tennishead Volume 6 Issue 1

STAT ATTACK

Significant numbers, results and rankings

TSONGA ON SONG Expert analysis of the Frenchman’s serve

STUNNING IMAGES Great photos from Australian Open

Wilson Burn

WWW.TENNISHEAD.NET | MARCH 2015

THE WORLD’ S B EST TENNIS M AGA ZINE

BEACH TENNIS EUGENIE BOUCHARD “I’ve always been driven”

FEMALE TUITION Women coaches take centre stage

The sport with Olympic ambitions

ROBIN SODERLING ALEKSANDRA KRUNIC

Mental Edge

Mike Bryan’s not so secret training

Patrick Mouratoglou The transition from junior tennis

#nov8k [GET CONNECTED]

NADAL AND WOZNIACKI

VOLUME 6 ISSUE 1 MAR 2015 £4.50

CELEBRATING VICTORY DOWN UNDER

PLUS: DUSTIN BROWN // BILT BY AGASSI AND REYES // DOM INGLOT

SIG NED Ba bol at R acket Bag

Contents march 2015

08

98

Novak Djokovic

Dom Inglot

12 SUBSCRIBE TODAY See page 6 for details.

GALLERY 20 Photos from Melbourne Stunning images from the 2015 Australian Open

dustin brown

16

WIN 70 SIGNED Babolat Racket Bag Autographed by players including Kim Clijsters and Aga Radwanska

76 Wilson Burn 100S As used by Kei Nishikori and Simona Halep

Aleksandra Krunic

34

BIG READ

FEMALE TUITION

08 Hawkeye Novak Djokovic wins his eighth major title – and wants more

12 Locker Room Dustin Brown on campervans, cooking and his dreadlocks

15 Victor Estrella Burgos Dominican 34-year-old playing his way into the history books

16 HOT STUFF Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic on her dreams and nightmares

34 FEMALE TUITION

The ascendancy of women coaches

40 Eugenie Bouchard

World No.7 on a mission

46 Beach Tennis

Does the sport have legs?

98 Double Trouble?

Dom Inglot on the future of doubles

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46

beach tennis

68

Bryan’s Brain

62

40

Eugenie Bouchard

Patrick Mouratoglou on the transition from junior to professional

ACADEMY 54 Textbook Serve

Learn from Karolina Pliskova

56 Boom Boom

Jo-Wilfried’s powerful service

58 Nutrition

Expert advice on the gluten-free path

60 Mats Merkel

I’ve always been driven... I was nine years old and I would do a maths test and I would be determined to get 100 per cent Eu genie Boucha rd

78

75

How great movement makes a player

62 Patrick Mouratoglou On the tricky transition from junior to professional

66 Beating Injury Spend less time on the sidelines

68 Bryan’s Brain

How Mike Bryan has honed his focus

70 Ask tennishead

Our experts answer your questions

GEAR 73 Gear News

Murray’s new kit, Rafa gets connected

76 PRO SHOP Get your hands on the kit the professionals are using

77 STAN Wawrinka

Rafa gets connected

56

Why the Swiss loves his Yonex frame

78 ROBIN SODERLING

Swede launches his own tennis ball

RESULTS AND RANKINGS 83 ATP and WTA Tour

Results from January and February

86 AUSTRALIAN OPEN Complete men’s and women’s singles draws

92 RANKINGS

ROBIN SODERLING

Jo-Wilfried’s serve

Top 100 ATP and WTA singles rankings

94 DOUBLES

Hingis targets mixed Grand Slam W W W.t e n n i s h e a d. NET 5

SPOT LIGHT

HAWKEYE Bringing you the biggest views and opinions

Looking beyond Eight

Novak Djokovic may have played himself into history by winning the Australian Open, but he would dearly like to add a French Open title to his list of honours

N

ovak Djokovic joined an elite group of players when he won his eighth Grand Slam title in Melbourne but the world No.1 admits he is already looking ahead to his next major challenge. “I would be lying if I said I’m not thinking about the French Open,” Djokovic said.

“Of course I think about it every once in a while.”

Djokovic’s victory over Andy Murray in the Australian Open final gave him his fifth Melbourne title, which left him just one behind Roy Emerson, the most successful player in the tournament’s history.

More importantly, Djokovic found himself in some high-class company by claiming his eighth Grand Slam crown. That put him level with Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Fred Perry and Ken Rosewall and left only seven men ahead

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of him on the all-time list: Roger Federer (17 titles), Rafael Nadal and Pete Sampras (14 each), Emerson (12), Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver (11 each) and Bill Tilden (10).

“As a 27-year-old I still feel I have years to come,” Djokovic said. “If I stay healthy and I have this discipline, professionalism and commitment to the everyday rituals I have been following for the last couple of years I think I have a fair chance to get myself in another position to win a Grand Slam or another two or three. We’ll see. At this point I’m happy in my life. I’m very proud to be able to join the elite group of players, like Agassi and Lendl, who have won eight Grand Slam titles.”

The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament Djokovic has never won. He finished runner-up in 2012 and 2014, losing to Nadal on both

NEWS

tennis news

Djokovic has targeted this year’s French Open. He is yet to lift the Roland Garros trophy where he has twice finished runner-up to Nadal

occasions. In the past the Serb has made Roland Garros his biggest priority for the season, but he is determined not to put too much pressure on himself in Paris this year as he attempts to become only the eighth man in in history – after Donald Budge, Perry, Laver, Emerson, Agassi, Federer and Nadal – to win all four Grand Slam trophies.

