by Pete Bodo
We haven't had much chance to cruise the news lately, what with back-to-back Masters/Premier events in recent weeks, but before we get to that I have to confess that I was a little harsh on Richard Gasquet in yesterday's Thumbs Up/Down post.
While Reeshard didn't earn a thumbs up for his upset of Roger Federer and semifinal finish in Rome—because he was ousted in the first round of Madrid by Daniel Gimeno-Traver—I should have gone a little easier on him because of that first, excellent performance. I know this was disappointing to long-time poster (and friend) Beth, but she expressed her disappointment in her typical good-natured and even-handed way. Which is why I'm making the effort to set the record staight.
Also, keep watching this space for some news that might be of interest to you on the book front over the next few days.
!Razzi Condolences. . .
By now you all know the sad tale of Virginie Razzano and her recently deceased fiance/coach, Stephane Vidal. Razzano is playing the French Open despite having lost Vidal on Monday (less than a week before the start of Roland Garros), mainly because he encouraged her to do so when they last discussed the matter, just a few days before the brain tumor that was first diagnosed nine years ago took Vidal's life.
Razzano and Vidal met when she was about 17 and training at the French tennis club owned by his parents. They hit it off immediately, at least in a platonic way. “He was like a big brother," Razzano told L'Equipe, the French sporting daily. "We shared very strong moments and, little by little, we fell in love.”
I never knew much about this relationship, but clearly Vidal was Razzano's rock, and he helped her climb as high as No. 16 in the WTA rankings (Razzano won only two tour titles, both in 2007; her career highlight was an upset of Venus Williams in the Japan Open final). I wonder how much his recent downhill slide has affected her ranking (presently, Razzano is just inside the Top 100). Razzano told L'Equipe that she'd had a "very difficult" adolescence and that it was Vidal who gave helped her navigate it.
Perhaps when an appropriate amount of grieving time has passed we'll learn more details about this singular relationship. Meanwhile, I am expecting her to have a great French Open.
!Arod A Nation of Doubles Specialists?
Somehow, I don't think Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi would be very pleased to hear the United States described that way, but maybe it's an option worth considering, now that U.S. tennis has fallen on such hard times—in singles, anyway.
Great American singles players who eschew doubles are, historically, the exception rather than the norm in the U.S. Many singles stars like Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith were also exceptional doubles players, and for every Jimmy Connors (who rarely played doubles), you have a John McEnroe (who may be the best doubles player, ever, and wouldn't not play the event at almost any tournament throughout his career).
I raise this issue now because of the Rome Masters, where Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish had a great run, upending some excellent teams (including the best doubles squad in the world, fellow Americans Bob and Mike Bryan) before Roddick's right shoulder injury forced him to pull out, surrendering the final in a walkover to yet another U.S. pair, John Isner and Sam Querrey.
Like I said, a nation of doubles specialists. . . *
*
Roddick, still nursing that right shoulder injury, pulled out of the Nice tournament today, and he's questionable for the French Open. My guess is that he's going to do everything in his power to be as healthy as possible for Wimbledon, even if it means pulling out of Roland Garrros as a precautionary measure. Roddick doesn't have many years left to fulfill that dream of winning a Wimbledon final, after having come close so many times. But I don't think he'll be playing doubles in London. . . not just yet.
Nice Work If You Can Get It. . .
The Daily Mail, a London afternoon daily newspaper, recently divulged the salary paid by the BBC to Tim Henman for his Wimbledon television commentary: $330,000 for the fortnight, which works out to about $23,000 per day. That may not seem outrageous by the standard of U.S. network and premium cable operations, but the tricky thing is that the BBC is—quite controversially—taxpayer funded, and some watchdogs are asking why Henman makes that much when the BBC has exclusive rights to the fortnight and there are no market pressures driving up the salaries. For decades now, the Beeb and Wimbledon have had a cozy relationship that seems written in stone.
This raises an interesting question: What, if any, value can you put on Henman's history, popularity, and drawing power as a former Top 10 pro and four-time, hard-luck Wimbledon semifinalist? Should Heman be paid the same amount as Tweedy Balmoral, the BBC's narrator in that riveting five-part series, The Ferns of Shorpshire? Or the same as a solid, professional commentator who was much less of a name, or even not a former player at all? I certainly think it's legitimate for taxpayer groups to air their grievances on this front and/or question the salaries lavished upon talking heads; after all, people who earn a whole lot less than Henman are the ones paying his salary via the compulsory fees imposed on television owners by the government—fees that provide the operating expenses for the BBC.
