!2006_08_18_cash Ed.Note - Here is Miguel Seabra's second report from the sunny climes of Portugal, where he is presently - and pleasantly - sipping the senior tour Kool Aid while enjoying a family vacation. And Mikey - we are expecting a Battlefield Report from the press tournament.
- Pete
Hi there, TennisWorlders. After my previous post on the state of the senior tour as I found it here at the Vale do Lobo Grand Champions tournament (won by Marcelo Rios over John McEnroe), I’m back to share a few juicy details and interesting quotes.
The Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions still as a lot to sort out, especially the painfully transparent (especially to the media) difference that the wild disparity in the ages of the players can make(Rios is 17 years McEnroe's junior!)
Anyway, what I see every year here at Vale de Lobo is a lot of enthusiasm and respect towards former champions that can still compete pretty well, plus have something else to give back to the crowd, the organization, the sponsors and the media.
In my case, I like to see the legends play, drink in a bit of their wisdom, and even share a beer with them – plus, I’m not filing daily reports from the tournament: I’m usually relaxing at the family beach house, just one mile away from the site.
It’s great to take a dive at the pool with my daughters Francisca and Mafalda (Ed. note - these are two adorable girls, too!) or go to the beach before heading to Vale do Lobo later on to play the press tournament and check out on the legends in combat.
Because this is a beach resort, the players usually bring their families or girlfriends and benefit from a relaxed atmosphere while having enough time to practice, play golf and go to the beach before the matches start late in the afternoon.
John McEnroe has been the only one here looking tight as a drum; after all, he’s got a reputation to protect and he knows he’s still the main attraction everywhere he goes. Plus, he’s not getting any younger while his opponents are (see yesterday's post). Still, this year he brought along his young daughters, Anna and Ava, and he altogether looked a bit more relaxed – is Mac mellowing down?
I had a couple of subjects up my sleeve, plus I collected several impressions to share with you. So, here we go – right from my note pad:
Federer’s Guts
Mats Wilander has been playing the event for the past three years or so, but last year, he performed at the closing party. He played guitar and sang. And, while playing Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (with Mac by his side), he changed the lyrics to Please, please, please, invite me back next year. His plea fell on deaf ears, and the tournment director opted for fresh new faces.
A pity, for I had wanted Mats to elaborate on that infamous remark he made after the French Open final, flatly stating that “Fed showed no balls," later adding that “Nadal has three balls”.
Actually, I understand what Mats meant – but Federer did not like the analogy Wilander chose to describe his lacklustre performance, and made some ominous remark about friends losing friends. . .
I asked McEnroe what he thought about the issue.
Mac was actually politically correct, choosing his words carefully:
Then I told him: “I’ve been one of those writing that Federer is the best ever, but after that final I had to admit that the best ever would never play that final that way. You would never play that final that way”.
He agreed. I guess we both know, and a lot of people know, that Mats was right about Federer when he plays Nadal. And on my mind, that Wimbledon final was a lot closer than many people think.
Oh well, I guess it’s up to Pete to catch Mats at the US Open for a further exploration of that ever delicate issue.
BTW, Pat Cash is adamant about what would happen in a match-up between Sampras and Federer at Wimbledon:
I used to think the opposite, but right now I’m convinced ‘Cashy’ is right. What do you all think
Agassi’s Adieu
Since Agassi is about to bid farewell, I tried to get some of the champions to talk about the Las Vegas punk who was able to elevate himself into a better person and a better champion. My question was: “What is the first single feature that comes to your mind when you think about Agassi?”.
Marcelo Rios spit out that Agassi had nothing to do with the tournament that was being played at Vale do Lobo, so he wasn’t going to say anything about it.
I was like. . . “What???”
And then I said, “Hey, I’m just asking you that because you played him several times."
Rios then provided some answer, but I have to confess I didn’t care by then. I do remember what McEnroe said, though: “A single thought about Agassi. . . well, he looks pretty good for a bald guy; if I had a head like that, I would shave my head, too”.
Pat Cash gave me the best feedback on the subject, plus he remembered something that actually made him blush! He said of Agassi: "Probably the best forehand/backhand combination ever. His timing was phenomenal”.
Then he added: “But you could do a lot of things against Agassi. With a good serve and volley game you could beat him. I do think his return of serve was overrated. You could ace him a lot, some guys - Joachim Johansson at the Australian Open or Philippoussis at Wimbledon - got over 40 aces against him."
The Aussie icon also made an interesting point about Andre's overall impact on the game:
When he mentioned Rafter, I asked him to elaborate on his countryman’s strange habits around Agassi in the locker room. Cash knew what I meant and – get this – he actually blushed! A guy who’s seen it all! I couldn’t believe it… but here’s the bizarre story, so that you can blush for yourselves:
It’s all there, in Cash’s autobiography, Uncovered. Man, how far can those mind games go?
On Serve & Volley
I’ve got a theory regarding serve & volleying: these days, the mind-set of the players is so different that I would say a missed volley hurts their confidence twice as much as a missed shot at the baseline. So, I wanted to discuss that with John McEnroe and Pat Cash, two hardcore disciples of serve & volleying. Does it make sense, I wondered?
“Not to me, it doesn’t”, Cash joked. But he knew what I meant. Then he went on to list the best volleyers he faced – McEnroe, Edberg, Becker (“Boris had huge reach”) – and the best contemporary volleyers: Henman, Federer, Mirnyi and Hewitt, saying,“Hewitt volleys much better than a lot of people think”.
I pointed out that players with two-handed backhands like Hewitt usually do not volley well on the backhand side, and asked if two-fisted backhands were one of the reasons behind the fall of serve & volleying. To my amazement, he replied: “I taught my kids to play two-handed backhands!"
I was happier when he added “And I taught them a (one-handed) sliced backhand, too”.
He told me he still practices tough volley drills with two partners on the other side of the net. All the young players should practice volleying at least 30 per cent of the time, I think, but they simply don’t.
I also told Cash that a Portuguese junior (Gastão Elias, European under-16 vice-champion) did practice with Nadal at Wimbledon, and he confided that Rafa’s volleys were pretty bad. But when you see him competing he rarely misses when he has to volley, so determined and confident is he to win the point.
Cash added that, besides being mentally so strong, “Nadal is a super athlete. He is super quick to reach the ball and angle the racket on the volley. Plus, he’s smart and knows how to build points up; the best athletes are always the best volleyers”.
Well, you can see that clearly on the women’s side – Venus, Justine, Amélie…
McEnroe agreed that the mind-set is different these days, but the baseline predominance could change anytime: “Mentalities change; I’m sure someone will show up serving and volleying and change everything again”.
The sooner the better, I might add. More on Monday.
- Miguel Seabra at Vale do Lobo, Algarve, Portugal