“If I don’t succeed in doing that in my career it’s not the end of the world,” he insisted. “I am definitely going to keep on trying. I have been very, very close. That allows me to believe that I can make that final step. It’s something that keeps me going.

“I wasn’t too far from winning the title a couple of times in finals. It’s a Grand Slam played on the slowest surface which is physically the most demanding one. That is something that makes it more difficult. Nadal has lost only one match in his entire career on that court, which is probably the

“i think i have a fair chance to get myself in another position to win a slam or another two or three” most impressive record in tennis history of all time in any tournament, but especially in a Grand Slam.”

Nadal has beaten Djokovic in all six of their meetings at the French Open, but the Serb believes he is getting closer and takes heart from his victories over the Spaniard elsewhere on clay. He has beaten Nadal twice in Rome and once each in Monte Carlo and Madrid.

“Reaching the final in Roland Garros last year I thought I had a very good tournament,” Djokovic said. “I played some good-quality clay-court tennis. I beat Rafa in the final in Rome. That gives

me enough reason to be confident about approaching the French Open this year, though it’s still a very long way away.

“First I need to be focusing on making a good recovery and then playing all these great ATP events and then getting myself in the right shape and hopefully not injured. Two years ago I went into the clay-court season after spraining my ankle in the Davis Cup and last year I had a wrist injury. I skipped playing Madrid both years, which I didn’t like because it’s a big tournament. Hopefully I’ll be able to play in this tournament this year and build my form on the clay.”

Djokovic has never looked back since switching to a gluten-free diet and knows that keeping in the best possible shape is crucial to his game. “I do take care of my body,” he said. “Even in the off season I don’t step too far away from the kind of regime that I have during the season and during tournaments. Of course every once in a while you need to relax and you need a recharge time, where you think about and do things that have nothing to do with tennis.

In terms of the holistic approach to myself and my body, I am very much dedicated to that because I know that is something that brings me success.”

He added: “Over the last couple of years people have tried to make me reveal the so-called ‘secrets’ of my success, of feeling good, of enduring, of having this physical consistency and avoiding injuries and so forth. But there is no one special thing that I can say has contributed the most to my success. I believe it is a combination of things.

Everything has to fit together – the way you grow, the way you grow in experiences from a physical point of view, the way you train, recover yourself, your food regime. All these things at the end of the day play a very important role in a sport like tennis.”

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hawkeye

THE NUMBERS game [stats]

Fascinating facts from Indian Wells and Miami

431,527

record attendance at Indian Wells in 2014

2011

Indian Wells first tournament to offer HawkEye on every match court

16

years and 111 days

Monica Seles’ age when she won Miami in 1990

6 7

2001

Last time Serena Williams played at Indian Wells

16,100

326,131

record attendance at Miami in 2012

capacity of Indian Wells main stadium

1991

1987 16 years

Last time a woman defended her title at Indian Wells

Most Miami singles titles (Andre Agassi)

Most Miami singles titles (Serena Williams)

Miami Open first held at Crandon Park, Key Biscayne

between Martina Hingis’ first doubles title in Miami (1998) and her last in 2014

(Martina Navratilova)

4

Most Indian Wells singles titles (Federer)

3

Miami men’s singles final abandoned

Players to win Indian Wells–Miami double [men]

Jim Courier 1991, Michael Chang 1992, Pete Sampras 1994, Marcelo Rios 1998, Andre Agassi 2001, Roger Federer 2005 & 2006, Novak Djokovic 2011, 2014 [women]

Steffi Graf 1994 & 1996, Kim Clijsters 2005 10 W W W.t e n n i s h e a d. NET

Stats from WTA and ATP

NEWS

NEWS

“I am a small one but I am very fast on the court.

I have to work hard for this” Estrella Burgos

Golden Oldie

At the ripe old age of 34, Victor Estrella Burgos is playing his way into the sport's history books

R

oger Federer, 33, continues to notch up milestones, having won his 1000th professional match before playing in a record 61st consecutive Grand Slam at the Australian Open.

By contrast, Victor Estrella Burgos has taken a long and tortuous road to glory. After becoming the oldest US Open debutant last year aged 34, he made history again in February when he won his maiden ATP title in Quito, Ecuador, to become the oldest first-time champion.

“I dreamed about not retiring without winning an ATP title,” he said. “It is very important to every player; for me it is very meaningful, without a doubt.

It means a lot to me to be in the book of tennis records. I’m making history for my country, for me and for tennis worldwide. I think that age is just a number for me.”

Estrella Burgos’ tale is a heart-warming one. Unable to afford to travel on the pro circuit, he turned his attention to coaching and played only a handful of Futures events as well as playing Davis Cup for Dominican Republic.

“Between 18 to 26 years old I played maybe 10 Futures,” said Estrella Burgos, who coached his younger brother Henry to a top-100 junior ranking.

“Then I moved to Miami and in 2006 I decided to start playing.”

“I’m making history for my country, for me and for tennis worldwide”

Shortly after moving to Florida aged 26, he won his first Futures event in New York. He made slow progress up the rankings and two years later played his first ATP tournament after qualifying for the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati. A first Challenger title in November 2011 saw him crack the top 200 for the first time.

“I remember I played a Challenger in Iquique in Chile in 2009,” he recalled. “The city was like a desert.

I played all over South and Central American but this was the worst place I ever played.”

However, in September 2012, he tore cartilage in his right elbow during a Davis Cup match against Mexico.

It was six months before he returned to action, in which time he considered hanging up his racket, but in March 2014 he broke the top 100 for the first time.

