Operation Doubles Tennis

Australian Doubles Tennis Instruction

2008-04-18T10:15:00.006-05:00

Australian Doubles anyone? Most players think Australian Doubles is just a weird lineup that is supposed to somehow bother your opponents so that the receiver misses the return of serve. Though the chances of a missed or off-target return are a bit greater, the real purpose of Australian Doubles is to set up the opposition switched so that you can easily poach service return.

It is also an excellent serve-and-volley formation for teams that want to play serve-and-volley but are having little success from the normal Up-and-Back Formation.

Check out the four new lessons on Australian Doubles:

Australian Doubles Avenues to Victory
The Australian Doubles Play
Australian Doubles Net Play Tactics
Australian Doubles Serving Tactics

And then, for a review, see this animated tutorial on how to play, and how to defend against, Australian Doubles.

Technorati Tags: tennis tennis instruction tennis doubles

The Operation Doubles Tennis Connection

2008-04-17T11:15:00.002-05:00

The April 2008 issue of the Operation Doubles Connection is now online. Sign up here for your free email copy of this newsletter every month.

WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE

What's New at Operation Doubles Tennis
Featured Tennis Website of the Month
This Month's Tennis Quiz
This Month's Tennis Q & A
This Month's Shot-Making Tip

Technorati Tags: tennis

Davis Cup Quarterfinals

2008-04-14T11:42:00.005-05:00

Congratulations to Russia, Argentina, Spain, and the United States for their World Group Quarterfinal victories this past weekened.

All four teams advice to the semifinals in September, where Argentina will take on Russia and the United States will take on Spain.

USA v France:

Friday

Andy Roddick (USA - 6th ranked) def Michael Llodra (FRA - ranked 41): 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(5)

James Blake (USA - 8th ranked) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA - 12th ranked): 7-6(5) 6-7(3) 6-3 3-6 7-5

Saturday

Arnaud Clement (ranked 70) /Michael Llodra (FRA) def Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA): 6-7(7) 7-5 6-3 6-4

Sunday

Andy Roddick (USA) def Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA): 6-2 6-3 6-2

James Blake (USA) def Richard Gasquet (FRA - ranked 10th): 6-7(4) 6-4 6-4

Technorati Tags: tennis

Davis Cup Quarterfinal: The United States v France

2008-04-10T12:21:00.005-05:00

What a shame. In true Mohammed-Ali style, 13th-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France fired up the Davis Cup tie between the United States and France with some good, old fashioned jive about us Americans "fearing" the French.

Now he has gone home with a knee injury the French Tennis Federation announced yesterday.

That wasn't really such a blow, as Tsonga's runner-up finish at the Australian Open is his only great achievement to date. But he was arguably France's best chance in singles on a fast court.

Tsonga was replaced with Arnaud Clement, and at that point, the best guess was that France would have Richard Gasquet and Paul-Henri Mathieu play singles with Clement and Michael Llodra teaming up to play doubles.

But now 8th-ranked Richard Gasquet has blisters, so he's out too.

The quarterfinal tie begins Friday and runs to Sunday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Here's the lineup as it now stands:

Friday
Andy Roddick (USA - 6th ranked) v Michael Llodra (FRA - ranked 41)
James Blake (USA - 8th ranked) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA - 12th ranked)

Saturday
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA) v Arnaud Clement (ranked 70) /Michael Llodra (FRA)

Sunday
Andy Roddick (USA) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)
James Blake (USA) v Michael Llodra (FRA)

See also:
"The Americans will fear us."
Davis Cup Dialog

Technorati Tags: tennis

Fake Rackets from China Flood the Asian Market

2008-04-08T15:54:00.003-05:00

Thinking to get a Wilson K Blade at a very nice price from China? Think again.

Via Nawin of the Regentville Tennis Blog in Singapore:

About a year ago I wrote an article about a fake Babolat Pure Drive and how fake tennis racquets being passed off as genuine item. A year has passed and the counterfeit tennis racquet industry has grown even more in prominence and stature. ...The fake tennis racquets are looking every bit as genuine as their authentic cousins. ...Most of the major tennis manufacturers such as Head, Wilson, Babolat, Dunlop, Prince and a few others are produced under license from racquet manufacturing plants in China. The question in one’s mind now is whether this is a genuine or counterfeit tennis racquet? Truth be told, it’s now very difficult to judge unless you really know your tennis racquet.

Read the rest and see photo comparisons.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Tennis Strategy & Tactics Guides

2008-04-03T22:27:00.003-05:00

Time is running out to save on any edition the Operation Doubles Strategy Guide and/or the Match Play Guide - paperback, PDF, or on CD-ROM - during the March Madness Sale, which ends Monday.

Davis Cup Roster

2008-04-03T12:23:00.001-05:00

The Davis Cup quarterfinal tie between the United States and France will take place April 11-13 at the Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The French Davis Cup captain, Guy Forget, has announced his roster:
Richard Gasquet
Paul-Henri Mathieu (either singles or doubles)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Michael Llodra (doubles for sure)

Mathieu replaces Arnaud Clement, who was on the French squad that beat host Romania, 5-0, in the Davis Cup opening round in February.

The American Davis Cup captain, Patrick McEnroe, will use the same lineup that won the Davis Cup last year:

No. 1 singles starter Andy Roddick
No. 2 singles starter James Blake
Doubles players Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan

Technorati Tags: tennis

Learning How to Play Tennis: Strategy and Tactics

2008-03-31T13:52:00.004-05:00

If you're a frequent visitor to Operation Doubles Tennis, you know that I advise against the current popular obsession with form, as if excellence in tennis is in discovering and copying the minute "secrets" of Roger Federer's technique.

This advice is nothing new, however. Tim Gallwey was the first to give it in his bestseller The Inner Game of Tennis back in the 1970s. In fact, the leading experts in how to teach the game are in agreement. All I offer is the unique perspective of someone with a background in biology who can explain why our brains are unsuited to learning the way most people try to learn to play tennis.

And tennis isn't the only thing I have taught. I am also a certified and licensed classroom teacher. I have taught swimming, biology, physics, general science, chemistry, English, track and field, and guitar. To all ages, from children to adults. So, I've noticed a thing or two about how people learn.

QUESTION: Why doesn't this knowledge of how best to teach tennis filter down to all the people teaching it? There are many answers. One is that conflicts with certain business models.

There's a similar problem in teaching strategy and tactics. Publishers of how-to and self-help books contribute to it. They, and many who teach subjects like this, mistakenly believe that the average person is intellectually lazy and wants everything boiled down to no-brainer rules of rote, as if to say, "Don't bore me with why: just tell me what to do."

That isn't true. By nature, human beings like to tax a brain cell or two. Only boring people are easily bored. What learners do want is the clarity, conciseness, and concrete visualization that make understanding solid and easy-to-grasp.

What's more, rote isn't easy. It isn't "simplifying things."

Yes, rote rules are no-brainers, but they must be memorized and recalled under fire, which is hard to do. For example, if you try to do physics problems by rote, you must memorize every form of every equation and remember them all under the pressure of a test. It's much easier to just understand, so that you need recall only one form of each equation. It's the same with tennis. To play by rote you must memorize dozens of rote rules and recall the right one under the pressure of each approaching shot. It's much easier to just understand the game so that you simply see what to do and do it intuitively.

Playing intuitively also allows you to get out of your head and into the zone, where your physical performance peaks.

This is why the best instruction on playing the game (strategy and tactics) opens your eyes to this dimension of the tennis game. A vision that not only helps you get the most out of your play so that you win more, but one that also enriches your playing experience and makes it much more interesting. One that enables you to enjoy tennis on a whole new level.

At this new, deeper level, you're no longer just going through the motions of hitting forehands and backhands. Now you're into the game itself.

What does that mean? It means that you're no longer just hitting shots. You are actually really playing the game. Half the fun is figuring out how to win it.

I'll never forget the day my eyes were opened to this hidden dimension of tennis, the dimension of the game itself. It had been there all along; I just never saw it before. The effect was like a revelation, like having a black-and-white movie suddenly take on Technicolor, or like having a two-dimensional painting suddenly become a three-dimensional statue in space. Before that, I had been like a sailor gazing overboard, unable to penetrate the surface of the sea to see the fascinating world beneath the surface.

Until then, like most tennis players, what I knew of tennis strategy and tactics could have been written on the back of a postcard. It was all just words; no mental pictures. My idea of strategy and tactics was to try a little of this and a little of that, with no idea what should work or why. I tried to play by rote — following dos and don'ts I had read in books. I stood where I stood just because everyone stood in that position.

In short, my understanding of the game was as shallow as a puddle. I couldn't see what was going on for myself. Therefore, I couldn't adapt to whatever a cagey opponent's game was doing to mine.

So, stretch a brain cell or two to visualize and understand this hidden dimension of tennis. I guarantee that opening your eyes to it will help you play better, help you win more, and increase your fun and enjoyment of the game.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Playing Tennis to Win

2008-03-29T11:25:00.005-05:00

Harold Solomon, via ZooTennis:

I have a different perspective on winning than some other people in our profession. In my opinion it is ridiculous to ignore that the intention of tennis players when they compete in tournament play is to win. I don't see anything wrong with having that intention every time you walk on the court if you are thinking correctly about winning.
[...]
Most importantly, I have to love the competition, I have to thrive in that environment. I am not afraid of competing, it's what I live for. My job is to push myself, to test myself, to challenge myself.

That's what it's all about - the challenge, the risk of losing. That's what makes competition exciting. That's what makes it rewarding.

Take that objective "to win" out of it, and what do you have? An experience gutted of meaning.

Go read a novel instead. It's a much easier way to experience conflict without risk.

I wholeheartedly agree with Solomon. As he says, it's "ridiculous" to make something evil out of wanting to win and playing to win.

Just ask yourself: Was it winners or losers who spawned this idea? Losers, of course. People who can't take losing, so they make something evil out of beating them. To never risk losing, they never try to win.

THEY are the ones - yes, THEY are the ones - making too big a deal out of winning or losing!

The "reasoning" behind this nonsense fails even the most superficial nonsense check. It's all based on invalid assumptions, straw man arguments, and confusing the issue.

For example, I hate the false accusation that people who play to win are people "who will do anything to win," even cheat. Baloney.

It's quite the other way around.

The people "who will do anything to win" are not really playing to win. Their idea of winning is a perverted idea of winning. They are the ones who settle for hollow victories got through cheating. And they do this because all they care about are appearances, such as the final score. So, they are satisfied with a false win got through cheating.

They do this because they don't think they're capable of winning the legitimate way, and they are too weak to handle losing.

On the other hand, players who really want to win would get zero satisfaction out of such phony winning. They want real victories. In fact, they can tell you of moral victories they are proud and happy about even though they came out on the short end of the final score. In other words, they are real people pursuing the real thing, not mere vain appearances.

In fact, the main reason they don't resort to cheating or gamesmanship is because that would shame them: they would view it as an admission that they couldn't win the legitimate way. They think they are better than that.

This is why THEY - yes, THEY - are the sporting players who want to defeat you fair and square. They are the players who WON'T do just anything to win. Even on the Pro Tour where a great deal of money is at stake, we sometimes see these players give their opponent the next point to make up for a bad call. Why? Because they want nothing to tarnish the victory they seek.

Tennis is just a game. Nothing more, nothing less. The objective of any game is to win it. Winning is fun, and losing is a bummer. Nothing more, nothing less.

The joy of winning and the disappointment of losing are just emotions that pass in a matter of minutes or hours if we don't try to pretend them away (and thus lock them forever in the subconsciousness to motivate irrational behavior without our awareness of their influence on us).

Winning a tennis match never made one person morally superior to, or more noble than, another, and losing never killed anybody.

So, my advice to players and coaches is to use your own head and examine every idea that comes blowing to you in the wind. Don't just swallow whole all the chatter out there. An awful lot of it is stupid.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Boycott the Olympics?

2008-03-28T11:10:00.007-05:00

I have a question for those people crying out that we should boycott the Olympics. That question is "What are YOU going to give up for what you want? Huh? What are YOU gonna pay for it?"

Nothing.

No wonder you are so gung-ho.

It costs you nothing. You want someone else to make the necessary sacrifice you demand. How "caring" for you to make other people pay the price for your self-righteous holier-than-thou act.

You want the Olympic athletes to pay for it. After all those years of training, you want to take away their dream of competing? Callous is as callous does.

Whom do you think you're fooling? We see that your kind aren't happy unless you're gasping in a hyperventilating display of moral indignation while shooting one arm up in the air to wave it for attention as you point the accusing finger on the other arm at somebody else for being evil.

Give us some credit for having a brain, please. We see right through that. We see that you are just playing the Oldest Trick in The Book - making yourselves look good by comparison = by making others look bad.

You secular holier-than-thous just use other people, in this case, the Olympic athletes. What are their lifelong hopes, dreams, sacrifices, and hard work to you?

How callously you throw away these precious things that DON'T BELONG TO YOU. How abusively you exploit others to serve as nothing but the idle gestures of your own idle acts.

What makes you think you have the right to waste all their years of hard work? Parasites.

It sucked when President Jimmy Carter did it in 1980, and it sucks now.

You need to learn to distinguish between mine and thine. Because apparantly you can't anymore. What makes you think you have a claim on other people's lives?

It's bad enough when you plunder companies, willfully blind to how you are also plundering everyone who works for that company and driving business out of the United States, but now your grasping shows that you think you have a claim on everyone else's hard work and achievement.

Frankly, I am getting really sick of you all being so gung-ho to make other people pay YOUR way, pay the price for what YOU want. And you call that parasitism "humanitarianism."

If you really cared, you'd cut the vain shows of idle acts and do something effective, something that would actually resolve conflicts and save lives.

If, as individuals, Olympic athletes wish to boycott the Olympics, fine. Or, if as individuals, they wish to step before the cameras in Bejing and voice their opinion, fine. More power to them. Anyone who does so is worthy of our admiration, for he or she is sacrificing their own interests, not someone's else's like you jerks always do.

You are more partisan than the Dali Llamma, who acknowledges and condemns the wrongdoing on BOTH sides, including the violence against Chinese in Tibet, where mobs stomp Chinese children. But you keep that part a secret, don't you? Besides, the bigger issue, by far, is Darfur, and Western European nations, like Germany, are doing big business with Sudan too.

Let the Olympic athletes give the matter serious thought and decide for themselves, as individuals, what they are going to do. And let the rest of us respect and support them in their decisions.

And let the holier-than-thous give it a rest already. It's time the rest of us tuned them out.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Tennis Odds and Ends

2008-03-27T13:34:00.003-05:00

The Sony Ericsson Open is underway in Miami, running from March 26 to Sunday, April 6, 2008. You can get a copy of the men's and women's draws here.

Just a reminder that there are only a few days left in the Operation Doubles Tennis "March Madness Sale" at the Pro Shop.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Unbelievable!

2008-03-26T06:54:00.003-05:00

This is rich! Via Tennis Diary:

Why can't certain ATP players play at the ATP tournament in Dubai?

Pardon me, but if Dubai won't let them in the country because of their nationality, then Dubai should not be allowed to host an ATP tournament.

The ATP cooperates with this attempt of political warfare to isolate a certain people? International apartheid?

Indeed, whom does the ATP represent? The players? Really?

What an amazing crock.

Let's all start doing that. Let all host countries start denying visas to players of certain nationalities. Let's teach the freakin' ATP a lesson it will never forget.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Mr. Federer

2008-03-26T06:43:00.002-05:00

Mr. Federer, we are not satisfied with your performance. Hop to it!

Oooh. I think I just got taller!

