7 April 2008
STARS
Nikolay Davydenko became the first Russian to win the Sony Ericsson Open men’s singles crown at Miami, Florida, by crushing second-seeded Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-2.
Serena Williams outlasted Jelena Jankovic 6-1 5-7 6-3 to capture her fifth Sony Ericsson Open women’s singles title.
Bob and Mike Bryan finally won their first doubles championship of 2008, beating Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles 6-2 6-2 at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama won their second doubles title as a team, edging Cara Black and Liezel Huber 7-5 4-6 10-3 at the Sony Ericsson Open.
SAYINGS
“I have only one (racquet). Surprising I didn’t break a string. Warm up and play match, warm up and play match, every match, and I finish with the racquet. I’m going to keep forever this racquet.” – Nikolay Davydenko, who said he used the same racquet in all six matches to win the Sony Ericsson Open.
“People write more about Roger (Federer), about me, about Andy (Roddick). People outside tennis can think different about Nikolay, but we know he’s a very, very good player.” – Rafael Nadal, after losing the Sony Ericsson Open final to Davydenko 6-4 6-2.
“She looked so nervous out there. I could never believe that a girl who has won so many Grand Slams, so many tournaments, could be that nervous closing out a match.” – Jelena Jankovic, after losing the Sony Ericsson Open women’s final to Serena Williams 6-1 5-7 6-3.
“I smashed a racquet? Are you sure it was me? I guess maybe my hand must have been oily.” – Serena Williams, who drew a code violation when she smashed her racquet after blowing a 5-2 40-0 lead in the second set of her three-set victory over Jelena Jankovic.
“This tie is important for the team, as a win would give us the opportunity to compete in a playoff to make it back in the World Group, where I believe Australia belongs.” – Lleyton Hewitt, saying he plans on playing Davis Cup against Thailand.
“Losing in the finals four times just makes you hungrier and hungrier. When we went out there … we didn’t take anything for granted.” – Bob Bryan after he teamed with his brother Mike to win the Sony Ericsson Open men’s doubles.
“Winning in September and staying in the World Group is obviously a key focus for us, but just as vital is working with hose younger players who may be capable of thriving in a Davis Cup environment in the near future.” – Paul Annacone, who has been named coach of Great Britain’s Davis Cup team, succeeding Peter Lundgren.
SPLAT
After he hit a backhand into the net during his third-round match at the Sony Ericsson Open, Mikhail Youzhny showed his displeasure by angrily whacking himself in the head three times with his racket strings. That sent a stream of blood running from above his hairline down his nose and nearly to his mouth. The Russian became a celebrity when a video of his tantrum was put on YouTube and drew more than a half-million hits.
SUFFERING SUCCOTASH
Here it is April and the world’s top two men players are still looking for a 2008 tournament title. Top-ranked Roger Federer’s best results this year have been semifinal appearances at both the Australian Open and the Pacific Life Open. Federer has been limited to just three tournaments because of mononucleosis. World number two Rafael Nadal has been in two finals – the Chennai Open and the Sony Ericsson Open – losing both. He also was a semifinalist at both the Australia Open and the Pacific Life Open. And, the top-ranked men’s doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan won their first title of 2008 at the just-concluded Sony Ericsson Open.
SUCCESS FINALLY
Playing in their fifth final of 2008, twins Bob and Mike Bryan finally came away with the title when they defeated Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles 6-2 6-2 at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Beginning with the 2007 Australian Open, the Bryans have reached 20 finals in 27 tournaments. And this championship was their 45th career title together.
SELECTED FOR BEIJING
Players from El Salvador, Togo and Liechtenstein will compete in Olympic tennis for the first time at the Beijing Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and International Tennis Federation (ITF) selected four players to compete in the Summer Games: Rafael Arevalo of El Salvador, Komlavi Loglo of Togo, Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Stephanie Vogt of Liechtenstein. Only 21 years old, Arevalo has already played 22 Davis Cup ties for El Salvador. Loglo, 23, is the first African Junior Champion from Togo. Vogt, 17, has played eight Fed Cup ties for Liechtenstein. Black, currently co-ranked No. 1 in the world in doubles, played singles at the 2000 Sydney Games.
SQUEAKER
By nipping Cara Black and Liezel Huber in a Match Tiebreak (7-5 4-6 10-3) to win the women’s doubles at the Sony Ericsson Open, Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama were just repeating themselves. The Miami, Florida, tournament title was their second doubles crown as a team. Their first came last year in Toronto when they also beat Black and Huber in a Match Tiebreak in the final.