After making his Grand Slam main draw debut at Roland Garros, he claimed the biggest win of his career in July, upsetting Richard Gasquet to reach the semi-finals in Bogota before a run to the third round at the US Open. The $105,090 cheque he collected in New York was more than his earnings for his first four seasons on tour.

At just 5ft 8in, he credits his success to the hard work he puts in away from the tennis court. “I work hard physically,” he said. “I am very focused on my physical training. I am a small one but I am very fast on the court. I have to work hard for this. Every time I have free time I am in the gym, I go for a run. I think I can play for three or four years more. I think I am going to be here at this level for a couple of years more.” n W W W.t e n n i s h e a d. NET 15

GALLERY

“success is being happy. it’s not about winning every single tournament you play” andy murray

female tuition Andy Murray's hiring of Amelie Mauresmo might set a new trend by attracting more female former pros back to the game WORDS: PAUL NEWMAN Paul Newman is tennis correspondent of The Independent, The Independent on Sunday and i.

A

ndy Murray does not strike you as a man likely to stand behind a barricade or to preach passionately from a street corner, but the Scot has emerged as one of the most revolutionary thinkers in tennis. Having been one of the first players to surround himself with a large entourage, ranging from hitting partners and specialist coaches to a revolving group of physical trainers and physiotherapists, Murray also set a trend of appointing “legends” as coaches with his recruitment of Ivan Lendl.

His latest piece of forward thinking could prove to be the most significant of all. In becoming the first male Grand Slam singles champion to have a female coach other than a family member, he has lit the flames for a revolution that could change the face of his sport.

Murray himself is not sure about the wider impact of his recruitment of Amelie

Mauresmo last summer - “I don’t know whether it’s a revolution or not,” he said recently – but the evidence would suggest that times are indeed changing.

Madison Keys, the most exciting prospect in American tennis, appointed Lindsay Davenport as her coach at the end of last year and promptly enjoyed her best Grand Slam run when she reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Agnieszka Radwanska, a regular contender for the biggest honours, has brought Martina Navratilova into her entourage. Iva Majoli, a former French Open champion, is helping the young Croatian, Donna Vekic, while Evgenia Manyukova’s work with Ekaterina Makarova has seen the 26-year-old Russian break into the world’s top 10.

Murray has clearly been a key influence in the sport’s change in thinking. “Andy doesn’t see gender – and that’s how it should be,” Navratilova said. “He takes people at face value. That, hopefully, is a good example

“Andy doesn't see gender – and that's how it should be. He takes people at face value” 3 4 W W W.t e n n i s h e a d. NET

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EUGENIE BOUCHARD WORDS: PAUL NEWMAN Paul Newman is tennis correspondent of The Independent, The Independent on Sunday and i

After a breakthrough season in 2014, the Canadian is determined to keep on improving in a bid to climb the rankings

STAYING POWER

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W W W.t e n n i s h e a d. NET 41

LINES IN THE SAND

with itF support, participation figures rocketing and tournaments worldwide, beach tennis has never been so popular. tennishead visited aruba, home to the sport’s biggest event, to see if the caribbean island’s national pastime is truly ready for the mainstream

Photography © Maximilian Hamm

WORDS: MICHAEL BEATTIE

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W W W.t e n n i s h e a d. n e t 47

ACADEMY

[frame-by-frame]

tsonga serve

From one of the biggest serves on the WTA tour, we jump to a devastating ATP delivery – step up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

1

Jo-Wilfried's serve is all about momentum. Even here at the start it seems like it has movement in it already.

He is taking his weight back ready to explode up and forward into the serve.

2

Tsonga does a great job of using his big muscle groups to add power. Notice how the shoulders are rotated further than the hips and how his knees are bent in a powerful pre-jump position.

3

Here you notice a difference to the technique compared with some of the classic servers. The angle of his chest is not as upward facing as some because of the strong drive up and forward.

Learn to hit with spin to control your delivery → We talked about varying direction on the previous page, and learning to create different spins will help you do that.

There are three basic serves in terms of

5 6 W W W.t e n n i s h e a d. NET

spin – flat (no spin), topspin and slice. To hit with topspin the strings of the racket must brush up the back of the ball so the ball kicks up high off the court when it

gets to the other side. Slice is created when the strings brush around the side of the ball and image 4 is a fantastic illustration of this technique.

Back to business after a spell on the sidelines → Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fans will have noticed a fairly lengthy period without their man to cheer on. The big-serving Frenchman played his last ATP match of the 2014 season at the Masters 1000 in Paris, but only won three matches last season after he reached the fourth round of the US Open in September. Despite a problem with his arm, he decided to take part in the Davis Cup final against the Swiss in November, but pulled out of the remainder of the tie after losing to

Stan Wawrinka in the opening rubber. It's a decision he regrets, he says, after aggravating the injury during the tie. It meant he still hadn't competed on the tour by mid-February with hopes of returning for the first Masters 1000 of the year in Indian Wells. "I should never have played the final," he said. "I should never have played Bercy.

I should have not played at all from the month of September to have time to recover from this injury and be fighting fit for 2015."

GOLDEN RULE The serve is the only shot you're in control of in terms of when you hit the ball. Take your time.

Develop a routine that you repeat before each serve so you're fully focused when you strike.

4

This is a fantastic picture for anyone who wants to see what the racket looks like just before striking the ball when hitting a slice serve. The serve will be curving out wide to the deuce court.

5

The odd thing about any serve is that even after hitting with slice the wrist must pronate outwards resulting in the angle of the racket in this photo. Notice how the wrist has snapped through the ball.

