!2007_11_18_shanghai_blog_3
Last (Two) Weeks' Tournaments
Sony Ericsson Championships (WTA - Indoor Hard - Madrid, Spain)
- Singles Final: Justine Henin def. Maria Sharapova 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.
- Singles Semifinal: Justine Henin def. Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-4.
- Singles Semifinal: Maria Sharapova def. Anna Chakvetadze 6-2, 6-2.
- Doubles Final: Cara Black/Liezel Huber def. Katarina Srebotnik/Ai Sugiyama 5-7, 6-3, 10-8.
- Doubles Semifinal: Cara Black/Liezel Huber def. Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs 7-6, 4-6, 10-8.
- Doubles Semifinal: Katarina Srebotnik/Ai Sugiyama def. Yung-Jan Chan/Chia-Jung Chuang 6-2, 6-2.
- Singles & Doubles Bracket
Tennis Masters Cup (ATP - Indoor Hard - Shanghai, China)
- Singles Final: Roger Federer def. David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
- Singles Semifinal: Roger Federer def. Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1.
- Singles Semifinal: David Ferrer def. Andy Roddick 6-1, 6-3.
- Singles Bracket
- Doubles Final: Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor def. Simon Aspelin/Julien Knowle 6-2, 6-3.
- Doubles Semifinal: Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor def. Martin Damm/Leander Paes 6-4, 6-4.
- Doubles Semifinal: Simon Aspelin/Julien Knowle def. Paul Hanley/Kevin Ullyett 6-3, 6-7, 10-5.
- Doubles Bracket
By the Letter
T…wo thousand dollar fine imposed on Nikolay Davydenko for “lack of best effort” in October’s St. Petersburg Open was dropped by the ATP, after additional review of the match in question (vs. Martin Cilic).
E…xtra Hawk-Eye challenge will be given to players at the Australian Open starting in January. Players were afforded two challenges per set last year - that will now change to three.
N…ot since the 2003 French Open (vs. Luis Horna) had Roger Federer lost consecutive matches, but that’s what happened after the world’s No. 1 fell to Fernando Gonzalez in the round robin portion of the Tennis Masters Cup. Federer came into the match having lost against David Nalbandian in the final of the Paris Masters.
N…ikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Youzhny, Igor Andreev, and Dmitry Tursunov will comprise the Russian team that will play in the Davis Cup final. When asked about including Marat Safin on the squad, Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev said it would not be a wise decision based on his conditioning. “There's no point in drafting Marat to play the Americans. He only began training again this week after an extended break,” said Tarpischev.
I…talian ATP pro Alessio Di Mauro, recently handed a nine-month suspension for gambling on tennis online, feels his ban is much too severe for the infraction (he admitted to betting around $20 on some matches, none of them his own). After the string of recent match-fixing rumors that have been reported in the media, Di Mauro believes he’s being made a scapegoat for the ATP’s problems.
S…evilla FC hosted rival La Liga football club Real Madrid earlier this month, and in the same game, played host to a “grass court” tennis match between Jelena Jankovic and former Sevilla player Pablo Alfaro.
W…ild card entry into the Australian Open – which is how Mark Philippoussis last got into the event in 2006 – will not happen this year, as Tennis Australia is now requiring the former Aussie great to go through the qualifying tournament. “We’ve moved from the handout culture,” Tennis Australia director of player development Craig Tiley said. “Sure you’ve got to recognize that he’s had some significant results…you can’t ignore that, but you’ve got to look at the situation he’s currently in.”
O…lympic Games participation was one of the major reasons for Lindsay Davenport’s comeback, says the new mom. "I was lucky enough to be in Atlanta and on the Sydney team [in 2000] but I turned down the chance to go to Athens in 2004, which was a decision that sometimes I regret," said Davenport.
R…eunited as a doubles team for the first time in four years at Wimbledon this summer, Venus and Serena Williams will partner up once again at the 2008 Australian Open.
L…awn Tennis Association are left wondering what to do with Brad Gilbert after the coach’s student, Andy Murray, has decided to end their partnership. Under Gilbert, Murray won two ATP titles, reached three other ATP finals, and reached the top 10 for a period of time in 2007.
D…rug charges against Martina Hingis will be reviewed by the WTA after a formal report of the case is issued by doping authorities.