STEERING TENNIS EUROPE
Jacques Dupre is the new president of Tennis Europe, succeeding John James of Great Britain. Others elected to the board at the meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, were Peter Bretherton of Great Britain, Michele Brunetti of Italy, Philios Christodoulou of Cyprus, Gunther Lang of Germany, Aleksei Selivanenko of Russai, Jose Antonio Senz de Broto of Spain, Stefan Tzvetkov of Bulgaria and Ayda Uluc of Turket. There were delegates from a record 43 member nations at the 34th annual general meeting.
SOUTH AFRICA ON TOP
South Africa successfully defended its African Junior Championships in Gaborone, Botswana. Tunisia finished in second place, followed by Egypt in third and Morocco in fourth. Points are earned in singles and doubles in three age groups. South Africa captured two of the six singles titles and reached three other finals. The winners dominated the 16-and -under age group with Jarryd Botha defeating fellow South African Japie de Klerk 6-2 6-2 in the boys singles final.
SENIORS DOING IT
A record 376 teams have entered the 2008 ITF Seniors & Super-Seniors World Team Championships in Antalya, Turkey, in October. More than 220 teams from 38 countries have registered for the Seniors age categories – women and men 35 to 55 – while 150 teams will compete in the Super-Seniors: women 60 to 70 and men 60 to 80. The team event will be followed by the ITF Seniors & Super-Seniors World Individual Championships.
SORE BUT READY
Despite possibly having tendinitis and a hip tendon tear – or a combination of both – Lleyton Hewitt says he will play for Australia in its Davis Cup tie against Thailand. Doctors had advised Hewitt to rest his sore left hip and continue treatment. He has suffered hip pain since losing to Mardy Fish in Indian Wells, California, in March.
SUPERHERO
India’s Davis Cup captain Leander Paes will be a superhero in a cartoon television series in his home country. According to the Indian Express newspaper, Paes will play a miracle man who helps school kids in each of the 26 half-hour episodes being planned. The cartoons, called “The Magic Racquet,” are aimed at promoting an active lifestyle in children. According to the newspaper, a date has not been set for the start of the series.
SWINGING AGAIN
Two retired Wimbledon champions will play each other on grass once again. Martina Hingis and Jana Novotna will play an exhibition match in Liverpool, England, in June. Hingis beat Novotna in the 1997 Wimbledon final to become the youngest champion in the Open Era. Novotna, who also lost in the final at Wimbledon to Steffi Graf in 1993, finally won the Championships in 1998.
SITES TO SURF
Amelia Island: www.blchamps.com
Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com/
Olympic Tennis: www.itftennis.com/olympics.
Family Circle Cup: www.familycirclecup.com
Estoril: www.estorilopen.net
Valencia: www.open-comunidad-valencia.com/
Houston: www.riveroaksinternational.com
ITF Seniors: www.itftennis.com/seniors
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
WTA Tour
$600,000 Bausch & Lomb Championships, Amelia Island, Florida, clay
DAVIS CUP
World Group Quarterfinals
(April 11-13)
Czech Republic at Moscow, Russia
Sweden at Buenos Aires, Argentina
Spain at Bremen, Germany
France vs. United States at Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Europe/Africa Zone Group 1 Second Round
Italy at Zagreb, Croatia; Netherlands at Skopje, Macedonia; Switzerland at Minsk, Belarus; Georgia at Bratislava, Slovak Republic
America’s Zone Group 1 Second Round
Canada at Santiago, Chile; Colombia at Soracaba, Brazil
Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 Second Round
Thailand at Townsville, Australia; Japan at New Delhi, India
Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 First-Round Playoffs
Chinese Taipei at Almaty, Kazakhstan; Uzbekistan at Manila, Philippines
TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK
ATP TOUR
$370,000 Estoril Open, Estoril, Portugal, clay
$370,000 Open de Tenis Comunidad Valencia, Valencia, Spain, clay
$436,000 U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships, Houston, Texas, clay
WTA TOUR
$1,340,000 Family Circle Cup, Charleston, South Carolina
Photos of Miami:
Mardy Fish
Andy Roddick, James Blake and World No.1 Doubles Team Bob and Mike Bryan to Face France In Davis Cup Quarterfinal, April 11-13
Written by the USTA
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., March 27, 2008 — The USTA and U.S. Davis Cup Captain Patrick McEnroe today announced that the defending Davis Cup champions will feature world No. 6 Andy Roddick, No. 9 James Blake and the No. 1 doubles team in the world Bob and Mike Bryan in the 2008 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Quarterfinal. The U.S. will face France on an indoor premiere hard court in Winston-Salem’s Joel Coliseum, April 11-13.
