Tennis in Any Language
Apart from the English-language tennis blogs I read, there are tennis blogs out there written in other languages. These are just some of the more enthusiastic ones I've seen. Leave me a comment if you know of any others, and I'll add them to the list.
Tennis truly
is an international sport.
Beauty and the Beast
It shouldn't surprise me that more attention was paid to appearance rather than performance in assessing the women players at the South East Asian Games. The
SEA Games official website's report on the women's singles event makes me squirm in dismay, though.
Tennis Beauties Glide Way to Quarterfinals
Fil-Americans Denise Dy and Riza Angela Zalameda pulled through in their respective elimination singles matches Tuesday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Under the sizzling heat, the beautifully tanned Dy finished off Kyi Mya Zaw of Myanmar, 6-1, 6-3 while the 19-year-old Zalameda, in her usual yellow top and hoop earrings, prevailed over Vietnam's Viet Ha Ngo, 6-1, 6-5 [sic].
"Out of all my teammates, I'm the youngest so I feel kinda nervous today, but luckily, I pulled it through," said the 16-year-old Dy, armed with her cheerful smile.
"I think I've more experience (than Viet-Ha Ngo) 'cause I've been playing for three weeks now, so I'm pretty much tough than Ha Ngo," said Zalameda.
Though dazzling in the heat, Zalameda was visibly irritated during the second set of the match, squeaking and cursing at her every mistake.
"Well, I knew there were shots that I should've executed by then, so just a little frustration," Zalameda explained.
You don't see them describing Eric Taino as "beautifully tanned" or Cecil Mamiit as "dazzling in the heat."
Martina to Make a Comeback
I'm not talking about the first Martina (Navratilova) who never left the game. I'm talking about the Martina (Hingis) who was named for her, and who left tennis in 2002 due to injury. Now, it seems that Hingis's love for the game is too strong.
From The Guardian:
"I was never happy that my injuries cut my career short and ultimately forced my decision to step away from tennis," Hingis said yesterday. "I have enjoyed my time away from the court, a period that has allowed me to experience a different side of life. However, I miss the game and the challenge of competing at the highest level of tennis, and I want to gauge whether I can stay healthy and compete against today's top players."
I for one am thrilled that Martina is going to start competing again, although I share the common fears that she may not be able to handle the pace and power in the women's game. She played one professional match in this year's WTA Thailand Open but lost in the first round to Marlene Weingartner.
The heads-up on this story came via
Tennis Warehouse. I found a Tennis Week article with more information on the
circumstances of Hingis's comeback via
Pro Tennis Fan.
Todd Spiker's WTA Yearbook
Check out the
2005 WTA Yearbook by Todd Spiker of
Tennisrulz.com. It's a tongue-in-cheek look back at the WTA players' performance this year. To whet your appetite:
STUDENT COUNCIL
CLASS PRESIDENT: Kim Clijsters
PRESIDENTIAL STAND-IN: Lindsay Davenport
VICE-PRESIDENT: Justine Henin-Hardenne (w/ doctor's permission slip)
CO-VALEDICTORIANS: Venus & Serena Williams
SALUTATORIAN: Amelie Mauresmo
CLASS TREASURER: Maria Sharapova
FACULTY/STUDENT BODY LIAISON: Anna-Lena Groenefeld
Also, don't forget to look at Todd's
ATP Backspin Awards.
Mamiit and Taino for the Gold
Cecil Mamiit and Eric Taino have combined in order to garner a gold medal for the Philippines in the team tennis event at the South East Asian games.
From Manila Bulletin Online:
CECIL MAMIIT and Eric Taino fulfilled a vow yesterday when they towed the Philippines to its first-ever team gold in tennis in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Egged on by an SRO crowd never seen in a long while, the two Fil-Americans won their singles matches to anchor the Philippines' 2-1 win over defending champion Indonesia.
The left-handed Taino opened the day with a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over the veteran Suwandi Suwandi after which Mamiit clinched the best-of-three matches tie with a clinical 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Prima Simpatiaji.
