Today I'm pleased to pass along a dispatch from Down Under. This comes from someone I'll just refer to as Our Sartorially Resplendent Sydney Correspondent. He or she is covering the Aussie swing for a reputable paper and is passing along observations here as well. One of which is that the WTA's coaching rule seems to have been expanded.
I'm going to post a 2008 preview one of these days—hopefully before the end of 2008. I blame my day job.
Hi Steve,
The world No. 2 women's tennis player—you're correct if you happened to guess Svetlana Kuznetsova—rode out to the site of next week's Sydney tournament on the bus with 10 or 12 other players, coaches, and hangers-on.
As the down-to-earth Kuzzie arrived at the complex, the one player ranked higher than her was beginning practice at the courts—and it's very unlikely Justine Henin took anything except an official tournament car.
The grounds, which were the site of the tennis event at the 2000 Olympics, have about 8 practice courts side by side, all surfaced with the new two-tone blue Plexicushion that will be used at the Australian Open in 10 days or so. At first they look like a bunch of swimming pools, but after a while you get used to them. From the blue courts to the blue screens to the blue sky above, it's all a bit monochromatic. "If you're looking for a change of colour anywhere, you won't get it," said one female official. "Look up [at the sky] and all you see is more."
There was some shower potential in the forecast, but Friday in Sydney was lovely - 25 degrees (75 F). Lots of wind made it tough for tennis, however.
Henin began her practice routine by using an elastic stretch cord with handles—she held the handles and coach Carlos Rodriguez the cord as Justine mimicked her serving motion in an attempt to strengthen her
always-vulnerable shoulder joint. She began the practice session slowly, hitting with a guy whose accent suggested he was a local.
Henin's practice was completely ordered, and supervised at every step of the way by Rodriguez, who never stopped making comments and using his racquet to emphasize technical points.
After ground strokes, it was volleys, then overheads, lobs, then serves and then returns of serve. Interestingly, the practice partner did everything she did - he put up lobs for her to hit overheads, and then she put up lobs (very tricky in the seriously windy conditions) so he could hit smashes.
Note: Her volleys looked great -- very solid.
The only real moment of interest occurred when Henin hit a forehand volley and appeared to wince.
She walked over to Rodriguez, who looked genuinely concerned. But Henin soon gave him the signal that there was no need to worry. Still, she frequently made circular motions with her arm above her head to make sure the joint was loose.
Tzipora Obziler took over the court after Justine, after allowing her a few more minutes than the allotted hour, and engaged Justine in a little conversation -- but Justine didn't look terribly forthcoming.
Out on the competition courts, which are a level above and near the main stadium, women's qualifying had begun.
Some of the men were around—John Isner practising and Richard Gasquet and Stefan Koubek hitting together. The Frenchman was noticeably pale.
The match between Alize Cornet and Olga Savchuk brought bad news for tennis purists who had hoped the idea of coaching on the women's tour had become as obsolete as a third set in men's or women's doubles. Down a set and 3-4 in the second, Cornet had called for her coach.
A few adjustments seem to have been made to the rule. According to an official, the referee had told officiating personnel that morning that coaching was allowed once a set, but not necessarily at the end. In fact, a player can potentially name three or four coaches and receive visits (one per occasion) from any of them—father, mother, friend, coach, trainer, virtually anyone. Tournament clean-up staff might have an opportunity for a sideline job, the official joked. Even in doubles, players are allowed to appoint multiple coaches. That means if each player names four coaches, the coaching pool for four players on one court would be a total of 16!
There was only a smattering of spectators attending the free qualifying event but that should pick up by the time the main draw starts on Sunday. The cut-off ranking for the event is a tight No. 22.
The actual name of the Sydney event is the Medibank International, but a tournament communications person said that it's very difficult to get the papers (the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian) to use the Medibank name. Even worse, the national TV broadcaster for the event also refuses to use a Medibank reference. All prefer to go with the generic Sydney International.
Despite the meagre attendance, qualifying Friday was a hive of activity. Veteran Jill Craybas clawed out a tough two-set victory over the athletic, if diminutive, Chinese woman Yuan Meng, while on the court next door Marion Bartoli practiced with her somewhat eccentric father.
By the way, Cornet, who white as a sheet, appeared as though she was going to pass out and lost the second set 6-3 to Pavchuk. She walked off the court and sat in the front row of seats and cried, talking actively to a woman who looked like her mother, occasionally resting her unhappy head on mom's shoulder.
On another court, Jarmila Gajdosova, a transplanted Eastern European who is now an Aussie resident, defeated Ai Sugiyama. Sugiyama lost the first and was down 2-5 in the second before mounting a comeback. She had chances at 5-5 but lost to Gajdosoba, a solidly built woman who packs a serious
wallop.
On a nearby court, Obziler, who would eventually win, and her opponent Anastasiya Yakimova both called for their coaches at the end of the first set.
The battle of the Stephanies was won by Stephanie Dubois, who defeated Stephanie Foretz 6-3 in the third. Foretz has big strokes but she was ridiculously erratic, not helped by the windy conditions or Dubois' consistency.
A few courts over, Anne Keothavong of Britain was losing to Karin Knapp of Italy. Keothavong wore an attractive burgundy dress with a pinkish sash which would have been more striking if Alicia Molik hadn't worn the same dress during the Hopman Cup. It looks like it's this year's general issue from Adidas.
Expect a lot of that dress at the Australian Open. It happens every year -- you see a nice creation but soon discover everyone is wearing it.
On television, tennis in the Australian market has to compete with a big cricket match going on now between Australia and India. News programs on the two main networks Friday morning only reported on Hopman Cup -- Australia losing to the U.S. (Serena and Mardy) and the Serbs (a wounded Jankovic and
Djokovic) reaching the final. There was also, of course, an item on Hewitt winning his match in Adelaide. But not a word about the Gold Coast tournament, where both Mauresmo and Vaidisova had been were upset.
Riding back on the bus in the afternoon, you might have been sitting across from Feliciano Lopez. He was listening to his Ipod the whole way, but when the bus driver made a brief, unscheduled stop before Sheraton Four Points, F-Lo was in a mini-panic that something had gone seriously wrong.
It was a bit like last summer at the U.S. Open when he couldn't figure out why he was playing so well against Federer. But he calmed down and it all ended without a major hitch.
—Your Sartorially Resplendent Sydney Correspondent