The men’s and women’s singles draws for the 2006 French Open were revealed yesterday, and it appears that the top two men’s seeds, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, avoided tricky early round encounters. Of course, with the state of men’s tennis today, there may not be a player out there who can derail the seemingly inevitable final between Federer and Nadal. The biggest surprise of this tournament might just be if Roger and Rafa don’t duel it out on June 11 for the title at Roland Garros.
Seriously, who’s going to step up and challenge one of these guys on clay? Peter Bodo has suggested in his blog that there are multiple players aside from Nadal who could take Federer down in Paris, but that’s hogwash. Federer’s performances in Monte Carlo and Rome proved that on clay, there is one and only one man who can beat him, and no one else. If it weren’t for the presence of Nadal in the draw, is there any doubt that Roger would be the overwhelming favorite for the 2006 French Open title? The one thing that everyone seems to agree on is that Nadal will be defending that title on the third Sunday of the tournament.
Aside from the top 2, much of the rest of the field appears to be limping into Paris, and for those players who are on form, they have no Grand Slam credentials. How about the Americans, Andy Roddick and James Blake? Roddick arrives in Paris with injuries on his mind. He hurt his foot in World Team Cup play this past week and he suffered a pinched nerve in his shoulder in Rome. His results at Roland Garros haven’t exactly been stellar when he’s been healthy so there’s no reason to suggest that he’s going to impress much in his current state of health. He may advance farther than Victor Hanescu, but that’s about it.
James Blake was drawn in Rafael Nadal’s quarter of the draw, and while the Spaniard would probably love to get his hands on Blake on the dirt to avenge his two consecutive losses to the American, Blake has a tough couple of rounds to get through first. He faces the big Thai, Paradorn Srichaphan, in the first round and then possibly one of the hotter players on tour, Spain’s Nicolas Almagro, in the second. We can’t see James getting past that second round match.
So tennis fans, get ready for our third Federer – Nadal final on clay of the spring of 2006. There may be some drama along the way, but the most drama will occur on June 11, when these two meet for the French Open title.
And what about the ladies you say? This is a hard race to pick. It’s like handicapping a race of invalids out of a Monty Python skit. The most in form player on the WTA Tour is …is … Nadia Petrova?! Can Petrova make the leap to Grand Slam winner? If she’s going to do it, this tournament is the perfect opportunity. Seemingly, no one else on the tour has been overly impressive over the last few months, so the opportunity is there for Petrova. We just have a hard time believing that she can pull it off.
Let’s look at some of the other challengers in brief.
Svetlana Kuznetsova appeared to have a statement victory at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami this March, but has come down a notch in her play since then.
Amelie Mauresmo, the 2006 Australian Open champ, has never come through in front of her home crowd at Roland Garros. She appeared to exorcise some demons in Melbourne, but the French demon is probably still lurking in her head.
Justine Henin-Hardenne is always a threat at the French Open. In a field that’s relatively even, she’s a solid bet. That is unless she gets a tummy ache.
Kim Clijsters has had a very up and down year with injuries so it’s difficult to predict what she’ll be able to do in Paris.
Martina Hingis has continued her ascent through the rankings and her victory in Rome was another milestone in her comeback. Can she break through for her first title at Roland Garros? Using the same logic that we did for Petrova, this could be a great opportunity for her.
Maria Sharapova’s game isn’t particularly well suited to clay so she doesn’t appear to be a serious contender for the title.
Venus Williams makes too many errors to win this title. If she never wins another Grand Slam title, it won’t be a surprise to us.
Based on the above, we have to give Henin-Hardenne the nod (as painful as that is). She’s got experience in big matches and she has clay court pedigree. There just doesn’t seem to be anyone on the tour who’s playing great tennis this spring. Maybe someone is saving her best performances for Paris in June.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Tennis and the Tiger Woods Factor
In the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, golf tournaments that did not involve world number one, Tiger Woods, suffered lower attendance, lower television ratings and less media attention. The other players on the PGA Tour appeared to play at a level a cut below Woods and thus were viewed as lesser players. Are we seeing a similar phenomenon in tennis with tournaments that don’t have Roger Federer and/or Rafael Nadal participating?
If we use the ATP Master Series event in Hamburg, Germany as a barometer, then the answer to that question has to be “yes”. The world’s number one and two players were slated to play in Hamburg, but both withdrew due to exhaustion and fatigue following their five-hour epic final in Rome. The problems with scheduling two Master Series events back-to-back have been well documented, so we won’t re-hash them here, but the point is that there’s a let-down in anticipation for this event without Federer and Nadal. The promotional posters for the tournament featured the top two players (and only them) so that tells you how important the event organizers believed that these men were to the success of the event.
Federer and Nadal have separated themselves from the rest of the tour in terms of class, and by comparison, the rest of the tour appears to be a seriously flawed group of individuals that fail to inspire the same excitement among fans that the top two do. Hardcore tennis fans may disagree with the premise, but even they would have to admit that tomorrow’s Hamburg final between Tommy Robredo and Radek Stepanek isn’t in the same league as a match involving either Federer or Nadal in terms of quality and drama.
So while the Federer-Nadal-less events may suffer some, there will be a boon to events in which one or both of these men play. Even the mainstream sports media in the United States briefly woke from its tennis slumber to discuss the dramatic final in Italy. Their next event should draw more attention in the US as ESPN2 has extensive coverage planned for Roland Garros. The network would be wise to promote these two men in the run-up to the French rather than the usual fascination with American players only. With Lindsay Davenport and Serena Williams skipping the event, and the absence of any Amercian male with a chance to win, ESPN may be left with no choice but to hype Roger and Rafa.
Although the rise of Tiger Woods created some resentment among his fellow PGA Tour members (at first), one of the by-products was an incredible surge in interest in the sport in America. As more attention begins to be paid to Federer and Nadal, let’s hope that tennis can experience the same rise in popularity and interest throughout the world that golf did in the United States.
If we use the ATP Master Series event in Hamburg, Germany as a barometer, then the answer to that question has to be “yes”. The world’s number one and two players were slated to play in Hamburg, but both withdrew due to exhaustion and fatigue following their five-hour epic final in Rome. The problems with scheduling two Master Series events back-to-back have been well documented, so we won’t re-hash them here, but the point is that there’s a let-down in anticipation for this event without Federer and Nadal. The promotional posters for the tournament featured the top two players (and only them) so that tells you how important the event organizers believed that these men were to the success of the event.
