This was a brilliant contrast between the serve/volleyer Yannick Noah and the Swede Kent Carlsson. The tennis was fun to watch and the fashions were very sexy as well.
Del 2
Del 3
Del 4
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Last Chance Saloon in Bercy
Bercy
Here it is the last TMS event of the year in Bercy, which used to suffer from chronic withdrawals, but this hasn’t been as bad as in previous years. This is possibly due to the finals being reduced to the best of 3 sets, the changing of the surface from carpet to an indoor hardcourt, but the most important thing is that there is a financial reward for competing in all of the TMS events.
Gasquet has withdrawn from this event, this isn’t a surprise and probably a wise move, no point going through the motions especially in front of the French crowd, who don’t need any reason to boo. Time to fuck off for the year and come back next year, as for Richie, well the boulevard of broken dreams and shattered potential is a busy one, not saying he has prime real estate on that street yet.
Federer and Davydenko have been rumoured to be withdrawing from this event, though the financial incentive might be enough to prevent this.
This event pretty much is Last Chance Saloon to get a gig at the TMC, luckily Federer, Nadal, Murray, Djokovic and Davydenko don’t have to worry about this, so that leaves players like Ferrer who not surprisingly hasn’t been playing as well as last year. Roddick who will probably sneak in, the TMC wouldn’t be any poorer for his absence, except that Federer wouldn’t have the chance to extend his head to head record against him.
Del Potro has been the form player along with Murray in the second part of the season, it would be good personally if he made Shanghai, but looking ahead to the Davis Cup, it might be beneficial, if he didn’t go to Shanghai.
As for what will happen, probably a strange finalist, but as long as Simple Simon doesn’t make Shanghai, then all good.
Here it is the last TMS event of the year in Bercy, which used to suffer from chronic withdrawals, but this hasn’t been as bad as in previous years. This is possibly due to the finals being reduced to the best of 3 sets, the changing of the surface from carpet to an indoor hardcourt, but the most important thing is that there is a financial reward for competing in all of the TMS events.
Gasquet has withdrawn from this event, this isn’t a surprise and probably a wise move, no point going through the motions especially in front of the French crowd, who don’t need any reason to boo. Time to fuck off for the year and come back next year, as for Richie, well the boulevard of broken dreams and shattered potential is a busy one, not saying he has prime real estate on that street yet.
Federer and Davydenko have been rumoured to be withdrawing from this event, though the financial incentive might be enough to prevent this.
This event pretty much is Last Chance Saloon to get a gig at the TMC, luckily Federer, Nadal, Murray, Djokovic and Davydenko don’t have to worry about this, so that leaves players like Ferrer who not surprisingly hasn’t been playing as well as last year. Roddick who will probably sneak in, the TMC wouldn’t be any poorer for his absence, except that Federer wouldn’t have the chance to extend his head to head record against him.
Del Potro has been the form player along with Murray in the second part of the season, it would be good personally if he made Shanghai, but looking ahead to the Davis Cup, it might be beneficial, if he didn’t go to Shanghai.
As for what will happen, probably a strange finalist, but as long as Simple Simon doesn’t make Shanghai, then all good.
The Week that was (Federer, Nalbandian, Söderling and Luczak)
The Week That Was
Onto the stuff that happened on the court this week. I am not really sure about writing something like this, but anyway here goes.
The indoor season isn’t a personal favourite, but it has its own mystique and differing conditions. Indoors definitely helps the brainless ball bashers, because they are able to get into a rhythm a lot easier and don’t need to worry about the wind and the sun or other elements getting in their way.
The race for the Shanghai Surprise in other words the Tennis Masters Cup is on, so that aspect where the players are whoring themselves out and playing too many weeks in a row to get those final few spots is amusing enough, at the same time being an alternate for the event does have an excellent payday.
Roger Federer won Basel for the third time, never in doubt that he would be peaking for Basel and yes while it has less points than Madrid or Bercy, there is no doubt that he values Basel higher than the 2 indoor TMS events. This will always be a factor, especially since he is a local boy, FC Basel fan ( they got smoked badly by Barca, King Oscar would have loved that) and that he was a bellboy at the event.
Federer should withdraw from Bercy, he has had enough matches for the year and should be ready for Shanghai, though he could always be a mercenary, take the cash for appearing at all 9 TMS events and then tank, unlike Davydenko he wouldn’t get fined for that, well not now.
