By TW Contributing Editor, Ed McGrogan
Last Week's Tournaments
Internazionali BNL D'Italia (ATP - Clay - Rome, Italy)
- Singles Final: Novak Djokovic def. Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
- Singles Semifinal: Novak Djokovic def. Radek Stepanek 6-0, 1-0 (retired).
- Singles Semifinal: Stanislas Wawrinka def. Andy Roddick 3-0 (retired).
- Singles Bracket
- Doubles Final: Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan def. Daniel Nestor/Nenad Zimonjic 3-6, 6-4, 10-8.
- Doubles Semifinal: Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan def. Jonas Bjorkman/Kevin Ullyett 6-2, 6-1.
- Doubles Semifinal: Daniel Nestor/Nenad Zimonjic def. Richard Gasquet/Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 3-6, 10-8.
- Doubles Bracket
Qatar Telcom German Open (WTA - Clay - Berlin, Germany)
- Singles Final: Dinara Safina def. Elena Dementieva 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
- Singles Semifinal: Dinara Safina def. Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-1.
- Singles Semifinal: Elena Dementieva def. Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 7-5.
- Doubles Final: Cara Black/Liezel Huber def. Nuria Llagostera Vives/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 3-6, 6-2, 10-2.
- Doubles Semifinal: Cara Black/Liezel Huber def. Victoria Azarenka/Shahar Peer 3-0 (retired).
- Doubles Semifinal: Nuria Llagostera Vives/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs 6-2, 3-6, 16-14.
- Singles & Doubles Brackets
By the Letter
T...emporary leave of absence: After skipping Halle as the four-time defending champion last year, Roger Federer will resume playing the German grass court tournament this season.
E...vening entertainment: At 10 pm tonight on HBO's Real Sports, Venus Williams will be interviewed by host Bryant Gumbel.
N...eat first round match, men: Jose Acasuso vs. [17] Nicolas Almagro in Hamburg. The two clay specialists should deliver an appealing match, if Almagro isn't still suffering from an injury.
N...eat first round match, women: Safina and Azarenka is a rematch of their Berlin semifinal, but I prefer [13] Nicole Vaidisova vs. Sybille Bammer in Rome. The mom had a good run (fourth round) at Roland Garros last year, and should give the Czech underachiever all she can handle.
I...'ve heard this one already: Novak Djokovic has now voiced his opinion about the ATP Tour schedule, fresh off Rafael Nadal's choice words earlier in the week.
S...tan, you're still the man: Rome finalist Stanislas Wawrinka jumped 14 spots to No. 10 in the world rankings. It's the first time that two Swiss players have ever been in the top 10 of the men's singles rankings since they originated.
W...awrinka wins: He defeated three former world number ones this week - Marat Safin, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Andy Roddick (by default). Andy Murray and James Blake also suffered losses at the hands of Wawrinka. [Tough call on the men's Hero pick, so Stan gets two Letters for his impressive week.]
O...ut this week: Andy Roddick in Hamburg (back) and Justine Henin in Rome (fatigue). Also, Amelie Mauresmo in Rome.
R...ecycled 'yo momma' jokes: There was bad blood in the Andy Murray/Juan Martin del Potro match this week, even when del Potro retired and Murray stopped by to say "sorry." This is why.
L...ocation, location, location: Madrid will be the site of the Davis Cup semifinal between the United States and Spain in September. Seville, where Spain last defeated the Americans at home, was not among the final four possible selections.
D...efinitely could have been worse: Paradon Srichiphan was recently involved in a motorcycle accident, but if an injured finger is the only injury of note, he's lucky.
McGrogan’s Heroes
ATP – Andy Roddick!Roddick
There was a new hero everyday in Rome, as a rash of upsets defined this year’s tournament. Novak Djokovic won the title while winning just three completed matches. A Swiss reached the final, but it was the lesser-known Stanislas Wawrinka instead of stamp-bearing Roger Federer. And the captain of clay, Rafael Nadal, lost his opening match to a forgotten Juan Carlos Ferrero.
But the biggest surprise of all may have been the play of Andy Roddick, who had been almost universally written off as a non-factor on clay. Those who still had faith in the American pointed to his five career titles on dirt, although only one of those was in the last five years (Houston 2005). Believers were rewarded in Rome with an impressive display of speed, athleticism, and crisp shot making, but back problems forced Roddick to retire in his semifinal match.
Roddick’s first opponent was compatriot Mardy Fish. Fish had won before on clay (Houston 2006) and had a confidence-boosting run to the finals of Indian Wells not long ago in March. He was no slouch second rounder, but Roddick made short work of Fish, winning with ease, 6-1, 6-4. Next came Simone Bolleli, who at the time of their match was the last remaining Italian in the draw. Bolleli had the crowd firmly in his camp, but Roddick prevailed anyway, 7-6, 6-3.
In the quarterfinals, Roddick faced Tommy Robredo, a very accomplished player on clay (five clay titles, including AMS Hamburg). This was a much tougher match, but again, Roddick pulled through, winning in three sets.
Despite having to retire against Wawrinka, Andy proved much this week. It’s been a good year for Roddick so far: he's won in Dubai, dominated in Davis Cup, and shown positive signs on his worst surface. With his nemesis, Federer, apparently struggling, Roddick may have a chance to cash in.
WTA – Dinara Safina!Dinara
Dinara Safina was the clear-cut winner in the women's Hero division; she turned in the best performance of the week in all of tennis – men or women.