This is the tenth straight time that U.S. Davis Cup Captain McEnroe has used this lineup — a record for the U.S. Davis Cup team — dating back to the 2005 World Group Play-off in Belgium. The previous U.S. record was three consecutive ties, held by eight different teams. In addition, Mardy Fish — the third-ranked American — will come to Winston-Salem as a reserve and practice with the team.
The weekend festivities will begin Friday before the matches with a special ceremony to recognize the 2007 Davis Cup champions. During the ceremony, a banner will be raised and the team will be presented custom-designed 14-karat gold rings commissioned by the USTA with five diamonds on the top, representing McEnroe and each of the four players.
“We’re looking forward to adding another chapter to our rich Davis Cup history with France,” said U.S. Davis Cup Captain Patrick McEnroe, who has led the U.S. to a 14-6 record since taking over as Captain in 2001. “We received tremendous support from the crowd last year in Winston-Salem and we hope to experience that same excitement again this year.”
Good seats are still available and can be purchased by calling (888) 484-USTA (8782) or online at www.ticketmaster.com. The event is being organized, staged and promoted by the USTA.
The United States began the defense of its record 32nd Davis Cup title with a 4-1 win over Austria on an indoor red clay court in Vienna. Should the United States defeat France, the U.S. would travel to either Germany or Spain for the World Group Semifinal in September.
The United States and France will meet for the fifteenth time in their more than one-hundred-year history. The series is tied 7-7 with France winning the last meeting in the 2002 World Group Semifinal at Roland Garros in Paris. From 1925-1930, France and the U.S. met each year in the final, with the U.S. winning the first two match-ups.
Versus and Tennis Channel will air same-day coverage of all three days of competition. Versus’ live coverage will begin each day, starting at 1 p.m. ET Friday and Sunday, and 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. Tennis Channel will re-air coverage at 8 p.m. ET.
The opening day of play in the best-of-five match series features each country’s No. 1 singles player against the No. 2 player from the other country. The pivotal doubles match is played Saturday, followed by Sunday’s “reverse singles,” starting with each country’s No. 1 player squaring off followed by the No. 2 players in the fifth and final match.
Roddick, 25, has a 27-9 record in Davis Cup matches since joining the team in 2001, which ties him for second all-time in singles victories for the U.S. Davis Cup team. Last year, he went undefeated (6-0) to lead the U.S. to its first Davis Cup title since 1995. He has been the No. 1 player for the United States in all but two appearances — his debut at the 2001 Davis Cup First Round at Switzerland and the 2002 Davis Cup First Round win over the Slovak Republic (behind Pete Sampras) in Oklahoma City.
Blake, 28, has an 18-9 overall record in Davis Cup (15-8 in singles, 3-1 in doubles), having represented the United States in 14 ties over the past seven years. Blake turned professional after completing his sophomore season at Harvard as the No. 1 player in college tennis. In 2001, he became the first former Harvard student to represent the U.S. in Davis Cup in 75 years. Dwight Davis, a senior at Harvard, founded the Davis Cup competition in 1900.
Bob Bryan, 29, ranking No. 1 in the world in doubles with twin brother Mike, holds a 14-1 record in Davis Cup doubles with twin brother Mike and is 3-2 in singles. The duo is tied for first all-time in U.S. Davis Cup history with 14 doubles wins as a team. The Bryan brothers have won 44 doubles titles as a team and are the most successful sibling doubles team in the Open Era. Bob also won the mixed doubles titles at the US Open with three different partners: Katarina Srebotnik (2003), Vera Zvonareva (2004) and Martina Navratilova (2006).
Mike Bryan, 29, has played every doubles match for the U.S. Davis Cup team since he and his twin brother, Bob, joined the team in September 2003. They are the only brothers to pair in victory for the United States Davis Cup team. Together, they ended 2007 as the No. 1 doubles team in the world for the fourth time in five years. Mike has 46 career ATP doubles titles and won the 2002 US Open and 2003 French Open mixed doubles titles with Lisa Raymond.
Last April, Winston-Salem hosted the 2007 World Group Quarterfinal in which the United States defeated Spain, 4-1. The event was played in front of sold-out crowds that made the quarterfinal the third-highest-attended Davis Cup weekend in the United States. The team used that victory as a springboard to capture its first Davis Cup title in 12 years, going on to defeat Sweden in Gothenburg and Russia in the final in Portland, Ore.
Founded in 1900, Davis Cup is the world’s largest annual international men’s team competition with 127 nations competing this year. The U.S. leads all nations with 32 Davis Cup titles.