Technorati Tags: tennis

Flawed Tennis Form? Or Flawed Tennis Thinking? Part 2

2008-03-25T14:51:00.004-05:00

Part 1

There are two ways to swing a tennis racket at the ball. The natural way and the unnatural way.

In the natural way, you focus on the approaching ball, and your conscious mind thinks something like, "Whack that sucker." No more conscious thinking takes place. Your swing is spontaneous. Instinctive. Intuitive. It is being timed, coordinated, and controlled by the unconscious timing/coordinating/controlling centers of the brain. These are the same areas that take care of things like walking, talking, and handwriting - all spontaneous actions that we do without thinking about HOW.

The unnatural way to swing a tennis racket at the ball is by consciously issuing yourself verbal instructions, like, "Get the racket back, step into the shot (or load and explode), watch the ball, bend your elbow, watch the ball, swing low to high, watch the ball, follow-through...."

There is a serious problem with the unnatural way. It takes a huge amount of brainpower. Brainpower to recall and process the language of verbal instructions. Brainpower that won't be available for sensory perception. Result? You won't see the ball as well. Your judgment will suffer. Your kinesthetic perceptions will be dim, and your dynamic balance will be off. You'll have robotic form because you're issuing orders to your muscles the way a robot issues orders to its movable parts. Plus, you can't possibly think through all the instructions that fast. Plus, you are just interfering with the natural process of coordinating and timing your shot. Learning tennis this way will be painful, frustrating, and very slow.

Yet this is the way most tennis players learn! That isn't the way you learned how to walk, talk, or write is it?

Am I saying that you should forgo lessons and just be a hacker? No. I am just giving you another reason why you should not obsess about form.

Here are some lessons on the main site that will help you learn without doing so:
Learning How to Play Tennis
Dynamic Balance
Tips to Improve Your Tennis Technique

Technorati Tags: tennis

Flawed Tennis Form? Or Flawed Tennis Thinking?

2008-03-24T12:12:00.006-05:00

How many times have you seen a tennis player miss a shot and walk back to the baseline taking a practice swing? When was the last time you did this yourself? You're thinking that you missed the shot because of some flaw in your swing, and that's why you're practicing it.

If we could somehow search the brain of every tennis player in the world, we'd find in most the belief that errors are caused flawed form.

If that's true, then you would never miss a shot if you achieve perfect form.

Golfers think the same way. And this thinking is what underlies the common obsession with form in both sports. The "perfect swing" then becomes a sort of Holy Grail that all pursue for as long as they play the game.

It's an exercise in frustration and futility. In fact, players learn learn in spite of, not because of, their efforts to perfect their form.

That's because this thinking is what's flawed. It is NOT true that you miss a shot because of some flaw in your form. No amount of perfecting your form will enable you to play error-free tennis. And there is no such thing as "perfect form."

Tomaz Mencinger has a good two-part instructional article on the subject, The Biggest Tennis Myth that's Hurting Your Game and Why Tennis Players Obsess So Much About Tennis Instruction.

OK, so here's the Big Myth:

If I miss the ball, I must have done something technically wrong (meaning I moved my body parts in the wrong way). Thus, if I can correct that mistake (move my body parts "correctly"), then I will not miss the ball again.

Based on this myth, we tennis coaches have been earning money giving tennis lessons for decades.

Based on this myth, club and professional tennis players have wasted millions of dollars and thousands of hours, all on trying to improve their game. Without much effect, of course...

Read the rest, and next time I'll come back with some thoughts of my own on the subject.

Part 2

Technorati Tags: tennis

Pacific Life Open Review

2008-03-24T07:07:00.004-05:00

There's joy in Serbia as Ana Ivanovic won the women's singles title and Novak Djokovic won the men's singles title. Dinara Safina and Elena Vesnina of Russia won the women's doubles title; Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel won the men's doubles title.

What were the surprises?

Well, one is the quarterfinal defeat of Bob and Mike Bryan by Max Myrni and Jamie Murray. But then, maybe that's just me. I always expect Bob and Mike to win ;-)

Another was Svetlana Kuznetsova ending Maria Sharapova's perfect season in the semifinals. But, the Russians know each other's games so well that any one of them is capable of beating the others on any given day. Also, despite her competitiveness, Sharapova's game does have some real weaknesses. Though she deserves her high ranking, it doesn't make her as reliable a winner as one might think.

The biggest surprise was the fall of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the men's semifinals. Djokovic's upset of Nadal on a hardcourt wasn't such a big surprise, but No. 98 Mardy Fish's run at the title, defeating Roger Federer 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinal, was the big story of tournament.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Pacific Life Open Finals

2008-03-22T12:01:00.003-05:00

MEN'S PLAY

Men's Singles Semifinals
Novak Djokovic of Serbia vs Rafael Nadal of Spain
Roger Federer of Switzerland vs Mardy Fish of the United States

Men's Doubles Final
Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel vs Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia

WOMEN'S PLAY

Women's Singles Final
Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia vs Ana Ivanovic of Serbia

Women's Doubles Final
Dinara Safina and Elena Vesnina of Russia vs Zi Yan and Jie Zheng of China

Schedule (all times Pacific and all matches in the stadium court)
11:00 AM Women's doubles final
Not Before 1:00 PM Djokovic vs Nadal
Not Before 3:00 PM Federer vs Fish

Technorati Tags: tennis

The Operation Doubles tennis Connection - March issue

2008-03-22T01:26:00.004-05:00

A copy of the March 2008 issue of the Operation Doubles Connection is now online. Sign up here for your free email copy of this newsletter every month.

WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE

What's New at Operation Doubles Tennis
Featured Tennis Website of the Month
This Month's Tennis Quiz
This Month's Tennis Q & A
This Month's Shot-Making Tip
Tennis News & Upcoming Tournaments

Technorati Tags: tennis

9 Steps to Dominating Tennis Doubles - Great for Coaches

2008-03-21T11:43:00.000-05:00

This is the time of year tennis coaches in northern climes begin itching for spring in anticipation of the new season. You can give your doubles teams the edge through the simple program "9 Steps to Dominating Doubles," available at volume discount prices and now available in paperback as well as printable PDF ebook format.

Technorati Tags: tennis tennis instruction tennis doubles

Getting Caught in No Man's Land: Between Serena and Richard Williams

2008-03-20T10:18:00.010-05:00

It was late last night when I posted that piece on Richard William's obnoxious mouth in an interview with The Deccan Herold while there for the Bangalore Open. So, I didn't put together the two halves of this story.

When you put things in chronological order, it's easy to see what happened.

First, R Satya of the Deccan Herold interviewed Richard Williams in this article:

Just like his daughters Venus and Serena, Richard Williams is a familiar figure at most tennis centres across the world.

While his daughters make headlines with their brand of tennis, father Williams does so with his statements. Unafraid to speak his mind, Williams, who was in the Garden City last week for the Bangalore Open, spoke to Deccan Herald on Venus and Serena's early years and about a life beyond the baseline.

In the excerpts that follow, note what Williams says in this one:

Tennis is a prejudice game. Well, I'm Black and I'm prejudiced, very prejudiced. I'll be always prejudiced as the White man. The White man hated me all my life and I hate him. That's no secret. I'm not even an American, it just so happens that I was born in America. People are prejudiced in tennis. I don't think Venus or Serena was ever accepted by tennis. They never will be. But if you get some little White no good trasher in America like Tracy Austin or Chris Evert who cannot hit the ball, they will claim this is great.

(Note the god-awful English, which Serena then tries to scrape off Richard and onto the author of the article.) Embarrassing, eh? Plus, Daddy has just upstaged you again, stealing your headlines with that attention-grabbing mouth of his.

So, whom does Serena get mad at? Not Daddy, the one to blame. She makes something out of nothing by blowing a gasket over this OTHER article in the Deccan Herold by the same writer. She trumps up her complaint by mischaracterizing the article and failing to include a link to it so readers can see if she's telling the truth about it:

Serena reigns supreme

By R Satya, DH News Service, Bangalore:

Former world number one Serena Williams hit a ball into to the crowd in celebration, but the ball flew out of the stadium. I'm sorry, she said. Well, that mishit summed up the finale in a nutshell.

Coming into the final with fine victories in the semifinals the previous day, the huge crowd turnout expected another great fare from Serena and Patty Schnyder. Sadly, the error-filled 75-minute title clash never rose above the mediocre. The third-seeded Serena did play the big points well to fall across the line.

The American made her maiden trip to India a memorable one. The out of sorts Serena overcame an equally out of sorts Schnyder 7-5, 6-3 to emerge triumphant in the $600,000 Bangalore Open at the KSLTA stadium courts on Sunday.

Yes, you read right. That's is the actual text of the newspaper article that Serena is somehow mad about.

Then, in an obviously ironic reference to this gushing headline at the Official Bangalore Open website - SERENA WILLIAMS TO ENTHRALL SPECTATORS AT BANGALORE - the article shows that something had quelled all that enthusiasm for a chance to see the great Serena:

...Barring a couple of points, there was very little that caught the interest of the spectators. The arrival of Indian cricketer S Sreesanth was a welcome relief from the poor show on court.

Indeed, since not just Richard's disgusting mouth, but also the tennis itself sucked (on both ends of the court) what was there for the crowd to be enthralled about? Do you think her father's hate comes across any less putridly among Hindus in India than it does among Hispanics and whites here? In fact, the most offended are blacks with a white parent and white grandparents. Can you think of any? Like in pro tennis and politics?

Duh, people don't like to be hated for just existing = not being the right color for you.

Read the rest of the article on the final entitled Serena Reigns Supreme. It deals with her fairly, going on to tell that Serena cut down on her errors near the end and played the big points well enough to win.

So what is there for her to be so mad about?

Here's her rant, on her website.

See, I link to to it. So the reader can check it out to see whether what I say about it is true. How come Serena doesn't do that with the Deccan Herold article she whines about?

Honest people link to an article they're criticizing, because otherwise Serena, you have zero credibility. People are not as stupid as you think: they smell a straw man in your account of an article you don't let your readers see. Indeed, that is so suspicious that it was my sole reason for searching the Internet till I found it.

Now here is my post on Serena's rant, where I expose everything false, ironic and absurd about it, including the THREAT she uttered at the author.

Guess what? That threat already seems to be materializing, because the WTA is moving to degrade the Bangalore Open to a Tier 3 tournament. You read right, India. No WTA Tier II tournament in India! Heads will roll in Bangalore over that.

See Bangalore Open's status up for debate in WTA's plans at ESPN.

Why? All because Serena's father upstaged and embarrassed her again. So she must vent her fury on SOMEONE, right? Look out, innocent bystanders.

Instead of humoring and appeasing her, the WTA should be disciplining her for abusing her influence like that and should be making rules to penalize players for remote hate talk through the irresponsible mouths of their parents. A parent like Richard Williams should be banned from the grounds of all tournaments.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse

2008-03-20T00:05:00.005-05:00

UPDATE

Richard Williams in an interview with R Satya of the Deccan Herold in Bangladore:

Well, I'm Black and I'm prejudiced, very prejudiced. I'll be always prejudiced as the White man. The White man hated me all my life and I hate him. That's no secret. I'm not even an American, it just so happens that I was born in America. People are prejudiced in tennis. I don't think Venus or Serena was ever accepted by tennis. They never will be. But if you get some little White no good trasher in America like Tracy Austin or Chris Evert who cannot hit the ball, they will claim this is great.

OMG.

See also Serena Williams Attacks Criticism of Poor Play in which she attacks the Deccan Herold.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Davis Cup Dialog

2008-03-19T13:37:00.003-05:00

I was actually hoping some French blogger (whose English is much better than my French) would take up the gauntlet I threw down yesterday.

Come on, this ketchup loving hamberger monkey can take it. How about a little of that "dialog"?

(We can't leave it to Andy Roddick. He has no sense of humor.)

CLICK

Arise, children of the Motherland,
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us, tyranny's
Bloody banner is raised.
Bloody banner is raised.
Do you hear in the countryside
The braying of these ferocious soldiers?
They are coming into our midst
To cut the throats of our sons, our wives!

To arms, citizens!
Form your battalions!
March, march!
May their filthy blood
Water our fields!
To arms, citizens!
Let us form our battalions!
Let us march, let us march!
May their filthy blood
Water our fields!

Sacred patriotic love,
Lead and support our avenging arms
Liberty, cherished liberty,
Fight back with your defenders!
Fight back with your defenders!
Under our flags, let victory
Hurry to your manly tone,
So that our enemies, in their last breath,
See your triumph and our glory!

Technorati Tags: tennis

"The Americans will fear us."

2008-03-18T12:10:00.021-05:00

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga really said that, in reference to the upcoming Davis Cup tie here next month between the United States and France.

Oooh, la la. This could be fun.

FEAR??? FEAR???

Ha! CLICK.

You asked for it!

And unless you really wanna ruin your day...

DON'T CLICK THIS LINK!

Note: The first time through the video, the sound might not be in sync, but once the sound all loads, you can replay to hear and see it right.

Technorati Tags: tennis

The Pacific Life Open

2008-03-14T16:30:00.007-05:00

The Pacific Life Open has undergone a long evolution and many name changes, but today it is the fifth-most important tournament on the Pro Tennis Tour, after the four "Majors." Like the majors, it is a two-week long tournament running from March 10-23rd this year, with men's and women's draws of 96 top players, being an ATP Masters Series Tournament and a Tier I WTA tournament.

It is held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Southern California, a facility with a 16,000-seat stadium, the second largest in the world. Last year it became the first non-major tournament to exceed an attendance of 300,000.

The first round of play is nearly finished in all events, and the women's singles is into the second round.

You can download a current copy of the draws by left-clicking each link below, waiting for the draw sheet to load, then saving a copy to your computer.

Men's Singles (2 pages)
Men's Doubles
Women's Singles (2 pages)
Women's Doubles

Technorati Tags: tennis

Improve your Tennis Volley

2008-03-12T12:24:00.004-05:00

Need help with your volley? Try the Romanian Volley Drill, as demonstrated by Mike (closer to camera) and Bob Bryan.

Get the details explained and get more help for your volley in the recently updated lesson on How to Volley at OperationDoubles.com.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Serena Williams Attacks Criticism of Poor Play

2008-03-11T17:27:00.011-05:00

As everyone knows, Serena Williams won her first title of the year at Banglador, defeating Patty Schnyder in the finals and her sister Venus in the semis. In a blog on her website, Serena wrote this breezy rant about a newspaper account:

Ok so this morning I read the paper...

But we thought that you don't read articles about yourself in the press.

Ok so this morning I read the paper (this is the very reason why I don’t read articles about myself) about the match yesterday.

Huh? So, which is it? Oh, never mind.

It was a local paper and a local article talking about the match. And can you believe what they said?

Shouldn't you tell us what they said before asking us if we believe it?

I could believe what you say they said if you linked to the article to verify your claims about it. But you don't. You don't even name the paper or the author. Why?

But don't worry. I found it. Just Google her quote "75-minute title clash never rose above the mediocre" and there it is.

Here is this hick "local" newspaper Serena is trashing - the Deccan Herald - and the top of the article she is throwing a fit about:

Serena reigns supreme

By R Satya, DH News Service, Bangalore:

Former world number one Serena Williams hit a ball into to the crowd in celebration, but the ball flew out of the stadium. I'm sorry, she said. Well, that mishit summed up the finale in a nutshell.

Coming into the final with fine victories in the semifinals the previous day, the huge crowd turnout expected another great fare from Serena and Patty Schnyder. Sadly, the error-filled 75-minute title clash never rose above the mediocre. The third-seeded Serena did play the big points well to fall across the line.

The American made her maiden trip to India a memorable one. The out of sorts Serena overcame an equally out of sorts Schnyder 7-5, 6-3 to emerge triumphant in the $600,000 Bangalore Open at the KSLTA stadium courts on Sunday...