Losing finalist David Nalbandian, who is getting ready for the Davis Cup final and has his sights focused on that and using these events as a way of getting some rhythm for that event. Federer and Nalbandian matches have an interesting dynamic, there is a respect there, at the same time Nalle doesn’t kiss Federer’s arse and asks for an autograph while he is on the court, that attitude has helped him in their matches.
Federer hasn’t forgotten leaving the court in Basel in tears when he Tim Henman and Nalbandian defeated him there, that alone will spur him on to peak for Basel, though he should focus on Davis Cup a bit more.
In Lyon Robin “the Toad” Söderling finally a broke a title drought of a few years, by winning in Lyon, it’s the second time he has won there and the other was in Milan. He lost finals to Llodra and Darcis when he was clearly the favourite.
The Toad has been working with Magnus Norman since he and Peter Carlsson went separate ways, it seems to be working quite well at the moment. Norman has a very good eye for the game and was definitely a hard worker, something that Söderling needs. There have been suggestions that he is a cheaper and uglier version of Thomas Enqvist. I can see the similarities, both hit the ball hard off both sides, have slightly unconventional strokes, love playing under a roof, lacking in mobility and also variety in their games, it’s pretty obvious what is coming, but the skill is to be able to adapt to it. The differences are Söderling is better on the clay and gives his forehand more topspin, but Enqvist was better at Grand Slam level.
Söderling has become a member of the top 20, it was never about the talent and the ball striking for him, it’s more about the poor mental toughness he has shown at times, when things don’t go his way.
Murray defended St. Petersburg, which is a Challenger field with almost a million dollars.
Vassallo Arguello won the Buenos Aires Challenger over Ramirez- Hidalgo and is back in the top 100 with that victory. Sergio Roitman finally won back to back matches for the first time in ages and needs a good result before he can make Melbourne.
Last of all congrats to Peter Luczak for an excellent run of form, this is a guy who deserves it, one of the hardest workers and even more important he is a great individual and that is something that the ATP ranking doesn’t measure.
Onto the stuff that happened on the court this week. I am not really sure about writing something like this, but anyway here goes.
The indoor season isn’t a personal favourite, but it has its own mystique and differing conditions. Indoors definitely helps the brainless ball bashers, because they are able to get into a rhythm a lot easier and don’t need to worry about the wind and the sun or other elements getting in their way.
The race for the Shanghai Surprise in other words the Tennis Masters Cup is on, so that aspect where the players are whoring themselves out and playing too many weeks in a row to get those final few spots is amusing enough, at the same time being an alternate for the event does have an excellent payday.
Roger Federer won Basel for the third time, never in doubt that he would be peaking for Basel and yes while it has less points than Madrid or Bercy, there is no doubt that he values Basel higher than the 2 indoor TMS events. This will always be a factor, especially since he is a local boy, FC Basel fan ( they got smoked badly by Barca, King Oscar would have loved that) and that he was a bellboy at the event.
Federer should withdraw from Bercy, he has had enough matches for the year and should be ready for Shanghai, though he could always be a mercenary, take the cash for appearing at all 9 TMS events and then tank, unlike Davydenko he wouldn’t get fined for that, well not now.
Losing finalist David Nalbandian, who is getting ready for the Davis Cup final and has his sights focused on that and using these events as a way of getting some rhythm for that event. Federer and Nalbandian matches have an interesting dynamic, there is a respect there, at the same time Nalle doesn’t kiss Federer’s arse and asks for an autograph while he is on the court, that attitude has helped him in their matches.
Federer hasn’t forgotten leaving the court in Basel in tears when he Tim Henman and Nalbandian defeated him there, that alone will spur him on to peak for Basel, though he should focus on Davis Cup a bit more.
In Lyon Robin “the Toad” Söderling finally a broke a title drought of a few years, by winning in Lyon, it’s the second time he has won there and the other was in Milan. He lost finals to Llodra and Darcis when he was clearly the favourite.
The Toad has been working with Magnus Norman since he and Peter Carlsson went separate ways, it seems to be working quite well at the moment. Norman has a very good eye for the game and was definitely a hard worker, something that Söderling needs. There have been suggestions that he is a cheaper and uglier version of Thomas Enqvist. I can see the similarities, both hit the ball hard off both sides, have slightly unconventional strokes, love playing under a roof, lacking in mobility and also variety in their games, it’s pretty obvious what is coming, but the skill is to be able to adapt to it. The differences are Söderling is better on the clay and gives his forehand more topspin, but Enqvist was better at Grand Slam level.