Federer and Nadal have separated themselves from the rest of the tour in terms of class, and by comparison, the rest of the tour appears to be a seriously flawed group of individuals that fail to inspire the same excitement among fans that the top two do. Hardcore tennis fans may disagree with the premise, but even they would have to admit that tomorrow’s Hamburg final between Tommy Robredo and Radek Stepanek isn’t in the same league as a match involving either Federer or Nadal in terms of quality and drama.
So while the Federer-Nadal-less events may suffer some, there will be a boon to events in which one or both of these men play. Even the mainstream sports media in the United States briefly woke from its tennis slumber to discuss the dramatic final in Italy. Their next event should draw more attention in the US as ESPN2 has extensive coverage planned for Roland Garros. The network would be wise to promote these two men in the run-up to the French rather than the usual fascination with American players only. With Lindsay Davenport and Serena Williams skipping the event, and the absence of any Amercian male with a chance to win, ESPN may be left with no choice but to hype Roger and Rafa.
Although the rise of Tiger Woods created some resentment among his fellow PGA Tour members (at first), one of the by-products was an incredible surge in interest in the sport in America. As more attention begins to be paid to Federer and Nadal, let’s hope that tennis can experience the same rise in popularity and interest throughout the world that golf did in the United States.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Masters Series Rome - Going the Distance
Today’s ATP Master Series Rome final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was worthy of being dubbed an “instant classic” and thus I would like to present my match notes in full rather than just the usual summary. After the notes, I’ll analyze the day’s events and what they mean for each player. On to the match …
· From the outset, it appears that Federer is directing his forehand almost exclusively to the Nadal backhand. One of Roger’s signature shots is his inside-out forehand, but that plays directly into Nadal’s forehand. It’s also the forehand shot that goes awry more often for Federer.
· In the first 4 games, Federer has only hit his forehand to Nadal’s forehand 4 times. Federer is patiently playing the forehand cross-court and he’s practically error free up to this point in the match. He’s broken Nadal for a 3-1 lead in the first set.
· Errors are starting to creep into the Federer game. He drops serve and Nadal now trails 2-3.
· Nadal serving at 3-4: Federer was up 15-30 on Nadal’s serve, but he commits two cross-court forehand errors on relatively easy balls. Nadal holds for 4-all.
· It must be some sort of Fila throwback day in Rome. The lines-people and ball-kids are wearing the Bjorn Borg Fila shirt from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. The ball-girls are even wearing a similar headband to the one that Borg made so famous. Our chair umpire is wearing the Guillermo Vilas Fila shirt from the same time period.
· Federer goes down 15-30 on his serve, but manages to serve well on the remaining points and he holds for a 5-4 lead.
· We just got a view of John McEnroe in the crowd, sitting with Prince Albert of Monaco. Federer and Nadal just played in front of the Prince a few weeks ago in Monte Carlo.
· Nadal starting to show some frustration with his own errors. At 4-5, he’s down 15-30.
· Rafa surprises Fed with an ace up the T to get back to 30-all. The vast majority of Nadal’s serves have been directed at the Federer backhand. The Spaniard holds serve after playing 2 excellent points from 30-all.
· Nadal serving at 5-6: Again, Federer is up 15-30 on Nadal’s serve, but makes a couple of errors to let his opponent back in the game.
· Rafa saves a couple of set points against him to go to 6-all and force a tiebreaker.
· Roger jumps to a quick 3-0 lead in the breaker with some excellent aggressive play. He’s continuing to attack the Nadal backhand and Nadal hasn’t found the range on his backhand passing shot.
· The breaker is a blow-out – 7-0 for Federer. Federer has to be pleased with how he has been able to implement his game plan to take a one set to love lead in this Master Series Event final.
Second Set, Federer leads by 1 set to love: 7-6
· A rarity in tennis has just occurred – Nadal wins a point after hitting a between the legs shot. Federer tanked an easy volley to give Nadal the point.
· The level of tennis has come down in this set. Through the first six games, the receiver hasn’t offered much resistance.
· Nadal looking a little unsure of himself now. He’s backing up while hitting his backhand and the balls are landing short in the court.
· Federer puts some pressure on the Nadal serve in the seventh game of the set, but he hits a wild inside-out forehand error that was more characteristic of his effort in Monte Carlo.
· Federer serving at 4-5: Nadal playing a better receiving game and he earns a set point. However, the world’s number one saves the set point with a brilliant lunge backhand volley that’s just out of Nadal’s reach. Federer holds for 5-all in the second set.
· Nadal is picking up his level and he holds for a 6-5 lead.
· We’re two hours into the match and the second set will be decided in a tiebreaker. If this match goes 5 sets, we’re on course for a 5 hour match at the current pace. Last year’s final between Nadal and Guillermo Coria lasted 5 hours and 14 minutes.
· Nadal looks like he is feeling the pressure of the situation now. He’s got the match streak on the line and the expectations of the tennis world that he can beat Federer on clay at will. He makes a forehand error on the first point of the tiebreaker on his serve.
· Rafa was down 2-4 in the tiebreaker, but he’s just won 3 points in a row to take a 5-4 lead. The defending champion is showing a lot of heart out here.
· 5-5 in the tiebreaker: Federer blows an easy forehand over the baseline. Nadal hit a short ball that Federer should have put away, but instead Nadal is up 6-5 with a set point.
· Nadal takes the tiebreaker and the set! He really picked up his play from 2-4 down in the breaker to snatch the set away. Over two hours played now and we’re even at one set all.
Third set, One set all: 6-7, 7-6
· Federer faces an early break point at 1 all in the third, but he manages to save it. Early pressure being exhibited from the Spaniard.
· Roger is pounding the Nadal backhand in this game and he does it to his advantage as he holds for a 2-1 lead in the third.
· Nadal continues to put the pressure on Federer early in this set. He’s got a break point at 2-2.
· Nadal breaks for a 3- 2 lead. Federer was upset about something that occurred in that game, but we’re not sure what it was. Our match commentators don’t seem to be aware of what it was either.
· The world’s number two holds again for a 4-2 lead in the third. Federer continues to approach exclusively on the Nadal backhand.
· Great artistry from Federer – he hits a high backhand volley over his shoulder for a crosscourt winner. This guy can be a shot making machine when he is on.
· Rafa holds his serve easily for a 5-3 lead. It looks like he is going to take this set.