Read the rest. Nothing in it for Serena to be upset about. In fact the criticism was of both players and Serena's ability to play the big points well was noted. So was the fine play of both players in the semis. So, apparantly, Serena just can't take ANY - even the slightest - criticism.

Note what she's mad about: being told the crowd wasn't enthralled with the Great Serena just being there, no matter how bad a performance she put on. Hmmm.

And she misses the whole stadium with a celebratory shot? I'd say the article was pretty kind to her, in the light of that.

Now back to Serena's account of that article.

I’ll tell you, they said the match was boring and listless, and I quote 'The 75 min title clash never rose above the mediocre.' Then they went on to say that the crowd was not interested in the match and they were bored. Ok so I have two issues with this. First of all they did not even use the word mediocre in the sentence correctly!!! Go back and look!!! I mean if you are going to dog someone and in English nonetheless please use the correct language!!!

Just how would you prefer that they have used the word mediocre? "Mediocrely" perhaps? Please, I find myself at a loss to know what you think is wrong with that sentence. It's an elliptical expression, by the way, for "mediocre level."

And, by the way, YOU are criticizing anyone else's English!!! What a hoot! Just look at the very piece you're saying this in: it's riddled with errors, bad punctuation, cliches, and poor style. Shall I sound smart by correcting them all for you? No, then I'd be doing what you did, except that I'd know what I'm talking about.

And what has the language of the article got to do with anything? And how is this "dogging you"? And what's so bad about "dogging you" in English?

Haven't you heard? Indians speak English so well it hardly qualifies as a second language there. It doesn't sound like you know that or why.

What a JERK who ever wrote that!! I dare them to say that to my face! I don’t see their career going much farther than…well the local paper in…. I’ll stop I’m being mean!!"

Is that a threat?

It must be a threat, because you can't be so far gone that you think yourself a judge of a journalist's talent and prognosticator of his future career in the business.

And you keep beating that word local like a tom-tom. So R Satya isn't famous and rich like you. Therefore, you can hit on him all you want.

You are 26 years old. Grow up.

By the way, the "jerk" who "ever" wrote that has a name. You find it at the top of the article.

Ok so now that I got that off my chest I had a weird experience in Bangalore. One night I was in my room and my doorbell started ringing. I was sleep but I woke up to get the door. I got there just in time. There were three guys there at my door. Frankly, they looked like thugs and one of them covered the peep hole as I was looking through it and the other started putting a key in the door! I was terrified, I quickly put the top lock on and then I bolted it. I was like wow! So weird! I guess they were some of the fans that were bored to tears with the match! Hahahah Anyways I did survive to tell the tale. I could not shake the feeling that I was going to be kidnapped. So far I have not!! If I do I hope that I have my blackberry!!

"I hope I have my blackberry!!" Do you get the distinct impression that you're listening to a five-year-old?

Just what made them look like thugs? How did "thugs" even get into such a swanky place? If one of them tried a key, don't you think that means they were just at the wrong door? Give us a break. Many idiots (especially when they've been tipping a few) cover the peephole to be funny.

Little paranoid, maybe?

I think you need a little more reason than that to decide that it was all about you. What a vivid imagination you have.

UPDATE: Revealing the rest of the story of what is going on here.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Tennis: The Sorry State of the Game in the US

2008-03-11T12:17:00.003-05:00

Only 18-20 million Americans play tennis, about half as many as played during the tennis boom.

But statistics can be misleading. Only 5.2 million people in the United States play tennis regularly (i.e., at least 21 times per year).

About half of adult Americans who take up tennis in any given year quit it before the year is out.

Jeez, we just don't know why, do we? We know what's wrong with the way the game is taught. It's a simple matter of facing the facts and stop doing it.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Elite Tennis Taste: No Billy-Bob-and-Jethro Show

2008-03-11T11:38:00.006-05:00

Same silly, provincial conceit ... on the other coast

...where, ah, the "perceptive members of the viewership are," those elite who appreciate fine art and turn up their noses at "stuff dredged from the cesspools" (because they are so vauntingly arrogant as to believe that a business like ESPN is there to edify them and to "educate" the rest of us lowlifes to better taste - not simply to make a profit).

And here's the proof in the punch line...

I love unintended humor. Which one is it? Billy Bob or Jethro? Where'd you get that masterpiece? The Louvre?

Technorati Tags: tennis

Sampras & Federer: Tennis' Good Sports

2008-03-11T00:16:00.005-05:00

I was drinking pop when I read this windup and got the sticky stuff all over my screen.

For the record, I don't buy into all this Greatest sports venue on earth! hype; you'll find one thing in common among all those who parrot that line - they're New Yorkers. For them, it's inconceivable that something/anything (bagels? theater? mob influence?) can be greater than in its Manhattan incarnation, which is, ironically, an extremely provincial and silly conceit.

Bull's-eye!

TENNIS Magazine Editorial Office
79 Madison Ave.
8th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Technorati Tags: tennis

Tennis Doubles Signals

2008-03-10T20:51:00.003-05:00

Max Mirnyi and Jamie Murray show how they use signals in doubles play. Notice that the system works like that in baseball, where the pitcher (server) has the choice, but the signal comes from the player who can hide it. So, if the server wants a different play, he asks for a different signal.

Beware friends of your opponents stationed behind you though. They could learn your signals and relay them to your opponents.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Tennis: Self-Defeating Mind Games

2008-03-10T11:39:00.003-05:00

I enjoyed this guest piece at Tennis Diary by Sean Bugg: A Tennis Boor Defined.

I don’t believe trash talking, a**hole behavior belongs on the court. Competitiveness, yes. Loud cursing? You fucking bet. I don’t think I could make it through a match without at some point saying, “You stupid son of a bitch.” But I’m always saying that to myself —

I agree. It ain't the words, it's whom your saying them to that makes all the difference in the world.

Come on, it's absurd to act as though your tennis opponent is a mortal enemy. That stupid posturing to intimidate your opponent with the body language and tone of hatred is too high a price to pay for victory: it forces you to make a stupid jackass of yourself to win.

Normal people value themselves more than they value a match win. But of course, there are others who don't think much of themselves and don't know true value. Their dreams are too small. Winning tennis matches is all they aspire to.

It's pretty obvious what Andy Roddick was getting from Jimmy Connors.

A little age on the character of a Connors or a McEnroe is like Teflon. Oh, let's let the bad boys show us how to win. But take a second look at those careers, and see the brick wall they slammed into.

It's foolish. And I'm a big proponent of the importance of the psychological battle. But when you cross the line into gamesmanship, you've got to think what you're doing. You are telling yourself that this will give you the edge, that this is what will enable you to win.

It's your mojo, in other words. And you are telling yourself that you're inferior and can't win without this magic.

Not smart.

So, what happens when the other players get used to it? What happens when you run into just as big a jerk as you are and it doesn't work? Gone is your mojo.

Everybody's fist-pumping in tennis rage at their opponents. So, where's your edge?

Woops, and there goes your confidence, because the stupid mind games are what you emotionally rely on to win. You don't think you can win without them. That's magical thinking.

Which is for children.

You end up with your perfomance on any given day being determined by the alignment of your stars.

And look what you're doing to your character. Doesn't that matter to you? Where's your self-respect? It's kinda like selling your soul.

So, my advice is to just play the game. The way it's supposed to be played. Want to win with all your heart and soul, but don't be an idiot who betrays himself by how he goes about it.

Not that the fans will mind, but they have no taste and don't have to face that guy in your mirror every morning, either.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Pro Tennis Reality Check

2008-03-04T22:52:00.004-06:00

Via Angelica Gavaldon-Verdieck at TennisWeek.

In the United States, there are about 100,000 junior tennis players competitive at the regional level.

Only about 1,200 (1.2%) will get national rankings.

In any given year, less than 10 juniors turn professional.

Fewer than half of them will ever break into the top 100, which is about the level one must reach to make a living in professional tennis.

Touring pros are the top 200-300 players in the world. Most don't earn enough money to cover the expenses of a year's travel on the tour.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Changing Tennis Style & Grips

2008-02-28T13:35:00.006-06:00

Peter Bodo has a post over at TennisWorld entitled House of Laver that you shouldn't miss.

I want to zero-in on a point he makes.

It's always been interesting to me that the more radical stylists and clay-court experts - Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal come to mind immediately - are the ones who appear to play tennis in the most natural, technique-and-theory free way. In keeping with recent thoughts I posted on Nadal, this impression that he plays like a kid who just picked up a racket, never bothered to find out how to hold the danged thing, then cut a swath to the top, is part of the larger whole. And let's not forget that while the western may be the most natural, it is neither the most elegant nor, necessarily, the most fruitful forehand grip. There is something intrinsically unschooled about those who use the Western grip, despite all the hard work and discipline such players may invest in their games.

The point isn't that this is the best or only way to excel (in fact, he contrasts this with Roger Federer's refined technical style), but players do get to the top this way.

Speaking of Manolo Santana then, Bodo writes...

They broke the mold after they made Santana, but perhaps one day we'll see a player of his ilk once again. It is, in the end, tennis is a game in which the individual always finds a way to express his talents and impulses, regardless of technique and theory.

And I'll wager that even Roger Federer doesn't consciously try to mold his form half as much as those dissecting and trying to copy it do.

This article also points out something important about grips. The standard advice on grips dates to Rod Laver's time, when equipment and court surfaces were much different. Likewise with the standard advice to hit approach shots with underspin.

And so, though the standard advice lives on, the Eastern Forehand grip and the Continental grip are disappearing from the professional tour. More and more players hit approach shots with topspin and never dare to hit them crosscourt.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Feeding Frenzy on Amelie Mauresmo

2008-02-28T10:16:00.008-06:00

The sharks have smelled the blood in the water and are closing in for the kill.

Will Amelie Mauresmo retire?

That's called a "story question," a "hook." You're the fish.

Now I just speculate no end that she will retire. I keep hounding her with questions about whether "this just finished match" has made her finally decide to quit.

No? How come then?

And so, like a pack of hunting hounds we press on, pursuing her through the season, nipping at her heels.

All this makes you, dear Reader salivate. Ah, the suspense.

Close your eyes. You are getting very sleepy. Very very sleepy. You are feeling a very strong need to know the answer to this story question: Will Mauresmo retire. A very strong need to know the future.

So, tune in tommorrow! when our advertizers will pay us to supply you with - the answer? No, just more of this suspense.

Then we will leave you hanging again, so that you tune in the following day. Get it? Good for circulation.

Mauresmo is easy prey for this sport. Cut it out, will ya Amelie? You have a perfect right to keep your own counsel = a perfect right not to tell the inquisitors what you think about a thing. It's your right to privacy. In every presser, punch the first shark that comes at you in the snout. It works. It really works.

I started to play better in the second set and there were times when I played some good tennis," she said.

"There were still probably a few things here and there which cost me that second set, and I didn't play the tie-break as I expected, but she came up with some good shots when she needed them."

But that kind of wimpy reply is just asking for more.

You know, I just don't get this. When I see that invitation to debate the "issue" of what she should decide, I think, "How presumptuous of me it would be to do that! Moreover, what do I care? That's up to her."

To think that I should even have an opinion on the matter is beyond me. It is none of my business.

One wonders about those who are never busy with their own business and always busy with somebody else's business, which is none of their damned business. Hmmm.

Technorati Tags: tennis

No-Cut High School Tennis Coaching

2008-02-27T15:02:00.010-06:00

In the interest of full disclosure: I have never cut a high school tennis player from my team. This, despite having an assistant only for my first two seasons.

But why is the tennis establishment (the USTA and the Tennis Industry Association) leaning on high school coaches to make them feel like bad people if they cut? Indeed, they claim that a no-cut policy is "the right thing to do."

Wrong. It is neither the right nor wrong thing to do. It isn't a moral issue.

But I'll tell you what is a moral issue. Morally bullying others by making them out to be sinning if they don't do what you want them to. That is very wrong.

High school coaches are not paid by the USTA or the TIA. They are therefore not working for the USTA or the TIA. They are therefore not here to serve the interests of the USTA or the TIA.

In other words, their job isn't to provide the USTA and the TIA with tons and tons of new young tennis players to sell stuff to. Get it?

Their job is to lead their players to victory in tennis meets.

Focus. To coaches I say, don't let them take your eyes off the ball. They aren't thinking of you OR the kids. This campaign of theirs is totally self-serving. They want to slide you into thinking that you are obligated to promote the sport. But that's their job, not yours. Know your job and who pays you.

I would encourage coaches to keep all players who show enough proficiency to prove they are serious about becoming the best tennis players they can be. That's just good coaching foresight, because these players are the pool from which your future teams are drawn. And often late bloomers become surprisingly good players by the time they are juniors.

I have always been fortunate to be able to keep everyone who came out. We always had enough courts. Like 2 - right across the street from 16, so rarely did we even have to wait for one. And there were never more kids out for tennis than I could handle. Or more than I could provide JV matches for against all the bigger schools we played.

Many coaches don't have that luxury. And they shouldn't be made to feel guilty about what they must do. Nor should they loose meets by having varsity players sitting around just so they can keep tennis beginners on the team = give them court time. The TEAM wins or loses, and it is a betrayal of the TEAM to do anything that hurts the TEAM's chances of winning.

We don't let the kids do stuff like that. So why should it be OK for the coach to?

Can you imagine the "important" teams at your school doing that? No, eh? Well, if you want tennis to be treated on a par with other high school sports, you have to treat it that way yourself.

I always tell kids on Day 1 that I rarely cut but that I would if I thought it necessary, within two weeks. I always told them that junior varsity players wouldn't get much one-on-one attention from me. Several times I was about to cut a kid who thought I was there to "teach" kids how to play tennis, but those kids cut themselves when they realized they had been mistaken.

Whew! I was always greatly relieved by that. As hard as it is to cut anyone, it doesn't hurt a kid. But melting just because they turn on the waterworks sure will.

That said, don't just post a list. That cowardly dodge WILL hurt them.

You are the adult: if you can't handle it, how do you expect the kid to? Go to the kids you're cutting and make sure they're the first to know. Listen to them.

See how doing this shows them that they are (still) important?

Help them to put it in perspective. (Sometimes you can make them a manager or give them some other important role to fulfill.) Indeed, if you handle it right, your cutting that kid from his or her high school tennis team could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. It could very well teach him or her a very important lesson in life.

Technorati Tags: tennis

How NOT to Serve in Tennis

2008-02-22T09:05:00.001-06:00

Just to show that not all the robotic serves in the world belong to women....

OMG.

Hat Tip: Tennis Diary.

Part of this guy's problem is that he opens the racket face on the backswing, and that's what enables him to push (rather than throw) the serve.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Serve-and-Volley Tennis - Making It Work

2008-02-21T15:38:00.002-06:00

Learn how to win with serve-and-volley play in this month's illustrated Wild Card article by me at The Tennis Server.

This lesson is presented in the context of doubles, but everything except the tips at the end applies to singles as well:

Serve-and-Volley Doubles - Making It Work.
Technorati Tags: tennis tennis instruction

Coaching Tennis

2008-02-18T14:19:00.004-06:00

I first became aware of the problem that can arise from men coaching girls back when I was coaching high school tennis, (co-ed) track, and basketball.

I could see that something was wrong with the relationship between the head basketball coach and the girls, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was. Then one day, I nearly gagged when I saw one of our best players throw herself on a loose ball and in one continuous motion swivel her head to see if the coach was impressed.

Apparently he didn't seem impressed enough, so her face screwed up with tears for the pain. That did the trick.

Ah, so that was why there was all this (usually unnecessary) "sacrificing of their bodies." They were doing it "for him."

