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Tennis things to get excited about in 2014
Can Goran make Marin into a Wimbledon champion? (thanks to newballs.wordpress. com) 2014 is 2 days old already and thetennisreview looks at what tennis fans have to get excited about in 2014.
1. How will the legend coaches and their charges work out?
Becker and Djokovic, Edberg and Federer, Ivanisevic and Cilic were the three coach-player combos announced pre-2014. Three very different scenarios but all intriguing.
Ivansivic and Cilic makes the most sense, both being from Croatia and both having the serve as their signature shot. Can Ivanisevic take all the potential Cilic has and produce a Major trophy?
Edberg and Federer, a legend-uber legend combo-is the next most logical one. Edberg was Federer’s childhood idol and Federer began his career with a serve and volley style. If Edberg can encourage him to go back to that style there might be a sweet twilight to Federer’s career.
Then we have Becker and Djokovic, which makes no sense at all if we think about compatibility. The only thing they have in common, and quite the thing it is, is six Majors each. Gamewise, they could not be more different. Becker was a serve and volleyer who played his best tennis on fast courts, Djokovic is an aggressive grinder who has his best results on the medium slow courts in Australia. Perhaps Becker will encourage Djokovic to play more aggressively as he did back in ’11 or he may do some much needed work on Djokovic’s mental strength which has declined since his 3 Major title winning season. Becker though was hardly a mental giant. How this duo pan out could go either way, but whichever way it goes, it is going to be very, very interesting.2. Faster tennis courts.
Hordes of tennis fans have been lamenting the slowing down of tennis surfaces for a while now and their complaints have finally been listened to. The Australian Open courts will play faster and the tournament will use faster balls. A change met by Nadal with the comment that he thought tournament referee Craig Tiley was his friend. While this move may be too late for serve and volley to make a come back any time soon, seeing players move to the net will at least make for far more entertaining matches in the meanwhile.3. The return of Sharapova.
Another bout of that shoulder injury has seen Sharapova off court since that defeat to Sloane Stephens in Cincinnati, the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it partnership with Connors and her failed attempt to change her name to Sugarpova for the US Open. ’14 has many questions for Maria, chief among them being how she will fare against Serena. 2013 saw another slew of defeats to her nemesis and having achieved pretty much everything there is to achieve in tennis, the Serena question is the one she has not been able to answer since that Melbourne loss in ’05, and threatens, as a talking point, to take center stage over her many accomplishments. Can she get that first victory in nine years? As one of the game’s hardest workers, you can guarantee that the Russian will do everything she can do answer that question with a yes.4. Can Serena get into the GOAT debate?
With 17 Majors on her tally at the end of ’13, one more and she has the same number as Evert and Navratilova, two women central in the GOAT debate. With Serena at number one, fit and the big threat at every Major, 2014 could be the year she gets into the thick of it, too.5. The Nadal and Djokovic rivalry.
This one twists and turns and the Australian Open, where they had that epic ’12 final, will hopefully add another exciting chapter to what has become men’s tennis’ biggest rivalry.6. What will Dimitrov do next?
Ending ’13 with a title in Stockholm, beating world number 3 Ferrer in the final, the next big thing seems to be getting bigger and better. Going into the season ranked 23, Dimitrov’s next breakthrough would be to get into the top 16 and make the fourth round of a Major. With high expectations and all the pressure the tennis world can heap on him, 2014 is a big burden expectation wise for the Bulgarian but one we will think he will have no problems shouldering.7. Stanislas Wawrinka.
It is always worth getting excited about Stanislas Wawrinka. That backhand was the highlight in some of the best matches in ’13, a season which saw the Swiss move up a gear, making his first Major semi in New York. Could ’14 be the year Stan challenges for a Slam?8. What next for Del Potro?