· Nadal serving at 5-4: Great first point of the game from Rafa as he dominates Federer with some heavy forehands. He wins the game and the set, 6-4, and is now up 2 sets to 1. His confidence has to be extremely high now especially after recovering from that first set loss.
Fourth Set, Nadal leads 2 sets to 1: 6-7, 7-6, 6-4
· Federer starts the set off with a hold under pressure. Nadal had a break point, but Fed saved it well with a forehand winner up the line.
· Nadal hasn’t been as effective with the backhand pass as we’ve seen him in the past. Federer’s game plan of not approaching to the forehand is working when he has the opportunity to hit an approach off a short ball.
· The Mighty Fed just approached to the Nadal forehand and he gets burned – loses the point. He probably won’t do that again for a while.
· Both players were challenged on serve in the first 2 games, but there were no breaks – one-all.
· I’m getting the feeling that Nadal will wrap this up in four sets. He’s moving Federer around very well.
· All of a sudden, Federer has raised his level and he’s got a break point on Nadal’s serve.
· Once again, Nadal serves an ace up the T on break point – good change of direction from the 19 year-old.
· Federer breaks! He’s up 3-1 and then 4-1 after a hold. He has played extremely well to get to this point. Maybe Nadal isn’t going to win this in four sets.
· Roger is dominating the play now. He wins the set 6-2 and he has the momentum and the crowd on his side. For the second year in a row, the Rome final is going 5 sets (and maybe 5 hours).
Fifth Set, 2 sets all: 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 2-6
· Federer starts off the fifth set playing brilliantly. He breaks Nadal early on and takes a 3-1 lead.
· Nadal is trying to pump himself up in order to get back in the match. He has break chances on Federer’s serve, but Roger comes up with winners to stave them off. Federer leads 4-1.
· A good service game from Nadal makes the score 4-2 in Federer’s favor.
· Rafa is really pumped up now. He’s showing Federer that he isn’t going to quit in this final set.
· Federer serving at 4-2: Fed looking a little tense with his play. He goes down love-30.
· An ace from Federer evens the game up at 30. The tension in the match is quite high now. The atmosphere is great. The drama of the fifth set is exactly what we all hoped for.
· Federer goes up 40-30, but Nadal does well to get it back to deuce with a huge forehand.
· Rafa has a break point chance now – he hit an inside-out forehand to win the previous point. Federer hasn’t made a first serve in a while.
· Rafa breaks! He’s back on serve in the fifth at 3-4.
· Nadal serving at 3-4: At 15-all, the players have an incredible point that is eventually won by the Swiss. The quality of tennis in this set is excellent.
· The Spaniard is hitting forehands as much as possible now so that he can keep the pressure on Federer. Roger isn’t finding Nadal’s backhand as easily any longer.
· A brilliant forehand pass by Nadal enables him to hold for 4-all. At 1-4 down, this didn’t look possible, but Nadal is a fighter. He will not give this match away. The question is can Federer hang tough and win it?
· Federer serving at 4-all: At 30-all, Nadal missed an easy return and he can’t believe it. He hasn’t missed one like that all match long. Federer holds for a 5-4 lead and Nadal serves to stay in the match.
· With the match reaching its climax, let’s go point by point until the end.
· Federer wins the first point on Nadal’s serve with an excellent backhand return that lands deep in the court and on the sideline. It forces an error from Nadal.
· 15-all: A Nadal forehand draws an error from the Federer backhand.
· 30-15: A long rally ends with Federer shanking a forehand long – very tense point.
· 40-15: A crosscourt backhand from Nadal sets up an inside-out forehand winner to take him to game point.
· Game 5-5: Another inside-out forehand winner from Nadal clinches the hold. New balls for the end of the match.
· 15-love: Federer hits a crosscourt forehand winner. He continues to pound away at the Nadal backhand. That’s been the biggest difference between today’s match and the final in Monte Carlo.
· 30-love: Nadal commits a forehand error over the baseline.
· 30-15: Now a Federer error brings Nadal back into the game. Again, Federer was going crosscourt with the forehand, but he hit it wide.
· 40-15: Federer with a service winner wide to the Nadal forehand.
· Game Fed: Rafa hits a forehand in the net and Federer now leads 6-5. Once again, Nadal must hold serve to stay in the match.
· 0-15: A very nervous looking error from Nadal. Could this be the end of the streak at one match short of Vilas’ record?
· 0-30: A double fault! The first of the match for either player brings Federer to 2 points away from the title.
· 15-30: A long and tense rally ends with a Federer backhand error. Both players were playing safe in that point.
· 15-40: Nadal was pounding at the Federer backhand and Roger withstood the pressure. When Nadal attempted to break the pattern by going up the line, he hit his forehand long. Federer has 2 championship points now.
· 30-40: Federer tries to play aggressively, but he misses a forehand long. It’s probably a good play for him to pressure Nadal at this point.
· Deuce: Roger goes for a big forehand up the line, but it’s not even close. Nadal has survived two match points. The kid refuses to lose.
· Advantage Nadal: Rafa does some great running and eventually hits a forceful crosscourt backhand that Federer can’t handle. Nadal has completely turned this game around.
· Game Nadal: Nadal punctuates the comeback with another forehand winner. For the second year in a row, this final will be decided by a tiebreaker in the fifth set.
· 1-0 Federer: Service winner gives Fed the early lead.
· 1-1: Federer commits an error on an easy forehand.
· 1-1: The players have to re-play a point as there was an errant call on the Federer baseline.
· 2-1 Federer: Federer attacks the Nadal second serve and is able to force a short reply that he then puts away. Mini-break for the top seed.
· 3-1 Federer: A short return by Nadal sets up the point for Federer. He wins it with a volley at the net.
· 3-2 Federer: Nadal is on the run for nearly the entire point, but manages to recover and hit a winner.
· 4-2 Federer: Roger hits a big inside-out forehand to end the rally. Federer is really going for his shots in this breaker. We have just hit the 5-hour mark. It’s amazing that these guys are playing so well after 5 hours of play.
· 4-3 Federer: Nadal plays an aggressive point and attacks the Federer backhand.
· 5-3 Federer: Is Nadal feeling the pressure? He misses a forehand pass wildly. It looked like he had time to set up for it and hit it by Federer, but instead commits the error.
· 5-4 Federer: An easy short ball for Federer, but he blows it. One gets the feeling that Nadal may capitalize on that mistake at this crucial time in the match.