The deposed champions got a little consolation when Bonit Wiryawan and Sonju Wahyu Trijati nipped homegrown talents Patrick John Tierro and Johnny Arcilla, 6-3, 7-6 (74), in the no-bearing doubles match.
Mamiit and Taino will enter the singles event that commences today. They will also enter men's doubles together.
The #1 Thai and Asian player
Paradorn Srichaphan was ordained last Saturday and will spend seven days as a Buddhist monk as a sign of gratitude to his parents. This effectively excludes him from participating in the SEA Games. The #2 Thai player, Danai Udomchoke, was
not present at the team tennis event because he was in the final of a Challenger event in Great Britain. The Sports Illustrated Tennis Mailbag name favorite will, however, enter the singles event.
It's a Girl!
After skipping the Tennis Masters Cup to be at his pregnant wife's side, Lleyton Hewitt finally got his reward. A
baby girl was born to him and Bec Cartwright this Tuesday morning. Does she look like Lleyton, or Bec? We'll have to wait for the magazine photos;
Women's Day magazine bought the exclusive rights to photograph the birth.
The Hewitts haven't announced a name for the baby. I wonder if it will be as quirky as the names the older Hewitts gave their children
Lleyton and
Jaslyn. I would hazard a guess and say they'll name her...
Llebecca. Just kidding.
The bigger question in my mind is: will she grow up to be just like Daddy? Will she say "C'MAAAWWWWNNNN!!!" just like her old man?
A Little Light Humor
Even in the off-season, our favorite tennis players occupy the most fertile (or most idle?) of minds. Enjoy these
South Park-style representations of some tennis players. They're not mine; I found them via
MensTennisForums.
UPDATE: There's
more.
2005 Year in Review
It's been an odd year for tennis.
On the men's tour, Roger Federer has provided book-ends to the beginning and end of the year: his shock defeat at the Australian Open to Marat Safin (the eventual champion) and his
shock defeat at the Masters Cup to David Nalbandian. The #1-ranked Federer and world #2 Rafael Nadal have, however, stamped their dominance on the tour this year: both men won four Masters Series titles apiece and took the last three Grand Slam titles (Nadal won the French Open on his first try, while Federer defended his Wimbledon and US Open crowns). The
ninth Masters Series title came as another shocker, going to the unheralded Tomas Berdych instead of one of the other top-ranked players.
The women's tour was
dominated by resurgent players but in the end they fell to injury and fatigue. The Williams sisters Venus and Serena weren't expected to win anything this year but defied those expectations. Serena was down several matchpoints in her Australian Open semifinal against Maria Sharapova, but outlasted the Russian to win in three sets and then overcame Lindsay Davenport in the final. At Wimbledon, Venus outplayed Sharapova in the semifinal and defeated Davenport in the final. The French Open and US Open titles were taken by the two Belgians who had been out with injury in 2004: Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, respectively, both besting Mary Pierce in the finals. Clijsters also went on a tear through the year, winning her first tournament back from injury at the lowly rank of #134 and shooting up to #2 by the year's end. Still, the
tour championship concluded with none of the Slam winners in its final. The two players healthy enough to compete at their best at the end of the tennis year battled it out, and Amelie Mauresmo came out the victor over Mary Pierce.
2005 is notable for some infamous first-round exits. After breaking through and becoming the first Russian woman to win a Slam, Anastasia Myskina also became the first defending champion at the French Open to lose in the first round. The US Open registered not one, but
two high-profile first-round exits. Myskina's fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2004 US Open champion, didn't put up a fight in her first round match. This fact, however, was eclipsed by
Andy Roddick's loss to Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in straight tiebreak sets. His loss tipped the balance of his year from "could have been better" to "worst year since 2002." Still, Roddick sort of managed to salvage his 2005 by becoming the only man this year to win tournaments on five different surfaces (San Jose: indoor hard; Houston: clay; Queen's Club: grass; Washington, D.C.: outdoor hard; Lyon: indoor carpet).