It would be interesting to compare Henman's salary to that of, say, John McEnroe during the U.S. Open, but because CBS (as well as ESPN, for whom McEnroe also calls matches) are private companies rather than government-sponsored ones, the figures don't have to be made public. It's safe to assume, though, that Henman makes considerably less than McEnroe. And while Henman can't match McEnroe's playing record, his recognition value at home is just as high in Britain as McEnroe's is in the U.S.
With Friends like Maria, Who Needs. . .
Does anyone else think it's a little surprising, ungracious, and more than a little haughty for Maria Sharapova to say that the locker room is her "least favorite place in the world" and that, in so many words, she has no real interest in having friends in that changing room, or even on the tour?
Okay, it's Maria's life. How she feels is how she feels and she has a right to it. And no less popular an icon than Steffi Graf had a very similar attitude—she was in and out of the locker room in a flash, often before the lower jaw of some onlooking qualifier or junior had time to hit the ground.
On the other hand. . . maybe Graf would have been a happier person had she engaged a little more with her peers. And maybe Sharapova would enjoy her own life in tennis more (you can always be happier, right?) if she connected a little better with her colleagues. Haven't we seen enough studies demonstrating that engaging productively with your cohorts at work is often related to high performance and personal happiness?
I sometimes think players get sucked too easily into this notion that tennis is a lonely, one-on-one, ultra-competitive enterprise. But in my experience, players who get along with their peers and enjoy the life and camaraderie of the tour (Roger Federer, anyone?) are just as likely to do well.
From a social angle, this whole idea that tennis is comprehensively competitive seems dubious. High school or the work place, for example, can be a lot worse simply because the competition there isn't channeled clearly into an agreed-upon avenue, as it is in tennis. Which is also why it's possible for tennis players who are smart and socially adept enough to master the art of leaving what belongs on the court at the court. I'm not saying this is the "right" attitude; just that you can look at this particular issue either way, and some players buy into this isolationist attitude because they think it's somehow more "professional," or more conducive to success.
Sock it to Em!
Who says American tennis is in trouble (see above)? Jack Sock just finished his high school career with an 80-0 record, which represents a better winning percentage than the one posted by John McEnroe when he went 82-3 in 1984 or Roger Federer's 81-4 in 2005.
Sock was The Man on the Blue Valley North team in Kansas, and he won the state high school singles title for the fourth consecutive time this year. I wouldn't ordinarily post something like this item here, but I was struck by Sock's decision to stick out his high-school career, even though he easily could have moved on up. After all, he's ranked in the 500s and has already been a U.S. Davis Cup squad practice partner. It's not like this kid is a trophy hog, either. As he told the Topeka Journal, "Ultimately it was my decision [to play all four years of high school tennis] and it’s what I wanted to do. All the guys on my team, they mean the world to me. That’s why I’m here playing and not out traveling the world."
!Li Darling. ... You're Fired!!!!!
Y'all remember how sweet it was in Melbourne when Li Na trotted out her husband/coach Jiang Shan, and touchingly paid him tribute while also making jokes about the size of his tummy?
Well, let's just say the honeymoon seems to be over, if you know what I mean. As I noted yesterday while giving Li a thumbs up for her performances in Rome and Madrid, she went into a terrible tailspin after Melbourne and failed to win a match for over three months—from the end of the Australian Open until Stuttgart (start date: April 18), where she finally got a W against Anastasia Sevastova. The big change going forward from Stuttgart was that Li has pushed aside her husband and hired a new coach, Danish Fed Cup captain Michael Mortensen.
"We're working well together—we have good communication and [Mortensen] is helping me a lot. He's giving me a lot of confidence and I feel positive on court," Li said. "I don't care what other people think. My confidence was low and I felt I had to change my coach. . . We are focusing more on the mental side as I feel I need someone to support me. Melbourne was good, but it was just one tournament."
Can it be that Li learned, as have so many other spouses, that taking tennis advice from your lifetime partner my not be the best idea? So far, there is no word on whether or not Li plans to hire a new husband.
That's it for today, folks!