AIG is the official sponsor of the U.S. Davis Cup team. Wilson is the official ball of the U.S. Davis Cup team.
Time for Roger Federer to Step Up
We are now two months into the 2008 tennis season and who would have thought that by this point Roger Federer would have exactly zero titles to his name? Not only has he failed to win a title thus far, but he has not even made it to a final. While I’m not ready to join the growing number of tennis fans who are wondering aloud if Federer may have passed his peak, clearly it is time that he delivered some results to quiet his critics. It needs to start here and now with the Masters tournament in Miami.
To summarize his year to date, Federer has reached two semifinals and had one first round defeat. However, his semifinal appearances have not exactly been attained with his usual level of brilliance. At the Australian Open, he struggled to get past Janko Tipsarevic in the third round. He eventually pulled it out 10-8 in a rare fifth set – rare for Federer that is. Then last week at Indian Wells, Roger made it through three easy opening round opponents, lucked-out with a quarterfinal walkover, and was then trounced 6-3 6-2 by Mardy Fish. The bottom line is that Federer has not had a strong performance yet in 2008. For a player who has dominated the opening months of the year going back to 2004, this is a major issue.
Each of the past four years, Roger Federer has opened the tennis season by dismissing almost every challenge sent his way. In 2004 he had three titles by this point. In 2005, he had four titles. By this point of 2006 he had three titles and one final. And in 2007 he had two titles. The consistency in his game has been incredible, and by starting each season so strongly he has been able to carry that momentum throughout the year. The same cannot be said thus far in 2008, and with only one more hard court tournament before the claycourt season starts, his confidence and aura of invincibility are nowhere to be found.
While some of his lackluster play can be attributed to him coming down with mononucleosis earlier in the year, one has to wonder if that is the only factor. Perhaps other players are finally beginning to figure out what makes him tick. Younger players like Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are presenting well-rounded and dangerous games that he has not had to face in recent years. Maybe his motivation is starting to wane after so many consecutive years of dominating play. Whatever the reason may be, Federer must make a statement in Miami to show the rest of the tour he is still top dog.
Should Djokovic win this upcoming Miami Masters Series event after his victory in Indian Wells last week, he would be the number one threat on tour, whether the rankings reflect that or not. Suddenly Federer could be viewed as the underdog in their rivalry. Federer needs to have that sense of being unbeatable to continue his push for the Grand Slam record. Many close matches he has had over the years have probably swung his way due to the player across the net realizing who they were playing, and not necessarily how he was playing. How will Federer evolve as a tennis player if he is no longer the number one threat?
I think we will see Federer fight his way to the title in Miami. He needs a confidence boost before switching to the claycourts of Europe and this would be the perfect one. It is time for Federer to display his champion spirit and returned to the winners circle. The alternative would not bode well for him as the tennis season quickly unravels. He does not want to be sitting back watching the Djokovics and Murrays of the tour grab the titles that he has owned for so long. He needs to step up and show them that their time is yet to come.
How I Went to the Pacific Life Open for Four Days and Only Saw One Complete Match
Debra Rose covered the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells for TennisGrandStand. In this first part in a three-part series of her reports from the tournament, Debra shares her experience at this tournament.
As I have always done in years past on my trips to the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, when I enter the grounds each day, I make my initial perusal around the practice courts, partially to see who’s there and partially to reacquaint myself, especially on my first day. Grassy field where players warm up and relaxFriday, my first day around live tennis in about a year, was especially exciting. In a bit of a rut due to my inability to land my dream job and toiling away in a boring, windowless office in front of a computer all day for almost two months, I needed this break to go to Indian Wells more than I had in the past. And while I was representing TennisGrandStand at the event as a member of the media, it was important to me to experience the event “on the ground” so that I could relay the best possible accounting of my time at the tournament. I wanted to experience it just like a fan would, so that my reports would be accurate and authentic.
Walking around Friday morning, the intoxicating smell of the plentiful flowers enveloped me; they are everywhere and in perfect full bloom. Marat Safin wandered past me; Carlos Moya, playing a little pre-practice soccer on the big grassy field where the players often warm up ran out of the fenced area to recover the ball that had fallen out, and he nearly fell on his face. And I knew I was back at a tennis tournament, finally. After acquainting myself with the media surroundings (to be discussed in Part Two of this Series), I sat in this beautiful covered area outside the media/player cafeteria to write these notes about my initial reactions. Snow-capped Mountains on Sunday morningIt was mostly empty, as many players and the media don’t come around until later in the day. I sat back, and thought to myself. Somehow, in the midst of the beauty of the snow-capped mountains surrounding the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in all directions, and the bright beating desert sun clamoring in around me from every direction, I realized that for the next four days, I could forget how much it all was costing me; it didn’t seem to matter how much money I was missing out on by missing three days of work. Somehow, being there and soaking it all in was just allowing me to forget it all, live in the moment, and just have a great time for four days. And what a better place to do it than at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, which must be one of the most beautiful tennis venues in the world.
