Wire Turf » Tennis

Andy Murray Drops to #5

David — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:29:44 +0000

For the first time in almost 1.5 years, Britian’s Andy Murray is out of the ATP top 4 as his decision not to attempt to defend his Qatar Open title this past week in Doha saw him lose 250 ranking points and so slide down to #5 behind Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro who moves up to #4. With this movement, coupled with Delpo’s winning the US Open last year, means that officially the “men’s ATP big 4″ should now be Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Delpo (replacing Murray).

Fantastic Nikolay does it again!

David — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 01:30:58 +0000

Congrats to veteran Russian slugger Nikolay Davydenko as he pulls off what only one other man (that is David Nalbandian) has ever done before – beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in back to back tournaments. His win today at Doha in the Qatar Open over Rafa in the finals (beating Fed in the semis, same point at which he took out Fed during last year’s season ending championships in London), now means he has beaten Rafa 3 straight times in a row and leads their head to head 5-4 – very impressive stuff. I’ve always liked the Russian’s no-nonsense workman-like approach and dedication to the game, and man oh man, when he is on, Davydenko can hit angles like no other.

Rosewall Over Borg As A Top 4 All-Time Great?

David — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 04:44:49 +0000

ESPN’s Joel Drucker writes today to make a case for Aussie tennis legend Ken Rosewall to be considered one of the 4 all-time greats who should belong on the “Mount Rushmore” of tennis – the other three being Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, and Roger Federer. So who’s missing from the list? Right, Swedish great Bjorn Borg, who Drucker bumps off in favor of Rosewall.

Soderling Wins Swedish Open

David — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:44:50 +0000

Happy to see Swede Robin Soderling back up his excellent runs at the French and Wimbledon (only getting stopped on both occasions by who else but Roger Federer!) by bagging his 4th career title on home soil at the Catella Swedish Open today. He’s been portrayed in the past as unsportsmanlike and rude, but whatever the case may have been in the past, he conducted himself beautifully at the French and I found him gracious in defeat and thoughtful during the post-match press conferences.

Serena Meets Obama at White House

David — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:32:59 +0000

Is ESPN trying to make top tennis star Serena Williams look vacuous and silly? Or is she really that? You decide. In this ESPN report from 2 days ago, choice Serena quotes include: “…and he noticed my shoes. I think that was the highlight of the whole day, was he liked my shoes … And the kids were just so cute and sweet, and the dog was nice.” I mean, come on now, really?

Welcome to life as a “tennis parent”!

David — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:29:19 +0000

This past weekend one of my daughters (T., who’s 10 going on 11) participated in her first ever junior tennis tournament. Truth be told, I was probably (no make that definitely!) more nervous than she was! She was the picture of calm serenity both in the lead up to the day and on the day itself. Not that she wasn’t excited, but it seems the prospect of entering competitive play for the first time, not to mention all the other little unknowns that inevitably occur the first time you do something, just didn’t faze her at all.

T. at the Sunshine Hills Junior Challenger

For me, despite having a good number of competitive tennis playing years under my belt both as a junior back in the day and later as a senior at local clubs, accompanying my girl to her first tournament was still quite a bundle of new experiences to be had. What would the other parents be like? Would I have to deal with any “ugly tennis parents”? Would T. be terribly disappointed if she lost early?

As it turns out, T. and I did just fine. She played 2 first round matches (round robin) against girls who were clearly more experienced at tournament play and tennis in general – lost both matches by a large margin if you looked at the scorelines but that didn’t matter to her or to me. I was very proud of the way she played and conducted herself. Tried for every point, tried to reach every ball even if it looked hopelessly out of reach, and even on multiple match points down. She held her own in several long rallies, and won a couple of games, a sign of more things to come in future.

One of the first things she told me as we were leaving the courts was how she couldn’t wait for her next tournament! Make that two of us!