· 5-5: Nadal was on top of Federer in the whole rally and eventually Federer mis-hits a forehand wide and long.
· 6-5 Nadal: Rafa takes his first lead in the breaker and it brings him to his first championship point. Federer missed a backhand return long. It was not a difficult shot for him to make.
· Game, Set, Match Nadal!: A Nadal shot lands right on the baseline during the rally and the crowd thinks it’s out. Federer hesitates, but Nadal doesn’t and he puts the next ball away to complete his comeback victory. It was simply an amazing fifth set – the kind you hope for in any major final. Rafa has now tied Vilas’ consecutive victory streak on clay at 53 matches. The time of the match: 5 hours and 5 minutes.
Quite simply, today’s final was an epic. The tennis in the first and fifth sets was the best, and Federer proved that he can compete with Nadal on clay. However, Nadal is the human embodiment of “refuse to lose”. When he was down a break in the fifth set at 1-4, he willed himself back into the match and he showed Federer that it would not be easy. Federer held match points, but couldn’t capitalize on them and that may haunt Roger for some time.
Federer’s game plan in this match was quite different from the one he employed in Monte Carlo. He eschewed his signature inside-out forehand in favor of going crosscourt to the Nadal backhand. That seemed to keep him in points longer and Nadal’s backhand isn’t nearly as difficult to deal with as his forehand. When the world’s number one chose to come to the net, he almost exclusively approached to the Nadal backhand. That strategy was highly effective when he was able to execute it.
However, he couldn’t execute it as much as required as Nadal managed to dictate enough of the play with his forehand when he needed it to turn the match in his favor. In the end, the King of Clay took out the Swiss Master for the third time this year and for the fifth time in their six career meetings. It was truly a final to remember and let’s hope that we can see a repeat at Roland Garros in June.
· From the outset, it appears that Federer is directing his forehand almost exclusively to the Nadal backhand. One of Roger’s signature shots is his inside-out forehand, but that plays directly into Nadal’s forehand. It’s also the forehand shot that goes awry more often for Federer.
· In the first 4 games, Federer has only hit his forehand to Nadal’s forehand 4 times. Federer is patiently playing the forehand cross-court and he’s practically error free up to this point in the match. He’s broken Nadal for a 3-1 lead in the first set.
· Errors are starting to creep into the Federer game. He drops serve and Nadal now trails 2-3.
· Nadal serving at 3-4: Federer was up 15-30 on Nadal’s serve, but he commits two cross-court forehand errors on relatively easy balls. Nadal holds for 4-all.
· It must be some sort of Fila throwback day in Rome. The lines-people and ball-kids are wearing the Bjorn Borg Fila shirt from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. The ball-girls are even wearing a similar headband to the one that Borg made so famous. Our chair umpire is wearing the Guillermo Vilas Fila shirt from the same time period.
· Federer goes down 15-30 on his serve, but manages to serve well on the remaining points and he holds for a 5-4 lead.
· We just got a view of John McEnroe in the crowd, sitting with Prince Albert of Monaco. Federer and Nadal just played in front of the Prince a few weeks ago in Monte Carlo.
· Nadal starting to show some frustration with his own errors. At 4-5, he’s down 15-30.
· Rafa surprises Fed with an ace up the T to get back to 30-all. The vast majority of Nadal’s serves have been directed at the Federer backhand. The Spaniard holds serve after playing 2 excellent points from 30-all.
· Nadal serving at 5-6: Again, Federer is up 15-30 on Nadal’s serve, but makes a couple of errors to let his opponent back in the game.
· Rafa saves a couple of set points against him to go to 6-all and force a tiebreaker.
· Roger jumps to a quick 3-0 lead in the breaker with some excellent aggressive play. He’s continuing to attack the Nadal backhand and Nadal hasn’t found the range on his backhand passing shot.
· The breaker is a blow-out – 7-0 for Federer. Federer has to be pleased with how he has been able to implement his game plan to take a one set to love lead in this Master Series Event final.
Second Set, Federer leads by 1 set to love: 7-6
· A rarity in tennis has just occurred – Nadal wins a point after hitting a between the legs shot. Federer tanked an easy volley to give Nadal the point.
· The level of tennis has come down in this set. Through the first six games, the receiver hasn’t offered much resistance.
· Nadal looking a little unsure of himself now. He’s backing up while hitting his backhand and the balls are landing short in the court.
· Federer puts some pressure on the Nadal serve in the seventh game of the set, but he hits a wild inside-out forehand error that was more characteristic of his effort in Monte Carlo.
· Federer serving at 4-5: Nadal playing a better receiving game and he earns a set point. However, the world’s number one saves the set point with a brilliant lunge backhand volley that’s just out of Nadal’s reach. Federer holds for 5-all in the second set.
· Nadal is picking up his level and he holds for a 6-5 lead.
· We’re two hours into the match and the second set will be decided in a tiebreaker. If this match goes 5 sets, we’re on course for a 5 hour match at the current pace. Last year’s final between Nadal and Guillermo Coria lasted 5 hours and 14 minutes.
· Nadal looks like he is feeling the pressure of the situation now. He’s got the match streak on the line and the expectations of the tennis world that he can beat Federer on clay at will. He makes a forehand error on the first point of the tiebreaker on his serve.
· Rafa was down 2-4 in the tiebreaker, but he’s just won 3 points in a row to take a 5-4 lead. The defending champion is showing a lot of heart out here.
· 5-5 in the tiebreaker: Federer blows an easy forehand over the baseline. Nadal hit a short ball that Federer should have put away, but instead Nadal is up 6-5 with a set point.
· Nadal takes the tiebreaker and the set! He really picked up his play from 2-4 down in the breaker to snatch the set away. Over two hours played now and we’re even at one set all.
Third set, One set all: 6-7, 7-6
· Federer faces an early break point at 1 all in the third, but he manages to save it. Early pressure being exhibited from the Spaniard.
· Roger is pounding the Nadal backhand in this game and he does it to his advantage as he holds for a 2-1 lead in the third.
· Nadal continues to put the pressure on Federer early in this set. He’s got a break point at 2-2.
· Nadal breaks for a 3- 2 lead. Federer was upset about something that occurred in that game, but we’re not sure what it was. Our match commentators don’t seem to be aware of what it was either.
· The world’s number two holds again for a 4-2 lead in the third. Federer continues to approach exclusively on the Nadal backhand.