This year has also seen controversy rage in the ATP concerning men's doubles. The
ATP announced radical changes to the scoring and ranking system which would take effect after the US Open. Doubles specialists began a campaign to
save doubles, filing a lawsuit against the ATP saying that the rule changes will effectively kill doubles. As a compromise, the ATP will be instituting
milder scoring and ranking changes next year that it says should help promote doubles.
The doubles debacle was only one of the big controversies on the men's tour. In August,
Guillermo Cañas was suspended because he tested positive for a banned diuretic. At the time of his suspension he was ranked #10 in the world, having reached a career-high ranking of #8 two months earlier. As a result of his suspension, Cañas will be taking a two-year break from professional tennis, including being in the stands as a mere spectator.
Andre Agassi's year has also been full of long breaks, although these were due to injury. His sciatic nerve problem kicked in during the French Open first round, taking him out of contention through Wimbledon. He showed up in late July to
win a US Open Series title in Los Angeles, after which he took a break. Then he played through to the final of the Montreal Masters Series tournament in August (where he was defeated by Nadal) and took another break until the US Open proper. There he made an
impressive showing, outlasting and outplaying two younger American players before facing off against Federer in the final. After that, Agassi took another extended break before showing up in Shanghai, playing one round-robin match, and then
packing his bags due to an ankle injury.
The most heart-wrenching reason for a prolonged absence belongs to Alicia Molik on the women's tour. After a strong late 2004 run, good 2005 Australian Open results (she lost to Davenport in the semifinal), and two good tournaments in February, Molik had risen to world #8. Then she was hit by vestibular neuronitis, an inner-ear infection that affected her balance and left her with residual nerve damage. It forced her to sit out the French Open and Wimbledon, and a slew of early-round exits ensued. Slipping to #29 at the end of the year and eventually realizing she needed more recovery time, Molik decided to take
an indefinite break from tennis until her doctors could
find a solution.
Barely more than a month lies between now and the 2006 season kick-off at the Australian Open in January. The tennis off-season, albeit short in comparison to other professional sports' off-seasons, will give the players time to rest, rethink their strategies, and refit themselves for next year's long-haul race. Who will get off the blocks first, rested and raring to go? Even more importantly, who will reach the finish?
Those are questions only 2006 can answer.
Philippine Tennis at the SEA Games
This year, the South East Asian Games is being hosted by the Philippines. I think this may have prompted Eric Taino and Cecil Mamiit, two ranked pro players in the ATP, to begin playing with (PHI) appended to their names. It sure isn't because of the financial incentives.
From the Manila Standard:
"I've always wanted to come back, and that would have been sometime later down the road. My parents are Filipino and I was in a culture of being around Filipinos," said the 29-year-old Mamiit, who was hardly bothered by the midmorning heat.
With members of the Indonesian team doing their thing nearby and their assistant chef de missions watching from the bleachers, Mamiit added that playing for the Philippines was something he had always wanted to do since his family migrated in the United States in 1982.
His father Cesar is from Alaminos, Laguna, while his mom, Feliza, hails from Sariaya, Quezon.
Mamiit, whose current ranking is now no. 211 in the world, is no longer bracing for a showdown with Southeast Asia's no. 1 netter Paradorn Srichapan [sic] of Thailand in the men's singles. Srichapan [sic], who is ranked no. 42 in the latest International Tennis Federation classification, is skipping the Manila meet in favor of a richer Association of Tennis Professional-sanctioned competition elsewhere.
Instead, Mamiit is preparing against the possibility of meeting the 129th-ranked Thai Danai Udomchoke, who is Southeast Asia's second-highest ranked tennis professional.
Udomchoke is coming to the country before tennis action begins on Nov. 30 and is reeling from a string of losses from seven money tournaments.
[...]
Mamiit, on the other hand, recently reached the semifinals of the Champaigne-Urbana Challenger with Korean Hyung Taik Lee.