Yuck, eh? ;-)

In this case it was plain to see that she should have scooped up that ball and tried to score instead of just throwing herself on it like a football lineman throws himself on a fumble.

I could also tell that, at some level, he was aware of what was going on and that his male ego was stroked by it. So he allowed it, instead of yelling, "What are you looking at me for? Get up and PLAY!"

The result was a very good team of head cases. He couldn't talk to them gently enough. They usually won, but when their opponents were good and didn't immediately fall behind, they panicked and just blurred, playing terribly.

In the conference tournament at the end of the season, the mass choking was so bad it made me mad, largely because I could see the head coach and his other assistant had just thrown their hands up in the air, completely at a loss about what to do.

So, I went out on the floor at half-time and stood under the basket while they were warming up their free throws. I stood there as if calm (so that the crowd and opposing team would have no idea what kinds of things I was saying) and I read them the riot act. I told them that they were stinking it up out there so badly that I could hardly stand to watch. I told them that they were embarrassing their coaches, fans, and the school with their long faces, their chins dragging on the floor, and their helpless, deer-caught-in-headlights looks. I told them to just quit choking, to grow up, and to show some guts, some pride. I wasn't nice at all.

They just all mouth-breathed at me in total shock. This was their Biology teacher? No, this was a woman coach = one who doesn't put up with that from girls.

They were so far behind already that I didn't think they could win, so I told them that I didn't care if they won but that I demanded that they quit stinking it up out there and play ball – to play the game the way it's supposed to be played, to win.

When I could see that I had them all mad at me, I went back to the bench.

Even I was surprised at the results. They put on a tremendous comeback, coming to within one point of tying the score when they ran out of time.

This doesn't mean that men can't coach girls when a qualified woman isn't available. But it does mean that men coaching girls, and the parents of girl athletes, must be aware of this potential problem.

The cure is focus – focus on the goal = to win, not to please your coach.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Making Women's Pro Tennis More Popular

2008-02-18T10:04:00.004-06:00

In case you missed it, here is an article at On the Baseline about what the WTA Tour can do to to improve the popularity of tennis (as a spectator sport).

For the most part, I agree, especially with the suggestion to make sure the top players compete in the Tier I events (instead of allowing them to be bought off by big purses in upstart tournaments). The ATP doesn't allow its top players to just sell themselves to the highest bidder, and neither should the WTA. It's greedy and bad for the game.

I would add another consideration though.

The overall quality of play is part of the problem, I think. Choking, robotic serves, double-faulting streaks ... to the point that it is PAINFUL to watch. Yes, it can happen on the men's tour, but it is much more common on the women's tour, where it affects the quality of matches even at the very top.

People come to expect it and lose interest. We want to see free and uninhibeted swings and serves. We want to see players who are not afraid of the net. We want to see players who are not head cases, who bring their A game with them almost every time, players who relish the thrill of competition and thrive on it.

The depth of the field in women's tennis will never be as great as in men's tennis, simply because we'll never have as many young women wanting to play pro tennis. But the depth can be better than it is, and it has been better in the past.

Also, part of what we see is the fruit of girls and women being coached exclusively by men, which often sidetracks them into an obsession with form that comes from playing to win your coach's approval of your swing instead of to control where the ball goes.

That gives rise to a host of problems, both technical and psychological.

But this is not an insurmountable problem. Both the coaches and players simply need to be aware of this dynamic between female players and male coaches to watch out for it.

Technorati Tags: tennis

The Operation Doubles Tennis Newsletter

2008-02-18T09:16:00.004-06:00

Yahoo Mail is bouncing the copies of "The Operation Doubles Connection" newsletter to many of its accounts with a "too many recipients" error.

That's a new one. What? Are all newsletters evil now?

I am still investigating to see if anything can be done about it, but it appears that the amount of spam breaking the Internet's back has become such a problem that some email services are using draconian measures to cut down on it and just recklessly dumping all newsletters.

I therefore recommend that you NOT subscribe to receive the newsletter at a Yahoo email address. (If you subscribed long ago and are receiving your monthly copy, you are OK because you are near the top of the list.)

Also, if you decide you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please follow the link at the bottom to unsubscribe: don't just mark it as spam, because others at your email domain do still wish to receive it. I can fix it when someone has done this, but not till after other subscribers have missed an issue.

If you ever do miss your monthly copy of the Operation Doubles Connection, a copy of the current issue is always available online via the link to it from here and via the "newsletter" link in the sidebar at right..

The Operation Doubles Tennis Connection - February issue

2008-02-17T17:30:00.003-06:00

A copy of the February 2008 issue of the Operation Doubles Connection is now online. Sign up here for your free email copy of this newsletter every month.

WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE

Featured Tennis Website of the Month
This Month's Tennis Quiz
This Month's Tennis Q & A
This Month's Shot-Making Tip

Technorati Tags: tennis

It's the game, stupid.

2008-02-17T13:00:00.004-06:00

The usual line about tennis' declining popularity just blows me away with its obliviousness to the obvious. Sometimes I wonder if the air is too thin way up high thar in them thar skyscrapers.

People flocked to tennis courts in the 70's and early 80's because of the publicity John McEnroe's antics attracted? Because Chris Evert or Rod Laver were so hot and good at the Hollywood-style publicity stunt for attention getting? Come on.

Newsflash: sorry, the stars just aren't that important. It's the GAME, stupid. It's too hard to learn.

That's why there are about only 5 million people left in the United States who play tennis regularly (i.e., at least once per week for 26 weeks out of the year.)

But let's blame EVERYTHING else instead.

For example, it's pure plain-truth-defying myth that Americans are interested only in American players. Americans are the last people in the world you could say that of. Look at Germany, for example. Tennis boomed there while Boris Becker and Steffi Graf played, and it went bust the moment they retired.

And that isn't a moral issue that a people should be reproached for. It's simply a natural consequence of national circumstances. Other nations are (or at least until recently were) an entity of breed, nationality, an ethnic identity, more often than not with its own distinct language. What's more, when 50 miles away, you have international borders with other countries, each with its own language, your ethnicity figures much more prominently in your identity than it does to an American.

And so what if Germans or Americans are MORE interested in tennis players from their own country? That's only natural, because we can identify more nearly with them. People should not be criticized for their preferences. Liking ketchup, liking NFL football, or pronouncing words a certain way is not a sin, but the hubris in being so judgmental as to make a moral issue of such things is.

Tennis boomed shortly after the Open Era began. But it's a mistake to jump to the conclusion that open tennis was the cause. That was also the time that television broadcast technology boomed. Now they could broadcast baseball and footballs games. Guess what? They got millions of viewers = millions of commercial advertising dollars. Why not try tennis too? Initially the problem was with unreliable satellite transmission of overseas events like Wimbledon. But as those problems were solved, millions of commercial advertising dollars were injected into tennis as well.

TV introduced the American people to tennis, which had previously been a country-club sport. Tennis boomed.

But in its boom were the seeds of its bust. Fads come and go, and that's what the tennis boom was, nothing but a fad.

Why aren't baseball and basketball nothing but fads too? Because those sports are fun and easy to learn, so young people in every generation are attracted to them. You need no formal lessons to learn them. You just grab your bat and ball and head out the door to play with the other kids in your neighborhood. You learn by watching better players, by watching pro players on TV, and by imitating what you see.

In other words, you learn these sports the natural way, the same way you learned to walk and talk. Nobody gave you verbal instructions to think on and follow as a toddler. While you were taking your first unsteady steps into Mother's arms, she wasn't barking, "Pronate, pronate," at you. You weren't telling yourself to "Pronate" your ankle with every step you took.

I dare say that you couldn't walk today if you tried to do it that way.

Because these other sports, like baseball and basketball, are learned the natural way, very soon, you get good enough to enjoy playing the game. And the game's the thing in your mind, because you never do get infected with an obsession about form.

If you stick with it long enough, you eventually have contact with a coach who gives you some pointers. But you haven't been plagued since Day 1 with a hundred Yoga-like instructions on the "right" way to throw, shoot, or swing. No baseball, football, or basketball coach would dream of doing that to a kid.

Ever since Tim Gallwey's book The Inner Game of Tennis came out in 1972, we have known what's wrong with the standard method of tennis instruction. But the tennis establishment let it all in one ear and out the other. There was money to be made, you see. The old way requires formal private or semi-private lessons and a constant litany of verbal instructions from the instructor that show off how much he or she knows. Indeed, students are impressed by that … until they add up all the money they've spent over a year of such lessons and how little progress they've made. How many rackets have they thrown? How much frustration and chagrin have they suffered? Do they ever really enjoy a point? Or are they always playing in fear of missing the next shot?

That ain't fun. People give up a sport like that.

But it doesn't have to be that way. We know how to make tennis much easier to learn. We have only to give in and start teaching it that way.

And golf had better pay heed. It is a fad headed down the same path, for largely the same reason.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Seles Retires

2008-02-16T16:35:00.008-06:00

Monica Seles officially retired.

Born in what is now Serbia, Monica was in the process of becoming a naturalized American citizen when she won the No. 1 world ranking from Steffi Graf of Germany and dominated the women's game.

In her first four years on the circuit (1989-1992), Monica had a win-loss record of 231-25 (90%), winning 30 titles. In the open era, only Chris Evert had a better first four years, with a winning percentage of 91% and 34 titles.

Monica won her first Grand Slam title at the age of 16 in 1990 at the French Open.

Between January 1991 and February 1993, Seles won 22 titles and reached the finals on 33 of the 34 tournaments she played. She compiled a 159-12 win-loss record (93%) and a 55-1 win-loss record in Grand Slam tournaments.

By the end of January 1993, Monica had won three consecutive French Open titles, two consectutive US Open titles, and two consecutive Australian Open titles, having defeated Steffi Graf three out of four times in Grand Slam finals. (Graf had the edge only on grass.)

In Hamburg Germany, the cliche has it that "a crazed Steffi Graf fan" (euphemism for "anti-American nationalist" - you know, like these "cycling fans") ran all the way from the middle of the crowd brandishing a kitchen knife and stabbed Monica in the back. She was 19 years old.

The deep psychological twist of the knife was that he didn't even get punished for it. He was judged psychologically "abnormal," and that was judged an excuse to suspend his sentence to two years probation. Which makes no sense: he was either insane and thus deserving of NO sentence, or sane and deserving of punishment. Honesty can't have it both ways! He spent not one day in jail. Not one.

He just couldn't help it, you see.

That would get to me too. It's just nothing for someone to do that to you = there is no penalty for it, eh? What a dehumanizing value judgment.

Tennis wouldn't seem so important anymore to me either, not when people are getting that whipped up by nationalistic sentiment and propaganda - to the point that they all just make nothing of someone trying to kill you. She refused to play in Germany thereafter.

Though Seles was fortunate and quickly recoverd from the physical wound, she didn't return to tennis for two years. She was deeply wounded by being hated so just because of her excellence and where she came from, and because an attempt to kill her was made nothing of, and because the WTA didn't come through for her the way any other player union would have come through for one of its members. You know - money.

Seles never was the same. Thus her would-be assassin, 38-year-old Gunter Parche, had succeeded in eliminating Graf's competition.

I think this is largely because the psychological wound targeted the heart of Seles' game - her tremendous competetiveness and tremendous fortitude as perhaps the best big-point player ever. She hits two-fisted off both sides and was the first power player in the women's game.

So, we'll never know how many more Grand Slam titles Seles would have won and how many fewer ones Graf would have won.

Nonetheless, when Seles did return to the game, the epiphany she had experienced may have actually improved her perspective. She never recovered the same all-consuming drive to win but seems to have enjoyed life more.

A foot injury sidelined her in 2003, and though she spoke of coming back at least twice, in 2005 and again in 2007, she has played exhibition matches only since then. On February 14, she announced her official retirement from professional tennis.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Dynamic Balance in Tennis

2008-02-14T18:07:00.005-06:00

In yesterday's post Coaching High School Tennis, I explained how the Inner-Game-of-Tennis teaching method works as a fast and effective way to coach strokes in-season.

But many people just don't get why this method works so well. Consequently, many doubt it without even trying it. Their loss.

To understand takes a little thinking, an effort to zero-in how you use your mind when you consciously try to make yourself swing a certain way. Otherwise you'll never understand why that is a distraction that hurts your performance and makes learning much harder than it need be.

In fact, it's safe to say that most players learn tennis in spite of the way they learn, not because of it.

For a simple, illustrated explanation, see the new lesson entitled Dynamic Balance in Tennis on the main website.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Henin wants no "politics" at Games

2008-02-13T07:03:00.013-06:00

Abuse of the English Language Watch:

No, America isn't the guilty party - it's the bloomin' BBC!

Headline: World number one Justine Henin believes politics and sport should not mix at this year's Beijing Olympics.

So, when it's a certain Evil Entity Across the Sea, "politics" becomes "human rights." But when it's a country that executes people by the thousands for petty theft, cuts off hands and feet, commits genocide, arms and funds genocide, or commits abortions on women against their will, "human rights" becomes mere "politics."

Over the weekend it was reported that British Olympians would be prevented from making political comment at the Games in August. Belgium's Henin said: "Politics and sport must remain separate."

...China has been criticised for its human rights record and it is feared that some athletes, and possibly political activists, will use the event to make demonstrate against the Chinese government.

Note the failure to mention WHAT those "criticisms" are. Note the transubstantiation of "human rights activists" to "political activists."

And note the strange absence of all that humanitarian empathy there is supposed to be over there. Not to mention the abrogation of the right of British citizens to free speech.

Justine, if you decide to play in the China Olympics, and to keep your mouth shut, that's up to you. I won't second-guess you. Indeed, your right to remain silent is part of your right to free speech. But please then keep your mouth completely shut, sparing us the mockery of stinking it up by falsifying what is going on like that.

Coaching High School Tennis

2008-02-12T22:25:00.008-06:00

In coaching high school tennis, you must leave the players' strokes pretty much as you find them. For example, you can't change a player's serve or backhand, expecting her to win tomorrow's match with that serve or backhand that you've messed with. Renovating strokes takes time, time you don't have in season.

Which is why I love the Inner-Game-of-Tennis method for dealing with stroke problems in season. I therefore highly recommend the book The Inner Game of Tennis by Tim Gallwey.

Here is an example of how I use it, to give you an idea how this method works.

First, a fact. Thinking about your form while you swing, or about where you're putting your feet as you run to the ball, IS A DISTRACTION. One that should NOT be encouraged.

That isn't what you should be paying attention to while you play a shot. You should be paying attention to the ball and to the feeling of what your body is doing.

Note the difference between thinking about what your body should be doing and feeling what your body is doing. The former is an attempt to consciously direct movement through thought, and the latter is body awareness through attention to sensation. In other words, one is thinking, and the other is feeling.

In the IGOT method, you focus the player's attention where it belongs – off thoughts and on what he's seeing and feeling. In other words, you raise awareness in him of the right things. That's all. Works like magic. Really. Try it, you'll see.

Here's a simple example. John comes over to me and complains that "I'm having trouble with my forehand. Will you come and help me with it?"

Of course I will, but I won't drop everything and go immediately. That would make a big deal out of his problem. So, I casually tell him, sure, I'll be over in a little bit.

When I get there, I just watch.

"I can't hit a forehand!" he says.

I'm not even going to respond to that. I just ask him to hit a few more while I watch. Then I ask him a question about his stroke. Usually, I ask him to show me about where his racket is contacting the ball.

Invariably, he doesn't know. Why? Because he wasn't paying attention to that. His mind was busy yakking at him.

He expects me to tell him where his contact point usually is, but I don't. So, he asks me to tell him where his racket usually is at contact. If necessary, I lie to say that I don't know or am not sure.