· Great artistry from Federer – he hits a high backhand volley over his shoulder for a crosscourt winner. This guy can be a shot making machine when he is on.
· Rafa holds his serve easily for a 5-3 lead. It looks like he is going to take this set.
· Nadal serving at 5-4: Great first point of the game from Rafa as he dominates Federer with some heavy forehands. He wins the game and the set, 6-4, and is now up 2 sets to 1. His confidence has to be extremely high now especially after recovering from that first set loss.
Fourth Set, Nadal leads 2 sets to 1: 6-7, 7-6, 6-4
· Federer starts the set off with a hold under pressure. Nadal had a break point, but Fed saved it well with a forehand winner up the line.
· Nadal hasn’t been as effective with the backhand pass as we’ve seen him in the past. Federer’s game plan of not approaching to the forehand is working when he has the opportunity to hit an approach off a short ball.
· The Mighty Fed just approached to the Nadal forehand and he gets burned – loses the point. He probably won’t do that again for a while.
· Both players were challenged on serve in the first 2 games, but there were no breaks – one-all.
· I’m getting the feeling that Nadal will wrap this up in four sets. He’s moving Federer around very well.
· All of a sudden, Federer has raised his level and he’s got a break point on Nadal’s serve.
· Once again, Nadal serves an ace up the T on break point – good change of direction from the 19 year-old.
· Federer breaks! He’s up 3-1 and then 4-1 after a hold. He has played extremely well to get to this point. Maybe Nadal isn’t going to win this in four sets.
· Roger is dominating the play now. He wins the set 6-2 and he has the momentum and the crowd on his side. For the second year in a row, the Rome final is going 5 sets (and maybe 5 hours).
Fifth Set, 2 sets all: 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 2-6
· Federer starts off the fifth set playing brilliantly. He breaks Nadal early on and takes a 3-1 lead.
· Nadal is trying to pump himself up in order to get back in the match. He has break chances on Federer’s serve, but Roger comes up with winners to stave them off. Federer leads 4-1.
· A good service game from Nadal makes the score 4-2 in Federer’s favor.
· Rafa is really pumped up now. He’s showing Federer that he isn’t going to quit in this final set.
· Federer serving at 4-2: Fed looking a little tense with his play. He goes down love-30.
· An ace from Federer evens the game up at 30. The tension in the match is quite high now. The atmosphere is great. The drama of the fifth set is exactly what we all hoped for.
· Federer goes up 40-30, but Nadal does well to get it back to deuce with a huge forehand.
· Rafa has a break point chance now – he hit an inside-out forehand to win the previous point. Federer hasn’t made a first serve in a while.
· Rafa breaks! He’s back on serve in the fifth at 3-4.
· Nadal serving at 3-4: At 15-all, the players have an incredible point that is eventually won by the Swiss. The quality of tennis in this set is excellent.
· The Spaniard is hitting forehands as much as possible now so that he can keep the pressure on Federer. Roger isn’t finding Nadal’s backhand as easily any longer.
· A brilliant forehand pass by Nadal enables him to hold for 4-all. At 1-4 down, this didn’t look possible, but Nadal is a fighter. He will not give this match away. The question is can Federer hang tough and win it?
· Federer serving at 4-all: At 30-all, Nadal missed an easy return and he can’t believe it. He hasn’t missed one like that all match long. Federer holds for a 5-4 lead and Nadal serves to stay in the match.
· With the match reaching its climax, let’s go point by point until the end.
· Federer wins the first point on Nadal’s serve with an excellent backhand return that lands deep in the court and on the sideline. It forces an error from Nadal.
· 15-all: A Nadal forehand draws an error from the Federer backhand.
· 30-15: A long rally ends with Federer shanking a forehand long – very tense point.
· 40-15: A crosscourt backhand from Nadal sets up an inside-out forehand winner to take him to game point.
· Game 5-5: Another inside-out forehand winner from Nadal clinches the hold. New balls for the end of the match.
· 15-love: Federer hits a crosscourt forehand winner. He continues to pound away at the Nadal backhand. That’s been the biggest difference between today’s match and the final in Monte Carlo.
· 30-love: Nadal commits a forehand error over the baseline.
· 30-15: Now a Federer error brings Nadal back into the game. Again, Federer was going crosscourt with the forehand, but he hit it wide.
· 40-15: Federer with a service winner wide to the Nadal forehand.
· Game Fed: Rafa hits a forehand in the net and Federer now leads 6-5. Once again, Nadal must hold serve to stay in the match.
· 0-15: A very nervous looking error from Nadal. Could this be the end of the streak at one match short of Vilas’ record?
· 0-30: A double fault! The first of the match for either player brings Federer to 2 points away from the title.
· 15-30: A long and tense rally ends with a Federer backhand error. Both players were playing safe in that point.
· 15-40: Nadal was pounding at the Federer backhand and Roger withstood the pressure. When Nadal attempted to break the pattern by going up the line, he hit his forehand long. Federer has 2 championship points now.
· 30-40: Federer tries to play aggressively, but he misses a forehand long. It’s probably a good play for him to pressure Nadal at this point.
· Deuce: Roger goes for a big forehand up the line, but it’s not even close. Nadal has survived two match points. The kid refuses to lose.
· Advantage Nadal: Rafa does some great running and eventually hits a forceful crosscourt backhand that Federer can’t handle. Nadal has completely turned this game around.
· Game Nadal: Nadal punctuates the comeback with another forehand winner. For the second year in a row, this final will be decided by a tiebreaker in the fifth set.
· 1-0 Federer: Service winner gives Fed the early lead.
· 1-1: Federer commits an error on an easy forehand.
· 1-1: The players have to re-play a point as there was an errant call on the Federer baseline.
· 2-1 Federer: Federer attacks the Nadal second serve and is able to force a short reply that he then puts away. Mini-break for the top seed.
· 3-1 Federer: A short return by Nadal sets up the point for Federer. He wins it with a volley at the net.
· 3-2 Federer: Nadal is on the run for nearly the entire point, but manages to recover and hit a winner.
· 4-2 Federer: Roger hits a big inside-out forehand to end the rally. Federer is really going for his shots in this breaker. We have just hit the 5-hour mark. It’s amazing that these guys are playing so well after 5 hours of play.
· 4-3 Federer: Nadal plays an aggressive point and attacks the Federer backhand.