6

Tsonga has landed in a classic pose with the right leg kicked up and back as a counterbalance to the tremendous force that's gone up and forward. His head remains up so he can watch the ball.

Back up your serve with a big 'one-two' → If you watch a lot of tennis on TV you'll have noticed many times pro players winning points with a well-practised combination of shots. This often means a

big serve followed by a big forehand and this is a tactic club players can utilise too.

Like any effective tactic or pattern of play this needs to be practised in training

though. A big serve followed by a forehand into the open court combination will serve you well under pressure when players should play to their strengths.

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academy

sequentials

ACADEMY

[the head doctor]

brain wave

In a sport defined by the finest of margins, having the mental edge can make all the difference. Just ask Mike Bryan

“M

ike has what we call a very high neurostrength,” says psychologist Dr Leslie Sherlin. “He is really good at being able to engage at a really high level, but his weakness is around the ability to turn that off, either in between sets or between matches.

Being able to fully reduce the cortical activity enables maximum recovery.”

Sherlin is co-founder and Chief Science Officer at SenseLabs, a brainwave sensor and software company based in San Francisco. He started working with Mike Bryan, one half of the Bryan brothers, in 2008 in a bid to help the American hone his mental strength.

“The key to SenseLabs is you can really access your focus when you need it,” Bryan explains. “Keeping relaxed on the court is key. I think everyone plays their best tennis when they are relaxed but their mind is turned on.”

Using SenseLabs’ new Versus program on his iPad, Bryan is able to train his brain in the same way that he would finesse his forehand during a practice session. By putting on a wireless headset that monitors brainwave activity, he will spend up to 30 minutes training by completing tasks that resemble video games.

“I have been using this race car which only moves if you are in the optimal brain state,” explains Bryan. “They don’t give you any instructions, you just look at the screen and the car will only move if you are in “the zone”.

Your brain figures it out. It’s crazy – all of a sudden the car

Below: Dr Sherlin says it is common for high performance athletes to find it very hard to turn their brains off

6 8 W W W.t e n n i s h e a d. NET

will jump forward a little bit. Then the car starts moving so your brain figures out where it needs to be.

“You can feel blood flowing to your head which is kinda cool. It’s like working a muscle. You can feel yourself getting really tired after 20 minutes.”

SenseLabs offers a personalised training plan for athletes based on their requirements. Dr Sherlin will meet with the athlete and their team in order to discover their goals.

“I always start the conversation by saying that I know a lot about brains but they are the expert both in their performance and their sport so if they can teach me about what they want to improve, we can collaborate together,” he explains. “It revolves around what are the goals of the individual and what opportunities do we have to improve? Is it around intensifying something that they are already very good at or are they looking to target a weakness?”

Sherlin, who re-specialised in sports psychology five years ago, was exposed to the concept of recording the electrical activity in the brain as an undergraduate. By using EEG – electro-encephalography – to measure that activity and determine characteristics about individuals, he realised it was possible to quantify mental capacity and create the opportunity for training.

“Athletes primarily fit a couple of characteristics,” explains Sherlin. “Either they are really great at most of the constructs that we measure, so we help them increase the intensity level of each of those domains.

Others might have a real strength – maybe they are super-engaged or focused but struggle to shut it off.

There are other athletes who are super-relaxed but sometimes have a hard time engaging for a long period of time.

“It is a very common finding for a lot of athletes they find it hard to switch off. They are perfectionists so they are constantly thinking, ‘How can I be better next time?’ That’s what makes them great and we don’t want to take that capability away from them. We just want them to be able to apply the appropriate amount of energy and then learn how to maximise the downtime."

Struggling to switch off after a match, Bryan found himself continuously re-living patterns of play in his mind. Repeatedly re-processing such information is what Sherlin calls “anxiety-like thought patterns”.

PSYCHOLOGY

aCadeMY

“WHEN I’M REALLY STRESSED I JUST THROW ON THE HEADSET AND IT BRINGS ME BACK AND GETS ME BACK IN A GOOD RHYTHM” MIKE BRYAN

In the zone: Doubles world No.1 Mike Bryan enjoys some brain training.

Chatting with Dr Sherlin, below

“The pattern in the brainwave is a reflection of increased cortical excitation and so the training is designed to teach the individual to produce a different electrical signature,” explains Sherlin. “Through operate conditioning, whether visualisation or simulation techniques, they can learn how to adjust that and modulate it internally.

“It’s like teaching your body to learn any new skill; playing an instrument or a new drill in sport. You are teaching the brain to do something else and the more you practise it the more you are able to control it.”

While Bryan has yet to experiment during a tournament – he has reserved the brain training for weeks out of competition – he is already reaping the benefits.

“I’ve noticed my tennis has improved,” he said.

“I can concentrate longer. Our matches are generally an hour-and-a-half and before my concentration would waver during that time but now it is easier to sustain that focus, which is huge.

“Sleep has been a big difference too. Sometimes I’m a restless sleeper but I’ve been sleeping better. And I notice during the day I’m not as irritable and my memory seems a little better, too.

“When I’m really stressed I’ll just throw on the headset and it’ll bring me back, bring my breathing down and get me back in a good rhythm.”

Since Mike started the Versus training in August, the Bryans have gone on to win their 100th team title at the US Open before triumphing in Shanghai, Paris and winning the ATP World Tour Finals title in London.

“Bob hasn’t tried it. I’m trying to get him on it too because I think he can benefit from it,” said Bryan of his twin brother. “But he doesn’t really buy into anything whereas I like to research different things to help me improve.”

