Monday Tidbits: Hamburg, I’m your FAN!

YAY!

Nikolay Davydenko, who I’ve “Australianised” as Davo, won Hamburg over the weekend, beating Mathieu 64 62. Don’t you love it when underachievers achieve? 

Look, he even got himself a fan:

 

 

That’s got to be one of the wackiest tennis trophies I’ve seen. Double yay! 

 

Mentioning WTF tennis trophies, what are your favourites? Three of mine: 

 

WTF No 1: Le Rock! 

 

 

WTF No 2: Le Tree! 

 

 

WTF No 3: Le Rubble, which incidentally resembles what’s left of Novak Djokovic, after Jo-Willy’s done with him.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, a shoutout to Robby Ginepri, the most forgettable American, who also ended his title drought last weekend with a win in Indianapolis over the eternal bridesmaid – Sam Querrey, 62 64.

Didn’t watch it, didn’t care. Didn’t realise it was actually an international tournament. 

 

And a final yay to the WTA Stanford tournament this week: real tennis! I can’t wait. 

 

xx doots

 

Advertisement

Wimbledon Day 3 Tidbits: Uninspired.

So uninspired by yesterday’s tennis. 

 

1) I missed the Cilic and Querrey match. Fell asleep during Verdasco v Vliegen, which was so boring it made me want to punch someone. 

I do feel for Sam Querrey. He’s reasonably talented but just can’t seem to be able to catch a break. That said, I’m extremely happy to see Marin Cilic through to the next round. It’s time for him to start making his mark at the slam level, and given his section of the draw, I say go for it dude, just not all the way. 

 

GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images

 

2) Being uninspired by Roger Federer is a good thing. I’ve had more than my fair share of thrills this year from him. Can he just get in there, win, and get outta there? Boom boom bang, like that? Much appreciated Fed. At least until the next time you get yourself into a two set deficit.

Anyway, I thought he played well yesterday, moved like a cheetah and and showed off his full repertoire in the baseline rallies. My only beef with his game at the moment is that he really could’ve bothered to bend a little more for his volleys. Every time he approached the net, he looked so careless and half-hearted, although you did get a feeling that he was practicing a bit out there, particularly in the second and third set.

In any case, it was a very safe match for the Fed, entirely different to his second round match against Acasuso at Roland Garros. Next up: Kohlfreaksmeoutschreiber. Given Federer’s near death experiences in the third and fourth rounds of the last few majors, and Djokovic’s freak loss to Kohlie at Roland Garros, I am gluing my fingers crossed for that one. 

 

 

3) So unspired by Maria Sharapova’s game. I said in my ladies preview that it was a tad ridiculous for so many people to pick her as one of the favourites for Wimbledon, especially when Maria herself sounded so uncertain about her game in her press conferences before Wimbledon. Gisela Dulko played a very contained match, chipping a lot of balls back to Sharapova, who just seemed to lack the conviction to hang in there and pull the trigger at the right time.

I know it’s only her fourth tournament back, but it’s hard not to feel a little disheartened by her “deja vu” styled second round exit. I think she should consider playing some doubles in the lead-up to the US Open. Hope to see her well-rested and recharged at Stanford. 

That said, I’ve been very impressed by her maturity since coming back on tour. It saddens me that no crowd in any country can see past Sharapova’s blond millionaire princess looks to realise what an amazing human being she actually is. She deserved to be treated better by the Wimbledon crowd.

 

 Q. Every athlete is governed by his or her body. As we know, whatever the sport, you’re like one injury away from a major problem. You were rolling along so well, and all of a sudden your shoulder goes bad. Do you ever wonder, Why me? Do you just say, That’s just the way it is?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Uhm, well, first of all, those injuries ‑‑ you think of those injuries as basically preventing you from playing your sport. But if you look at the bigger picture, there are many things that can happen that can limit you to doing things in life or even having a life.
So at the end of the day, if you put things into perspective, when you get injured, yes. My career is a huge part of my life, and that’s what I do on a daily basis. So is it frustrating when that goes away for a while? Absolutely.
But if you have a good head on your shoulders, you also know that there’s a life to live. And if you stay positive, everything’s gonna be all right, no matter what ‑‑ no matter how bad the injury is.