In addition to the stunning natural beauty surrounding th grounds, Indian Wells is an easy tournament to enjoy. The practice courts – of which there must be about ten – stretch around Stadium 3 and behind Courts 7 and 8 in an L-shaped fashion (peek at the tournament grounds here). The main front gate empties the throngs of fans right at the end of the practice courts. When I enter through that way, I enjoy breaking away from the path most of the fans take; instead of walking straight through to the main center, I like to take a left and walk along the practice courts. When I go to any tournament, but particularly Indian Wells, I really love watching practices. So every day when I entered the grounds, I swung around the practice courts.
So on a picture-perfect if slightly breezy Friday, the first match I went into was the 11am first round match between Nicolas Massu and Janko Tipsarevic. Considering that both Chilean and Serbian fan groups are vociferous and plentiful, this was an inevitably boisterous encounter. But Stadium 3 seemed to have an even bigger buzz than normal. In years’ past, the courts have been empty for the 11am matches, especially on Friday, when people are less likely to be able to get off of work or away from school. As you can see in the picture, it may look kind of empty, but from what I remember of the past couple years, this was actually a big crowd. And after the first three games took a long time to finish, I had a feeling this would end up being a long one (and I was right, it ended up taking over three hours to complete). And my premonition about the crowd size turned out to be spot on – the tournament set a new all-time record of over 330,000 spectators throughout the event.
The thing with going to a tennis tournament – especially one as big as the Pacific Life Open – is that there is so much going on around the grounds at any one time that for someone like me who wants to single-handedly try to see it all, it’s nearly impossible to stay in the same place for more than a little while at a time. I love tennis, and I love tennis matches. But sitting down on hard uncomfortable bleachers and under the beating desert sun for three hours or even just one hour to see a whole match from start to finish is exceedingly more difficult than sitting at home watching a match from start to finish. Maybe it’s just my personality, but I just cannot sit through a complete tennis match live when I know that there are lots of other matches and interesting practices to see at the same time.
Adding to my inability to stay in one place for too long is the fact that at the Pacific Life Open, almost like clockwork, new players come out to the practice courts every hour on the hour. Because the Pacific Life Open is a two-week event, players get days off and practice together for the full hour. For me, this is more interesting than seeing matches. I can get up close and personal, observe how players interact with their coaches, how players interact with their fans, and which players practice with each other. I’m an observer, so for me one of the interesting differences between the men’s and women’s tours is the player interaction. On the women’s tour, at least at Indian Wells, the players practice much less with each other and much more with their (usually male) coaches and (almost always male) hitting partners. The men, on the other hand, practice with each other. So for me, watching men’s practices is fascinating because there’s that added dimension of seeing how these players interact with each other. Invariably, I always see a few combinations that I find surprising. This year, surprises included: Andy Roddick and Nikolay Davydenko, John Isner and Richard Gasquet, and Roger Federer and Carlos Berlocq.
One of the most remarkable things about Indian Wells is how the practice courts are so fan-accessible. Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal, and Maria Sharapova attract the most crowds by far. This year, add Novak Djokovic to that. Roddick could have gone onto that empty grassy field…For them, the sell-out weekend crowds are somewhat of a nightmare. But the way the practice courts are set up help a bit; there are four “main” practice courts where a lot of the top players practice. It’s a little easier for them, because they can hop across one sidewalk from their safe grassy field and avoid the masses. Behind that, there is a stretch of about six practice courts, almost all of which have plenty of viewing space in between them. Something interesting for me to observe is how each player deals with the crowds of fans who want pictures and autographs. Even for those more exposed practice courts, the tournament makes it easy for players to avoid the hordes by setting up golf cart transportation that runs behind all of the courts. So it’s interesting to see which players take advantage and which don’t.
He’s taken an awful lot of bad press lately, but Andy Roddick signs the most autographs of any of the top stars – by far. Instead of crossing the sidewalk and taking refuge in the grassy area like his peers, he actually chooses to walk around – on the public sidewalks – signing and joking with fans the whole way. They may seem like small gestures, but you can hear and feel the buzz when a player treats his or her fans really well; it adds to the tournament experience. And when players pass by without signing – as the case with Jo-WilfriedTsonga (who, as the Australian Open “Player of the Moment,” had a lot of fans watching his practices), who did not sign at all, the disappointment among the younger children he rejected is palpable.