With 16 Grand Slam doubles titles and more than 400 weeks at the top of the doubles world rankings, the Bryan brothers are the most successful doubles team in history. Their rivals will hope that Bob remains sceptical. ■ W W W.t e n n i s h e a d. n e t 69

gear

Hooked on a feeling [RS BLACK EDITION]

While Robin Soderling still dreams of a return to the ATP Tour, his signature tennis ball, the RS Black Edition, will make its professional debut in October words: Michael Beattie

A

ll original ideas sound a little crazy at first. The very best of them answer the unanswerable. For Robin Soderling, Sweden’s two-time former French Open finalist, the question seemed straightforward enough, yet there was no obvious answer. He had no idea which tennis ball he liked the most.

“It came up as a crazy idea during a lunch with my friends,” Soderling, now 30 and three-and-a-half years removed from his last tennis match. “I had got the question before: which is the best ball I played with. I thought there were some good balls but not a particular favourite, so I decided to start developing my own ball.”

The last time Soderling was seen on court he won the 2011 SkiStar Swedish Open, claiming the 10th ATP title of his career without dropping a set and beating Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer for the combined loss of just five games. The 6ft 4in player was at the height of his powers.

Roland Garros had been especially good to him; the earth-shattering victory over Rafael Nadal launched runs to the final in both 2009 and 2010. To this day he is the only player to have beaten the Spaniard on Parisian clay.

The 2011 season had started well. Soderling claimed three titles before February was out and spent the first half of the year one spot short of his career-high world No.4 ranking he had reached in late 2010.

There is no number next to his ATP profile today, only the word ‘inactive’. It seems a cruel way to describe an athlete laid low by illness; it is also used for officially retired players, even those who have died.

Mononucleosis, the energy-sapping viral disease that first hit him at Wimbledon, was finally diagnosed shortly after his Bastad victory.

Soderling was left bed-ridden at times and unable to train. The illness forced him to take an indefinite hiatus from the tour, but he has not retired – officially or otherwise – and still hopes to put a number next to his name.

78 W W W.t e n n i s h e a d. NET

“I feel much better,” he said. “In normal daily life it feels good, but the body doesn’t answer the way it needs to do when I try pushing myself with the heavy training that is needed to get back. I strive to reach the day when I can do that. That is my dream and my goal, but since the body is smarter than the brain there is no point setting a target you cannot control.”

The last thing Soderling has been in the past three-anda-half years is inactive. In 2012 he became a father to Olivia, and in 2014 he began work as tournament director for the IF Stockholm Open. Now he is watching his crazy idea come to life, as RS tennis balls roll out across the globe.

There are 168 International Tennis Federation-approved tennis balls on the market, not to mention the 11 different high-altitude balls. While all meet the ITF’s strict criteria, the constant switches from one tournament to the next and the variety between brands, both in performance and quality, remain sticking points for a number of players.

Soderling insists that switching surfaces remains the toughest adjustment tennis players face each week, but did the tournament ball ever have an impact on his results? “Oh yes, many times,” he admitted. “The ATP works intensively to listen to the players, since balls are a hot topic. Of course it impacts your game to a certain extent. You have balls that you prefer, but after some years on tour you get used to the changes.”

Designing a ball that meets the demands of a top-fiveranked professional has been a long and painstaking process, but Soderling is suitably proud with the finished product – so much so, the RS Black Edition will be the official ball in Stockholm this year.

Translating the demands of a tennis player into engineering instructions was far from easy. “I wanted to build a ball that is easy to play with, but still that acts fair and that answers your stroke in the right way,” Soderling said. Trial and error reigned supreme: he reported back

robin soderling

How tennis balls are made

1

Raw rubber is kneaded and treated with chemicals to produce a sticky dough-like material

2

A number of substances are added to the natural rubber, including clay, zinc oxide and sulphur, to make it less permeable and help retain pressure.

3 4

The rubber is divided into pellets and cooled.

A hydraulic press moulds the pellets into a sheet of half-shells.

The shells are then cut from the sheet.

5

The edge of each half-shell is then buffed before a vulcanising rubber adhesive is applied.

6

Two half-shells are brought together to form a ball, which is then inflated to approximately 12lb/ sq in. The inflation process may be chemical, filling balls with nitrogen, or manual, which is far trickier.

7 8

A rubber solution is applied to the finished core.

The cloth is applied to the core.

There are two types – Melton cloth, which is high in wool content, and Needle cloth, a cheaper synthetic option. The cloth is cut into ‘blanks’ – one is attached along the core seam, the other perpendicular to that. The edge of each blank is coated with a vulcanising solution that forms the seam of the ball.

9

The ball is placed in a moulding press and heated to bond the cloth to the ball.

10 11

Steaming fluffs the blanks prior to testing.

“IT CAME UP AS A CRAZY IDEA OVER LUNCH WITH SOME FRIENDS. I DECIDED TO START DEVELOPING MY OWN BALL”

Photogaphy © RS Tennis

Finally, the balls are tested and graded. Those that meet the necessary requirements are branded and stored in a pressurised tube to maintain their internal pressure.

W W W.t e n n i s h e a d. NET 79

gear

[High-pressure job]

results [february 16, 2015]

wta rankings RANKING

1

PERSONAL

ACHIEVEMENTS

FORM Started year in unconvincing fashion at Hopman Cup, but won 19th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, beating Maria Sharapova in the final. Suffering with an illness, Williams needed three sets to beat Svitolina and Muguruza in early rounds.