 

Golly, I’m touched. 

 

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

 

4) My only “inspired moment” in tennis yesterday came as Serena Williams hit a backhand slice winner in her match against Jarmilla Groth. This isn’t the lethargic, injured Serena of the clay season. I like her chances a lot, even over her sister’s. 

But then my thrill dissipated with Jelena Dokic’s dull, state-the-obvious mumbling on TV. Yes, Dokic was commentating for Ch 9 in Australia, and no, she wasn’t even close to being good. Can we get Alicia Molik back in the commentary booth? Stolle and Woodforde know jackshit about women’s tennis. 

 

 

5) Tommy Haas stayed on court to play with the ball kids after his opponent Llodra retired with a rather spectacular injury. 

Sheesh, Haas is growing on me. But it’s almost 10 years too late for that. 

 

 

 

6) There’s been a conspicuous attempt to make grunting an issue. It started with a backlash against Larcher de Brito, but really culminated when Martina Navratilova spoke out so publicly against it.  

I’m not sure what I think on that. Personally, I’ve stopped noticing Maria Sharapova’s grunts. Her metaphysical presence on court is so strong that it just draws me into the match and overrides everything else. But Michelle “Louder de Better” is a different story. There just seems to be a whole new level of bloodcurdlingness with her scream. No one likes it, and it’s hard to ignore. From a big picture perspective, it does much damage to the reputation of women’s tennis.

Yet on the other hand, recent media coverage of this issue is starting to look more and more like a personal attack on the 16-year old, or worse, on women’s tennis itself. Reading the recent headlines on the issue:

“Wimbledon 2009: Ladies’ game may damage your health” – The Telegraph

“I won’t stop screeching, says teenager” – The Guardian

“Turn the volume down! Who was the biggest grunter on the opening day of Wimbledon?” – the Daily Mail, accusations on Sharapova, Larcher de Brito and Azarenka. 

“Silence in court? No, I’m going to be a big noise here, says Larcher de Brito” – the Daily Mail. Again. 

The Daily Express was much more straight forward, titling the issue – “MICHELLE HAS A SCREAMING FIT”.

 

And how about this: 

 

In the lead up to this year’s tournament there was much talk of the grunt. Critics reckoned such has been the prodigious increase in volume since Monica Seles first shrieked to prominence, women’s tennis now sounded like a pornographic movie. Witnessing it at close quarters, however, this seems the wrong filmic allusion. The favoured yelp is angry, aggressive, making the peaceful environs of Wimbledon sound like the climax to one of those slasher movies, when the heroine in peril finally exacts noisome revenge on her demonic persecutor; more Drag Me To Hell than Debbie Does Dallas.

 

Har. Har. Oh now you’re just getting creative. Smart ass. 

 

But Michelle has actually handled this entire manufactured scandal quite endearingly for her age, saying to the vultures at her press conference, “I’m just here for myself. I’m not here really to be quiet for anybody. I’m here to play. I’m here to win. That’s it. If people don’t like my grunting, they can always leave.”

Ah, as much as I dislike her grunt, thinking back to when I was 16, I probably would’ve crumbled under the notoriety. The girl’s got feist, and a backbone apparently.

Yup, seems like I’m destined to love grunters. I feel sorry for my ears, but that’s just the way it is. 

 

7) Wimbledon put Dulko and Sharapova on Centre Court on Day 3. And the OOP for Day 4 shows that Caroline Woz and MariKiri have been placed on Centre too. Over Serena and Venus? What is this? A pageant?