You can to go the rest of TennisGrandStand or a number of other sites to read about the matches I saw, so I won’t bore you with those. Instead, I’d rather talk about some of the more interesting things I saw:
- They were filming the annual US Open Series commercials. Apparently Justin Gimelstob is going to be some sort of emcee and may have been wearing some cheesy drawn-on makeup… regardless, it made quite a pretty background and I hope that some of the scenery will be used (in the past couple years, the commercials have been exclusively inside the bus pretty much).US Open Series Bus
- The grounds at Indian Wells are huge, and thousands (as many as 21,000 on Saturday, in fact) of people fill every inch of them each day. Yet somehow, when a big star comes out, that court is packed within 30 seconds. The same thing happened any time there was an upset or a close exciting match. It’s uncanny how fast word travels around the grounds!
- The first round doubles match between Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra and Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa was held on Court 5, one of the smallest courts. It was an 11am match, and the court was packed. I mean standing room only behind the three rows of seats on each side of the court. All around me, people were talking about how much they love doubles. The guy next to me is asking me about the philosophical differences between Llodra playing with Clement or Julien Benneteau (who he won the Las Vegas title with the week before). The Indian Wells crowd is a knowledgeable and passionate tennis crowd. They want to see doubles, and the tournament makes it so hard for them to do so (but more on this in Part 3 of my series).
- Also interesting to me from this doubles match: Clement and Llodra won the toss, but actually deferred choice. I’d never seen that before. These little things like paying attention to the coin toss and observing the smaller details are the things we miss on TV and the things that to me, make the sport a more interesting one.
- One of the funniest moments for me all weekend was watching Luis Horna and Juan Monaco during their “practice.” While a lot of the European and South American players warm up and down on the grassy firled playing soccer, Horna and Monaco did it on the tennis court, and it made for a rather amusing scene. Check out a short video of it here.
- Shortly after Andy Roddick was upset by Tommy Haas in the second round match, he was outside reuniting with Haas’s new coach, Dean Goldfine’s, family. Yes, Roddick is my favorite player so perhaps this was of more interst to me than it might be to others, but seeing him so soon after his loss laughing and having fun with Goldfine’s young children gave an interesting insight into what he and these other players go through on a daily basis. I suppose Roddick might be better at getting over losses than other players, but it was still interesting to see how quickly he seemed to get over what should have been a fairly disappointing loss.
- On Sunday, Djokovic and Sharapova practiced at the same time on adjoining courts. Whose bright idea was this?!?!
- Against Igor Andreev, Mardy Fish won the toss and chose to receive. For a guy with a huge serve that is the cornerstone of his game, I was surprised. Perhaps it was just my fault for not noticing it, but later in the week Fish said he actually prefers to get his feet under him and start off returning where he can. I found this interesting.
- Although this is a combined event, I think it is a great one for fans of both the ATP and WTA tours. They don’t get in the way of each other. There are enough practice courts so that there are always some men and some women players practicing at any one time and the organization does an excellent job of putting an even number of men’s and women’s matches on each court so it’s easy to focus on one or the other, or both.Guga practicing the backhand
- I find it interesting that certain players seem to almost never be on the grounds. A few players I almost never saw: Lleyton Hewitt, Maria Sharapova, and Bob and Mike Bryan. I think it’s a shame for the fans that these players aren’t on the grounds more, especially the Bryans since they are pretty much the face of doubles in the US.
- Gustavo Kuerten practiced several times on the grounds. This was a wonderful surprise as he wasn’t even playing the tournament. He drew very sizable crowds and it was a joy to see backhand up close.
For me, running around between bits and pieces of matches and practices and seeing these interesting tidbits is the best way to see a tournament, and the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells is a great place to see world-class tennis and learn a lot about the game at the same time. To sit and watch matches in the stadium all the way through is doing a disservice to the other great players in the draw and to those spectators who do it. Had I done that, I’m sure I would have seen some great tennis, but I would have missed an awful lot of special things, too. Over my four days at the Pacific Life Open I tried to soak in as much as possible. It was tiring and frenetic at times, but also reinvigorating, fun, and exciting. Stay tuned for two more parts of my reports, which will give a more behind-the-scenes view of how this event runs.
Please take a look at all of the pictures I took:
Also, I took a few short videos, check those out here
Mondays With Bob Greene
24 March 2008
STARS
Novak Djokovic stopped giant-killer Mardy Fish to win the Pacific Life Open men’s singles 6-2 5-7 6-3 in Indian Wells, California
Ana Ivanovic won her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title of the year, the Pacific Life Open, and sixth of her career by defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 6-3.