Serena WIlliams

usa Born: 26/09/81 Lives: Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA Height: 5ft 9in Weight: 155 lbs

This year: $2,710,749 Career to date: $66,211,528 Career-high ranking: 1 (08/07/02) Career titles: 65 Last title: Australian Open, Grand Slam, Melbourne, Australia, January 2015

2

maria sharapova

russia Born: 19/04/87 Lives: Bradenton, Florida, USA Height: 6ft 2in Weight: 130 lbs

This year: $1,550,400 Career to date: $34,085,602 Career-high ranking: 1 (22/08/05) Career titles: 34 Last title: Brisbane International, WTA Premier, Brisbane, Australia, January 2015

Began 2015 by winning her 34th career title at Brisbane International (d. Ivanovic in final). Reached Australian Open final for first time since 2012 but lost to top seed Williams. Won both rubbers on return to Fed Cup action against Poland.

3

petra Kvitova

czech republic Born: 08/03/1990 Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 6ft Weight: 154 lbs

This year: $238,987 Career to date: $17,341,445 Career-high ranking: 2 (31/10/11) Career titles: 15 Last title: Sydney International, WTA Premier, Sydney, Australia, January 2015

Recovered from surprise SF defeat to Timea Bacsinszky in Shenzhen to win 15th WTA title in Sydney, where she beat fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova in the final. Reached Aus Open 3R for first time since 2012 but lost to Madison Keys.

4

simona HaLEP

romania Born: 27/09/91 Lives: Constanta, Romania Height: 5ft 6in Weight: 132 lbs

This year: $398,471 Career to date: $6,957,879 Career-high ranking: 2 (11/08/14) Career titles: 9 Last title: Shenzhen Open, WTA International, Shenzhen, China, January 2015

Won first tournament of the year in Shenzhen (d. Timea Bacsinzky in final). Made serene progress through first week in Melbourne but fell in Aus Open QFs to Makarova.

Went 1-1 in Romania's 3-2 Fed Cup win over Spain in Galati.

5

Caroline Wozniacki

denmark Born: 11/07/90 Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 5ft 10in Weight: 139 lbs

This year: $79,446 Career to date: $19,402,311 Career-high ranking: 1 (11/10/10) Career titles: 22 Last title: Istanbul Cup, WTA International, Istanbul, Turkey, July 2014

Reached final in first tournament of the season in Auckland (l. to Venus Williams) but retired in Sydney 1R against Zahlavova Strycova with a wrist injury. Beat Taylor Townsend in straight sets but fell in Aus Open 2R to unseeded Victoria Azarenka.

6

ana ivanovic

serbia Born: 06/11/1987 Lives: Bern, Switzerland Height: 6ft Weight: 152 lbs

This year: $136,771 Career to date: $13,232,027 Career-high ranking: 1 (09/06/2008) Career titles: 15 Last title: Toray Pan Pacific Open, WTA International, Tokyo, Japan, September 2014

Started 2015 in bright fashion, reaching Brisbane final (l. to Sharapova) but was an early casualty in Melbourne, where she lost Aus Open 1R against qualifier Hradecka. Revealed she was struggling with a toe injury during three-set defeat.

7

eugenie Bouchard

canada Born: 25/02/1994 Lives: Montreal, Canada Height: 5ft 10in Weight: 134 lbs

This year: $297,548 Career to date: $4,023,583 Career-high ranking: 5 (20/10/14) Career titles: 1 Last title: Nurnberger Versicherungs Cup, WTA International, Nurnberg, Germany, May 2014

After beating Serena Williams for the first time at Hopman Cup in first week of 2015, reached Australian Open QFs (l. to Sharapova). Seeded No.1 at a WTA Premier tournament for the first time, fell in Antwerp opener to world No.42 Mona Barthel.

8

Agnieszka Radwanska

POland Born: 06/03/89 Lives: Krakow, Poland Height: 5ft 8in Weight: 123 lbs

This year: $163,246 Career to date: $17,528,666 Career-high ranking: 2 (09/07/12) Career titles: 14 Last title: Rogers Cup, WTA Premier, Montreal, Canada, August 2014

After beating Serena Williams in final as Poland won Hopman Cup, fell in Sydney 2R (l. to Muguruza). Dropped just nine games in first three matches at Aus Open but fell in 4R to Venus Williams. Lost both rubbers as Poland fell to Russia in Fed Cup.

9

ekaterina Makarova

Russia Born: 07/06/88 Lives: Moscow, Russia Height: 5ft 11in Weight: 143 lbs

This year: $609,646 Career to date: $7,349,257 Career-high ranking: 9 (02/02/15) Career titles: 2 Last title: PTT Thailand Open, WTA International, Pattaya City, Thailand, February 2014

Started season with 2R defeat to Suarez Navarro in Sydney. Beat Halep to reach second straight Grand Slam semi-final at Aus Open without dropping a set. Lost SF to Sharapova in straight sets but made Top 10 debut following impressive run in Melbourne.

10

andrea Petkovic

germany Born: 09/09/87 Lives: Darmstadt, Germany Height: 5ft 11in Weight: 152 lbs

This year: $174,516 Career to date: $4,633,738 Career-high ranking: 9 (10/10/11) Career titles: 6 Last title: BNP Paribas Fortis Diamond Games, WTA Premier, Antwerp, Belgium, February 2015

Found form in February after woeful start to 2015, losing 1R in Brisbane (l. to Kanepi), Sydney (l. to Gajdosova) and Aus Open (l. to Brengle). Won two Fed Cup matches before winning sixth career title in Antwerp (d. Suarez Navarro).