’13 brought him a Wimbledon semi and some big victories over Djokovic, Murray and Nadal. Since that ’09 wrist injury, Delpo has been slowly returning to the stature of the ’09 US Open winner he was. Could ’14 be the year he gets himself into the two time Major winner category? -
Top ten of tennis 2013
Nadal celebrates his 2013 US Open win (thanks to pokerstarsblog.com) 1. Nadal’s comeback
Rafael Nadal missed 7 months of tennis from July ’12- February ’13 and tennis missed him. But he certainly made up for his absence, coming back to dominate the 2013 season. Titles in Mexico and Brazil on clay were no surprise but few expected him to win the Indian Wells trophy. That win was an indicator that Nadal’s ’13 was not going to be all about the Clay. While he did clean up there, winning Rome, Madrid and Roland Garros, the Spaniard recovered from a first round exit in Wimbledon to win Montreal, Cincinnati and the US Open, finishing the season at number one for the third time in his career.2. Serena’s clay court season
Serena Williams does not have anything to prove. But time and time again her demons drive her on and she comes out playing like she does. Those demons in this context being that 2012 first round loss to Razzano in Paris. And what she proved in ’13, winning clay titles in Charleston, Rome, Madrid, Roland Garros and Bstaad, is how close she is to being in the mix in the Greatest women’s player of all time debate. With another gap filled on her CV, a gap of repeated clay court prowess, a gap many argued meant her claims to GOAT were shaky, Serena once again shook the tennis world up.3. Wawrinka versus Djokovic Australian open fourth round.
The year’s stand out match. We all knew Wawrinka had it in him to challenge the top four. We just did not expect him to do it in such fine, courageous style on a surface on which his opponent Novak Djokovic has proven himself to be the very best. And serving two sets to one and a break up, it looked like Wawrinka might do more than merely challenge the Serbian in the last sixteen in Melbourne. In a battle which pitched single handed backhands against double, a will to move forward versus the most dogged back-court game in the business and possibility versus certainty, the world number one won a match which laughed at the idea of losers.4. Bartoli’s Wimbldon win
Who predicted this? No one of course predicted lots of things about Wimbledon ’13 but Bartoli’s win was the thing that got our jaws dropping in a fortnight of jaw-droppers. Bartoli came through a ravaged draw to make the final for the second time and took advantage of her experience losing to Venus in ’07 and of a nervous, tearful Lisicki. Bartoli attacked, kept the ball in play and kept her mind in check to win the title and thump an exclamation mark on an extraordinary career at an equally extraordinary Wimbledon.5. Del Potro vs Djokovic Wimbledon semi-finals.
There is something very beguiling about Del Potro. It is the way the 6’6′ star looks like he is about to fall asleep standing up only to suddenly explode into movement to rescue a ball that looks to be out of reach and then blasts a forehand winner. The man has power, wings and charm in abundance and had the center court cheering for him as he came back in the fourth set to take the match of the tournament to a decider. While Djokovic edged out the contest, Del Potro edged him out in the popularity stakes, and a center court crowd behind him might see Del Potro one day go much further than a gallant last four exit.6. Murray’s Wimbledon win.
The first Brit to win since Perry, Murray kept his head when all about were losing theirs. Verdasco could not finish him, Janowicz lacked the experience and Djokovic was out of gas after a grueling first half of the season. The stars lined up for Murray and with everyone doing their bit, the crowd in particular who were as loud and boisterous as bagpipes, Murray made sure he did his, too. Playing as consistently as a world number three does, keeping his temper in check and taking his chances, Murray did British tennis all it could ask of him, and with a coolness and charm that was actually a little bit more than we deserved.7. Gasquet vs Wawrinka French open last sixteen.
Fan of single handed backhands? If you can find this match, put it on play, and then on replay. Back and forth the momentum went, but the quality of play never dipped. Two players of enormous potential but yet to deliver battling it out on the game’s most demanding surface on which their single handed backhanders sat up ready to be flaired back in a ‘you-show-me-yours-and-I’ll-show-you-mine’ contest that had everything a tennis match could have with a heart that went unmatched in ’13.8. Robredo’s comeback.
