STRATEGYSPECIAL BE CLEVER ON COURT
TOP
10 TACTICIANS
SERENA'S
SMARTS Lessons from the US Open
DOUBLES TACTICS PLAN YOUR
FITNESS BEAT A CHEAT
ROGER FEDERER SMARTEST PLAYER EVER?
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OCTOBER 2014 VOL 39 No. 10
contents
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SERENA’S NEW HIGH Breaking her own records is a Serena Williams trademark but after winning her 18th Grand Slam title at the US Open, she now has the records of other greats in sight.
FEATURES
12 TOP 10 TACTICAL MOVERS
Court strategy is one of the joys in playing and watching tennis. We survey a savvy field to determine the game’s top 10 tacticians – and what we can learn from them.
18 PIECES OF THE PUZZLE
Talent, athleticism and competitive spirit will provide the foundation, but its tactics that will help you use those qualities to win.
27 STRATEGY FOR BEST FITNESS
Investing some mental time in planning your fitness regime will help you maximise your physical efforts.
36 SEASON OF CHANGE
As Marin Cilic became the eighth player to win a Grand Slam in 2014, there was no doubt that change had become the most dominant theme of a memorable season.
46 A PRODIGY IN PROGRESS
After some history-making feats at the US Open, Omar Jasika is determined to transfer his junior success to the professional ranks.
61 BEAT A CHEAT
Players of all standards will meet opponents who stretch the rules but by focusing on your own game first, you’ll learn how to beat a cheat.
29 BRAIN FOODS
We’re all familiar with eating for optimum fuel; we explain how certain food choices can help give your brain a boost too. OCTOBER 2014 AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE
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OCTOBER 2014 VOL 39 No. 10
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ARE YOU OVERTHINKING IT? A carefully planned strategy always helps but instinct is equally important. We explain how to develop it and when to utilise it.
REGULARS 8 BREAKPOINTS 10 THE HITTING WALL 23 GEARING UP 25 BE THE PRO 70 FROM THE CLUBHOUSE 72 RANKINGS 74 SCOREBOARD 78 20 QUESTIONS 80 KIDS’ CLUBHOUSE 82 LAST WORD
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PERFECT DRIVE In an exclusive interview, Simona Halep explains how a quest for perfection is driving the ambition to improve on her world No.2 ranking. 4
AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2014
EDITOR Vivienne Christie DEPUTY EDITOR Darren Saligari ASSISTANT EDITOR Daniela Toleski FOUNDING EDITOR Alan Trengove GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Andrea Williamson Trevor Bridger
ADVERTISING MANAGER Nicole Hearnden ADMINISTRATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Daniel Heathcote PHOTOGRAPHS Getty Images, John Anthony, Image(s) licensed by Ingram Publishing COVER PHOTO Getty Images COVER DESIGN & PHOTO EDITING Andrew Hutchison, FourFront
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.
FIRST SERVE
Strategy of the superstars
O
ne of the best things about being both a player and a fan is the opportunity to learn from the stars you love to watch. And if the US Open provides a guide, those lessons will be as varied as they are valuable. Firstly, there is the power of matching talent with self-belief, which helped Serena Williams defeat Caroline Wozniacki to seize her 18th Grand Slam title – adding to a record that’s unmatched by any other current player and most remarkably, spans an incredible 15 years. That longevity, combined with the fact that Serena had experienced a lean major season by her own high standards, also points to the importance of persistence. The tenacious 33-year-old is almost certainly now thinking about matching Steffi Graf’s 22 major titles – the Open era record in the women’s game. “I’m already looking about maybe No.19,” Serena smiled. “I want to continue to rise and continue to play really hard and do the best that I can.” Marin Cilic, who claimed the first “non-Big Four” final since 2005, could also teach other players about hanging in through some difficult times. The Croat used an enforced break in 2013 to determine how he could get the most from his power-packed game – interestingly, under the guidance of Goran Ivanisevic, the 26-yearold determined the best strategy was sometimes the absence of one.