Points: 9,777

Points: 8,210

Points: 6,291

Points: 5,672

Points: 4,565

Points: 4,425

Points: 4,365

Points: 3,975

Points: 3,285

Points: 3,150

down 2

92 W W W.t e n n i s h e a d. NET

11-100 RANKINGS 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Venus Williams (USA) Angelique Kerber (GER) Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) Lucie Safarova (CZE) Sara Errani (ITA) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) Karolina Pliskova (CZE) Alize Cornet (FRA) Madison Keys (USA) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) Peng Shuai (CHN) Garbine Muguruza (ESP) Samantha Stosur (AUS) Elina Svitolina (UKR) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) Sabine Lisicki (GER) Varvara Lepchenko (USA) Caroline Garcia (FRA) Camila Giorgi (ITA) Coco Vandeweghe (USA) Zarina Diyas (KAZ) Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) Casey Dellacqua (AUS) Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) Belinda Bencic (SUI) Roberta Vinci (ITA) Mona Barthel (GER) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) Sloane Stephens (USA) Kurumi Nara (JPN) Heather Watson (GBR) Alison Riske (USA) Madison Brengle (USA) Klara Koukalova (CZE) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) Kaia Kanepi (EST) Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) Monica Puig (PUR) Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) Christina McHale (USA) Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) Lauren Davis (USA) Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) Karin Knapp (ITA) Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) Tereza Smitkova (CZE) Monica Niculescu (ROU) Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) Zhang Shuai (CHN) Julia Goerges (GER) Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) Kiki Bertens (NED) Annika Beck (GER) Johanna Larsson (SWE) Jana Cepelova (SVK) Elena Vesnina (RUS) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) Marina Erakovic (NZL) Anna Schmiedlova (SVK) Zheng Saisai (CHN) Polona Hercog (SLO) Katerina Siniakova (CZE) Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) Shelby Rogers (USA) Vitalia Diatchenko (RUS) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) Donna Vekic (CRO) Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) Nicole Gibbs (USA) Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor (ESP) Carina Witthoeft (GER) Petra Cetkovska (CZE) Denisa Allertova (CZE) Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) Timea Babos (HUN) Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) Taylor Townsend (USA) Pauline Parmentier (FRA) Alison van Uytvanck (BEL) Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) Wang Qiang (CHN) Ana Konjuh (CRO) Misaki Doi (JPN)

RANKINGS

emirates ATP Rankings RANKING

1

PERSONAL

ACHIEVEMENTS

FORM

11-100 RANKINGS

Suffered shock QF defeat to Ivo Karlovic in Doha but despite struggling with illness in early stages of tournament in Melbourne, Djokovic won a fifth Australian Open title, defeating Wawrinka in SFs before beating Murray in four sets in the final.

novak djokovic

serbia Born: 22/05/87 Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 6ft 2in Weight: 176 lbs

This year: $2,577,720 Career to date: $74,990,523 Career-high ranking: 1 (04/07/11) Career titles: 49 Last title: Australian Open, Grand Slam, Melbourne, Australia, January 2015

2

roger rafael nadal federer

switzerland Spain Born: 08/08/81 03/06/86 Lives: Manacor, Mallorca, Bottmingen, Spain Switzerland Height: 6ft 1in Weight: 187 188 lbs lbs Weight:

This year: year:$160,076 $5,714,859 Career to todate: date:$88,771,615 $55,776,687 Career-high Career-highranking: ranking:11 (02/02/04) (18/08/08) Career titles: titles:83 57 Last title: International, title:Brisbane French Open, Grand Slam, ATP 250, Brisbane, Paris, France, JuneAustralia 2013 January 2015

Became the first man to win the Won 1000th professional same Slamtotournament matchGrand en route 83rd ATP eight times when he defeated title in Brisbane, where he David Ferrer ininFrench Open final beat Raonic final. Swiss looked to claimin hisgood 12thshape majorheading title. into Australian but in a Suffered his firstOpen 1R defeat suffered 3Rtodefeat Slam whenshock he lost Steveto Darcis Andreas Seppi in Wimbledon. four sets. on opening day at

3

Rafael nadal

Spain Born: 03/06/86 Lives: Manacor, Majorca, Spain Height: 6ft 1in Weight: 188 lbs

This year: $290,302 Career to date: $71,700,753 Career-high ranking: 1 (18/08/08) Career titles: 64 Last title: French Open, Grand Slam, Paris, France, June 2014

Suffered shock 1R defeat to qualifier Berrer as he failed to defend Doha title. Survived 2R scare against Smycek to reach Aus Open QFs, but lost in straight sets to Berdych, who snapped a 17-match losing streak against the Spaniard.

4

andy Murray

great britain Born: 15/05/87 Lives: London, England Height: 6ft 3in Weight: 185 lbs

This year: $1,314,812 Career to date: $35,504,898 Career-high ranking: 2 (17/08/09) Career titles: 31 Last title: Valencia Open, ATP 500, Valencia, Spain, October 2014

Made impressive start to 2015 as he went 3-0 in Hopman Cup. Looked in good shape as he reached fourth Aus Open final but title eluded him once again as Djokovic won fifth title in Melbourne. Returned to action in Rotterdam, lost to Simon in QFs.

5

KEI Nishikori

japan Born: 29/12/89 Lives: Bradenton, Florida, USA Height: 5ft 10in Weight: 163 lbs

This year: $408,607 Career to date: $8,438,556 Career-high ranking: 5 (03/11/14) Career titles: 8 Last title: Memphis Open, ATP 250, Memphis, USA February 2015

Made a solid start to the year, reaching SFs in Brisbane (l. to Raonic) before run to Australian Open QFs (l. to Wawrinka).