Why? Because my job to get him to focus his attention where it belongs. I tell him to go back and hit some more, paying attention to where his racket head is at contact, so that he can come back and show me about where it usually is.

Then I stand there and watch his forehand miraculously fix itself. As it does so, that contact point moves out farther and farther in front to where it belongs.

Before I know it, John is having a ball with his suddenly fixed forehand. He forgets I'm there. I have to interrupt him to ask him if he can show me where his racket head usually is at contact.

"About here," he says and shows me, as if afraid that I might tell him he's wrong.

But he's never wrong.

"Yup," I say, "It looks to me like that's about where it usually is, too."

Long pause. John looks confused. I guess I'm supposed to tell him whether that's the "right" place for his racket head to be at contact.

But what if I did that? Then he'd be right back where he started – thinking about where his racket should be and mentally instructing himself to contact the ball in the "right" place - instead of simply paying attention to where that contact point is.

So, I don't take the bait, even if he comes right out and asks me if that's the right place for his racket head to be at contact.

Instead I just say, "Well, it looks like a pretty good forehand to me. Don't you think?"

"Uh-yeah."

And so back to the court he goes, scratching his head and wondering how I fixed his forehand. I didn't fix his forehand: I just focused his attention where it belongs for natural learning to occur.

And that forehand really is fixed. He has confidence in it now.

The contact point isn't the only point in the stroke that you can have the player focus on. But it usually works, because adjusting it tends to correct any flaws earlier in the stroke.

Sometimes you need to ask where the ball usually lands on troublesome shot. In the net? Long? If long, about how far long? Six inches? Six feet? John never knows! Really. He's too busy with an inner dialog berating himself to notice where most of these shots are landing.

So, your question reaps the same result. When he goes back to hit some more so that he can answer your question, you get to stand there and watch his shots magically correct themselves and start landing in.

This is a fast and effective way to coach strokes in season.

You don't get to show off how much you know by issuing a long list of instructions, but that isn't the objective here. The TEAM objective is to win tennis meets, and the coach must have team spirit, too.

Technorati Tags: tennis

How to Hit an Overhead Smash in Tennis

2008-02-11T15:55:00.001-06:00

You've probably often heard that, to hit an overhead smash, you should immediately point up at the ball and cock your racket back in a throwing position while you move backward under the lobbed ball.

But have you ever seen anyone do that? Have you ever seen the pros who tell you to do this do it themselves?

I know the answer to that question, so be honest now.

Here's Andy Roddick hitting powerful overhead smashes at Roger Federer during Wimbledon. Is he following conventional wisdom?

Now here's Pete Sampras hitting a couple of overheads. Is he doing it?

No and no. They both keep both arms down while maneuvering into position under the ball. They don't raise their arms untill it's time to swing.

Premature preparation doesn't make you swing sooner. You can be posed pointing up in the air with your racket cocked back from the evening of the day before and still probably swing late.

More important, it's clumsy to move (especially backward) with both arms up in the air. When you try to do so, you are way out of dynamic balance and fighting a whole array of backward-balancing reflexes.

Try this tip. I promise you'll like it ;-)

Technorati Tags: tennis

Federation Cup

2008-02-09T13:06:00.000-06:00

Despite Lindsay Davenport's surprising loss in the first rubber of the Federation Cup tie with Germany last weekend, the United States came back to defeat Germany 4-1.

It was Davenport's first loss in Federation Cup play since 1994. But she came back to win her rain-delayed Monday match, and Ashley Hackleroad surprised everyone by winning her first two Federation Cup matches in straight sets.

Here are the results:

Rubber 1
Sabine Lisicki (Germany) defeated Lindsay Davenport (United States) 6-1, 7-5

Rubber 2
Ashley Harkleroad (United States) defeated Tatjana Malek (Germany) 6-1, 6-3

Rubber 3
Lindsay Davenport (United States) defeated Julia Goerges (Germany) 6-1, 6-2

Rubber 4
Ashley Harkleroad (United States) defeated Sabine Lisicki (Germany) 6-4, 7-5

Rubber 5
Lisa Raymond / Lindsay Davenport (United States) defeated Anna-Lena Groenefeld / Tatjana Malek (Germany) 6-2, 6-0

Final Score: United States 4, Germany 1

In April the US Federation Cup team goes to Moscow to play Russia, a much tougher task. That Russian team could field great players like Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova, and Anna Chakvetadze, to name a few. The tie will be played on a slow clay court, which European players are much more used to than Americans are.

Zina Garrison, the captain of the American team is asking Venus and Serena Williams to play this tie for the United States, in hopes of fielding the best possible team for the event.

Russia has captured the Federation Cup three of the last four years, but the United States is the overall winningest nation (winning the cup 17 times) and holds an overall record of 4-2 against Russia.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Tennis Tips & Instruction

2008-02-07T00:10:00.000-06:00

Though you should learn strategy and tactics one thing at a time, don't learn your strokes one at a time. The longer you delay learning a stroke, the further ahead your other strokes get. If you wait till you're adept at the forehand before tackling the backhand, you'll be much better at forehands than backhands. Then hitting a backhand takes you out of your comfort zone. So you'll avoid it and never get as good at it.

That goes for all your strokes — the volley, the serve, the overhead. Learn them all as soon as possible, so that you are a beginner with them all, not an advanced player at the baseline and a relative beginner at the net.

Here's an overview of the free video tennis lessons you can use on the Main Website.

Technorati Tags: tennis

TM: Q and A - Reality Check

2008-02-04T09:24:00.000-06:00

Do you always believe yourself? That little voice in your head - do you always believe it? Is it always telling you the truth?

Is believing yourself believing in yourself?

All right, I'll cut it out now ;-)

This Q & A with Tomaz Mencinger may be one of the most important things you'll ever learn

---

By Tomaz Mencinger
TennisMindGame.com

I am a 15 year old girl, and always before a tournament I either practice my serve or play a set against someone at my club. Almost always I play at my top performance. But at the tournament, if I start off poorly, my mental game goes downhill from the start. I understand that I'm supposed to move on and go to the next point, but I try and more times than not I'm not able to move on, and I continue to hit the ball in the net or out. For example at today's match I kept trying to encourage myself and focus on the next point, but every time I missed another shot I would get more frustrated and rush points and loose games more quickly. Also if I am playing against someone that I know I'm better than and can beat I get even more frustrated with myself when I make stupid errors. I understand mentally what I'm supposed to do, but I have not been able to actually do it.

I understand what you are saying.

What happens is that when things go wrong at the start you BELIEVE them and then they define your future performance.

You look for proof of how good you are and then you play accordingly.

I suggest you go through your past experiences and think whether your performance in a match has ever gone up and down? Or did it ALWAYS stay the same through a whole match?

If your answer is that your performance has gone up and down during a match, then you KNOW that even when your performance at the start is low, it can go up.

In fact, if you don't become negative about it and just keep playing it will almost ALWAYS go up. That's because you'll get used to the conditions, you'll warm up your body and mind to the competitive level, you'll start reading your opponent better and so on.

Try to remember a match (or several matches) when this happened. This will give you proof to counter your own doubts the next time you start a match not playing well.

And about playing weaker opponents and frustration: one thing to keep in mind is that at your age you still cannot blast someone off the court, even if they play poorly.

You'll have to construct points, and it will take some time to win a point. And it will take some time to win a match. You have to stay in the NOW and play each point. DON'T go into the future where you have already won, since this will make you lose focus on the current situation and play poorly.

Copyright 2008, Tomaz Mencinger -- all rights reserved worldwide

Tomaz Mencinger is the author of The Mental Manual for Tennis Winners and The Tennis Strategy Encyclopedia and How to Play Tennis: A Step-by-Step Video Instruction Guide for Tennis Beginners.

Archive of Past Articles

Technorati Tags: tennis tennis instruction

Federation Cup Round I

2008-02-02T15:22:00.000-06:00

The first round of the Federation Cup (which you might think of as the women's version of the Davis Cup) is underway.

In World Group I ties, China defeated France, Spain defeated Italy, and Israel and Russia split matches. The United States is now playing Germany under the leadership of Lindsay Davenport.

All World Group II ties split matches: Ukraine v Belgium, Japan v Croatia, the Czech Republick v the Slovak Republic (that oughta be good) and Argentina v Austria.

Davenport is currently down to Sabine Lisicki in the first rubber, 1-6, 5-5. Lisiki has 10 double faults! How does a professional hit 10 double faults? And then maybe even win on top of it all?

Waiting...waiting...unforced error on the forehand by Davenport at 5-6 in the second. Make that two. But Lisicki comes back with another double-fault. Hey, a good shot! (What was that for?) But now an unforced backhand error give Lisicki match point. Over.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open: Djokovic defeats Tsonga for the Title

2008-01-28T18:47:00.000-06:00

The No. 3 seed, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, won the Australian Open men's singles title by defeating unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(2).

Djokovic dropped just one set en route to the title. He hit 46 winners and 11 aces in the final.

I feel kind of relieved. I've played at least the semi-finals in every Grand Slam in the last year. I was pretty close in the US Open, so probably today I was a bit nervous at the start 'cause I found myself in the strange situation: that I am the favorite in the finals of a Grand Slam, which is not usual for me. So it was dangerous, but I managed to cope with the pressure well and to win... It's probably indescribable feeling, something that I always dreamed of... I think every player dreams about winning a Grand Slam. For everybody who wins a Grand Slam, you have to give them a lot of appreciation and respect. I just felt it now... Hopefully in the future I'm gonna feel it more.

The title solidified Djokovic's world No. 3 ranking. His performance in the tournament boosted Tsonga from No. 38 to 18.

Throughout the tournament, Tsonga defeated three top-10 players and served 100 aces, more than any other player.

Not everybody can beat the players who I beat, so to beat them gives me a lot of confidence. ...I'm very proud of myself. I'm happy for Novak, because he played unbelievable today. I don't know if I have to be sad or happy of this final, but I feel great. It's just unbelievable because the crowd was unbelievable. A lot of noise and everything. I had goose bumps. It was crazy.

This was the first slam of the Open era in which no American - in singles or doubles - made it past the quarterfinals.

It was also the first slam since the Australian Open 2005 in which the men's singles not won by Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.

Speaking of... via the BBC:

Despite his victory, the world number three [Djokovic] does not expect an immediate changing of the guard and the imminent demise of number one Roger Federer.

No kiddin'.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Roger Federer: "I have created a monster."

2008-01-26T08:50:00.000-06:00

Via the BBC:

World number one Roger Federer believes he is a victim of his own success after his shock 7-5 6-3 7-6 (7-5) defeat to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open.

Hold the phone. "Shock" defeat? It's a "shock" that Roger Federer ever loses a tennis match? A TENNIS match? One might as well be shocked that a major league pitcher ever loses a baseball game. But Roger Federer ever losing a tennis match, even to a top-ranked player like Djokovic, is a "shock"?

No it ain't a shock. Calling it one is sexing up the "story."

In fact, any sportswriter who says such an ignorant thing has no business being a sportswriter. He or she should be writing sell copy for an ad company.

Federer, 26, lost at the tournament for the first time since 2005, ending a 19-match unbeaten run in the process.

Notice how the writer is all ho-hum about that 19-match winning streak. He plays that down. Instead he hypes up the one loss.

He said: "I've created a monster that I need to win every tournament - still, the semi-finals is not bad.

No, Roger, you didn't create the monster. The press is the monster, and you didn't create it.

Tennis isn't the big gig. To get noticed for assignments on the big gigs, you've gotta get the editors' attention. "60 Minutes" let the genie out of the bottle back in the 1970's by adopting fiction-writing techniques in journalism.

So, it's no longer "who, what, why, where, when, and how." Now it's all "conflict (controversy) and suspense."

You create suspense with story questions like "Oh my! Is Indiana Jones about to be emasculated by that raging rhinoceros?"

Suspense, guaranteed to tantalize the audience so they tune-in again tomorrow to buy more of what you're selling, in hopes of find out the answer to this excruciating question. It's called "hooking" your audience.

Kind of like the weather forecast does. The "news" is like that today: it's no longer about today, it's a big fat "what if" about tomorrow.

Nothing wrong with manipulating the audience that way in fiction, because fiction is supposed to be fiction solely for entertainment. But the news supposed to be fact solely for information.

To make it exciting entertainment instead, you just leave everything out of a news report except whatever can be trumped up into some kind or controversy or suspense hook. What does this warping and cherry-picking of the news do to it?

As in politics. The press couldn't be less interested in the candidates' stands on the issues. Their "story" is all about the race. "Oh my! Is So-and-So about to crash and burn? What if he/she doesn't win this primary?" If that worthless junk sells, fine, but don't try to pass it off as legitimate news.

And the candidates know that the only way to get any air time is to make some outrageous accusation against a political opponent. Nothing else is "newsworthy."

Similarly, in press briefings, reporters show no interest in getting information. Instead they spend the whole time arguing policy with government officials and trying to wrestle from them some statement that can be trumped up into some "controversy" or dramatic admission of failure or guilt or a story question that amounts to the headline: "Is Doomsday at Hand?" Tune-in tomorrow in hopes of finding out.

Translation to sports, where the story question is "Oh my! Is the great Roger Federer about to crash and burn?"

Subliminal message: "Tune-in again tomorrow in hopes of finding out, so we can make more money selling ad space."

That's why they aren't interested in the match itself - only in whatever suspense and controversy they can manufacture from selected facts in it.

In other words, they are deliberately making something out of nothing.

They do the same thing to Venus and Serena Williams all the time. Don't listen to them. Don't let them make you think you should feel terrible about losing a tennis match. That's ridiculous, and everyone but them knows it.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open Champions

2008-01-26T07:47:00.000-06:00

Maria Sharapova of Russia captured the title of Australian Open Women's Singles Champion by defeating Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in the finals 7-5, 6-3. Sharapova went through the tournament like a hot knife through butter, not losing a set in capturing this, her third Grand Slam singles title.

Both women showed shakiness in brief unforced-error or double-fault streaks. But both also showed the ability to get hold of themselves before the problem did major damage to their effort. Knowing that they can do so should be a great confidence booster to both women.

Sharapova clearly dominated, winning 70 of 120 points.

Men's Doubles Titlists: Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel, who defeated Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra of France in the final 7-5, 6-4.

Llodra and Clement narrowly escaped two consecutive service breaks at the start of the match when rain forced a delay with Clement serving at 15-40.

Women's Doubles Titlists: Alona and Kateryna Bondarenk of Ukraine, who defeated Victoria Azarenk of Belarus and Shahar Peer of Israel 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Men's Singles Titlist and Mixed Doubles Titlists are yet to be decided.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open: Final Round Match-Ups

2008-01-25T11:19:00.000-06:00

Here are the match-ups in the final round of Australian Open.

Men's Singles: Novak Djokovic of Serbia v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France

Women's Singles: Maria Sharapova of Russia v Ana Ivanovic of Serbia

Men's Doubles: Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel v Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra of France

Mixed Doubles: Tiantian Sun of China and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia v Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi of India

The women's doubles is finished. Victoria Azarenka of Belarus Shahar Peer of Israel won the title by defeating Ana and Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open: Novak Djokovic defeats Roger Federer to reach the final

2008-01-25T10:44:00.000-06:00

Today down under in the land of tommorrow Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer yesterday 7-5 6-3 7-6 (7-5).

Something unsettling about that picture.

Roger Federer is one of the few players who actually says something in his pressers. So, let's see what he said about the match.

"There's no doubt I've played better in my life," Federer said afterwards. "I've not been really serving like the way I wanted to, maybe the last few matches. Look, it happens. But he covered the court well. He didn't give me much."