· 5-3 Federer: Is Nadal feeling the pressure? He misses a forehand pass wildly. It looked like he had time to set up for it and hit it by Federer, but instead commits the error.
· 5-4 Federer: An easy short ball for Federer, but he blows it. One gets the feeling that Nadal may capitalize on that mistake at this crucial time in the match.
· 5-5: Nadal was on top of Federer in the whole rally and eventually Federer mis-hits a forehand wide and long.
· 6-5 Nadal: Rafa takes his first lead in the breaker and it brings him to his first championship point. Federer missed a backhand return long. It was not a difficult shot for him to make.
· Game, Set, Match Nadal!: A Nadal shot lands right on the baseline during the rally and the crowd thinks it’s out. Federer hesitates, but Nadal doesn’t and he puts the next ball away to complete his comeback victory. It was simply an amazing fifth set – the kind you hope for in any major final. Rafa has now tied Vilas’ consecutive victory streak on clay at 53 matches. The time of the match: 5 hours and 5 minutes.
Quite simply, today’s final was an epic. The tennis in the first and fifth sets was the best, and Federer proved that he can compete with Nadal on clay. However, Nadal is the human embodiment of “refuse to lose”. When he was down a break in the fifth set at 1-4, he willed himself back into the match and he showed Federer that it would not be easy. Federer held match points, but couldn’t capitalize on them and that may haunt Roger for some time.
Federer’s game plan in this match was quite different from the one he employed in Monte Carlo. He eschewed his signature inside-out forehand in favor of going crosscourt to the Nadal backhand. That seemed to keep him in points longer and Nadal’s backhand isn’t nearly as difficult to deal with as his forehand. When the world’s number one chose to come to the net, he almost exclusively approached to the Nadal backhand. That strategy was highly effective when he was able to execute it.
However, he couldn’t execute it as much as required as Nadal managed to dictate enough of the play with his forehand when he needed it to turn the match in his favor. In the end, the King of Clay took out the Swiss Master for the third time this year and for the fifth time in their six career meetings. It was truly a final to remember and let’s hope that we can see a repeat at Roland Garros in June.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Friday Night Musings
Yankees – Red Sox
The Red Sox and Yankees hooked up for a 3 game set this week, and the boys in pinstripes not only lost two of three, they also came out of the series with some serious questions that need to be addressed if the team is to reach its potential.
What’s wrong with Randy Johnson? Is it mechanics? Age? Confidence? All of these? Whatever the reason, the Big Unit hasn’t been the dominant pitcher that the Yankees thought they acquired in 2005. He was supposed to be New York’s answer to the 2004 version of Curt Schilling, and while his record in ’05 was very respectable, his game performances weren’t the intimidating masterpieces that fans had come to expect from Johnson. It’s possible that the Yankees can be successful with another ’05-like campaign from RJ, but with recent injuries to Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield, there’s more pressure on the pitching staff to keep runs down.
Who is going to play in the outfield? Hideki Matsui may not return from his broken wrist this season. Gary Sheffield is nursing a wrist injury. Johnny Damon possibly re-injured his ailing shoulder. And the remaining options aren’t for everyday use: Bernie Williams, Bubba Crosby and Melky Cabrera. While Sheffield may return to the lineup soon, the loss of Matsui hurts the team both in the field and at bat. He wasn’t the greatest left fielder around, but he was capable and reasonably dependable defensively. His bat will be missed more and it opens up a gap in the Yankee batting order.
Can the pitching staff keep this team in games? Thus far, the starting pitching for the Bombers has been quite good. I believe they led the American League in ERA for the month of April. With that said, the pitching staff is somewhat schizophrenic. Starting pitching has performed a little better than expected, but middle relief has been extremely disappointing. Without the link between the starters and closer Mariano Rivera, the Yanks could have a very tough time winning a majority of the contests with their dreaded rivals, the Red Sox.
Rome Masters
The semifinal matchups are set for the Tennis Master Series event in Rome, Italy this week, and Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are on course to meet again in another final. Before that happens, Federer will have to successfully deal with one of his demons from the past, David Nalbandian of Argentina. Nalbandian defeated Federer in 5 sets in their last meeting at the 2005 year-end Master Series Cup final, and he has always played with confidence versus the world’s number one. Federer’s form in Rome has been a little spotty. On paper, his scores look dominant, but his performances haven’t been flawless. I thought he looked better in Monte Carlo and he's going to have to play much better to beat Nalbandian and likely finalist, Rafael Nadal.
As I write this, I’m watching the replay of Federer’s quarterfinal match with Nicolas Almagro of Spain. Almagro has the look of a rising star. He’s currently ranked 54, but he’s number 20 in this year’s points race. His game is fun to watch. He’s solid off of both sides with an especially impressive one-handed backhand. Federer had to go the distance to win the match 7-5 in the third. One gets the feeling that Almagro could do some damage at the French Open later this month.
The Americans have been conspicuously absent from the European clay court season and Rome saw Andy Roddick’s debut on the dirt. As a group, the American players seem to treat the clay court season as an exercise in futility. With so little preparation on the surface, there isn’t a single American player that will make an impression on the draw at Roland Garros. Roddick did manage to reach the quarterfinals in Rome, but his draw was surprisingly devoid of any clay court specialists; no one is going to confuse Greg Rusedski with Sergi Bruguera. Tennis’ A-Rod did show me a new wrinkle in his game this week: a loopy two-handed backhand that he used effectively to get the ball up high on his opponents. It was encouraging to see Andy try something different to turn his year around and I think the change is good. His backhand is a known weakness and anything he can do to take some pressure off of it will be good for his results. Unfortunately for him, he still has no chance of doing anything significant at the French Open.
Other Thoughts
· My sports viewing habits aren’t exactly mainstream and Thursday evening was a challenge. Should I watch game 3 of the Sox-Yanks series, men’s tennis from the ATP Masters Series Rome or the Copa Libertadores match between Libertad of Paraguay and River Plate of Argentina? I started off watching the tennis, but the matches on the card weren’t capturing my attention. I switched to Yankees-Sox, but every time I tuned in, something bad happened to the Yanks. Do you ever get the feeling that your team does better when you don’t watch? I tried to use that strategy last night, but it didn’t work. At about 8:30, the River Plate – Libertad match started and that was the best event of the night, especially the last 20 minutes of the game.
· Rumor has it that Tennis Channel founder and CEO Steve Bellamy will be leaving the network soon. What does that mean for the fate of the fledgling network? The answer to that is unknown, but if the network goes adios, it will result in a serious change in my television viewing habits.