Became first man to win three straight titles in Memphis as he collected eighth ATP trophy (d. Anderson in final).

6

milos raonic

CANADA Born: 27/12/90 Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 6ft 5in Weight: 216 lbs

This year: $407,957 Career to date: $7,722,607 Career-high ranking: 6 (07/07/14) Career titles: 6 Last title: Citi Open, ATP 500, Washington, USA, August 2014

Showed early-season form with run to final in Brisbane (l. to Federer). Reached third Grand Slam QF with five-set win over Lopez but fell in straight sets to eventual champion Djokovic.

Reached SFs in Rotterdam but lost two tight sets to Wawrinka.

7

stan Wawrinka

switzerland Born: 28/03/1985 Lives: St Barthelemy, Switzerland Height: 6ft Weight: 179 lbs

This year: $1,012,825 Career to date: $15,414,438 Career-high ranking: 3 (27/01/14) Career titles: 9 Last title: ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, ATP 500, Rotterdam, Netherlands, February 2015

Won first tournament of 2015 by defending title in Chennai (d.

Bedene in final). Failed to defend Aus Open crown but reached SFs (l. to Djokovic). Won first indoor title on his first appearance in Rotterdam since 2005 (d. Berdych in final).

8

tomas berdych

czech rep Born: 17/09/85 Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 6ft 5in Weight: 200 lbs

This year: $819,378 Career to date: $20,868,846 Career-high ranking: 5 (19/08/13) Career titles: 10 Last title: If Stockholm Open, ATP 250, Stockholm, Sweden, October 2014

Impressive start to 2015 under new coach Dani Vallverdu, reaching final in Doha (l. to Ferrer) before beating Nadal en route to Aus Open SFs (l. to Murray). Failed to defend Rotterdam title, falling in tight three-set final to Wawrinka.

9

David ferrer

spain Born: 02/04/82 Lives: Valencia, Spain Height: 5ft 9in Weight:160 lbs

This year: $338,727 Career to date: $25,071,836 Career-high ranking: 3 (08/07/2013) Career titles: 22 Last title: Qatar ExxonMobil Open, ATP 250, Doha, Qatar, January 2015

Started 2015 in impressive fashion, winning 22nd career title in Doha (d. Berdych in final). Beat Bellucci, Stakhovsky and Simon all in four sets to reach Aus Open 4R, but fell to Nishikori – his fifth straight defeat against the Japanese.

10

marin Cilic

croatia Born: 28/09/88 Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 6ft 6in Weight: 180 lbs

This year: $0 Career to date: $11,316,754 Career-high ranking: 8 (13/10/14) Career titles: 13 Last title: Kremlin Cup, ATP 250, Moscow, Russia, October 2014

Yet to play in 2015 after skipping Brisbane and Australian Open with a right shoulder injury. Attended home event in Zagreb but was not able to play. "It is a tough time but I am looking forward to the rest of the season," he said.

Points: 13,045

Points: 9,205 6,860

Points: 5,745

Points: 5,460

Points: 5,205

Points: 4,980

Points: 4,550

Points: 4,460

Points: 3,865

Points: 3,690

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) Ernests Gulbis (LAT) Feliciano Lopez (ESP) Kevin Anderson (RSA) Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) Gilles Simon (FRA) Tommy Robredo (ESP) John Isner (USA) David Goffin (BEL) Gael Monfils (FRA) Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) Pablo Cuevas (URU) Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) Richard Gasquet (FRA) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) Julien Benneteau (FRA) Fabio Fognini (ITA) Ivo Karlovic (CRO) Leonardo Mayer (ARG) Lukas Rosol (CZE) Fernando Verdasco (ESP) Santiago Giraldo (COL) Gilles Muller (LUX) Jeremy Chardy (FRA) Andreas Seppi (ITA) Nick Kyrgios (AUS) Martin Klizan (SVK) Sam Querrey (USA) Benjamin Becker (GER) Adrian Mannarino (FRA) Steve Johnson (USA) Viktor Troicki (SRB) Jiri Vesely (CZE) Joao Sousa (POR) Bernard Tomic (AUS) Jerzy Janowicz (POL) Dominic Thiem (AUT) Marcel Granollers (ESP) Pablo Andujar (ESP) Victor Estrella Burgos (DOM) Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) Simone Bolelli (ITA) Jack Sock (USA) Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) Donald Young (USA) Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) Vasek Pospisil (CAN) Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) Diego Schwartzman (ARG) Federico Delbonis (ARG) Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) Denis Istomin (UZB) Juan Monaco (ARG) Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) Sam Groth (AUS) Dusan Lajovic (SRB) Malek Jaziri (TUN) Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) Radek Stepanek (CZE) Carlos Berlocq (ARG) Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) Marinko Matosevic (AUS) Ricardas Berankis (LTU) Tim Smycek (USA) Andrey Golubev (KAZ) Go Soeda (JPN) Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) Jurgen Melzer (AUT) Borna Coric (CRO) Ivan Dodig (CRO) Lukas Lacko (SVK) Joao Souza (BRA) Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) Dudi Sela (ISR) Nicolas Almagro (ESP) Blaz Rola (SLO) Albert Montanes (ESP) Tatsuma Ito (JPN) Tobias Kamke (GER) Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) Dustin Brown (GER) Filip Krajinovic (SRB) Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) Marsel Ilhan (TUR)

W W W.t e n n i s h e a d. NET 93

results

[february 16, 2015]

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