"So that obviously played a role in the way I played tonight. But … I wasn't completely satisfied. He's come through the draw convincingly. He's been playing very solid. He had a tough draw, you know, if I compare it to maybe Rafa's (Rafael Nadal's). So he absolutely deserves to be in the final."

Having started the tournament in convincing fashion, particularly when he conceded just three games against Fabrice Santoro in the second round, Federer had to dig deep to get through his third-round meeting with Djokovic's compatriot Janko Tipsarevic.

And while he followed that victory with straight-sets wins over Czech Tomas Berdych and American James Blake, Federer added later that he hasn't felt completely comfortable throughout the fortnight.

"No, I don't, I didn't think I was moving that great," he said. "I think I played really well the first two matches, in terms of movement also. I don't know if the surface got a bit quicker."

"I definitely wasn't as good on the defensive like I usually am. I couldn't come up with the passing shot when I needed to. Yeah, that definitely hurt me, especially today."

Still coming to terms with the defeat when he faced reporters shortly after the match was over, Federer did manage to find some positives in the fact that he made Djokovic earn the win.

"There's some sort of a disappointment. But, you know, from the spirit, the way I fought, the way I tried, it's all I could give, you know," he said. "When you give a hundred per cent, you know, you're sort of happy with your performance."

"It can't always go your way. I know that. I've won, many, many times when I didn't expect myself to win. So tonight's one of those nights where you're a little bit disappointed. But it's going to go over and I'm going to look forward to the rest of the year."

According to Federer though, the turning point of the match was clearly when he dropped his own serve at 5-4 in the first set when he was serving for it.

"We all know if I would have served it out the match would have been a bit different," Federer said. "Sure, he could have come back and still beaten me, but circumstances of would have been different. He wouldn't have played that freely in the second set."

"He usually doesn't play that well. That was unfortunate for me. You know, I paid the price twice, not only losing the set, but also the second set. You know, I missed many opportunities the third set."

"But, like I said, he came up with some great shots, some great serves, and, you know, saved himself that way."

The loss kept Federer from reaching his 11th straight Grand Slam final.

Today Djokovik will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in yesterday's final tomorrow ... or something like that.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open: Sharapova and Ivanovic in the Finals

2008-01-24T08:23:00.001-06:00

Today in the semis, Maria Sharapova defeated Jalena Jankovic 6-3, 6-1, and Ana Ivanovic defeated Daniela Hantuchova 0-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The women's final will pit Sharapova against Ivanovic on Saturday. Sharapova is playing very well and must be considered the player to beat.

Hantuchova accused Ivanovic of gamesmanship by squeeking her shoes (in the receiver's split-step to "unstick" themselves) while Hantuchova's service toss was in the air.

That reminds me of the princess who slept on nine matresses and was bothered by a pea she felt underneath them all.

Not that I believe Ivanovic made that noise intentionally, but I don't care if she did. If Hantuchova is going to be that upsettable, her opponents are going to exploit it.

And there was the unsporting "handshake" at the end. Childish.

Hantuchova is her own worst enemy.

In fact, she won more points than Ivanovic. Ouch, a little problem with pressure maybe?

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open: Unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga destroys Rafael Nadal to Reach the Final!

2008-01-24T06:59:00.000-06:00

6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Less than two hours. 'Nuff said.

In that short match, Tsonga hit 49 winners, 17 aces and broke Nadal's serve five times.

Nadal:

He played better than me, and for that reason he beat me. His running was unbelievable, physically he was very explosive, everything. What I can say? There was nothing bad about his game.

A few days ago I thought about a post contesting the proposition that France is about to dominate the tennis world. Not on the grounds that France doesn't have a whole passel of great tennis players, but on the grounds that none seem to have that "fire in the belly" of a great champion.

I think maybe I was wrong!

Hey, you gotta like a guy who looks so much like "the greatest and the prettiest," don't you?

Tsonga is ranked 38th in the world and eliminated Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet, and Mikhail Youzhny before doing his thing to Rafael Nadal today. He will face either world number one Roger Federer or third seed Novak Djokovic (who play on Friday) in the final on Sunday.

Nina Rota over at Tennis Diary has a nice piece on Tsonga's game: Is Tsonga Only a Serve and Volleyer?

Judging by his defeat of Andy Murray in the first round, you'd probably say so. Especially when he's so successful at charging the net like that on a relatively slow hardcourt. Indeed, his friend and compatriot, Richard Gasquet, who knows Tsonga's game well, felt compelled to do the attacking himself. Taking the net to keep it away from Tsonga? No matter, Tsonga won from the baseline, looking like Federer beating Gasquet from there.

So, it appears that we may have something new here, a truly all-court player.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Tennis Confidence - A Kind of Magic - Not

2008-01-24T05:38:00.000-06:00

All tennis players know that confidence is everything. When you play with confidence, you play well, and most of your shots go in. The opposite of confidence is diffidence. When you play with diffidence, you play poorly, and most of your shots go out – simply because you fear that they will.

It is no wonder then that players get superstitious about confidence. They view it as a kind of magic.

Success builds confidence, and failure erodes it. So, how do you gain confidence when playing badly?

In other words, how do you make yourself believe in yourself when reality seems to contradict that belief? Stating the question in these terms shows how akin belief in yourself is to a religious belief, which often likewise seems contradicted by observable reality.

The problem then becomes a question of how to maintain this belief in the face of facts that constantly challenge it.

Many people resort to manufacturing an artificial confidence, convincing themselves that they have this mysterious magical power despite all evidence to the contrary. It's a kind of self-delusion, a psyche job. Though it negates reality, they call it "positive thinking," which it ain't.

Since tennis is head-to-head competition, they forget that this "magic" is simple confidence and view it instead as some kind of inherent superiority to their opponents.

Delusions are powerful. They can work. As Bill Tilden said, you can impress belief of your inherent superiority on your opponent = make him or her feel inferior and psychologically dominated.

But the problem with delusions is that they are constantly assailed by reality. Therefore, it's a struggle to maintain them. You must keep brainwashing yourself and repressing self-doubt as it threatens to surface to consciousness and break the spell.

Sooner or later, it will. Then it's like you lost your mojo, and your game falls apart.

Venus and Serena Williams are not the only pro players afflicted with this superstitiousness. So are Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin. In fact, many players are. It can make you a flash in the pan, but it will desert you someday so that you don't build a career like Pete Sampras did or Roger Federer is doing.

What's more, when your mojo is gone, your opponents come out from under the spell of inferiority, as Brad Gilbert did when John McEnroe tried to make sure he got the message in their 1984 match: "Gilbert, you are the worst! The f***** worst! You don't belong on the same court with me!" Gilbert smelled blood and went on to win. McEnroe immediately took a sabbatical from tennis and never won another major tournament after he returned to the tour.

Unbelievable. John McEnroe, the guy who gets mad at himself for every error. Never won another major tournament. That is gross underachievement for a player of his caliber. It happened because he became dependent on his mojo and didn't think he could win without it = that he couldn't beat an opponent who thought he could win. Baloney.

So, you see this artificial confidence is no substitute for the real thing – a realistic level of true confidence in your ability, true confidence that isn't undermined by every error or sent skyrocketing by every great shot. A stable, tranquil self-confidence that nothing can shake. One based on an accurate perception of the facts. One that disregards whatever your ego is yakking at you.

During the early part of the decade Venus and Serena dominated women's tennis, largely through psychological warfare that upset the other women, most of which was waged off court – in the locker room, on the practice courts, and on the tournament grounds.

Over time though, the other women caught on. They recognized the contemptuous haughtiness as a mind game and stopped letting it get to them. Venus and Serena have not dominated since.

I bet they never will again. But that is no reason to think that they aren't good enough players to still win their share of tournaments. Serena, especially, just needs to lose the superstitiousness and replace it with Andre-Agassi style modesty and hard work.

In the midst of all the gobbledygook and conflicting messages she sent during her presser yesterday, Venus said this in answer to the shark who asked "If people start talking about the Williams era being over, what would you have to say to them?":

I've been a champion. I have full expectations and aspirations to continue to play high-quality tennis and to continue to be a champion.

And she should have. Her track record proves that to be a realistic appraisal of her ability. She needs no self psyche job to achieve it.

Technorati Tags: tennis

The Operation Doubles Tennis Connection - January issue

2008-01-23T16:23:00.000-06:00

The January 2008 issue of the Operation Doubles Connection is now online. Sign up for your free copy every month here.

WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE

Featured Tennis Website of the Month
This Month's Tennis Quiz
This Month's Q & A
Tennis News & Upcoming Tournaments
This Month's Shot-Making Tip

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open Semifinalists

2008-01-22T12:35:00.000-06:00

Men's Singles

My man Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France reached the semifinals by defeating 14th seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 7-5, 6-0, 7-6.

The No. 2 seed, Rafael Nadal of Spain, earned his place in the semis by defeating 24th seed Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 7-5, 6-3, 6-1.

The other half of the semifinal draw will be filled by the winners of the following two matches:

Top seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland v 12th seeded James Blake of the United States
3rd seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia v 5th seeded David Ferrer of Spain

(Go, James!)

Women's Singles

Maria Sharapova of Russia, seeded 5th, reached the semifinal by defeating Justine Henin of Belgium, seeded 1st, 6-4, 6-0.

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, seeded 3rd, defeated Serena Williams of the United States, seeded 7th, 6-3, 6-4.

The winners of the following quarterfinal matches will advance to fill the other half of the semifinal draw:

Venus Williams of the United States (seeded 8th) v Ana Ivanovic of Serbia (seeded 4th).
Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia (seeded 9th) v Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland (seeded 29th)

Men's Doubles

Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie of South Africa advance to the semifinals by defeating 4th seeded Martin Damm and Pavel Vizner of the Czech Republic 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.

Seventh-seeded Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra of France earned a place in the semis by defeating 2nd seeded Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 6-4, 6-4.

The other two slots in the semis will be filled by the winners of the following matches:

Top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan of the United States v 6th seeded Mahesh Bhupathi of India and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas.
Marc Gicquel and Fabrice Santoro of France v 8th seeded Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel.

Women's Doubles

Alona Bondarenko and Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine won a spot in the semis by defeating top seeded Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Liezel Huber of the United States 6-3, 6-2.

12th seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Shahar Peer of Israel defeated 13th seeded Janette Husarova of Slovakia and Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-1, 6-1.

7th seeded Zi Yan and Jie Zheng of China defeated Venus and Serena Williams of the United States 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

4th seeded Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic and Rennae Stubbs of Australia vie with 10th seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain for the remaining semifinal slot.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open: One Week Down

2008-01-20T11:08:00.000-06:00

Great tennis Down Under!

Craig Hickman has a nice post that sums up the spirit of battle bewteen Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis, which ended a 4:30 AM with Lleyton winning 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3.

Marathon men. That's what they are. More than four-and-a-half hours. Two titanic chokes. An ankle injury. Five match points. Unruly fans. Weary ball kids. Blind linespeople. Delirious commentators.

Read the rest: Day 6 Epilog.

Hey, toldja Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France is for real!

Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova, and Serena Williams advanced to the quarterfinals.

In the men's doubles, Bob and Mike Bryan have reached the quarterfinals, along with Jonathan Erlich - Andy Ram, Martin Damm - Pavel Vizner, Arnaud Clement - Michael Llodra, and Daniel Nestor - Nenad Zimonjic.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open: Federer defeats Tipsarevic

2008-01-19T08:54:00.000-06:00

Roger Federer just defeated Janko Tipsarevic in a cliff hanger 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-1) 5-7 6-1 10-8. In the fifth set, the first 16 games went to the server until Federer came back from 40-0 down to break the Serb's serve. Federer then served out the match.

His next opponent will be either Juan Monaco or Tomas Berdych.

James Blake (12) also advances, beating Sebastian Grosjean, whom he'd never beaten before, battling back from down two sets and then a double-break in fourth.

"That's got to be my biggest comeback — down two sets to love, two sets to one, two breaks; 4-1 in the breaker, 5-3 in the breaker," Blake said. "Just seemed like every time there was a mountain to climb ... couldn't have been a better feeling than to accomplish what I did."

Blake said the key was keeping calm.

"I don't think a lot of people like my chances, but I always do — no matter what my body language says."

Now Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis are vying for a spot in the fourth round.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open Buzz

2008-01-18T22:11:00.000-06:00

As play gets underway on Day 6 (Saturday), the big news is the fall of Svetlana Kutnetsova to Agnieszka Radwanksa of Poland.

Kuznetsova
The big news of the day on this side of the International Date Line was Philipp Kolhschreiber defeating Andy Roddick in what has been billed "a thriller," 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-7, 8-6.

Sean Randall at the X-Blog writes:

Time and time again we’ve seen Andy hit his backhand reply crosscourt, and in this case that very response goes right into Kolhschreiber’s preferred weapon of choice. That’s why I gave the German a chance in this match. Until Andy can make a serious impression with his backhand down the line shot, he’s going to keep struggling with guys like Kohlschrieber, Richard Gasquet, Tommy Haas and Roger Federer who can consistently fire winners off that backhand wing.

Kohlschreiber also made liberal use of an excellent dropshot, which I don’t recall him ever really missing. Again, a great tactic by the 24-year-old since Roddick was perched around the “Melbourne” lettering, which looks to be about four feet behind the baseline on Rod Laver.

That backhand isn't just a problem when Andy is pinned behind the baseline. Hitting approach shots crosscourt is another one of his problems, because it makes him easier to pass.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's performance so far isn't such a big surprise. Some were picking him as a dark horse before the tournament began.

Peter Bodo over at Tennis World writes:

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - JoWilly has now played three fine matches in a row, which could be a personal best. Did you see how his beaten opponent Guillermo Garcia-Lopez quit at the end of that match, even though he was dressed in some weird all-red costume that, presumably, was supposed to suggest aggression and passion? JoWilly fears no man - least of all some sympathy dude with a hyphenated name who appears to be angling for a contract with Red Hots candy. JoWilly plays Reeshard Gasquet next - unless Reeshard comes down with a sniffle or hangnail or something and calls it off. You can take all that "Baby Federer" stuff and stick it, as far as I'm concerned. I prefer JoWilly's game.

It's an all-out attack style game, something rarely seen these days. I like it too.

We saw Pete Sampras's attacking game take a match off Roger Federer recently. I think the reason players like Andy Roddick have tough luck with it is because they don't have good enough approach shots, not because rackets today have made the attacking game too difficult. You won't get by with so-so approach shots as you could in the past. Gone are the days when you could get by with crosscourt approach shots, when you could blindly follow conventional wisdom and just push every approach with underspin, thus missing quite a few and having many more land a bit short.

For more on that great match between Marat Safin and Marcos Baghdatis, hop over to the Tennis Diary, where Nina Rota has an interesting take on it.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open: Day 5 Roundup

2008-01-18T21:18:00.000-06:00

In the third round of the men's singles, today's winners are Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER), Rafael Nadal (ESP), Richard Gasquet (FRA), Nikolay Davydenko (RUS), Jarkko Nieminen (FIN), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA), Mikhail Youzhny (RUS), and Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA). The 24th seeded Neiman deafeated Mardy Fish, and 29th seeded Kohlschreiber upset 6th seeded Andy Roddick.

In the 3rd round of the women's singles today, the following players advanced: Justine Henin (BEL), Jelena Jankovic (SRB), Casey Dellacqua (AUS), Maria Sharapova (RUS), Serena Williams (USA), Elena Dementieva (RUS), Nicole Vaidisova (CZE), and Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE). Dellaqua upset 13th seeded Amelie Maurismo of France.