· I’m getting psyched up for the World Cup in Germany this June. I hope to publish my own preview of the tournament over the coming weeks.
The Red Sox and Yankees hooked up for a 3 game set this week, and the boys in pinstripes not only lost two of three, they also came out of the series with some serious questions that need to be addressed if the team is to reach its potential.
What’s wrong with Randy Johnson? Is it mechanics? Age? Confidence? All of these? Whatever the reason, the Big Unit hasn’t been the dominant pitcher that the Yankees thought they acquired in 2005. He was supposed to be New York’s answer to the 2004 version of Curt Schilling, and while his record in ’05 was very respectable, his game performances weren’t the intimidating masterpieces that fans had come to expect from Johnson. It’s possible that the Yankees can be successful with another ’05-like campaign from RJ, but with recent injuries to Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield, there’s more pressure on the pitching staff to keep runs down.
Who is going to play in the outfield? Hideki Matsui may not return from his broken wrist this season. Gary Sheffield is nursing a wrist injury. Johnny Damon possibly re-injured his ailing shoulder. And the remaining options aren’t for everyday use: Bernie Williams, Bubba Crosby and Melky Cabrera. While Sheffield may return to the lineup soon, the loss of Matsui hurts the team both in the field and at bat. He wasn’t the greatest left fielder around, but he was capable and reasonably dependable defensively. His bat will be missed more and it opens up a gap in the Yankee batting order.
Can the pitching staff keep this team in games? Thus far, the starting pitching for the Bombers has been quite good. I believe they led the American League in ERA for the month of April. With that said, the pitching staff is somewhat schizophrenic. Starting pitching has performed a little better than expected, but middle relief has been extremely disappointing. Without the link between the starters and closer Mariano Rivera, the Yanks could have a very tough time winning a majority of the contests with their dreaded rivals, the Red Sox.
Rome Masters
The semifinal matchups are set for the Tennis Master Series event in Rome, Italy this week, and Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are on course to meet again in another final. Before that happens, Federer will have to successfully deal with one of his demons from the past, David Nalbandian of Argentina. Nalbandian defeated Federer in 5 sets in their last meeting at the 2005 year-end Master Series Cup final, and he has always played with confidence versus the world’s number one. Federer’s form in Rome has been a little spotty. On paper, his scores look dominant, but his performances haven’t been flawless. I thought he looked better in Monte Carlo and he's going to have to play much better to beat Nalbandian and likely finalist, Rafael Nadal.
As I write this, I’m watching the replay of Federer’s quarterfinal match with Nicolas Almagro of Spain. Almagro has the look of a rising star. He’s currently ranked 54, but he’s number 20 in this year’s points race. His game is fun to watch. He’s solid off of both sides with an especially impressive one-handed backhand. Federer had to go the distance to win the match 7-5 in the third. One gets the feeling that Almagro could do some damage at the French Open later this month.
The Americans have been conspicuously absent from the European clay court season and Rome saw Andy Roddick’s debut on the dirt. As a group, the American players seem to treat the clay court season as an exercise in futility. With so little preparation on the surface, there isn’t a single American player that will make an impression on the draw at Roland Garros. Roddick did manage to reach the quarterfinals in Rome, but his draw was surprisingly devoid of any clay court specialists; no one is going to confuse Greg Rusedski with Sergi Bruguera. Tennis’ A-Rod did show me a new wrinkle in his game this week: a loopy two-handed backhand that he used effectively to get the ball up high on his opponents. It was encouraging to see Andy try something different to turn his year around and I think the change is good. His backhand is a known weakness and anything he can do to take some pressure off of it will be good for his results. Unfortunately for him, he still has no chance of doing anything significant at the French Open.
Other Thoughts
· My sports viewing habits aren’t exactly mainstream and Thursday evening was a challenge. Should I watch game 3 of the Sox-Yanks series, men’s tennis from the ATP Masters Series Rome or the Copa Libertadores match between Libertad of Paraguay and River Plate of Argentina? I started off watching the tennis, but the matches on the card weren’t capturing my attention. I switched to Yankees-Sox, but every time I tuned in, something bad happened to the Yanks. Do you ever get the feeling that your team does better when you don’t watch? I tried to use that strategy last night, but it didn’t work. At about 8:30, the River Plate – Libertad match started and that was the best event of the night, especially the last 20 minutes of the game.
· Rumor has it that Tennis Channel founder and CEO Steve Bellamy will be leaving the network soon. What does that mean for the fate of the fledgling network? The answer to that is unknown, but if the network goes adios, it will result in a serious change in my television viewing habits.
· I’m getting psyched up for the World Cup in Germany this June. I hope to publish my own preview of the tournament over the coming weeks.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Champions Cup Boston
The Outback Champions Tour made a stop in the Boston area this weekend at the Bosse Sports Club in Sudbury, and by all accounts, the event was a big hit with both players and fans. The Champions Tour is made up of players who have participated in a Grand Slam final and/or have been ranked in the top 5 in the world. Former world number one and multiple Grand Slam winner Jim Courier is the driving force behind this tour, and other notable players are John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Goran Ivanisevic, Todd Martin, and Pat Cash, all of whom were present for the Champions Cup Boston event.
We decided to check out the action with another couple on Saturday night and beginning with our arrival on the grounds, we were thoroughly impressed with everything we encountered from the VIP tents and concessions, to the intimate setting of the venue, to the quality of the tennis. It was immediately obvious that this event was being run in a first-rate manner.
Before the match began, Wayne Bryan (father of the Bryan twins) got the crowd revved up for the arrival of Courier and Martin, and he also did the player introductions. Bryan has a great voice and the perfect personality for his role as ringmaster on this tour.
The quality of the match was high from the outset. Todd Martin is 6’6” and has a good first serve that he uses to help him dictate points. Martin would prefer not to be on the defensive in points as his movement on court is not a strength. Jim Courier is one of the most solid baseline players of the last 20 years. His main strengths are his inside-out forehand along with solid serving.
Early on in the match, Martin was moving around well and was making an impact on Courier’s serve. He was the beneficiary of a bad call at 2 all in the first set and went on to break Courier for a 3-2 lead. If there was one detraction for the entire event, it was the number of bad calls. Martin served well throughout the first set with several aces and he closed it out at 6-2.