Nexnt th mo 6
GEARING UP
Thinking too hard during matches at times prevented Cilic from playing his “own” style of tennis – a problem he’d clearly mastered as he defeated the crafty Kei Nishikori to become the eighth Grand Slam champion of 2014. While it’s not yet clear whether Cilic’s breakthrough officially marks a new era in tennis, it’s certainly true that others could learn from the manner in which he
seized his opportunity. “It’s, I feel, very inspirational for all the other guys out there who are, you know, working and sometimes losing motivation.” Cilic said. “I would definitely feel much stronger if I would see somebody like me accomplish things like this [victory].” Those freshly crowned champions aren’t the only ones providing positive lessons to other players, as we explore in the special “strategy” issue of Australian Tennis Magazine. From a savvy field, we’ve chosen the game’s top 10 tacticians and more importantly, uncovered what you can learn from them (which begs the question, as our cover suggests, of whether Roger Federer is the smartest player ever?). Advice on momentum, beating a cheat and honing your tennis instinct will also help you to be clever on court. Managing the physical and mental pressures of the game should be another weapon in your strategic arsenal. As we prepared to press “print” on this issue, there was a poignant reminder when Li Na, who is grappling with injury, announced the end of her Grand Slam-winning career. On the same day, news broke that 2011 Wimbledon girls’ champion Ash Barty is taking an indefinite break from the game. We’ll have more on those stories next month; in the meantime, we hope you enjoy, and learn from, this month’s magazine. We can’t promise you the records of the superstars, but we can at least help you with their strategy. Vivienne Christie editor@tennismag.com.au
With summer nearing, we look at the latest equipment to help you get the most from your game, including our most comprehensive racquet review ever. November issue on sale from 27 October.
AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2014
FEATURE
TOP 10
TACTICAL movers Court strategy is one of the joys in playing and watching tennis. SUZI PETKOVSKI surveys a savvy field to come up with a top 10 of tennis tacticians – and what we can learn from them.
W
hatever happened to scouting? Before the stats blitz hit tennis in the last decade, players or their coaches would stake out the matches of prospective opponents and take meticulous notes on their games. Ivan Lendl and Brad Gilbert were famous for their bulging black folders with detailed intel on their peers. Gilbert even spun his scouting book into the best-selling Winning Ugly, essential and riveting reading for any racquet-swinger. These days, top players scour over their own stats, seemingly more concerned with their own firstserve percentage or breakpoint conversion rate, rather than their opponent’s serving patterns under pressure or their trouble with off-pace mid-court backhands. Ernests Gulbis recently spoke for the prevailing zeitgeist: “I don’t really care [about scouting opponents],” said the Latvian 12
AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2014
firebrand, “because if I play good I can beat anybody. If I play bad I can lose to anybody. I’m not going to break my balls and go watch his [opponent’s] match or watch his videos.” Although that quote is from two years ago and Gulbis has
ERNESTS GULBIS: the anti-strategist.
since peaked at No.10, it may explain in part why he remains such a streaky player. After his career-best semifinal run in a major at Roland Garros, Gulbis is 4-5. Coincidentally – or not – back in that 2012 quote, the player he couldn’t be bothered enlightening himself about was Steve Johnson, who upended Gulbis in Cincinnati. In the US Open second round, the No.11 seed surrendered a two-sets lead against up-and-coming Dominic Thiem. But Gulbis – the sport’s favourite whipping boy for a host of reasons – is not alone in his crash-or-crashthrough approach. Some of the game’s greatest champions – Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Steffi Graf, Boris Becker, Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova in a powerhouse performance at Wimbledon – looked to impose their hefty games rather than concern themselves too much with their opponents’ weaknesses. Power can be worth a lot of strategy.
