Australian Tennis Magazine - November 2010

NOVEMBER 2010

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• DJOKOVIC • MONFILS • IVANOVIC

ANDY RODDICK

& AMERICA’S AMBITIONS

YOUR GAME • • • •

TURN DEFENSE INTO ATTACK SPEED SOLUTIONS VALUABLE VOLLEY TIPS LEARN FROM RAFAEL NADAL

TOO MUCH TRAVEL?

SUPERSTARS STALLED

PRINT POST APPROVED PP 349181/00187

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI

NO. 1 WORK IN PROGRESS

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NOVEMBER 2010 VOL 35 No. 11

A $7.50 (inc. GST) NZ $8.40 (inc. GST) US $7.50

FEATURES

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A New Model for Success

18

The State of The Union

The “it” crowd consists of only a single number one, and now that woman is Caroline Wozniacki.

With Andy Roddick dropping outside the world’s top 10, many are searching for the next American Grand Slam Champion.

22

Why 30 is the New 20 They might possess the same talent and raw ambition as the superstars, but Grand Slam success is proving elusive for the game’s younger players.

26

The Longest Journey

30

A Proud Heritage

Long months on the road create many physical challenges for today’s top professionals.

Geoff Pollard hands over the Presidency of Tennis Australia with pride in key achievements and high hopes for the future.

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NOVEMBER 2010 REGULARS 7

Topspin

13

Your Serve

35

Court Talk

40

Rankings

42

Scoreboard

43

My Game

52

My Coach

71

Club of the month

FROM THE EDITOR to an end. But t all good things must come t’s something of a clichè tha s, when the occurred for Serena William that’s exactly what recently the increasingly ed her world No. 1 ranking to injured champion surrender zniacki. accomplished Caroline Wo ting the top two of of rankings points separa ber num With just a limited hly-competitive , it seems likely that the hig women at the time of writing overy from foot cautious approach to her rec Serena – who clearly took a that there are no again. However it’s also true surgery – will rise to the top ure of tennis. to the highly-changeable nat guarantees when it comes to build on the lined, Venus was also unable While Serena remained side er Williams felled run at the US Open, the eld momentum of her semi-final who was spotted orts suggested that Venus, by a knee injury. Several rep n rumours in some surgery and there were eve on crutches, had undergone have so far ounce her retirement (which circles that she was set to ann proved unfounded). has been ge up the “all time greats” list Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal’s sur erer. After suffering a dip in form from Roger Fed accompanied by a parallel er No. 1 would have kovic in New York, the form semi-final exit to Novak Djo ai. But after putting late-season title in Shangh loved nothing more than a soundl y defeated by ss to the final, Federer was in the hard yards to progre Andy Murray. ions are itching to the game’s younger champ It was yet another sign that so long (for more, d stars have dominated for take the titles the establishe . nd Slam titlists on page 22) see our report on aging Gra inating storylines fasc e guard will create som The potential changing of the likes to see tralian summer. While nobody as attention turns to the Aus also something e into the background, there’s established champions fad ir early potential. the game’s next big things fulfil special about watching the

I

VIVIENNE CHRISTIE, Editor

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EDITOR CONSULTING EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR ART DIRECTOR ADVERTISING MANAGER MY COACH CONTENT PHOTOGRAPHS COVER PHOTO

Vivienne Christie Alan Trengove Daniela Toleski Naomi O’Bryan Jackie Cunningham Travis Atkinson, Karen Clydesdale Getty Images, John Anthony (All photographs by Getty Images unless specified) Courtesy of adidas

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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Andy Roddick moved just a single rankings spot when he fell to world No. 11, marking the first time in Open Era history without an American representative in the world’s top 10 and sounding alarm bells for a tennis community longing for Grand Slam success. But as some yearn for the glory days of Connors, McEnroe, Sampras and Agassi, others acknowledge today’s top Americans are giving their best and seeing results. SANDRA HARWITT reports from the US Fully fit and motivated, Andy Roddick seems certain to regain his top 10 ranking.

T

he moaning and groaning about the state of American men’s tennis has been reverberating so loudly the past several years that Australians probably have heard it clearly – even being an ocean away.

What? How is it possible that only Andy Roddick’s been capable of delivering a Grand Slam title (2003 US Open) in recent times?

How can America – big, bold, brash

– not produce consistent winners like there were in the glory days of Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jim Courier?