The first round of the mixed doubles got underway today, and Nathalie Dechy (FRA) - Andy Ram (ISR), Agnes Szavay (HUN) - Leander Paes (IND), Zi Yan (CHN) - Mark Knowles (BAH), Janette Husarova (SVK) - Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL), and Meilen Tu (USA) - Marcin Matkowski (POL)all advanced.

In second round men's doubles, Daniel Nestor (CAN) - Nenad Zimonjic (SRB), Bob and Mike Bryan (USA), Jonathan Erlich - Andy Ram (ISR), Martin Damm - Pavel Vizner (CZE), Frantisek Cermak - Lukas Dlouhy (CZE), Eric Butorac (USA) - Kevin Ullyett (ZIM), Christopher Kas (GER) - Rogier Wassen (NED), Julien Benneteau - Nicolas Mahut (FRA), and Arnaud Clement - Michael Llodra (FRA) all advanced.

In women's action the winners were Cara Black (ZIM) - Liezel Huber (USA), Serena and Venus Williams (USA), Zi Yan - Jie Zheng (CHN), Iveta Benesova (CZE) - Galina Voskoboeva (RUS), Anabel Medina Garrigues - Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP), Nicole Vaidisova - Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE), Kveta Peschke (CZE) - Rennae Stubbs (AUS), and Maret Ani (EST) - Meilen Tu (USA).

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open: Marcos Baghdatis defeats Marat Safin

2008-01-17T22:45:00.000-06:00

Marat Safin surprised himself today.

He came out to his second round Australian Open match against 15th seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the usual frame of mind, believing that he was going to screw up.

And he did.

Despite whatever he was telling himself consciously, deep down he believed that he was going to screw up. And then did.

If you know anything about this big Russian, you know that he thus serves as is his own worst enemy. Head case extraordinaire. And the frustrations of a year battling injury only compounded his struggle with a mindset that amounts to a deep seated belief that "I can't."

But we all know that Marat is a terrific tennis player who can.

How does this happen? Indeed, this is a common problem tennis players have, and it should comfort the rest of us to see that even a great player like Marat Safin can struggle with it.

Like so many human behaviors, this low opinion of oneself is actually a complex, a reflection of its opposite. For example, people with low esteem often go into denial of that, repress awareness of it, and seek to negate it through an internal narrative that pretends an equal amount of the opposite – high self esteem. Hence, an inferiority complex comes off as a superiority act. Deep down, no one has a lower opinion of himself than a malignant narcissist does.

This is something like that. It stems from the perfectionism that, for many reasons, plagues many tennis players. They actually think they should make every shot.

Not consciously, of course. I'm sure that if you asked Marat, he'd say that he knows errors are part of the game. But when you miss an easy shot, you think, "That was an easy shot, one I shouldn't have missed." The better player you are, the tougher that shot can be and still make you think that.

John McEnroe is probably the best example. To this day, he gets mad at himself for virtually every error. Ironically, no one ever came closer than he did to flawless tennis. But after two flawless sets, he can go off over one unforced error. Perfectionism.

This stems from the mistaken belief that you err because you do something wrong, that every error is some sort of personal failure. It's not.

To the contrary, every good shot is somewhat lucky. When you think of all the calculations and estimates the brain must make in judging the ball and timing and coordinating your stroke, you can see why. All this calculating and estimating is almost never perfect. Why? Because, tennis happens too fast: for example, the brain hasn't time to take enough snapshots of the approaching ball to judge its speed perfectly. It must guestimate. Sometimes an imperceptibly slight gust of wind or a grain of sand on the court can throw those calculations off enough to produce an error.

Of course, the quieter your mind, the more brainpower you have free to devote to judgment and coordination = the better you'll play. But nobody ever plays perfect tennis. We all regularly miss shots we are good enough to make.

That happens. Every shot has a probability of error. Even if the probability of error for a particular shot is low, sometimes you ARE going to miss it. Them's the odds. Accept them or find a different sport.

It's crucial to take your errors in stride as part of the game. Don't view them as personal failures, as shots you SHOULD have made. If you do, your ego pipes up, and you get distracted by the internal tongue-lashing it starts giving you. That just wastes brainpower on thinking rot and makes your play worse. It can destroy your game.

Indeed, it would be more correct to think that you SHOULD miss every shot. So, be glad to make the ones you do. The object of the game is to maximize the percentage of good shots you make, but perfection is unattainable.

The overemphasis on form contributes to this psychological problem in tennis players. It tends to make us think that every time we miss a shot, it's because we swung wrong. Wrong. You can hit a great shot with lousy form and a terrible shot with "perfect" form. Tennis technique isn't an exact science: it's just a set of parameters to keep your strokes within, parameters that make it mechanically effective, efficient, and minimize the probability of error. But it doesn't guarantee success.

After losing the first two sets to Baghdatis 4-6, 4-6, Safin turned his game around. How?

Not by any pep talk he gave himself. He simply got his attention focused where it belonged, on strategy and tactics. This is a simple matter of shoving aside the stupid things your ego is yakking at you and thinking about the GAME.

Marat didn't suddenly become a true believer in himself. He didn't suddenly find his mojo. He simply changed the way he was playing. He stepped up inside the baseline and started taking shots on the rise. He wins the next two sets 6-2 and 6-3.

Obviously, he has made this strategy change because he has occupied his mind with strategy and tactics, tuning out the noise his ego was making.

But then, as so often happens in these cases, in the natural letdown after catching up, Marat took a mental breather and gave away some cheap points early in the final set. Then the racket abuse blow-up. Note to Marat: Don't encourage your opponent that way!

Baghdatis is just too good and too determined to get away with that against. Safin let him back in the match, and Baghdatis was mentally tougher under the withering pressure and won 6-2.

Nonetheless, this match serves as a confidence builder for Safin. Via the BBC:

Safin said he had paid for making a slow start.

"It's a pity," said the 27-year-old. "I consider I should have won in three, four sets.

"The first two sets should not have happened. That's the first and last time I make that mistake."

Still learning at 27? That's a good sign!

However, the Russian said his performances in Australia had given him belief that he could rejoin the game's elite.

"It's actually a little bit surprising for myself to be in such a good shape and to play good tennis and be able to compete against top players for five sets with a chance to win.

"The year is pretty long, so I'll have my chances, that's for sure."

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open: 2nd Round, Day 4

2008-01-17T06:03:00.000-06:00

It's late tonight in Australia, and Marat Safin of Russia is still playing Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. Baghdatis won the first two sets 6-4, and Safin came back to win the next 6-2. He leads 5-3 in the fourth.

Earlier today, Roger Federer defeated Fabrice Santoro 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 in just 1 hour and 20 minutes.

This was Santoro's 62nd Grand Slam tournament appearance, breaking Andre Agassi's record.

"It was a tough match for me," Santoro explained. "It was not easy to have fun, but I tried to have some."

Despite the rout, Santoro was ready to take on Federer again.

"Because it's so beautiful, what he's doing," the 35-year-old Frenchman said. "At my age, you can be able to play your match and appreciate your opponent, too.

"Today, I feel like he's coming from somewhere else. I served quite good. I was moving well. I was fit physically. I was hitting the ball well. And I won three games."

What a breath of fresh air. Here's the whole interview. See also Federer out-foxes Santoro.

Lleyton Hewitt, Novak Djokovic, David Nalbandian, James Blake, Juan Carlo Ferrero, David Ferrer, Fernando Gonzalez, Tomas Berdych, Sam Querrey, Sebastian Grosjean, Vince Spadea, Juan Monaco, and Marin Cilic also advanced to the third round of the men's singles.

On the women's side, Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Venus Williams, Daniela Hantuchova, Anna Chakvetadze, Nadia Petrova, Sania Mirza, Na Li, Katarina Srebotnik, Maria Kirilenko, Agnieszka Radwanska, Marta Domachowska, Virginia Ruano Pascual, Ekaterina Makarova, Sabine Lisicki, and Caroline Wozniacki (Whew!) advanced to the third round.

With a name like mine, I'm pretty good at slavic names, but this list has me reeling! Some of them I have no idea how to pronounce even.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open: Day 4

2008-01-16T13:56:00.000-06:00

It's tomorrow morning Down Under, and Day 4 of the Australian Open will begin in a few hours.

The big surprise so far was 9th seeded Andy Murray of the UK losing to the talented Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round, 7-5 6-4 0-6 7-6(5).

Murray actually won more points. Tsonga hit both a ton of winners (57) and a ton of unforced errors (61).

Today in the second round, Roger Federer, the world No.1 and top seed, takes on the 35-year-old Frenchman, Fabrice Santoro, and Marat Safin takes on 15th seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, who reached the finals here in 2006.

Santoro is delighted at this chance to play Federer at least once before he retires.

Note to Lleyton Hewitt: Don't call your coach "Roachey."

More later when the matches are underway.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Aussies Stosur and Philippoussis Out of Australian Open

2008-01-01T20:27:00.000-06:00

Australians Samantha Stosur and Mark Philippoussis will not be playing in the Australian Open.

Stosur, 23 years old and ranked 46th, battled viruses (including meningitis) all last year. She resumed training a few weeks ago but won't be in shape in time for the Australian Open series of tournaments this month and has withdrawn from them.

Philippoussis, 31 and ranked 119th, was sidelined with a knee injury last year and tore the cartiledge in that knee in a wild-card playoff match on December 15.

Stosur will be back on tour after the Australian summer, but Philippoussis' career may be over.

Speaking of his fourth round of knee surgery, he said, "And I'll be honest, you've got to understand it's more a mental battle getting back from injury after injury."

Doesn't sound good, but a little time could brighten his attitude. Mark may be the best player never to have won a grand slam.

Stosur said:

I am very disappointed I won't be able to compete during the Australian summer. I have been back training for the last three weeks but I've realized that I won't be fully ready to compete at the Australian Women's Hardcourts, which starts in six days, and I've also withdrawn from the Australian Open.

...

I always love competing at home in Australia and have had some of my best results here, which makes the decision not to play especially hard. But I need to concentrate on the long-term goal of getting my health and fitness 100 percent again, so I don't want to start competing again until I'm fully ready.

It isn't worth getting sick yet again because you tried to come back and play such grueling events in a weakened state.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Can't stand the heat? Quit: Hewitt

2008-01-01T07:16:00.000-06:00

Hard to believe here in Wisconsin, but it's hot Down Under in the run-up to the Australian Open (beginning January 14).

Via The Sydney Morning Herald

LLEYTON HEWITT advised his fellow professionals to shape up or quit the sport after several raised concerns over soaring temperatures on day one of the Adelaide International at Memorial Drive.

...

"It's not comfortable for anyone to play sport on days like this, but that's what it's about, gruelling out matches," Hewitt said. "There shouldn't be a heat rule regardless. We're athletes, and if you don't put in the hard yards then don't play.

"The Australian Open is the only tournament that has a heat rule. There's been a lot of guys cramping in the past in the US Open in tough conditions, and they've never brought in a heat rule there.

"So it's only fair the ATP week-in, week-out [don't]. We're only playing best of three sets, too, so if you can't last in that, then get a new job."

That got Lleyton Hewitt some admiring attention. Which is what he's all about.

Unlike the author of this article, who subliminally suggests his opinion, I mostly agree with Hewitt. But like the author, I doubt he'd be saying that if he hadn't just lost in the first round of the doubles, so that HE won't have to play both singles and doubles in this week's heat.

That's the real problem. Professional players should be able to take the heat, especially when it's only best-of-three sets. But this extreme heat does require more time between matches to recover and rehydrate for the next match. If you want players to enter both the singles and the doubles, you must accommodate.

There is no easy solution. The existing heat rule is unfair.

This is how it works: When conditions reach a red line, no new matches are started, but matches underway are completed. The winners of those completed matches are at a real disadvantage in the next round against the winners of matches delayed until after dark.

Closing the roof on stadium courts is also unfair, because not all players get to play their matches on stadium courts.

Probably the best solution is to just make sure there is a safe minimum time between matches. And longer breaks between sets.

Technorati Tags: tennis

When to Play the Both-Back Formation in Tennis Doubles

2008-01-01T06:31:00.000-06:00

I usually advise to stay out of the Both-Back Formation unless you're forced into it. For example, if the opponents are blasting service returns at me when I'm at net, I won't go back to the baseline, I'll snarl at my partner for setting me up with his poopy service returns.

It's a psychological thing. That gives him something to be afraid of that's worse than whatever he's afraid of ;-)

He suddenly forgets whatever else it was that he feared and stops hitting poopy returns that get me blasted. Problem solved.

The reason I say to never fall back into the Both-Back Formation unnecessarily is because it has no vantage points or angles, and it covers less territory than either of the other two formations.

But Stan Smith has an article on the Tennis.com website that gives a good example of when you might try the Both-Back Formation. He explains the reasons for what he says, too.

Notice the situation he describes: It's a tight set with the score something like 5-5, and your opponents are delivering hard serves that you haven't had much success in returning.

If you set up to receive in the Both-Back Formation some of the time (at least on first serves), you change important aspects of the match in a way that just might win you that set.

Read the article here.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Australian Open: Strongest Field Ever

2007-12-31T08:19:00.000-06:00

According to Tournament Director Craig Tiley, this year's Australian Open boasts the strongest field ever. Except for Vera Dushevina (ranked #44), who withdrew because of an injury, the top 100 men and women have entered.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Corruption in Pro Tennis

2007-12-30T08:21:00.000-06:00

Why does professional tennis seem so vulnerable to corruption?

The answer is simple if you look at the issue from the viewpoint of the sharks swimming around in the underworld of sports betting. In tennis, you can bet on a sure thing.

How so? Tennis matches are head-to-head competition between just two players. To fix a match, all you have to do is get one of those players to take a dive. That's a sure thing.

In this, tennis is like professional boxing and therefore a tantalizing target for the corruption that plagued boxing till not long ago.

Therefore, it's much easier to fix a tennis match than it is to fix a football game or basketball game, where the outcome depends on the performance of many players. Sure, you can try to get a Brett Farve to blow a game. But the defense can score, or he could get benched so that a replacement wins the game. No sure thing by any means.

What's more, a tennis player can throw a match in ways are that are indistinguishable from the normal errors that plague every tennis player. Everyone has a bad day now and then. Everyone. In other sports, the bad days aren't as different from the good days as they are in tennis. So, for example, if a football receiver starts dropping crucial passes, you get suspicious. But tennis is such a mental game that a player's whole game can innocently break down on any given day. Nobody gets suspicious.

This is why the players getting fined should just accept the consequences and move on. In the long run, this crackdown will be good for them too, because it will be good for tennis. Tennis must never forget that it is an ideal target for the corrupters and do whatever it can to make itself a harder target in every way possible.

Because one thing is for sure: there WILL be attempts to corrupt it.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Tennis' "Sacrificial Lambs"

2007-12-28T13:43:00.000-06:00

5-Euro bets? Potito Starace risked his career to place 5-Euro bets? Is that brain-dead, or what?

We'll never hear the end of the whining that he wasn't betting on his own matches. Leave it to a complete idiot to insult everyone else's intelligence.

He acts like he doesn't know the reason for that rule. But all it takes is a moment's thought to figure it out. The rules not only discourage and punish cheating, they discourage and punish stupid behavior that can land a player in bed with the Mob - owing them money for your bad bets and having them offer a deal you can't refuse - to pay them back by throwing your next match.

It is common knowledge that those are the Mob's patented tactics. Heck, they may be fixing matches to get betting players in debt.

That's why athletes must be clean. They not only mustn't cheat, they must stay out of predicaments where they can be forced to cheat.

And listen to Daniele Bracciali's whining...

"We were the sacrificial lambs. That is why they have got upset with us," he said.

"We are not champions and we are not important at a high level. But I cannot believe that we Italians were the only ones that placed the odd little bet."