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Caroline Wozniacki became the second player this week to avenge her Melbourne loss by defeating, wait – make that pulverising, Jelena Dokic in straight sets, 61 62. She followed up this victory with a 61 76(1) dismissal of Bremond. Nice work Woz. I was a little concerned last week after her early exit, but perhaps it was just a routine case of WTA neurosis. 

 

On the topic of WTA neurosis, at least JJ had the audacity to be embarrassed about her 62 75 loss to Kaia Kanepi. But give your opponent more credit JJ, it’s not all about yourself.  I like your dress though. 

 

 

“This was the worst match of my career. It was a horrible day. I kept framing the ball, kept making unforced errors, and could not put two balls together on court. I didn’t move properly, and I didn’t see the ball properly,” said [JJ].

“She didn’t have to do too much. Basically I beat myself. I don’t know what happened out there. I am ashamed of this performance.”

Source: tennis.com

 

Image from tennis.com

 

Aside from JJ, all the other top seeds seem to be doing fine, even the mercurial Miss Ivanovic, who scored a win over lucky loser Camille Pin in Dubai today/yesterday. Should Serena and Venus both win their next matches (against Ivanovic and Dementieva), we’d be on track for another siblings showdown after one earlier this week between Radwanska and … well, Radwanska. Hoorah!

 

On the men’s side, boring boring boring – Djokovic, Tsonga, Lopez, Youzhny all through. In Memphis, it’s been a good day for the Americans, with Ginepri, Querrey, and Fish through as well. The Worm also continues to squirm his way through the draws, umm – someone stop him? Sorry Worm fans, but the guy’s like a over-excited mutant left over by the dying generation of S&Vers. We need an upset on the men’s side of things. Or maybe another Djokovic v Tsonga showdown. Oooh yeth…. 

 

In other news, speculations (and this is indeed pure speculation) that Federer could be interested in working with Darren Cahill. Of course, rumours have been around for years that the Fed’s after Cahill, but it just so happens that Cahill has left his coaching position on the Australian Davis Cup team, but believes he’ll “probably get back to coaching again at some point”. That’s all there is to it really. I suppose Fedophiles like myself are desperate for news these days. Where is the world is Roger Federer? 

 

It’s always the same pattern: When Roger Federer has to recover from exhaustion or get to terms with disappointment, he vanishes. He might hit the beach in Dubai or on the Maledives, like after the Masters Cup in 2008. Last year after the AO the Californian megacity Los Angeles was his secret holiday destination.

But he also disappears in Switzerland in between. He plays cards with mates in Basel, skis in Lenzerheide or turns up at a barbecue on Lake Zurich. If, however you do not happen to run into him or get a tip, you will as likely find Roger Federer as the elusive Bernstein Room: not at all.

Why is that? Federer does not want any media attention in between tennis events, and rigorously protects his privacy. And he is very clear about this to his company and acquaintances. If you do not respect this, you fall from his grace. His girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec, his parents, his fitness coach Pierre Paganini, his physio Gary Hamilton, his coach Severin Lüthi and his media-assistant Géraldine Dondit will stay mum – about anything. 

The likeable Paganini will talk casually about how to get fit, but not about how Federer gets fit. You can also have a friendly chat with Lüthi about all the world and his brother. Regarding Roger, almost everything is censored – to an extent that borders on the absurd. The coach must not even let you know when training starts. Information is so scarce that even the most everyday announcements are traded like sensations.

His pals clearly become uncomfortable if they are expected to talk about the star. They act as if they were negotiating a minefield. Whatever Federer does not want to tell himself has to be question-marked. 

This also goes for his whereabouts. So only a handful of people know where he is moving, which flight he is taking to which destination. “Sometimes Mirka and I will slip away for a month, and nobody knows where we are”, says Federer. “And that’s exactly how I want it.”

http://www.blick.ch/sport/tennis/fed…ucht-ab-111957

English Translation:  fhol on RF.com

 

 

It’s all very James Bond and the secret service isn’t it? The name’s Federer. Roger Federer.