Well, hang on a minute. Is American men’s tennis really in that bad a shape?

No! Not on

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your life. At least not if you keep a realistic perspective.

Sure, the Yanks are no longer racking in Grand Slam titles as if they were hoarding for a famine. But if you look at the big picture, US men’s tennis is certainly not in need of the life support many believe necessary.

Once you get past the lack of Grand Slam success – although deserved kudos go to Bob and Mike Bryan for their nine Grand Slam doubles titles and record 66 overall career titles – the US boasts four players ranked in the top 25 in singles (11 October, 2010 rankings) – No. 11 Andy Roddick, No. 19 Mardy Fish, No. 20 John Isner and No. 24 Sam Querrey.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had four players in the top 20, and we’re flirting with that right now,” Roddick recently commented.

American men have won nine ATP titles this season – Querrey four, Fish and Roddick two each, and Isner picking up the first trophy of his career. That puts the US at No. 2 on the 2010 country list of titles won behind the Spanish Armada with 17 – seven of those titles belong to Rafael Nadal, who won three of the four Grand Slams. Trailing behind the US is France with four titles and Croatia with three.

Patrick McEnroe, who is the guiding force of American tennis in his position as General Manager, Player Development for the USTA, is encouraged by the 2010 inroads of the top four Americans. But

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that is hardly making him complacent – he believes there’s much room for improvement.

“From a large standpoint of looking at American tennis we’ve been pretty spoiled with the players we’ve had at the top,” McEnroe said. “But the days of any one country dominating is probably over. We’re obviously happy with some of the results this year. But do we think we can do a lot better? Yes. “It is our goal to get players into the top 10 and competing for majors.”

Interestingly, Roddick, the only one of the four with ownership of a Grand Slam title is not the “it” American story of the year. It’s the other three – Fish, Isner and Querrey – who’ve been garnering headlines this year.

Starting out the season, Roddick had set his sights on winning a second career Grand Slam trophy, even abandoning his beloved role as leader of the American Davis Cup squad. A bout with glandular fever derailed his summer hopes at Wimbledon and the US Open, the very Slams where he’s most likely to succeed. In August, he dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since 2002.

Currently in Asia on his final swing of the year, Roddick, who won Miami and

The steadily improving John Isner is determined to be known for more than his marathon Wim bledon win.

Brisbane this season to add to his collection of 29 career titles, is banking on a few lastminute good results to ride into 2011.

“I have been training very hard physically since the US Open and I feel I can play long points,” said the 28-year-old. “I look forward to finishing this season on a good note. I have no points to defend from last year, so everything is a bonus for me. I am leaving Tokyo feeling much more comfortable than I did when I arrived.”

Querrey, 23, has bragging rights to some of the better stats of the year. For one achievement, the Californian won four of his six career titles this season, which places him right behind world No. 1 Rafael Nadal’s seven titles at the top of the list of 2010 tournament winners. And Querrey accomplished that feat on four different surfaces – Memphis on indoor hard courts, Belgrade on outdoor clay, Queen’s Club on grass and Los Angeles on outdoor hard courts. On top of that, he reached the round-of-16 at Wimbledon and the US Open.

“That’s pretty cool,” said Querrey, of following Nadal before getting real. “His six tournaments are a little bigger than the ones I won, but it still feels cool to have won the second most titles on tour this year.

Hopefully, next year I can possibly win four more but have them be a little bigger. I need to play a little better at the Master Series and Grand Slams and just keep working on moving forward.”

Isner, 25, who captured the Auckland title in January, became a

talking point when he took part in a recordbreaking Wimbledon first-round match against Nicolas Mahut, which earned the two

Marking his most successful season yet, Sam Querrey claimed titles on every surface in 2010.

players an ESPY award for Best Record-Breaking Performance in Sports. Isner won the battle 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 70-68 which when concluded was the longest match ever, featured the longest set, had the most number of games in a set and in a match, etc. etc. etc.

As far as Isner is concerned, American tennis is flourishing and no one should think otherwise.

“I don’t really feel like American tennis is fading, because right now we have four players inside the top 25 of the world with Andy, myself, Sam and Mardy,” Isner said.

“There’s a bunch of guys right behind us.

There’s nobody in the top five, obviously, but I don’t think American tennis is in bad AustrAliAn tennis MAgAzine | November 2010

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