His regular partner Eric Taino was expected to join Mamiit in practice after arriving from Hong Kong last night.
Mamiit said opportunities which enabled him to reach a career-high ranking of no. 35 two years ago are no longer around.
The United States Tennis Association are now keen on supporting younger and promising netters in the professional circuit, like Andy Roddick and James Blake.
"At my age, they probably think that I'm getting old. They have a lot of younger guys like Andy Roddick and James Blake that I have to compete with. And it's hard to satisfy everbody," Mamiit went on.
Mamiit explained that for the last four years, the USTA had been supporting him by allowing him to gain wild card slots for Grand Slams and Tour events.
With that support came allowances and coaches like Paul Goldstein.
The only thing the Philippine Tennis Association promised Mamiit when they asked him to play were a lot of incentives if he and Taino wins a gold.
"No money was involved here," explained Mamiit.
More from the
Philippine Daily Inquirer, which reports that Mamiit is guaranteeing at least one gold medal for the Philippines at these Games.
Five-Setter Thriller
For the first time since his 2005 Miami Masters final versus Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer has been pushed to five sets. This time it happened against David Nalbandian at the Tennis Masters Cup, in the final.
Things started out evenly; though Federer broke Nalbandian's serve in both the first and second sets, the Argentinian managed to break back almost immediately and took the sets into tiebreakers. Federer took them both. He then proceeded to lose the next two sets 2-6,1-6 due to a surge of unforced errors from his racquet, including two double faults in a row in the third set. The Swiss then had the trainer massage both his thighs, and the commentators overheard him telling the trainer that he had nothing left in his legs.
For the fifth set, Federer went down 4-0 (double-faulting on break point in his second service game) before finally managing to break Nalbandian's serve to gain one game. To start off his third service game, Federer hit a double fault. Resurgent play from him and some unforced errors later, Roger had game point at 40-15. A forehand sent long set him back 40-30, and another double fault brought the game to deuce.
Nalbandian hit a forehand long to give Federer the advantage, but a weak serve from Federer gave Nalbandian an opportunity to hit a return winner. Deuce. A long return from Nalbandian and an unreturned serve later, Federer was able to hold.
Nalbandian's next service game took the match into its fourth hour, and Federer held two break points. After Federer hit a long backhand and a volley into the net, the game came to deuce. Nalbandian had Federer on the run and had stepped into the court to hit a short ball, but this backhand sailed beyond the baseline. A forehand winner from Federer on the next point enabled him to break Nalbandian's serve again and get back on serve.
3-4, Federer serving. This game contained yet another double fault, but he managed to hold. Nalbandian pushed the game to deuce but an overhead on a high lob got Federer the advantage point. Nalbandian hit a forehand on the run long to give Federer the game.
4-4 on Nalbandian's serve. At 40-15, Federer sent up a lob that Nalbandian met with an overhead. Federer managed to hit the ball back, but Nalbandian was at net waiting. As he volleyed the ball away, it hit the tape but still managed to go over.
5-4. Nalbandian drew first blood by hitting a sharply angled crosscourt forehand, wrongfooting Federer. 0-15. Two Nalbandian backhands down the line went slightly wide. 30-15. Federer hit a drop shot. 40-15. Federer inside-in forehand gave him the game.
5-5, 30-all on the Nalbandian serve. Nalbandian hit a crosscourt backhand wide to give Federer the break point and sent a crosscourt forehand wide to hand Federer the game.
6-5, Federer serving for the match. Roger rushed the net to get to 15-0, then served a ball that was called out but overruled by the umpire. 30-0. Nalbandian managed to hit a return winner that wrongfooted Federer. 30-15. Wide Federer forehand. 30-all. Federer hit a dropshot that sailed wide. 30-40. A backhand down the line gained Nalbandian the break and the game.