Tommy Robredo fought his way through the Roland Garros draw to the last eight with the steel one would expect of a man who did not allow a knee injury, a fall out of the world’s top 100 and turning 30 get in the way of another Grand Slam quarter-final. Winning five setters against Monfils, Sisling and Amalgro, Robredo’s emotional reactions to his comeback wins were real tinglers. His season just kept getting more tingly, too, with a title in Umag and a superbly thought out victory over Federer in the US Open fourth round.9. Isner vs Haas French Open.
Two of the game’s biggest stylists put on a show in the early rounds of Roland Garros, going 10-8 in the fifth in favor of the German. Isner has put his clinical big serve and forehand game to great effect on the red stuff and Haas has every shot in the book and some that did not quite make it into the final edit. Put these two styles together and add the fight both these men put into every match and you have a captivating contest which carved its way into the long list of all time great Roland Garros duels.10. Venus in the first rounds of Majors.
Check out Venus’ matches versus Ulla Radwanska in the first round of Roland Garros and Jie Zheng in New York to see Venus showcasing how Champions go down fighting. -
Missing: Tennis indoor season.
Becker and Sampras after their classic Frankfurt encounter in 1996 (thanks to bleacherreport.com) Missing: Tennis indoor season
Missing since mid 2000s. Fast, fun and attractive part of tennis season much missed by tennis fans. Please send any information of whereabouts to…..The tennis indoor season was once an unmissable part of the tennis calender. It meant something. Being good indoors was a vital part of the legacy of players of the likes of Lendl, McEnroe, Sampras, Edberg, Becker, Federer, too. On the women’s side Navratilova, Evert, Graf and Hingis all thrived on the surface.
It seperated the great from the good in many ways. Being great indoors meant being a great tennis player in the classic sense. Indoors rewarded aggressive minded players with touch at the net and the ability to do something sudden and surprising to catch your opponent off guard. Indoors, such players could show off their skills against more pedestrian tennis talents.
Tournaments on the ATP such as Stuttgart and Essen had five set finals that saw classic matches of the ilk of Becker and Sampras in the mid 90s, exciting precursors to the WTF. The women had Linz, Zurich and Phildelphia before the 16 player draw YEC in NYC. The top players turned up, crowds piled in and it all added up to a season finale that made sense.
That has all changed now. The season has got more brutal, the surfaces are homogenized with matches taking longer than ever, the media pressure at the top is a beast of a circus, and by the time the US Open is done, so are most of the players.
A short trip to Asia followed by the damp squib that is the European season, where the courts are likened to blue clay rather than the ice-rinks of the 90s, is anything but an enticing prospect to the already rich and well fed tennis stars of the 2000s. Top players don’t show up and most of those that do, conditioned to baseline slugging the rest of the season, don’t know how to play on the slow but still fast for post-modern tennis surface.
Had it not been for Djokovic working out that some net approaches here and there would allow him to go a 22 match winning streak and Serena just being so much better than the rest anyway, this year’s indoor season would have been a disaster. Thanks to those two we at least have the suspense of whether Djokovic will go on a similar tear in his beloved Melbourne and North American hardcourts and whether or not Serena will fulfill her potential as the Greatest player of all time on the women’s side.
But it would be much better if we were left to discuss those great indoor finals or which player is the greatest indoors. It would be better if the indoor season made sense, say it were located in one geographical region and the end tournaments were 32 player draws and the players cared. But that is not going to happen in a sport that year after year puts money before tennis and each year a little piece of its soul goes missing, just as the indoor season has.
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Time for Tomas Berdych to step up
Could that famous forehand be a match winner for Berdych in tomorrow’s Davis Cup match against Djokovic? (thanks to stevegtennis.com) Tomorrow Tomas Berdych has a chance to win the Davis Cup for the Czech Republic for the second consecutive year.
How much of a chance will depend on how he copes with Novak Djokovic. Of the 16 times they have played, he has only coped with him twice. But one of those times was this year in Rome when Berdych came back from a a set down.
Berdych will also have to deal with the Serbian crowd. In Serbia, Djokovic is a superstar and Berdych will have 15,000 opponents plus 1 in Belgrade.