STUNNER
Mardy Fish joined a growing list of players who can claim an upset victory over Roger Federer when the American beat the world’s No. 1 player in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open. It wasn’t even close as Fish crushed his Swiss opponent 6-3 6-2.
SLIPPING
Roger Federer, who has won eight of the last eleven Grand Slam tournaments, has yet to win a title of any kind in 2008. Federer’s hold on the world No. 1 ranking became even more tenuous after he fell to American Mardy Fish in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open. So far in 2008, Federer has lost three times, to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals, to Andy Murray in the opening round at Dubai, and to Fish in Indian Wells.
SAYINGS
“There is something in this desert air which keeps me going year after year. I’m doing pretty good here.” – Novak Djokovic after winning the Pacific Life Open men’s crown with a 6-2 5-7 6-3 win over Mardy Fish.
“It’s always painful to lose, but I prefer losing in the final to losing in the second round.” – Svetlana Kuznetsova, after losing to Ana Ivanovic in the women’s title match of the Pacific Life Open.
“He would never miss, really, when I needed a miss once in a while.” – Roger Federer after his 6-3-6-2 semifinal loss to Mardy Fish at the Pacific Life Open.
“This obviously wasn’t Roger’s best day.” – Mardy Fish after upsetting top-ranked Roger Federer.
“The truth is he played better than me today. It’s difficult to say more things.” – Rafael Nadal after losing to Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-2 in the Pacific Life Open semifinals.
“I think we both played good tennis from the first point on, and I was really happy with that.” – Ana Ivanovic after beating Svetlana Kuznetsova to win the Pacific Life Open women’s singles.
SWINGING TOGETHER
Dinara Safina teamed up with fellow Russian Elena Vesnina to win their first women’s doubles title, defeating the third-seeded Chinese team of Yan Zi and Zheng Jie 6-1 1-6 10-8 (Match Tiebreak) at the Pacific Life Open.
Israelis Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram won the Pacific Life Open men’s doubles crown. They beat Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 6-4, 6-4.
SUPER SWAT
Not only did Svetlana Kuznetsova hand Maria Sharapova her first loss of 2008, she may have had a hand in knocking the Australian Open champion out of her next tournament. After losing to Kuznetsova 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 at Indian Wells, Sharapova pulled out of next week’s Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, citing a shoulder injury.
SLAMMING
WTA head Larry Scott was quick to defend two of the sport’s greatest champions after Richard Williams took a verbal swipe at them. “Champions like Chris Evert and Tracy Austin have done so much to help build women’s tennis to where it is today, and it is regrettable that anyone would criticize them in this manner,” Scott said. His response came after Williams, Venus and Serena’s father, charged that Evert and Austin, both enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, were boosted by the media even though they “cannot hit the ball.”
STUMBLING SVETLANA
Svetlana Kuznetsova has problems on the final day. Ranked fourth in world, the Russian has reached three singles finals this year, and has lost them all. She has now lost eight of the last nine tournament finals she has played.
STRUGGLING MOM
The back injury that caused her to pull out of the Pacific Life Open has been even more troublesome for Lindsay Davenport at home. The problem has prevented the new mother from carrying her baby. “I haven’t been able to lift him out of his crib, out of the stroller or out of the car seat, so I’ve feel like kind of a bad mom in that regard,” Davenport said.
SELES BY SELES
Monica Seles is writing her memoirs. Seles was the No. 1 player in the world when a man climbed out of the stands in Hamburg, Germany, during a match in 1993 and stabbed her in the back. She was off the tour for more than two years before coming back to win the Australian Open in 1996.
STILL SWATTING
John McEnroe will play World Team Tennis for the eighth season this year when he competes in three road matches for the New York Sportimes. McEnroe will visit the Philadelphia Freedoms on July 14, the Washington Kastles on July 15 and the Newport Beach Breakers on July 22. Others scheduled to play World Team Tennis this season include Lindsay Davenport, Serena and Venus Williams, Andy Roddick, Martina Navratilova, Anna Kournikova and the Bryan twins, Bob and Mike.