Söderling has become a member of the top 20, it was never about the talent and the ball striking for him, it’s more about the poor mental toughness he has shown at times, when things don’t go his way.
Murray defended St. Petersburg, which is a Challenger field with almost a million dollars.
Vassallo Arguello won the Buenos Aires Challenger over Ramirez- Hidalgo and is back in the top 100 with that victory. Sergio Roitman finally won back to back matches for the first time in ages and needs a good result before he can make Melbourne.
Last of all congrats to Peter Luczak for an excellent run of form, this is a guy who deserves it, one of the hardest workers and even more important he is a great individual and that is something that the ATP ranking doesn’t measure.
Federico Luzzi dies of leukemia
Federico Luzzi dies of leukemia
In some very sad news Italian player Federico Luzzi died at the age of 28 on Saturday night. Luzzi thought he had bronchitis, but when the doctors did tests on him, he had a very advanced form of leukemia, which could not be treated and he died after playing his last match in Sardinia 6 days ago.
Luzzi was definitely a character, he did things his own way. He was suspended for betting on matches, by the ATP, these weren’t significant amounts of money, it was over a sustained period of time, where the ATP was all smoke and mirrors. In other words making out like they were trying to do something about the gambling problem, but the reality is they weren’t.
Then there was the fight he and Daniel Koellerer had at a Challenger after the match. Both of these guys were fairly feisty on court and would express themselves and sometimes wind up the opponent, but that is professional sport. Unlike many others, they continued it after the match, then both of them were suspended.
Luzzi mostly played on the Challenger circuit, but played a few times on the main tour. He played against Gaston Gaudio in Buenos Aires in an entertaining match and he was appreciated by the crowd on and off the court for his interview after the match.
28 years old is too young to leave the world and hopefully his best friend Potito Starace can remain strong in these difficult times. It’s important for the family and friends of Luzzi to remember the positive moments and memories of his life, and that he isn’t in any pain.
RIP and condolences to the family and friends.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Madness in Madrid
It’s the second last TMS event of the year in Madrid and hopefully there will be some fan reports, as we know this is the best way to appreciate any event.
As for Madrid, there is always some form of controversy, and this one is no different, the whole models as ballgirls is one such caper, that irritates people. Then again with the mafia don Ion Tiriac in charge, this means controversy isn’t far away. This is the kind of man, who if he shook your hand, then you would check to make sure your fingers were there.
This years controversy is the non-awarding of a wildcard to Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former world number 1 and in fact the first Spanish player to achieve this and he won the title in 2003. Ferrero had been out with injury and he was just outside the Entry List, with the ever popular Moya getting a wildcard from Marca, there were still 3 wildcards available. Marat Safin got a one in Rome and of course Tiriac had to do a deal to get him one there, therefore an Italian had to get one at his event. Ferrero was pissed off that he wasn’t awarded a wildcard and he has some justification for that. The other side to this is that, when one became available due to a withdrawal, he chose not to take it. One could say, it’s good that he stood up for himself and saw the offer as an empty one, or the other side to that, is that he should have taken the wildcard and win some matches to show up Tiriac. The irony is that Safin has withdrawn from the event.
Onto the event now, well they had 2 Stupid Sunday matches and Thunder Lips thumped Monaco and will play Federer, it would be great for the event, if both he and Nadal lost in the 1st round. Then the Latvian Gulbis defeated Kiefer and will play Nadal. Rafa got his number 1 presentation at his home event, but he definitely got a testing first rounder. Gulbis has a lot of talent, but erratic. The altitude in Madrid is negligible really, the way some people talk about it, they make it’s like playing tennis at Base Camp on Mt.Everest.
Some interesting qualifiers, very surprising that Granollers qualified in the process defeating Ljubicic, who really struggled since coming back from a back problem. Gineprick has done well in Madrid before and will fancy his chances against Llodra. Stevie Darcis will like his chances against “Fisker med Mardy Fish”.
Tonight the “South Tyrolean stud” Andreas Seppi will be playing Boredo. Seppi hasn’t had a great start to the indoor season, two losses in straight sets, but with Andy, one can’t tell when he can play well. He has done well against Boredo in the past and won their last match at the Olympics, hope he can something positive from that and take out the win here and then play Roddick in the next round, who has never done well in Madrid.
