Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Gaston Gaudio Wins a Match on Grass and You Only Need to See the Scores on Grass not the Matches

There were rumours that there wouldn't be a tournament preview for Wimbledon, but those have been proven to be false and sadly I can't take credit for the title. It was a comment from Mats Wilander and it makes sense, though more so during the days of Pete "Charisma Serving Machine" Sampras with the grass so short and huge serving bombs which passed for attacking tennis.

As for Wimbledon itself, it does bring out certain emotions in people and not always positive. Like the 2 week a year tennis fans who know Wimbledon and think it is the only tournament around on the circuit, this myth is propogated by the English-language media and then many act with outrage that there are players and fans on this planet who don't regard it as the be all, end all of tennis and these people aren't lesser beings because of it.

Now the grass has been slowed down and there have been some more watchable matches in the view of the blogger. The Ferrero and Koubek match of 2004 was a very exciting match and the only reason we saw it as Ferrero still had a reasonable ranking at the time and the TV stations decided to show it. Usually they show large amounts of crap and tedious matches even by grasscourt standards, though fortunately I won't have to listen to the Australian commentators too much wank on about Hewitt and show hilarious bias when it comes to the tournament, as there is an international feed available.

The thought of the 2002 Wimbledon is still fresh and it would be funny again if something like that carnage happened as long as Roddick doesn't win that is. He has gone backwards as a player and he is unsure of how he wants to play the game, but cause of the lack of quality grasscourters around he should be able to make the semi finals.

So hope some of the people labelled as claycourters, can win a few matches here and irritate the masses. Though the thought of Gaudio, Ferrer and PMK playing on grass has its own humorous value and there is a lot of seriousness around in tennis.

One funny memory as a the moody and chubby Austrian Horst Skoff had won the title in Athens on the Sunday before Wimbledon on clay and enjoyed it. Then he played John McEnroe in the first round and he clowned around as he normally did, though maybe a bit worse than usual. Horsti didn't care at all about the tournament, and McEnroe was getting shitty with Skoff.

I am sorry John McEnroe complaining about on-court behaviour is ludicrous and is like an alcoholic complaining being stuck in a brewery or distillery with an open key.

As for Federer winning, if he did win Wimbledon again, there would be only one natural reaction. If Federer wins Wimbledon then there will be collective SHOCK that he was able to win Wimbledon and that would send the tennis world into a huge tailspin.

Yay for Wimbledon.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

David Nalbandian : Where Does He Go from Here

The blog is back and don't worry it won't be on hold during the World Cup, even though that is where my interest will be during the grasscourt season, so those who are fans of what I do, there is no need to despair. This is where the violins come out.

Why write about David Nalbandian? Well how many more times do people need to hear about the Federer/Nadal rivalry, sure it's going on and there are more than enough people to talk about it and since they are the only 2 players that seem to be playing the sport. Yes, there will be an after match review of the final of Roland Garros, but that should be enough.

The other players have to step up to the plate and improve and they can see what the standard is they have to attempt to attain.

Nalbandian or Nalle as I will call him, is one very talented player. Is he best ever never to win a Grand Slam title? The obvious answer is no as he is nowhere near the class of Miloslav Mecir and Marcelo Rios, but he would come to close to Alex Corretja as the best not to win as of yet. He has made the semis of all the Slams at least once and his game translates well to all surfaces, though Rebound Ace is probably his best surface.

His double handed backhand is a great shot and his forehand is good and knows how to use the court very well and he is tactically aware when he is focused, which the same can't be said for many of todays who are one dimensional to the extreme. If they could spell dimensional then that would be considered a success, let alone change things up when not playing well. Players have to adapt to different situations, it's amazing how such talented players can ball strike as well as anyone, yet look like a chump when it's not going well.

Then where are the main problems with Nalle? The fitness is the main one and the lack of application towards it. Here he is in a Slam semi final giving Federer all sorts of problems and then he strains a muscle in his abdominals. Tennis is quite physical these days and this can happen, but at the same time he is not in the greatest shape he could be in.

It's not a bodybuilding contest where cuts are going to help him look better and get him over the line, but having a strong fitness base does help against injuries and helps recovery and he is lazy when it comes to this. At the same time this could be a reason that holds him back in making the next level and take a Slam title his game deserves.

Nalle has an interesting reputation and he has managed to alienate some members of the media. This is not such a bad thing, even though they will write shit about him, cause he doesn't play want to play ball. This of course does not impact on how he plays the game and he gives stupid questions the best treatment with a stupid answer

Nalle needs to make some choices with his tennis. It seems to be an ends to a means and that can be seen by his attitude to training and yes he has had some excellent coaches Markus, Infantino and Mastelli. What has he learnt from these people and has he used any of it in practice. If he is happy with going along like he is at the moment, then that is fine. It's a testament to his talent he has done as well as he has without being really dedicated to it.

Anyone who is familiar with Nalle knows his love for the Rally racing and I can understand that.
Since he is the owner of the "Tango Rally Team" , he could be playing tennis as a means to help with ongoing costs for the team.

Speaking of the team environment Davis Cup is something he loves and definitely puts 100 per cent towards and would love nothing more to win the Davis Cup for Argentina, as much as an individual he is. His committment to Davis Cup can't be faulted and there are some who would say it's higher than his drive for the normal circuit.

It would be good if he could win a Slam, but he has to want to do the work to get into better shape and not have these niggling injuries that keep stopping his progress. Unlike Davydenko he does not play 53 weeks of the year and that is a good thing.

I mean the key is that Nalle shouldn't have regrets once he finishes his tennis career. If he gave it his best and wasn't able to win a Slam, then that wouldn't be so bad, though this does not seem likely

As for his fitness, well this is one aspect that a player has greater control over than many others. Diego Rodriguez is a good guy, but not hard enough on Nalle to do the necessary work needed to improve his base.