The match then went into a fifth set tiebreaker. Nalbandian got the first minibreak, going up 2-1 with two serves before Federer forced an error to get even. 3-2 Nalbandian, Federer to serve. His approach shot wasn't good enough and Nalbandian hit a dipping ball that caused Federer to hit his volley into the net. 4-2 Nalbandian. Just as Nalbandian had Federer reeling on his heels, he hit a drop volley wide. 4-3 Nalbandian. Federer failed to return the serve. 5-3 Nalbandian. Federer nets a backhand. 6-3 Nalbandian, on Federer's two serves. Federer made the serve but netted his forehand to give the game, set, and match to Nalbandian.
The final score: 6-7,6-7,6-2,6-1,7-6 to David Nalbandian. He becomes the second Argentinian since Guillermo Vilas to win the TMC, and to think he wasn't even a part of the eight-man field last week! This Masters Cup has been unbelievable from start to finish--from the withdrawals to the ultimate winner.
This is the end of Federer's 24-match winning streak in finals, and he won't be tieing John McEnroe's 82-3 YTD match record, either. What a way to end the tennis year. Of course, there's still the Davis Cup final between Croatia and the Slovak Republic in December, but officially we've entered the off-season.
UPDATE: Here's a
link to the official news about the match, from Reuters South Africa. Just in case you don't believe me.
Single-handed Beating
In the first semifinal match at the Tennis Masters Cup tonight, Roger Federer force-fed Gaston Gaudio a double bagel worthy of Princess Leia's hairdo.
Poor Gaudio; after outlasting Fernando Gonzalez last night, he couldn't do much against a fully-awake and aggressive Federer. The Swiss is through to the final for the third time in three years. Should he win that, he will take home $1.52 million in prize money as undefeated winner.
Here's an interesting piece of trivia about this year's Masters Cup. (I originally posted this on
Tennis Warehouse.) The players who actually played through their round-robin matches were Roger Federer, Guillermo Coria, Nikolay Davydenko, David Nalbandian, Ivan Ljubicic, Gaston Gaudio, Mariano Puerta, and Fernando Gonzalez. Out of these eight players, only three use a double-handed backhand (Coria, Davydenko, and Nalbandian). The five other players use a single-handed backhand.
If the four players who withdrew
hadn't done so, however, the field would look like this: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Nikolay Davydenko, Andre Agassi, Guillermo Coria, and Marat Safin. Out of
those eight, only Federer uses a single-handed backhand.
Now, in the other semifinal of Davydenko versus Nalbandian, both players use a double-handed backhand. Either of them could meet Federer in the final. Should Federer win the title for the third time, it would lend a different meaning to the phrase "single-handedly beating the opposition," wouldn't it?
UPDATE: It's a carb-loading spree: Nalbandian handed Davydenko his first loss of a set, and it was in the form of a bagel. However, Davydenko served and won the first game of the second set, so there won't be another double-bagel tonight. Nalbandian won the semifinal 6-0,7-5 and moves into the final versus Federer.
The Replacement Killers
In a Tennis Masters Cup riddled with players withdrawing and alternates entering the main draw, it's quite something to see the "replacement killers" making the semifinals. Yesterday,
David Nalbandian defeated Ivan Ljubicic in spectacular fashion 6-2,6-2. Not bad for a guy who had to cancel a fishing trip because he suddenly qualified for the TMC.
Nalbandian, Ljubicic, and Gaston Gaudio wouldn't have been able to qualify if the
three players who withdrew prior to the tournament beginning had been able to play. As for the two players who got in because Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi withdrew, it's been a mixed bag. Mariano Puerta has lost two round-robin matches already, which means he will not qualify for the semifinal round. Fernando Gonzalez won his first round-robin match, but he needs to win this match he's playing against Gaudio right now if he wants to get into the semifinals. Gaudio beat Puerta but lost to Nikolay Davydenko, so this match is also a must-win for him to get through to the semis.
Roger Federer finished off his round-robin matches last night by
beating Guillermo Coria 6-0,1-6,6-2. It was an odd match for the International Man of Sexiness (
according to People Magazine); he's lost a set in all of the round-robin matches he has played this year. Nevertheless, the win continues a streak he's had at the Masters Cup, where he's won all of his round-robin matches for the past three years.