Igor Andreev is playing Simple Simon as well today. Simon hasn’t done much in the big events this year apart from in Canada. He won their only match in Sopot last year. It will be interesting to see what tactics Andreev uses, he really should use his serve to open the court up and hit behind Simon, because Gilles has excellent anticipation and covers most shots in the open court and has a good 2 hander down the line, which can expose Andreev when he is in the Calderon stadium trying to hit off forehands.
The Nalbandian/Berdych/del Potro section of the draw is by far the most interesting section. It would be good if Berdych wins tonight and not play a dumb match like he is very capable of doing in losing Schuettler. It would be good to see a rematch of the Nalle and Berdman Madrid match again, especially as it was the one where Nalle down a set and 4-0 and he wins, then the big indoor run happened after that. This is where he was the only guy to beat both Federer and Nadal in successive events. As for Nalle, he won in Stockholm, but his main goal is Davis Cup for this season, this series of matches in this section should give him a good test.
Not sure who will win this event, though someone else besides Federer and Nadal would be good.
P.S The Berdych write up will be done next week, as there is a lot of info to write.
As for Madrid, there is always some form of controversy, and this one is no different, the whole models as ballgirls is one such caper, that irritates people. Then again with the mafia don Ion Tiriac in charge, this means controversy isn’t far away. This is the kind of man, who if he shook your hand, then you would check to make sure your fingers were there.
This years controversy is the non-awarding of a wildcard to Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former world number 1 and in fact the first Spanish player to achieve this and he won the title in 2003. Ferrero had been out with injury and he was just outside the Entry List, with the ever popular Moya getting a wildcard from Marca, there were still 3 wildcards available. Marat Safin got a one in Rome and of course Tiriac had to do a deal to get him one there, therefore an Italian had to get one at his event. Ferrero was pissed off that he wasn’t awarded a wildcard and he has some justification for that. The other side to this is that, when one became available due to a withdrawal, he chose not to take it. One could say, it’s good that he stood up for himself and saw the offer as an empty one, or the other side to that, is that he should have taken the wildcard and win some matches to show up Tiriac. The irony is that Safin has withdrawn from the event.
Onto the event now, well they had 2 Stupid Sunday matches and Thunder Lips thumped Monaco and will play Federer, it would be great for the event, if both he and Nadal lost in the 1st round. Then the Latvian Gulbis defeated Kiefer and will play Nadal. Rafa got his number 1 presentation at his home event, but he definitely got a testing first rounder. Gulbis has a lot of talent, but erratic. The altitude in Madrid is negligible really, the way some people talk about it, they make it’s like playing tennis at Base Camp on Mt.Everest.
Some interesting qualifiers, very surprising that Granollers qualified in the process defeating Ljubicic, who really struggled since coming back from a back problem. Gineprick has done well in Madrid before and will fancy his chances against Llodra. Stevie Darcis will like his chances against “Fisker med Mardy Fish”.
Tonight the “South Tyrolean stud” Andreas Seppi will be playing Boredo. Seppi hasn’t had a great start to the indoor season, two losses in straight sets, but with Andy, one can’t tell when he can play well. He has done well against Boredo in the past and won their last match at the Olympics, hope he can something positive from that and take out the win here and then play Roddick in the next round, who has never done well in Madrid.
Igor Andreev is playing Simple Simon as well today. Simon hasn’t done much in the big events this year apart from in Canada. He won their only match in Sopot last year. It will be interesting to see what tactics Andreev uses, he really should use his serve to open the court up and hit behind Simon, because Gilles has excellent anticipation and covers most shots in the open court and has a good 2 hander down the line, which can expose Andreev when he is in the Calderon stadium trying to hit off forehands.
The Nalbandian/Berdych/del Potro section of the draw is by far the most interesting section. It would be good if Berdych wins tonight and not play a dumb match like he is very capable of doing in losing Schuettler. It would be good to see a rematch of the Nalle and Berdman Madrid match again, especially as it was the one where Nalle down a set and 4-0 and he wins, then the big indoor run happened after that. This is where he was the only guy to beat both Federer and Nadal in successive events. As for Nalle, he won in Stockholm, but his main goal is Davis Cup for this season, this series of matches in this section should give him a good test.
Not sure who will win this event, though someone else besides Federer and Nadal would be good.
P.S The Berdych write up will be done next week, as there is a lot of info to write.
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