams is listening to in the car? Curious about what movie Andy Roddick saw last night? Well, whether you think this kind of information is riveting or otherwise, it’s out there in abundance, and scores of fans are itching for it. Serena’s Twitter page attracts 1,609,110 followers, Roddick’s pulls 209,225 and Murray gets 135, 416 (at the time of writing).

Guest bloggers from the pro tour have become a staple on the ATP and WTA tour websites – ‘fessing up to all manner of aspects about life on tour – other players post details about their schedules and tournament practice sessions on Facebook.

YouTube is also a great alternative to a blink-and-miss nightly evening news clip if you want to see video footage of how your favourite players are faring in the current tournaments around the globe.

Equal prize money In most workplaces, it’s considered discrimination: paying women less money to do the same job as men. Inequality in prize money in tennis is the focus of a longstanding debate. But whatever your views (and there are lots of them), all of the Grand Slams offer men and women equal prize money today, after Wimbledon joined the fray in 2007.

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