As I write this, Sam Stosur is back out there firing away in Doha. If she can turn it around that quickly after her win over the WTA's No. 1 on Wednesday, what excuse do I have?
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"as well as Dementieva, who she beat for the title in Tokyo."
No! It should be "whom," not "who."
Professional writers should use proper grammar.—John Culhane
I thought about putting “whom” there, I really did. But it seemed too formal for the occasion. Grammarians throw fits, but “whom” has gotten a little stuffy for regular use, IMHO. Especially in a place where IMHO is acceptable.
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I have a question for all. Is there a time, let's say even a 3 month period, in which Jankovic has not been expressing that she's injured, ill or less-than-full healthy in some way or the other ?—pov
The answer is likely no. But after a few dozen or so JJ pressers, you just kind of learn to enjoy the ride, or ignore it completely. She’ll say pretty much anything at anytime. It’s comical for a while, but not something to let bother you. Life's too short. She is, as much as anyone on tour, what she is.
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Steve I am in awe of your professionalism. But please restore my faith in humanity and tell you are also secretly thinking "Who TF CARES who wins Doha" ?I bow to nobody in my love of women's tennis. I am a women's tennis nerd. But seriously.—Mark
Very funny, and pondering the line-up last week I did find myself thinking of Doha as half a joke. But then the tournament started and I sort of automatically got hooked into it. Not like it’s Wimbledon or anything, but as an event goes on, I can usually take what’s there and get interested. Tournaments are self-contained worlds in that way. You, or at least I, temporarily forget what’s outside of them, and who's not there.
I guess faith in humanity will need to be restored elsewhere, Mark. I'm sorry I couldn't help.
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"Steve - I am writing from Italy. Like you fairly mentioned in your article, your point of view is completely American. Nobody ever cared for the WTA Championship in Italy, even sports' fans wouldn't usually follow it, except maybe for the final. This week the Championship is all over the Italian news (like in Denmark, I suppose) and most likely the two million viewers who watched the French Open final will be watching Francesca's matches, especially when she's scheduled to play the third match of the day (it would be prime time in Italy, around 8pm). And believe me, 90% of those people watching don't even know or care about the big Sisters' absence. This is the first time in 30 years that we have a player - male or female - competing in a top-8 world championship. It might not be the WTA season-ender you (Americans) wanted, but definitely it is the one that we (Italians) wanted and dreamed about."—Lorenzo
This is great to hear. It makes me think again that tennis is too big for anyone to get their head around at once. The sport can’t be united or “global” in a pure sense; at any one time, there are too many points of view on the game from too many different places. America’s loss is Italy’s gain. Which isn't so bad: It means that there’s generally an upside somewhere.
Tennis: the global game that accidentally proves that a global worldview is impossible?
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Steve:
What is the Hewitt lawn-mower?—Sam
The Lawnmower is the charming maneuver in which, after winning a key point, Rusty drops down to one knee, puts his racquet in his left hand, and begins to simulate punching the court—or, perhaps, punching his opponent in the face—with his right hand. When he pulls his arm up after a punch, it looks sort of like he’s pulling the cord on a lawnmower. It’s way over the top, but I’ve always liked it.
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Muster is an impressive specimen, always unbalanced in the Connors sort of way, which was his secret along with tremendous dedication. I remember watching Muster in person once, my first trip to IW. He had just made #1 and lost a two setter to the stylish Voinea from Rumania. He really did look like an animal, a very hairy guy who looked like he would rip out his opponent's heart if it might help him win. This was the only player I've ever seen who could match Connors, Chang or Chris Evert for pure will.—Larry in the Silicon
The Moo Man didn’t mess around. Tennis with absolutely no frills, from his strokes to his look to his manner. There was a moment later, though, when he decided to lighten up a little bit. At the Open one year, Muster ran around the net and pretended to chase Tim Henman with his racquet. The Oscar went to Henman, though, for immediately playing along and running off the court. The clip of that moment is now part of one of the Tennis Channel’s "Top 5s." I was watching TC with a friend when an ad for that episode came on. Seeing Muster, racquet held above his head, chasing down Henman, my friend sat up and said, “Jesus, what happened there?” It did look like a moment of insanity, if you didn’t know it was a joke.
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Speaking of "old," it struck me last night to hear that Shaq is 38.—Colette
By this I think you mean to note how much more quickly tennis players fall from the top of their sport than other athletes. Very true, and always kind of amazing to remember. It seems virtually impossible for Muster at 43 even to walk on a court with a guy 20 years younger, yet a basketball team can cover for much of Shaq’s inevitable physical decline. Soccer players, even though they run miles, also seem to last longer and peak later. It shows you what a test tennis is—of your first step, primarily, but also of your eyesight and your hand-eye, the explosiveness in your arm, and your ability to concentrate on a little yellow ball for hours at a time. With, most crucially, no teammates to pick up the slack.
Why does anyone play this sport, anyway?
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Now that we are at a couple of "tennis generations" down the road with players who always played with 1990+ model rackets, I don't see the game changing much, if at all.
The biggest single change is that the modern equipment allows most players to easily put away a reasonably short forehand. Top juniors can do it with no problem starting at about age 14.—Dunlop Maxply
There’s the equipment, and there’s also the mindset. As a kid, I saw Borg loop rally shots and McEnroe volley. I never saw anyone, other than Connors on occasion, take balls at the baseline and routinely belt them past their opponent. If you’re a kid now, you have a different conception of what tennis is. The first thing you saw was Roger Federer sending a forehand past a helpless opponent as soon as he could.
Which, thinking historically, makes me believe that Agassi represented the great evolutionary leap from then to now. He was the first guy I can remember seeing play the game with the modern mindset that allows you to consider going for winners from just about anywhere (though he worked his rallies, of course). Even Lendl didn't do that. Agassi was also one of the first of the Prince generation, the kids who used oversize racquets as juniors.
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In my mind, the fact that tennis players are (were) not allowed to talk to their coaches during a match greatly contributes to the epic of the game. Tennis is the one sport in which players can go on for five hours, maybe more, while not being allowed to speak to anyone. Although I agree with you in that a pep talk during a changeover might not do much of anything, it might help a player to express his/her frustrations out loud and to some extent vent off. And that, at least in my case, sometimes makes a difference.—Cortomaltes
This is definitely true, and it would be lost if coaches were allowed on court with the players. The WTA’s system isn’t bad, in my opinion. Have a coach come out once or twice a set and then go away, and don’t allow coaching from the stands. You would retain the lone-gunman feel of the sport, at least. I know there are a lot of things that make Davis Cup different from the normal tour, but coaching is one of them. Tom Gorman, former U.S. captain, felt that coaching in DC contributed to the number of extremely competitive matches that you see there (it’s not the only reason, obviously).
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london: That's why I disagree with Steve when he says Caro reminds him of Rafa. She's more like Murray IMO.—Wilson75
Oy, I’ll say it one more time. I wasn’t comparing Caro and Rafa’s styles of play. I was saying that each of them does a lot of subtle things well that you don’t notice at first.
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Great post, Steve.—crazycaro21
Great comment. Very well put.