A tall order for a tall man. But an order he can deliver. Djokivic is a match up issue for Berdych, true. The Sebian’s retrieving skills frustrate him into errors and exploit his inferior movement. But the surface is hard, Berydch’s best, and it is best of five sets, so Berdych has time to play himself into the match and capitalize if the timing on his forehand is on and he can keep his serve percentage high.
Berdych will also know Djokovic is on a 23 match winning streak since late September and while he may be the game’s fittest player, he is human. Mentally he will be reserving all he has until he can collapse post Davis Cup, but if Berdych can get under his skin and shake him up a little, he has a chance.
It is a chance he will do well to take. If he can win the Davis Cup for the Czechs, it would be a real confidence booster; the kind of boost the perennially ranked mid top ten player needs to make the breakthrough into the Major Winner’s circle his game is worthy of.
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Djokovic wins WTF 2013
Jubilant Djokovic celebrates 2013 WTF title (Thanks to BBC.co.uk) Novak Djokovic has won the WTF 2013, beating world number 1 Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4.
The Serbian got off to a quick start, leading 3-0.
But Nadal, who has never won the WTF, fought his way back into the match with his retrieving athleticism.
Nadal’s serve though was not good enough against the game’s best returner. Djokovic, on a 21 match winning streak since Beijing, won another streak of 3 games to take the first set 6-3.
Playing at the net, making 19 approaches in all compared to 6 from Nadal, and coping well with the low bounce, the world number 2 then broke early in the second.
And while Nadal managed to hold his serve for the remainder of the match, Djokovic was too solid and served out for the match at 5-4.
A Nadal forehand error on match point saw Djokovic win his third WTF title and his fourth tournament in a row indoors.
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Rafael Nadal is the ATP 2013 Year End Number One
Nadal raises his finger back in the summer to show who is number One on the ATP (thanks to rogerfedererfans.com) Spain’s Rafael Nadal has clinched the 2013 year end number one ranking. The 28 year old, who also held the top spot at the end of 2008 and 2010, achieved the feat by beating Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6, 7-6 in his second match at the ATP WTF in London.
Nadal did not get the number one ranking easily. Wawrinka pushed him all the way in a tight match, his backhand and net play threatening at times to overwhelm the defensive Nadal. But at the crucial stages of both sets, Nadal played more aggressively, particularly on his forehand.
A clearly tired Nadal was jubilant after taking the match, the year end number one confirming what we all knew: no one played better than Nadal in 2013.
Majors in Paris and NYC, five masters titles in Indian Wells, Madrid, Rome, Montreal and Cincinnati, and titles in Barcelona, Sao Paulo and Acapulco, and head to head leads over main rivals Federer and Djokovic mean it will go down as one of the great number one seasons regardless of his first round Wimbledon defeat.
The next task for the Spaniard is to win his first WTF title. There would be no better way to punctuate the great comeback 2013 has been.
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Opening WTF match reviews
Can Nadal take the pressure in London as he bids to end the year as number one (thanks to nadalnews.com) With the 8 players having made their debuts, The tennis review looks at the matches, the performances and predicts what will happen next.
Match 1: Wawrinka defeats Berdych
Wawrinka looked to have the match sewn up as he led by a set and was a tiebreak away from victory. But Berdych, who seems to save his best tennis for the breakers, played his best tennis of the match to seal it 7-0. That was the Czech’s peak though as his ground game broke down in the third as it had done for much of the match and the Swiss’ backhand proved too much.Match 2: Del Potro defeats Gasquet.
Gasquet certainly got under the 2009 finalist’s skin. Del Potro survived the test though to squeeze through a 7-5 third set, breaking in the 11th game, his groundstrokes too big for the Frenchman in the end.Match 3: Nadal defeats Ferrer.
Ferrer’s Parisian exploits got the better off him, leaving him a shadow of the man who had beaten Nadal so convincingly indoors the week before. While Ferrer put up a good fight at the start of the match, once Nadal got into his stride and found the very slow Indoor surface to his liking, the result was never in doubt.Djokovic defeats Federer.