As for silent assassin Davydenko, he plays Puerta in his last round-robin match. Beginning with his shock upset of Agassi, Davydenko has won his past two matches in straight sets. We shall see if he manages to compile a 3-0 round-robin match record as well. He's already guaranteed a spot in a semifinal tomorrow, where he'll play Nalbandian.
UPDATE: Gaudio routed Gonzo in the third set and progresses to a semifinal versus Federer. Davydenko beat Puerta in straight sets.
Nadal Withdrawal
Actually this is just a developing story, and it isn't quite official yet.
[edit: now it is.] I got my heads-up on this from a
thread on MensTennisForums.com. Apparently ESPN Latin America sniffed the news out before my cable channel's commentators did, because I'm watching Andre Agassi vs. Nikolay Davydenko and they haven't mentioned any withdrawals from the Tennis Masters Cup--and Nadal's match versus Gaston Gaudio is coming up.
However, Susan from VamosRafael.com is
blogging from Shanghai (from right inside the stadium), and she reports that
Rafael Nadal is withdrawing from the event.
This is a surprising turn of events, because on the Mariano Puerta forum on MTF it was being reported that Puerta had left Shanghai. Will Nadal's potential opponents get a walkover, or is the alternate still in Shanghai and available to take Nadal's place?
UPDATE: A
viewer of ESPN USA says that Patrick McEnroe announced that Nadal is pulling out due to an injury to his left foot. Puerta will replace him in the draw.
UPDATE #2: Reuters now has the story.
World number two Rafael Nadal pulled out of the season-ending Masters Cup with an injury to his left foot on Monday.
Spain's French Open champion became the latest injury casualty to hit the lucrative Shanghai event after Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin all pulled out with injuries.
Nadal's place will be taken by Argentina's Mariano Puerta, this year's French Open runner-up.
The 19-year-old Nadal, who was due to play Argentine Gaston Gaudio later on Monday, had sat out the final two weeks of the season because of knee tendinitis.
UPDATE #3: Why is the
Yahoo! Sports scoreboard reporting that Gaudio beat Nadal (walkover), while also reporting that Gaudio is going to play Puerta?
UPDATE #4: After Andre Agassi's defeat at the hands of Nikolay Davydenko, now I'm seeing threads that say he's withdrawing (
MTF and
Tennis Warehouse). I only have one thing to say: how come the Latin American press get the news earlier than I do? I live closer to Shanghai, too!
UPDATE #5: Hopefully this is the last update I'm going to have to make on the high-profile withdrawals from the Masters Cup. Andre Agassi is the latest to signify his pullout.
From BBC News:
Andre Agassi pulled out of the Masters Cup with an ankle injury after a 6-4 6-2 loss to Russian Nikolay Davydenko in Shanghai.
The American third seed became the latest withdrawl following Spain's Rafael Nadal an hour earlier.
"No chance for me to play again," said Agassi. "It's dangerous and risky for my future and an unfortunate setback."
Agassi will reportedly be replaced in the draw by second alternate Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.
WTA Championships in Pictures
I haven't been following the WTA for the past month or so, and thus had no clue who got into the year-end championships. In summary: injuries, pull-outs, and surprise qualifiers--oh, sorry, for a moment there I thought I was still talking about the ATP Tour. :)
Poor Elena Dementieva. After going through what Peter Bodo termed a "
Death March" in order to qualify for the year's Top Eight, Elena didn't win any of her round-robin matches. She lost her most recent one to...
...Kim Clijsters. Despite being the only Slam winner to attend the year-end championship, Kim let the chance to become #1 slip through her fingers for the second time this year, losing two out of her three round-robin matches. So, this year's #1 will be...
...Lindsay Davenport, who ended #1 last year. In her upcoming semifinal she plays...