McGrogan's Heroes
!2007_11_18_federer_blog_2ATP - 2007 has been a very stop-and-go year for Roger Federer. That doesn't mean it wasn't a good season - quite the contrary - but the year was much different than the first three years of Pax Federer.
Finishing the season with a 68-9 record, Federer nearly reached double digits in losses. His winning percentage was "only" 87% (his lowest mark in the past three years was 93%). He won only two Masters Series titles, and only eight titles overall. Are these poor numbers? Of course not. But it's not what we're used to seeing.
At various stages of the year, many Federer fans seemed to be legitimately worried about his level of play. For example:
- When Roger suffered back-to-back losses to Guillermo Canas at Indian Wells and Miami.
- When Federer was shocked by Filippo Volandri in Rome.
- When Roger was unable to build on his French Open final experience in 2006 against Rafael Nadal at this year's final against Rafa.
- When Roger suffered back-to-back losses to David Nalbandian at Madrid and Paris.
Looking back with what we know now, questioning Federer's abilities is rather foolish, especially when you compare his achievements this year to everyone else's - it's not even a comparison to begin with. But undeniably, there was talk of a slump, of vulnerability, of...the end of an era.
In some ways, I feel that the added adversity that Federer has dealt with this year has made his achievements all the more impressive. Federer is one of the rare figures in sports that I feel deals with added pressure even as he improves his tennis and his records. Usually, this pressure chamber is occupied by players who can't get over the hump, but Federer seems to face it as well. Obviously, he's done a fine job.
I thought this quote from Federer, talking about his year as a whole, was extremely telling:
"Beating Nadal for the first time on clay. I've beaten all my closest rivals, Nadal and Djokovic, more times than they've beaten me. It's been one of those years which I'm really, really happy about. Maybe I didn't win 10 titles, but it's not necessary to stay No. 1 in the world all the time. If I keep this level of play up, I mean, I'm in a great position for next year as well."
There have been few tennis minds that have mentioned what Roger does here. It's a very positive message, and one that speaks to how Federer approaches the game. In a year that many people declared as "worse" or "the same" as previous seasons, Roger has found marked improvements. He even called it a "breakthrough year" in the same interview.
Is there any evidence that suggests this won't continue? Not to my knowledge...
!2007_11_18_henin_blog WTA - There’s no shortage of support for Justine Henin here at TennisWorld. When I chose Tatiana Golovin as the WTA heroine of the week after Henin defeated her in the final at Zurich, I was chastised like I violated a code of ethics. I still believe it was the right call, but the Heninites spoke, and you were heard. So much so that at times, I feel that there is as much support for Justine as there is for her revered male counterpart, Roger Federer. I think this can be attributed to their similar personalities and playing styles, but in the end, the staggering number of victories that each player has amassed is the main reason for these large pockets of support.
With that in mind, I ask you: was Henin’s year better than Federer’s? I think it’s certainly arguable, especially when you look at some of the numbers that Justine has put in the record books. She finished the year 63-4; a 94% winning percentage which bests Roger’s stats. She won both the French Open and the U.S. Open without dropping a set – only in the Australian Open did Federer pull off this act of invincibility. Her longest winning streak of the year was 25 matches, during which she won five titles. By comparison, Federer’s longest winning streak of the season was 16 matches in a row. Finally, it’s tough to argue that at the present moment, Henin isn’t the hottest tennis player on the planet, as she’s won 41 of her last 42 matches.
But is this impressive resume enough to account for the number that likely means the most to each player – and which Federer leads in – Grand Slam titles? Henin’s two doesn’t equal up to Roger’s three, and Roger didn’t have a mind-boggling loss in the Slams like Justine did against Marion Bartoli in the semifinals of Wimbledon. (It is worth noting, of course, that Justine only played in three of the four Grand Slams.)
In my opinion, it’s too close to call. Usually, I don’t like ties in sports, but I’m ok with declaring the Henin vs. Federer debate as such. Here’s one telling statistic I uncovered: of Henin’s 63 wins, all but 14 were in straight sets (22.2%). Of Federer’s 68 wins, all but 15 were in straight sets (22.0%). Both Henin and Federer seem to assert their dominance with the same amount of frequency.
And in the spirit of this neck-and-neck race of tennis titans, can’t we just have both Henin and Federer win the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year award?