In the first game of the second set, Martin had a couple of chances to break right away, but Courier held on to his serve. After he pulled that game out, we got the sense that Courier, one of the most tenaciously competitive players ever, was going to claw his way back into the match. The former world number one made an impression in several of Martin’s service games in the second set, but the tall man from Michigan managed to play the big points well and hold on to serve. Before the match, Courier had told TV commentators Leif Shiras and Jimmy Arias that he wanted to attack the Martin second serve, and we could see that he was trying that, but Martin wasn’t buckling under the pressure – not yet at least.
There were no breaks of serve in the second set, so it went to a tie-break to settle it. Martin took a 5-4 lead in the breaker, but threw in a double fault at that point. His sometimes shaky second serve failed him at the wrong time. That buoyed Courier’s hopes and he took the next 2 points to win the tie-break and the set. Martin had to be sick with himself as he had the match on his racquet with 2 service points at 5-4 ahead in the tie-break only to lose both of them.
To decide the match, a super tie-break is used in lieu of a third set. The format of the super tie-break is first player to reach 10 points with a margin of 2. Courier had the momentum going into the super tie-break and Martin had to pick up his spirits after blowing his late lead in the second set breaker.
The tennis in the super tie-break was exhilarating. Both players held match points at various times and Martin ended up triumphing with a 13-11 victory. The players received a thoroughly deserved standing ovation at the end. The quality of the tennis, the superb shot making, the rapport between the players and with the crowd all made the evening perfectly enjoyable for everyone involved. It was also great to be among so many friends from the New England tennis community.
Based on Boston’s reaction to this event, it’s hard to believe that some people think there isn’t a strong interest in tennis in the area. I think the players were impressed with the amount of support for the event and they appeared to be very appreciative of it. The fact that the event will be returning next year is very welcome news. My guess is that this will be a pretty tough ticket next year.
Other Thoughts
· We thoroughly enjoyed the television coverage on NESN HD with Leif Shiras and Jimmy Arias. We’re big fans of the under appreciated Arias as he has a great sense of humor that he incorporates into his top shelf analysis. We also enjoyed trying to find friends in the crowd as well as ourselves when we watched the taped broadcast of the Martin-Courier match.
· John McEnroe appears more cantankerous than ever. It’s hard to tell if that’s because he feels it’s expected as part of the entertainment or if he’s stalling and distracting his opponent simultaneously. Regardless, some of his behavior was rather boorish. We’ve never been fans of the mighty Mac, but his march to the final was impressive. He easily could have won the event and at 47 years old, that would have been remarkable indeed.
· It was nice to see Bud Collins taking in the action at the Bosse Sports Club. He had a nice article on the final in today’s Boston Globe.
We decided to check out the action with another couple on Saturday night and beginning with our arrival on the grounds, we were thoroughly impressed with everything we encountered from the VIP tents and concessions, to the intimate setting of the venue, to the quality of the tennis. It was immediately obvious that this event was being run in a first-rate manner.
Before the match began, Wayne Bryan (father of the Bryan twins) got the crowd revved up for the arrival of Courier and Martin, and he also did the player introductions. Bryan has a great voice and the perfect personality for his role as ringmaster on this tour.
The quality of the match was high from the outset. Todd Martin is 6’6” and has a good first serve that he uses to help him dictate points. Martin would prefer not to be on the defensive in points as his movement on court is not a strength. Jim Courier is one of the most solid baseline players of the last 20 years. His main strengths are his inside-out forehand along with solid serving.
Early on in the match, Martin was moving around well and was making an impact on Courier’s serve. He was the beneficiary of a bad call at 2 all in the first set and went on to break Courier for a 3-2 lead. If there was one detraction for the entire event, it was the number of bad calls. Martin served well throughout the first set with several aces and he closed it out at 6-2.
In the first game of the second set, Martin had a couple of chances to break right away, but Courier held on to his serve. After he pulled that game out, we got the sense that Courier, one of the most tenaciously competitive players ever, was going to claw his way back into the match. The former world number one made an impression in several of Martin’s service games in the second set, but the tall man from Michigan managed to play the big points well and hold on to serve. Before the match, Courier had told TV commentators Leif Shiras and Jimmy Arias that he wanted to attack the Martin second serve, and we could see that he was trying that, but Martin wasn’t buckling under the pressure – not yet at least.
There were no breaks of serve in the second set, so it went to a tie-break to settle it. Martin took a 5-4 lead in the breaker, but threw in a double fault at that point. His sometimes shaky second serve failed him at the wrong time. That buoyed Courier’s hopes and he took the next 2 points to win the tie-break and the set. Martin had to be sick with himself as he had the match on his racquet with 2 service points at 5-4 ahead in the tie-break only to lose both of them.
To decide the match, a super tie-break is used in lieu of a third set. The format of the super tie-break is first player to reach 10 points with a margin of 2. Courier had the momentum going into the super tie-break and Martin had to pick up his spirits after blowing his late lead in the second set breaker.
The tennis in the super tie-break was exhilarating. Both players held match points at various times and Martin ended up triumphing with a 13-11 victory. The players received a thoroughly deserved standing ovation at the end. The quality of the tennis, the superb shot making, the rapport between the players and with the crowd all made the evening perfectly enjoyable for everyone involved. It was also great to be among so many friends from the New England tennis community.
Based on Boston’s reaction to this event, it’s hard to believe that some people think there isn’t a strong interest in tennis in the area. I think the players were impressed with the amount of support for the event and they appeared to be very appreciative of it. The fact that the event will be returning next year is very welcome news. My guess is that this will be a pretty tough ticket next year.
Other Thoughts
· We thoroughly enjoyed the television coverage on NESN HD with Leif Shiras and Jimmy Arias. We’re big fans of the under appreciated Arias as he has a great sense of humor that he incorporates into his top shelf analysis. We also enjoyed trying to find friends in the crowd as well as ourselves when we watched the taped broadcast of the Martin-Courier match.
· John McEnroe appears more cantankerous than ever. It’s hard to tell if that’s because he feels it’s expected as part of the entertainment or if he’s stalling and distracting his opponent simultaneously. Regardless, some of his behavior was rather boorish. We’ve never been fans of the mighty Mac, but his march to the final was impressive. He easily could have won the event and at 47 years old, that would have been remarkable indeed.
· It was nice to see Bud Collins taking in the action at the Bosse Sports Club. He had a nice article on the final in today’s Boston Globe.
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