...Mary Pierce, who was the only player out of the eight to win all three of her round-robin matches. As for the other French player in the eight...
...Amelie Mauresmo qualified to play in the other semifinal. She faces fellow former #1...
...Maria Sharapova, who was hampered by injuries in the latter part of the year. Maria seems in good health and suffered only one loss in the round robin, to...
...Nadia Petrova, who benefited from Justine Henin-Hardenne's and Venus Williams's pull-outs. Ranked #10 this year, Nadia only recently won her
first WTA title. The biggest surprise, however, was...
...Patty Schnyder, who is ranked #8 at this point in the year. She's stealthily crept up the rankings by playing consistently into five Tour finals this year, winning two and losing three to Lindsay Davenport, Nadia Petrova, and Amelie Mauresmo--fellow competitors in these championships.
Four out of Nine
Lleyton Hewitt
announced his withdrawal from the Tennis Masters Cup yesterday due to the impending birth of his firstborn with wife Bec Cartwright, and this paved the way for Gaston Gaudio to enter the field as well. With Andy Roddick's withdrawal (made official just an hour ago), David Nalbandian enters the eight-man field and Mariano Puerta becomes the alternate.
From the Tennis Masters Cup website:
"Though I have tried to continue with practice, the lower back spasms continue," said Roddick. "After being evaluated by medical staff upon my return to the United States, it is now clear that I am not able to resume tennis-activities for 10-14 days.
"I apologize to the loyal fans and sponsors that have expected my participation in Tennis Masters Cup. It is an honor for me to have qualified for this event for the third-straight year. I realize the tremendous amount of time and effort the ATP and the Chinese government have spent on the event, and know it will be a huge success. I look forward to getting healthy, starting my off-season workouts for the 2006 season, and working towards qualifying for Shanghai next year."
The Masters Cup field now looks like this:
- Roger Federer (SUI)
- Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Marat Safin (RUS) -- out due to injuryAndy Roddick (USA) -- out due to injuryLleyton Hewitt (AUS) -- out due to personal reasons- Andre Agassi (USA)
- Guillermo Coria (ARG)
- Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
- Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)
- Gaston Gaudio (ARG)
- David Nalbandian (ARG)
- alternate: Mariano Puerta (ARG)
All in all, this means that four out of the nine players in Shanghai are from Argentina. Quite a coup, I must say. I don't think they even expected it themselves, although the South American press got ahold of this news way before the Masters Cup organizers announced it.
Paris Surprise
Ivan Ljubicic all but had the Paris Masters title in the bag. He had gotten to the
final of the previous Masters event in Madrid, where he was up two sets to love before dropping the last three sets and succumbing to Rafael Nadal. Although he exited Lyon the next week in the first round, he had had a stellar run in Paris, having just dismissed Andy Roddick in the semifinal.
The good run young unseeded Tomas Berdych was having garnered less exposure. In the end, however, it was he who hoisted the ugly dead tree trophy and claimed his first Masters Series shield, not Ljubicic.
For the first two sets, Berdych outplayed Ljubicic, showing great mobility for a person his height (6'4"), displaying keen court sense and moving the Croat around the court. Ljubicic, who came out of the locker room wearing a light bandage on his knee, seemed out of sorts.
As Berdych celebrated gaining the second set, I wondered if he'd experience some sort of letdown. The matches for the entire week had been best of three sets, but the Paris Masters final was played best of five sets. Would Berdych lose his grip?
Ljubicic found his stride and took advantage of Berdych's increasing error count; he took the next two sets to force the match to a deciding set. Berdych then overcame a thigh strain, his errors, and Ljubicic's ace-producing serve, taking the final set and winning 6-3,6-4,3-6,4-6,6-4. (My, what a symmetrical score.)
From Sportal.co.au:
"I'm very happy because this was my first Masters final and my first win and it was such a great match," Berdych told AFP. "It's a great way to finish the year."
This was only
Berdych's second final this year; the previous one was at Bastad, where he fell to Rafael Nadal. Berdych is starting to make a name for himself other than being the player who banished Roger Federer's dreams of a 2005 Olympic medal.