For the first two thirds of the first set, Federer was the better player, his game coming to life at a tournament that inspires him. But at the end of the first set, too many errors brought about his downfall. The swiss came to life again in the second, his backhand and net game seeing him edge the breaker. But a letdown at the start of the third saw Djokovic inch ahead and then break away to take the third 6-2 and keep in the hunt for the year end number one position.Predictions.
Nadal versus Wawrinka.
Wawrinka is not a force indoors and these courts seem designed for Nadal. Nadal also knows if he wins this match he will have the year end number one. Nadal to win in straights.Ferrer versus Berdych.
Ferrer is tired, Berdych is in poor form. It is going to be a horrorshow. This match up favors Ferrer to the tune of 7-3 and his recent good form should see him edge this one.Federer versus Gasquet
Federer played as well as he he has done this season in his opening match and should have enough to see off Gasquet. Expect the frenchman to be inspired and to do all he can to get the upset but Federer should come through this in 3 sets.Djokovic versus Del Potro.
This could all depend on whether or not Nadal beats Wawrinka and gets the number one. If Nadal is number one, Del Potro had a chance here. But if Novak is still a contender for Year end number one, the match is likely to go his way. The match up has favored him more often than not so expect him to win in 3. -
Serena’s 2013: her best season ever?
Serena caps off her best ever season with the YEC title (thanks to wtafans.blogspot.com) Anyone watching Serena trail 2-6, 3-3 against Li Na in the WTA YEC final and concluding it was curtains for the American’s title defence would have been taught a lesson in perserverance, will and survival by the 31 year old.
It would have been one of many similar lessons Serena has taught tennis viewers over the years. Serena’s comeback, a run of 9 games, to win her the title was yet another example of her capability to turn things around when the odds were against her. For anyone who had forgotten her 2002-03 seasons, her runs to the 2005 and 2007 Australian Open titles, her 2008 US Open title and her 2012 Wimbledon victory, then her 2013 YEC crown was a reminder.
Serena has to keep reminding us, you see. Time and time again she has been written off as a player who could have been the best. But her 2013 season changed that.
After a stellar 2012 season, and a great start to ’13 which saw her take the Brisbane title, her quarter final loss to Sloane Stephens in the Australian Open and then her loss in the Doha final to Azarenka had people muttering it was same old, same old. A great season not built upon. For Serena’s career has been characterised by stops and starts. After her breakout win in 1999 in NYC, Serena suffered a 2 season sophomore slump. After a Miami 2002-Wimbledon 2003 run which saw the Serena slam and had people shouting Greatest ever, injury and family tragedy saw her go slamless until Melbourne ’05. More injuries followed, her ranking fell out of the top 100 and it was two years before another slam, perhaps the greatest comeback slam of all time in Melbourne ’07. More injuries kept her out the winner’s circle until the US Open 2008. Finally she had some momentum, collecting Majors all the way to Wimbledon ’10. But after a foot injury which culminated in Serena nearly dying of a pulmonary embolism, Serena was out until Eastbourne ’11 and did not win another Major until Wimbledon ’12.
So, fans and critics may have been forgiven for thinking Serena was due another slump in her career after her Melbourne defeat and the injury she suffered in that match. And with age also creeping up on her and her least successful Major coming up, the odds seemed once again heavily stacked against her. Serena though, as usual, had other ideas. Coming from a set down to beat Sharapova in the Miami final for her second title of the season, Serena then honed her game to thrive on clay, piing up the titles in Charleston, Rome and Madrid on her way to her second Roland Garros title. It was a run which took it out of her though, a fourth round defeat to Lisicki, losing when 3-0 up in the third, proof that age and a game overhaul that focused on point construction over first strike tennis, had taken their toll.
Serena once again picked herself up, taking her first International title in Bastaad. She then won the Montreal title and then shrugged off her second hard court final loss to Azarenka to beat the Belorussian in a hard fought three set US Open final. It was her 17th Major of her career. One behind Navratilova and Evert.