Tennis Theatre
Daniel Nestor and Mark Knowles aren't going out on top, as Bob and Mike Bryan finished the year as the No. 1 men's doubles team, but they came pretty close. After winning the Tennis Masters Cup, the longstanding partnership of Knowles and Nestor are calling it quits. Next year, Nestor will play with Nenad Zimonjic, while Knowles will partner with Mahesh Bhupathi.
Knowles and Nestor's first title together was way back in 1994, when they beat another pair of American brothers, Luke and Murphy Jensen, in Bogota, Colombia. Since then, the tandem has won three Grand Slam titles and sixteen Masters Series shields. Here's one of their many fine rallies:
Next Week's Tennis
Davis Cup (ATP - Indoor Hard - Portland, United States)
World Group Final - United States vs. Russia
Television Coverage:
- Friday: 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm (Live - Versus)
- Saturday: 3:30 pm - 6:30 pm (Live - Versus)
- Sunday: 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm (Live - Versus)
Pete Sampras vs. Roger Federer
Seoul, South Korea
Television Coverage:
- Tuesday: 7:00 am - 9:00 am (Live - Tennis Channel)
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm (Tape - Tennis Channel)
- Wednesday: 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm (Tape - Tennis Channel)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Television Coverage:
- Thursday: 7:00 am - 9:00 am (Live - Tennis Channel)
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm (Tape - Tennis Channel)
- Friday: 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm (Tape - Tennis Channel)
Macao, China
Television Coverage:
- Saturday: 1:00 am - 3:00 am (Live - Tennis Channel)
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm (Tape - Tennis Channel)
- Sunday: 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm (Tape - Tennis Channel)
Beyond the Bracket
As this is a year-end Monday Net Post, it's the right time to recognize some of the people who've made this a very special and rewarding year for me.
The Tribe is more than just a collection of tennis fans. You are an assembly of great minds that promote discussion beyond the article, and provide a fun environment in an often hostile online world. Overt sarcasm and pompous banter are the norm in many boards and forums on the Internet, and I'm quite proud to be a part of a community where this is the minority, and not the majority.
Two specific members of the Tribe who I'd like to mention by name are Ray Stonada (Asad) and Rolo Tomassi (Andrew). During my double-marathon sessions at the U.S. Open, these two city slickers always kept the mood in good spirits. They are both extremely knowledgeable about tennis, but have other areas of expertise as well (film and food, for example). We'll get some time on the courts - I just have to get out of Utica first.
Steve Tignor's blog is some of the finest tennis literature online, and it's also helped my own writing just by reading it. For those of you who only visit TennisWorld, I strongly encourage you to read Concrete Elbow as well. Steve's also a great guy who helped put together a Tennis.com get-together for the French Open in NYC.
As my writing for Tennis is exclusively of the online variety, many thanks must go to Kamakshi Tandon, Tennis.com's online editor who oversees a lot of my work. Kamakshi also adds a great voice to the website with her superb writing; it's also some of the most humorous I've read. I look forward to the next edition of Traveling Circus, wherever your travels take you.
Although I've only met them briefly, I also want to thank Tom Perotta and James Martin for their kind words of encouragement as well.
Last but not least, Pete Bodo. Obviously, none of this could have happened if not for Pete allowing me to write on his own blog. Pete is a great writer, but what I appreciate most about him is that he does much more than your everyday columnist. I'm sure many of you have had conversations with Pete outside of the TW walls, as well as on the comments sections of his posts. He's an interactive member of the community, just like his large following of readers.
When I had some ideas about what I wanted to do for TennisWorld, I wasn't sure whether I'd even get a response back. But it was not too long after I first reached out to Pete that I was writing By the Letter, which later expanded into the Monday Net Post. Pete has given a lot of his time to me and has been an invaluable help throughout the year. It was also with his blessing that I got my first opportunity to do some on-site reporting (Fed Cup semifinals), which indirectly led to me covering the U.S. Open.
If you told me at the beginning of this year that my tennis journalism pursuits would expand well beyond my own blog, Gasquet & Racquet, I would have been very skeptical. Overjoyed? Of course. But highly skeptical. Amazingly, that has become a reality. So thank you once again Pete, as it's truly been my pleasure to produce this MNP and to write for such a quality website. I look forward to bigger and better things in 2008.
If...
You were responsible for giving out the award for "Best Tennis Player" this year, would you give it to Roger Federer or Justine Henin? Why?
You could only watch one, would you rather see the three Sampras/Federer exhibitions, or the three days of Davis Cup between Russia and the United States?
- Ed McGrogan