***
As the last tournament before the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, Paris hosted players who were trying to cement their places in the eight-man Masters Cup field. After Paris, these are the players who have qualified:
- Roger Federer
- Rafael Nadal
Marat Safin (out due to injury)- Andy Roddick
- Lleyton Hewitt
- Andre Agassi
- Guillermo Coria
- Nikolay Davydenko
- Ivan Ljubicic
There are some new names on that list. Rafael Nadal is not a surprise--at least, not with the monster year he's had. But Nikolay Davydenko silently
crept up the rankings with strong showings at the Australian Open, French Open, three Masters Series events, and his optional tournaments. Ljubicic's strong performances at the start and end of this year have propelled him to #8 (a career high), though he would not have qualified for TMC if Safin had not pulled out. With Hewitt's participation in TMC still in doubt, there's room for at least one more player to qualify.
Playing with Heart (and Crowd Support)
Reading some reports of last night's exploits at the Paris Masters, I was surprised that
not much was written about the first round match between Arnaud Clement and Nicolas Kiefer. I watched that match over
Star Sports, and it was one of the better ones I'd seen in a while. With neither player having a single dominant shot like a big serve or a ballistic forehand, the rallies were long and the points played out with strategy rather than mere brute force.
Prior to the match Kiefer led their
head-to-head 5-1, winning the last four times they played. However as I watched them warm up against each other, I had a feeling Clement would have his day.
The 74th-ranked Frenchman Clement broke Kiefer's serve early in the first set, but then gave the break back. Then Arnaud broke Nicolas again. Clement closed the set out on his own serve 6-4. The second set told a dissimilar story. Clement lost steam and serve, and Kiefer was able to clinch it 6-1. The third set went into a tiebreaker, neither player willing to give in. They traded minibreaks but it was Clement who held the first match point at 6-5, on his own serve. He took his time, trying to calm himself and capitalize on it, but Kiefer gained the point anyway. 6-all. They switched sides, and still on his serve Clement claimed the next point with an ace. 7-6, and another match point for him--this time on Kiefer's serve. Both players started moving each other around on the court, but Kiefer's lob sailed over the baseline. 6-4,1-6,7-6(6) Clement.
Having a negative
win-loss record this year, Clement played like he had nothing to lose. He went after shots that other players would have let go by; every point mattered. The shotmaking he pulled off in this match kept the largely French crowd squarely on his side, and their reaction to his win was thunderous. Clement's was no less emotional.
***
WATCHING RODDICK: For Andy Roddick fans tired of the flak the player receives, some spunky relief can be had by heading over to
Roddick Watch. The site offers news links and updates on "America's favorite tennis brat."
Player Blogs
Looking for blogs about specific players? How about blogs that the players write themselves? I've run across some good ones.
Andy Murray News: an enthusiastically updated news blog about Great Britain's new hope.
Roger Federer Magic: high on brevity AND links, this is your one-stop blog for news about Roger Federer.
Gimel's Blog: pro player Justin Gimelstob writes for Sports Illustrated on various tennis issues, all from his own unique perspective.
JCFO Tournament Blog: follows Juan Carlos Ferrero's progress in tournaments. From the folks at
JCFOnline.org.
Maria Motorola: Sharapova's very own blog hosted by Motorola.
Roddick Watch: fresh Andy Roddick news and commentary from a fan who cares.
Mats Wilander: Yes, boys and girls, it really is a blog written by the multiple Slam winner himself.
Sexy Maria Sharapova: read about the #1 Russian WTA player's exploits.
SportsBlogz Tennis: news blogs about various professional players.
Thomas Enqvist News: updates about Sweden's Thomas E.
Vamos Rafael Live Match Commentaries: keep abreast of Rafael Nadal's matchplay through their play-by-play analysis. From the creators of
Vamos Rafael. NEW:
Susan Live from Shangai [sic].