The titles did not stop there. Winning in Beijing and Istanbul meant that with 11 titles, including 2 slams, 1 YEC, and 3 Premier Mandatories, Serena ended the season as the overwhelming number 1 and with a win-loss ratio of 78-4, a 95.1% winning percentage, the highest since 1990. Taking into account 2 other finals, a 28-0 record on clay and a career high winning streak of 34 matches, and you have what could be Serena’s best season ever. While she may have won an extra slam in ’02, she ‘only’ had a 56-5 record and won ‘only’ 8 titles.
With 1 Major title left to place her equal with the 18 Major tally of Navratilova and Evert, Serena’s 2014 season, could put her in the debate. Hold on. Did I not learn my lesson again? Erase that could. It should read will.
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Dimitrov wins first title in Stockholm
Dimitrov kisses his first trophy (thanks to fr.scoresway.com_ Grigor Dimitrov has beaten David Ferrer 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to claim his first career title in Stockholm.
The Bulgarian recovered from losing the first set against the world number four. Making the most of the range of shots available to him on his single handed backhand, he went on to take the second set.
Fighting off break points in the early stages of the third, the seventh seed went on to put pressure on the Ferrer serve at 3-3. It was pressure well-applied: the Spaniard double faulted on break point.
The Bulgarian then employed both his backhand, much improved defense and some fine aggressive tennis at key moments to serve for the match at 5-4.
The Bulgarian managed to hold steady, withstanding Ferrer’s consistency and controlled aggression to take the match on his first match point as Ferrer made an error.
Overwhelmed, the Bulgaria fell on his back, his breakthrough victory taken care of.
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Is Dimitrov ready to take his first title?
Grigor Dimitrov working that famous backhand (thanks to adn.com)
This afternoon Grigor Dimitrov will play David Ferrer for the Stockholm ATP 250 title. It is the second final of the 22 year old’s career, coming after his appearance in the Brisbane final at the start of the season. The question is at the tail end of his best season yet, is he ready to take the next step and win his first title?In the Brisbane final the Bulgarian lost to Andy Murray. But there was no shame in defeat. His career trajectory, one predicted by many to rise sharply, was going in the right direction. Losing to a Major champion on his favourite surface in your first final was a rite of passage many a predicted great has gone through.
A defeat to Benneauteau in the first round of Melbourne was no shame, either. The Frenchman, ranked a few places higher at 38 than Dimitrov is an accomplished veteran.
As the season progressed, so did Dimitrov and his defeats to the top ranked players grew closer. While there was no doubt he had the game, his inexperience accounted for his missed chances against the likes of Murray and Djokovic in the spring North American Master’s events.
Then, in the clay season, the trajectory rose sharply. In Monte Carlo, he took his second top ten scalp over Tipsarevic before losing to Nadal in three. A couple of weeks later in Madrid, he claimed his biggest win yet as he beat Novak Djokovic in three thrilling and tear-filled sets in the third round.
His progress did not peak there. At Roland Garros, he reached his furthest round in a Major by making the last 32, though he lost tamely under black clouds to Djokovic. Then he shrugged off a second round defeat 11-9 in the third to Zemlja in SW19 to make the semis in Bastaad, the quarters in Washington and the last 32 of Cincinnati where he took a set of Nadal.
While three first round defeats in New York, Beijing and Shanghai halted his progress, his run to the final in Stockholm suggest the slide was only short. Beating Paire in the semis, he recovered from a set down against a highly skilled opponent, improving his first percentage by more than 20 percent into the 70s, increasing his winners and cutting down his errors.
His final opponent, Ferrer, is the world number four and has a 3-0 head to head lead over him so a defeat will not be unexpected. But this will be very much a final pitting the older generation against the one in waiting and a victory would go some way to affirming the potential many believe Dimitrov has.
For Dimitrov, who has all the skills to beat Ferrer indoors, it is chance to make the next step and prove that the hype around the former junior number 1 and Wimbledon and US Open champ is anything but.
Tennis from a fan's point of view
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