SITES TO SURF
Miami: http://www.sonyericssonopen.com
Men’s tour: http://www.atptour.com
Women’s tour: http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com
Fox TV: http://msn.foxsports.com/tv/schedule
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
ATP and WTA Tours
$3,770,000 Sony Ericsson Open, Key Biscayne, Florida, hard court
Daily Roundup, Sunday: Djokovic takes Pacific Life Open
In Sunday’s Pacific Life Open final, #3 Novak Djokovic took on unseeded Cinderella story Mardy Fish. Fish started out a bit sluggish and perhaps nervous. Djokovic won the first six points of the game and got out to a 3-0 start before Fish started finding his range. He drew it back on serve to 3-2, but then lost the next three games to drop the set 6-2. Djokovic went up 4-2 in the second set and looked like he would be well on his way to easy victory but Fish was able to break back to level the set at 4all. They continued on serve, until seemingly out of nowhere, Fish managed to sneak out a break at 5all before serving out the set 7-5 to take it to a decider.
At the start of the third set it looked like Fish was going to keep it up as he quickly got a 0-40 lead on Djokovic’s service game. But Djokovic saved the three break points with three aces and squashed Fish’s early hopes. Djokovic would break in the next game and take a 3-0 lead. Fish would have no more real chances to get the break back and the two men held until Djokovic served out the set and the match 6-3. For Fish, his sluggish movement and untimely unforced errors (44 to only 29 winners), in addition to his low first serve percentage (40% for the match but only 33% in the third set), proved to be fatal. For Djokovic, he was steadier with the same 29 winners, but only 33 unforced errors.
And so, Djokovic’s fairytale and nearly perfect start to the 2008 season continues with his second title and third ATP Masters Series title overall. He puts a further dent into the points difference between he and Nadal, and, like Erlich and Ram in the doubles, has taken both of the required events that have been played this season thus far. For Fish, he will rise from the brink of falling out of the top 100 to #40 and will be the #3 ranked American once again. Hopefully he will be able to stay healthy – something he has had trouble doing – and keep this form up as he has very few points to defend until the summer.
In their speeches on court after the match, Fish thanked the crowd for getting him through several of his matches this week and proclaimed it is one of his favorite tournaments on the tour. Djokovic gave credit to Fish for his outstanding run and said he should be ranked higher than his current ranking.
Federer-Lopez at 2003 Wimbledon helped turn Federer's career around
Roger Federer will face Feliciano Lopez in the round of 16 at the US Open on Monday, which brings back memories of another Grand Slam Round of 16 match between the two at Wimbledon in 2003. The match, which Federer nearly lost by a retirement, proved to be a career-altering victory for the Swiss as he was able to survive the encounter and go on to win his first Grand Slam title.
After years of Grand Slam failures, frustrations and unrealized potential, Federer finally broke through to win the first major title that many expected him to win. The following is a short excerpt from THE ROGER FEDERER STORY, QUEST FOR PERFECTION by Rene Stauffer (www.rogerfedererbook.com ) that explains the circumstances of the match at Wimbledon in 2003 on the eve of their match at the 2007 US Open.
Federer fought his way into the round of 16 with the loss of only one set to American Mardy Fish in the third round. In the traditional Monday playing of the round of 16 matches at Wimbledon, Federer faced Spaniard Feliciano Lopez on the cramped and notorious Court No. 2—dubbed the “Graveyard of Champions” due to its turbulent history of many of the all-time greats losing matches to unheralded challengers. The Spanish left-hander was ranked No. 52 in the world and certainly did not enjoy the fame of Sampras, whom Federer defeated two years ago in the same round.
The Swiss player took it easy on the weekend prior to his round of 16 match. He trained for just an hour and felt rested and in top form. Then, suddenly, in the warm-up of his match with Lopez, he felt a stabbing pain in his lower back after hitting a practice serve. “I thought, my God, what’s this? I couldn’t move anymore. Everything had seized up,” he explained later. He began his match with Lopez without his usual dynamic. After the second game of the match, he sat down in his chair, even though it was not a changeover, and called for the trainer.
Anxious minutes ticked away. While he was being treated with a heat cream by the trainer during his injury timeout, he lay on the grass turf and looked up at the sky in desperation. “I thought about giving up,” he said. “But then I hoped for a miracle or that the next black cloud would bring rain again.” His wish for rain did not come true, but a minor miracle did happen. Federer was able to continue play and went on to win a hard-fought, but straight-set 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 victory. He had no idea how he did it and couldn’t believe his luck. “Lopez had plenty of opportunities to beat me in three sets or drag out the match,” he said. Federer said he began to feel better as time passed—and thanks to the pain killers as well as the increasing temperatures that loosened the muscles in his back. “It also helped that we were playing on a grass court and that Lopez was constantly looking to win the quick point,” Federer said. He also admitted later that the pain was so strong that it not only adversely affected his serve and return but he could hardly sit during changeovers.
Federer went on to win his breakthrough first Grand Slam title three matches later, defeating Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, Andy Roddick in the semifinals and Mark Philippoussis in the final.