Safina won her first event of the year. She won her first career Tier I tournament. She defeated three players currently in the top 10 (Justine Henin, Serena Williams, Elena Dementieva). And she ended Serena’s 17-match winning streak.
But the most important thing of all for Safina may be the boost of confidence that comes with this victory. Aside from a quarterfinals appearance in Miami, Safina has hardly been playing well enough to justify her ranking of no. 17 (before Berlin). She failed to defend her singles title at Gold Coast, lost to a qualifier at the Australian Open in straight sets. Coming into Berlin, her 2008 match record was barely over .500 at 11-10.
This week,ner play improved vastly. Safina spotted Henin, Williams, and Dementieva a one-set lead in each match – and managed to beat them all in the end. Her greatest escape act came against the world No. 1. Safina surrendered an early break in the second set to fall behind 5-7, 0-2, but then won 12 of the next 14 games to beat Henin 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. Against Serena, the third set was much closer, and ended in a tiebreaker. Against Dementieva, Safina made a furious comeback, winning the last two sets comfortably to bag her long-awaited title.
I watched Safina’s ground strokes this week to see if they resembled her brother Marat's. I was expecting to see some similarities, but instead found little in common. Dinara’s shots aren’t as compact as Marat’s, but her wider stroke has more spin, leaving her more room for error. Marat’s punishing strikes are potent, but they come with the disclaimer that they can be completely “on” or “off” – which is generally how his matches go. Dinara hasn’t come close to the accomplishments of her brother, but recalling how she played this week will be a good start if she has Grand Slam aspirations.
Tennis Theatre
Highlights from Safina's three big wins this week:
Next Week's Tournaments
TELEVISION SCHEDULE
Masters Series Hamburg (ATP - Clay - Hamburg, Germany)
- Singles Bracket
- Doubles Bracket
- Website
Internazionali BNL D'Italia (WTA - Clay - Rome, Italy)
- Singles & Doubles Bracket
- Website
Beyond the Bracket
Ever since professional sports shifted from a pure athletic contest to a business model (inexact, but definitely a long time ago), the lifeblood of this industry has been pumped by fans. Sports fans pay the money that keeps this cycle moving because they have a stake in something – usually a favorite team or player that they support.
This loyalty manifests most visibly when a fan’s team is embroiled in a rivalry. Think Ohio State/Michigan in college football, or Duke/North Carolina in college basketball. These games are gut-wrenchingly exciting, especially if you are a fan of one of the teams involved.
I’m no stranger to this excitement. Just last week, I watched my favorite football club, Exeter City, in their own rivalry game – or a “derby,” as it’s called in England. The Grecians scored four times in the final twenty minutes to mount a stirring comeback against Torquay United, a neighboring club from Devon County. This “Devon Derby” was special for two reasons – the winner got the chance to play for league promotion at the famed Wembley Stadium, and because of the infrequent matches between the two clubs (Exeter and Torquay have been in different leagues in recent years).
Contrast this with the rivalry between New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. I grew up a Yanks fan, but lately I’ve been apathetic when these two meet each other. After all, if I happen to miss one of their games in the regular season, it’s not a big deal – I can catch any of their seventeen other meetings throughout the year. It’s overkill. My beloved New York Rangers are drawn against their Long Island counterparts eight times each season – probably six times too many, in my opinion. Yet fans continue to eat up these rivalries. And it got me thinking – are fans really enjoying the game itself, or simply the competitors in the game?
I think this is an important question. After all, why even have a sporting contest when you could use nearly anything to represent each city’s interests? Instead of using the Yanks and Sox, let’s instead test the efficiencies of Boston’s T subway system against New York’s labyrinth of alphanumeric trains. Seems silly, but my point is that there are many fanatics who are oblivious to the intricacies on the playing field – they just want to see team A beat the hell out of team B.
This irritates me because this it undermines the beauty of sport - at it best, sport is exhibition of skill that transcends names, cities, brands. . .players. It's about how the game is played, not who happens to be out there kicking, hitting or throwing a ball. This leads into reason no. 255 for why tennis is my favorite sport: crowds appreciates the game, not just its different favorites. Most fans have players of choice, but they also appreciate fine play - the game itself. I can think of many examples at the U.S. Open, where an underdog (sentimental or otherwise) was lustily encouraged despite who he was up against.. Marcos Baghdatis in 2006 against Andre Agassi sticks out.
Now, do you think the Kop in Anfield is going to cheer a brilliantly struck goal by rival Everton's striker, or - heaven forbid! - compliment them for beating their beloved Liverpool? Bollocks. But this happens in tennis, all the time. I don’t a tennis crowd is “nicer.” It's just that they're part of a culture of appreciation. That may be the only part of tennis that isn’t “individual.”
Some people label what I think of as a fair crowd as fickle, but I think most tennis fans mostly want to see great tennis. It could be Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but it could just as easily be two lesser-known players.Tennis crowds can boo, too – it’s just usually in the form of a whistle. In other sports, hostile crowds want the calls made for their team, whether they are justified or not. In tennis, fans seem to want the right call. Nothing irks me more than when a hockey crowd cheers a violent crosscheck from one of their players, but begs for a penalty when the other team does the exact same thing.
I heard many whistles in Rome on Saturday, when both men’s semifinals ended by retirements. Andy Roddick and Radek Stepanek heard it loud and clear – but I have no doubt that if hometown favorites Potito Starace and Simone Bolleli similarly conceded, they would have been treated to the same reception. The crowd just wanted to see tennis.
if…
you're at a tournament, do sample diifferent matches or sit through entire matches that you've targeted?