But also among the all-time greats are the cerebral match players – Ken Rosewall, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Mats Wilander, Martina Hingis – whose physical weaponry was less conspicuous but whose competitive zeal and court sense made them no less daunting to play. These tennis schemers are useful role models for club players, since not many of us in club land have the shotmaking brilliance or power of a Serena Williams. Great strategists don’t win by hitting a bazillion winners – no player does. They get a lot of help from their opponents. They coax errors, contain and frustrate bigger hitters and reduce the options of opponents, swinging the match on their terms and the odds in their favour. The US Open showcased some of the game’s better strategists – Kei Nishikori, Roger Federer, Caroline Wozniacki and Martina Hingis. None of them were ultimately successful but all utilised their court smarts to get as far as they did. So with the Flushing Meadows highlights reel still fresh, here’s a top 10 of tennis tacticians, past and present, and what we can learn from them.
FEATURE
Pieces of the
puzzle Talent, athleticism and competitive spirit will provide the foundation, but it’s tactics and guile that help a player use those qualities to win. ROBERT DAVIS helps put the pieces of the strategy puzzle together.
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MATCH DAY MIND MATTERS: Stan Wawrinka finetunes his strategy.
ARE YOU
OVER THINKING IT? A carefully planned strategy can be invaluable – but not if it prevents you from doing what comes naturally on court. PAUL MOORE explains the value of instinct and how to use it to your advantage.
T
ennis is a simple sport, it’s the players that make it complicated. Or, rather, it’s the player’s head that makes it complicated. Take the head out of the equation and the body knows exactly what to do. Countless hours of training and match play means that your body has amassed an arsenal of instinct backed up by a wealth of muscle memory that is ready to be deployed every time you step on the court. Consider this: when you watch the ball leaving an opponent’s strings, you instinctively know what to do. You know how to set your feet; you know how to shape your body; and you know how to react if and when a point gets quirky – whether that be a net cord, a dodgy bounce, or there’s a sudden interruption. You do all of these things without even thinking about them. That is you, the tennis player, doing what you do best.
But every now and again your head gets in the way. In fact, for most of us it happens pretty much every time we step out on to the court. We get so wrapped up in strategy, mind games and everything else going on around us that we forget to focus on the here and now. That simple act of hitting a tennis ball. Everybody does it – even the best in the world. Being able to manage the mind when it starts to wander, doubt or generally disintegrate is the difference between good tennis players and great ones. And while it isn’t easy, there are a few things that you can do to help you stay focused on your game, and ultimately rely on your instinctive ability to play the shots that you know you can.
Find your bubble The best athletes in the world perform their sport inside a “bubble of silence”. Inside this bubble there is no crowd, there
is no noise and there are no distractions. There is just the ball, the point and the opponent (although Serena Williams claims she is sometimes so focused on her own game that she doesn’t even know who she is playing against). If you can fi nd your bubble, you can simply focus on playing the best tennis that you are capable of. Of course, it takes practise and it takes motivation. There are, however, a few things that you can do to help your mind – and so your body – perform. Do a mental warm-up Sporting performance is as much mental as it is physical. As such, before a match it is just as important to warm-up your mind as it is to warm-up your body. A pre-match routine will undoubtedly help you to get in the mood, but it is also important to identify your trigger points; the things that get you mentally fi red up. Athletes like Victoria
Azarenka and Nick Kyrgios use music, while others opt for mantras that they repeat over and over again. If you can identify yours, you will walk onto court feeling alert and ready to perform. Develop your routine After every point, regardless of whether they win it or lose it, the best tennis players in the world go through a routine. Whether that process involves wiping their forehead and adjusting their clothes (Rafael Nadal), staring at the wind break and talking to themselves (Maria Sharapova), or simply bouncing the ball umpteen times (Novak Djokovic), the end goal is the same: to forget about the point that has just fi nished and start to focus on the next one. There is no reason why you cannot do the same. Of course, these routines do not cleanse the mind. Rather, they draw a very clear line underneath what has just OCTOBER 2014 AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAGAZINE
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