What a victim-act. Where's the innocence in that? There's no defense at all in that statement, so he is admitting guilt.

But he thinks that just because everyone who may have done it didn't get caught, he shouldn't be punished? That is childish thinking. It's just an attempt to misdirect attention, like magicians do.

And all this whining for what? The punishment is but a small fine and few months ban. What's so horrible about that?

That's actually a blessing, because obviously these guys didn't have enough brains to stay away from betting and the serious fix it could have gotten them into with creditors.

They won't go broke, and they will have a few months off to work on their game (a rare advantage in pro tennis these days) and be back on tour in a few months. Nothing to crybaby about.

Let Potito Starace, Daniele Bracciali, and Alessio Di Mauro grow up and accept the consequences of what they've done.

This is how you keep the sport clean: by punishing every infraction of the anti-corruption rules you catch.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Playing Tennis - the Mental Aspect

2007-12-11T21:04:00.000-06:00

When you step out on a tennis court, what is your goal?

That sounds like a stupid question. Your goal is to to win the match, of course.

Is it? Are you sure?

We are composite personalities, part true inner self and part ego. The troublesome ego has its own agenda. Which is vanity.

That isn't to say that the ego is bad. Like our emotions, it's there for a reason and performs an important function. You just want to be sure that it isn't in charge. The intellect must be calling the shots, not emotions or ego.

It's worth your while to really get to know yourself. We often have ulterior motives and intents, which can be buried in the subconscious.

If your goal is to win, then you should be ready to win ugly if you can't win pretty. Are you?

Aye, there's the rub. Many players constantly make choices motivated by the desire to swing "right" or to hit the "right" shot, not the desire to just win the bloomin' point. Result: they lose the bloomin' point.

But they look good doing it.

Looks. Appearances. That's what really counts - not the score.

This happens partly because we live in a society that is hypercritical of everything a person says or does and even FEELS. Virtually everything rises to the level of being "right" or "wrong." This pressures us to feel a need to win approval of everything we do. Even our natural feelings get judged, so we pretend we don't have the frowned upon ones and repress them.

In tennis this extends into an obsession with form, technique.

The ego TAKES THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE BYSTANDER. It is always nagging you about how what you're doing LOOKS to others. That's all it cares about. It will have you more concerned about how you're swinging the racket than about where your shot goes.

That's all vanity. The score is real. And it's just a game, not a measure of your personal worth.

The good news is that just by knowing yourself, you can avoid this pitfall. All it takes a little thought. A little quiet time for little soul-searching now and then to honestly ask yourself what you really want and what your goals really are. For, when you discover a silly goal deep down inside, it evaporates.

You won't get anywhere with a bunch of goals aimed off in different directions. You need one goal, single-minded pursuit of one thing. So, keep it simple: just play the game on the court, not any of the other stupid games people play.

When you thus get into the game itself, you're thinking about strategy and tactics, not your strokes. You'll be surprised at the different effect pressure has on you now: now it stimulates you and brings out the best in you, not the worst.

Now you start really having fun.

Technorati Tags: tennis

The US Davis Cup team

2007-12-04T09:16:00.000-06:00

These fellows are all team players. Maybe not Andy Roddick so much, but the Bryans and James Blake love team play and know what it's all about. You can count on them. They come through for their team when they'd normally lose for themselves.

Because when the going gets tough, you disregard your feelings and push through for the team. There's nothing more rewarding than being part of something greater than the sum of its parts.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Woops!

2007-12-04T08:55:00.000-06:00

Confused by nonsense on some ordering pages at the Main Site?

All the errors I introduced on 2CheckOut pages over the weekend are gone now. I hope :)

I was changing some Share-It options and didn't check the ordering pages I didn't think I changed. Boy, is THAT a lesson I'll never forget!

The Operation Doubles Tennis Connection - November-December issue

2007-12-03T11:19:00.001-06:00

The combined November-December issue of the Operation Doubles Connection is now online. Sign up for your free copy every month here.

WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE

Featured Tennis Website of the Month
This Month's Tennis Quiz
This Month's Q & A
Tennis News & Upcoming Tournaments
This Month's Shot-Making Tip

Technorati Tags: tennis

Bob & Mike: “They are just much better doubles players.”

2007-12-03T09:27:00.000-06:00

Bob and Mike Bryan clinched the Davis Cup for the United States on Saturday with a win over the Russian team of Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-2. And Andreyev summed it up by saying, "They are just much better doubles players."

This is a sweet end to a year in which no American man has made it to grand slam final.

The win in the doubles put the score of the tie at 3-0, setting up the "dead" rubbers played on Sunday. They were shortened to best-of-three set matches, because they could not effect the outcome.

Igor Andreev earned Russia a consolation point by beating Bob Bryan 6-3 7-6, and James Blake beat Dmitry Tursunov 1-6 6-3 7-5, pushing the final score to the United States 4, Russia 1.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Tennis Strategy & Match Play Guides

2007-12-03T09:09:00.000-06:00

As I've been promising, I have found a solution for a print edition of the Match Play Guide and the Strategy Guide.

Though purchasing a download is always the most economical solution, you can now get both guides on a custom CD-ROM. As of today, the Match Play Guide is also avaialble in paperback.

The Strategy Guide is next and should be finished this week.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Davis Cup Drama

2007-12-01T14:57:00.000-06:00

James Blake being a little blunt with press yesterday:

I wanted to play my best and be strong enough mentally and not have these people make kind of ridiculous questions about whether a top 10 player or a singles player on a Davis Cup finals team is mentally tough or not, because you don't get here without being mentally tough.

But, come on, James. They MUST resort to fiction, because they have ads to sell, names to make for themselves. It all started with "60 Minutes." You know - revolutionizing the "news reports" to make "stories" out of them. You know, the "human interest" angle. It ain't the news anymore: it's telling people what they want to hear, something juicy. No matter how ridiculously you have to exaggerate or distort the facts to make something out of nothing.

This press conference shows us that the press makes a federal case out it every time a player loses a game at 5-4. That's "blowing it" according to them. Ominous. A sign of mental weakness. (Gasp!) (Organ music.)

Blake again:

It was a style that lost me that game at 5-4, but it was a style that got me the win.

Yes, birdbrains. It's a game of odds. Blake is going to miss sometimes with his style. Whether the score is 5-4 or 4-5. But he is going to win more than he loses that way. Too complex?

I wish the press would just let reality be what it is.

They aren't even interested in anything but artificially created drama anymore. Kinda like a White House press briefing. Not interested in any of the real news or getting information. Just all digging, digging, digging for something juicy to make out of nothing.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Hooray!

2007-11-30T23:43:00.000-06:00

By now you probably know that the score is the United States 2, Russia 0 in the Davis Cup Final. Andy Roddick beat Dimitry Tursinov yesterday, and James Blake beat Mikhail Youzhny today.

We'll probably never hear the end of Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev's decision to hold Nikolay Davydenko out of the singles. At Number 4 in the world, he ranks higher than Roddick (at No. 6).

Who knows? Hindsight is 20-20, and Tarpischev has lead the Russians to victory before. He seemed to think that Davydenko couldn't beat Roddick, despite having a good track record against him.

But again, who knows enough to second-guess him? Maybe these match-fixing allegations have gotten to Davydenko. (Or maybe they know he's done it and fear he would do it in Portland.)

I don't know. But Tarpishchev's remarks sounded a bit defeatist to me. It's almost like he's just trying to make sure they don't get skunked.

Which has me scratching my head. You have to consider us the favorite, but not by much, and anything can happen in Davis Cup play. So, go figure. All I know is that you're not going to win with an attitude like that.

Good luck to the Bryan brothers tomorrow. They've been looking forward to this for a long time.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Sampras Beating Federer

2007-11-29T15:42:00.000-06:00

Some folks just can't let things happen the way they happen. Via the Dysfunctional Tennis Blog: Federer Lets Sampras Win.

Oh, so Pete can't win, can he? Because even if he does win you won't let him have won. So he either loses or doesn't win, right?

Here he is at 36 years old and has has just beaten the best player in the world, and you have to deny him his victory. That sucks.

Sure, the series was interesting to watch, fun to speculate the “what ifs”, but as I’ve said before, the only thing this it proves (or proved) is that both Federer and Sampras like the cash.

Wrong. The series proves that Sampras' game and Federer's game match up pretty well against each other. Wouldn't it be great if they were closer in age so we could see them compete against each other in major tournaments?

But some folks are driven on the winds of change like weathervanes. Sampras was around for only six months when they all pontificated that he was the GOAT. And then and he wasn't gone for six months months before the stampede turned and started pontificating that Federer is the GOAT.

Jeez, they all sound like caucus of crows darkening the trees in the fall. Guess what, folks? These know-it-alls don't know what they say they know. They never saw Bjorn Borg, Stan Smith, Rod Laver, Jack Kramer, Fred Perry, or Bill Tilden play, but they think they know who the GOAT is. Yes, I know I'm supposed to pretend I never thought of that.

And like who really cares, anyway?

But I digress. Let's look at that again:

Sure, the series was interesting to watch, fun to speculate the “what ifs”, but as I’ve said before, the only thing this it proves (or proved) is that both Federer and Sampras like the cash.

Fully bake that thought. Do either of these guys need the cash? It makes no sense to say that Pete Sampras and Roger Federer go all the way to China to play an exhibition match just for the cash. When have we seen them chasing cash?

Yes, their track record. Always check out the target's track record before you accuse them of something. How Pete and Roger have behaved in the past is relevant. They are among the last players you could accuse of chasing cash. And people who've never chased cash before don't suddenly become different persons and start doing it overnight. So, that is an accusation that just won't stick to these two men.

Then Randall torpedoes his own assertion by continuing:

Federer has to be some sort of glutton for punishment. He really does. By losing last night he’s now opened himself up to even more vomit-inducing press questions in the coming months on the Great Debate.

Exactly. Thanks for winning my case by giving him a huge motive for wanting to win that match.

Roger had powerful motive to refuse to even play Sampras. This is hard to explain as anything other than a fine sense of sportsmanship in Roger, in taking on the challenge. Pete has nothing to lose in losing but Roger does.

So just what was the motivation behind Federer deciding to lose the finale, and lose in straight sets? Simple. It’s good for business.

Where is all this omniscience coming from these days? Is God passing it out to his favorites so they can be just like him, able to read minds?

Sampras beat Federer. Repeat it 99 times. It won't kill you. This is no great surprise, because the previous match had been very close.

You're accusing Fed of fraud. On what grounds? What evidence? Just divining, that's all. It is wrong to ever puposely lose a contest like a tennis match. But most people are too thoughtless to think a minute and realize that these days.

Roger Federer ain't one of them though. And Pete would rightly be insulted by Roger throwing the match.

What's more, people were betting on this match. That's match-fixing you're accusing Roger of. You say he did it for money and that he lost because it would be "good for business," like some pool sharp who throws a few games to sucker big betting.

Federer doesn't deserve such wild accusations. There is zero REASON or EVIDENCE for believing these things about him. He just lost a tennis match. That's possible, you know.

This is getting like politics, where everything that happens must prove your firmly held beliefs or you will twist the facts until it does.

Technorati Tags: tennis

More on Shifting as a Unit in Tennis Doubles

2007-11-27T07:13:00.000-06:00

Over the past couple weeks I've been asking players what they think about the adage that doubles partners should shift left or right as unit, "as if roped together." I'm still not sure where this is coming from, but I'll take a stab at this misconception here and go into it a little deeper in the November-December newsletter.

First, like so many bits of bad advice, I think this one started out as good advice but was taken out of context, and the next thing you know, everyone is saying it's generally true.

But if you ask people how this is so, you'll find that none can give you one good reason. Typically, they cheat with the fallacious argument known as the "appeal to authority." It goes like this: "It's true because So-and-So [insert famous name here] says so."

I don't care who So-and-So is. Even if it's me ;-) So-and-So is fallible. And people who know what they're talking about can give give valid reasons for what they say.

Yes, there are times when you and your partner should both shift the same direction, leftward or rightward as a unit. These times usually occur when you are in a side-by-side formation, like the Both-Up Formation or the Both-Back Formation. But it can happen when you are in the Up-and-Back Formation too.

Nonetheless, more often than not, you and your partner should shift opposite directions, diverging or converging.

Here's the most common scenario. Both teams are in the Up-and-Back Formation. Before you say that isn't common at higher levels of play, think again. Many points, even at the top of the game are played in this situation. And almost every point at least begins this way.

Picture it: you have your deuce-side baseliners exchanging crosscourt drives. That's because they try to keep the ball away from the opposing net player. In this rally, some of those crosscourt shots fly at sharp angles.

Result? The Angle of Return gets nasty. When you hit a sharply angled shot, you give your opponent an even sharper Angle of Return. This means that, if you don't watch out, you are going to see a winner come back at a wicked crosscourt angle.

It's the most common error in doubles: a baseliner hits a sharply angled drive crosscourt (one that draws the opposing baseliner wide of the alley to play it) and then recovers THE WRONG WAY - toward center (leftward), instead of shifting out wider (rightward) to cover that nasty Angle of Return.

But now look what your net partner must do at the same time. He or she must shift the opposite direction (leftward) to cover the line down their alley the opposing baseliner has.

This is correct. Your team's shot has given the opponent a sharp and broad Angle of Return, and you two are spreading yourselves thinner to cover it.

This is the single most common scenario in doubles, and it blows right out of the water the adage that you and your partner should always shift the same direction as if roped together.

You can't dumb this down to any rote rule to memorize and follow. You have to learn to visualize the Angle of Return. Once you can do that, your instincts kick in, and you intuitively move the right direction.

I think many people are mislead by that adage because they're thinking in terms of words and instructions instead of visualizing what is going on. They probably are reacting to talk of the gap in the Up-and-Back Formation. Consequently, they probably think that you and your partner are far apart in it and that the opponent will be able to hit between you if you move opposite directions, spreading farther apart.

Wrong. Not in this case. Laterally, you and your partner are no farther apart than you are in the Both-Up or Both-Back Formations. So, from straight on, it's no easier to put a shot between you. And that opposing baseliner in the example above is NEVER going to get the ball between you from there. Your baseliner would have to be down on the next court to make the hole between you big enough!

The gap/hole in the Up-and-Back Formation is an ANGULAR gap. Only an opposing net player kitty-cornered from your net player has a line of fire through it. So long as you keep the ball away from that opposing net player, the gap is no problem.

Like I said, I'll have a little more on this in the newsletter. The website introduces the topic of positioning and the Angle of Return, and the Strategy Guide completely covers it.

Technorati Tags: tennis tennis instruction tennis doubles

What's New

2007-11-22T11:37:00.000-06:00

Please notice that the Operation Doubles Tennis blog now lives at a new address:

http://od-tennis.blogspot.com
Please update your links and browser bookmarks to it.

I normally don't send out a newsletter in November or December, but near the end of this month I will send a short one, at about the time of the Davis Cup Final.

The "backup CD" option is now available for the Strategy Guide and the Match Play Guide. However, the price assinged is $5 or $6 higher than I understood it would be, so I am looking into that. In any case, you don't have to buy it: it's just an option for those who like having a backup copy of digital goods on a CD. If it lands in your shopping cart and you don't want it, just delete it. I will be making changes to this option in the next day or two - as soon as I figure out what all MY options are.

Because many people have expressed an interest in one, I have begun work on a Print Edition of both the Strategy Guide and the Match Play Guide. Only the cover will be in color, so, to insure the best conversion of the graphics to grayscale, I am converting all the artwork manually. It's most efficient to do the Match Play Guide first and then the Strategy Guide. I think I can be finished in about a week.

So that's what's new. Please remember to update your links and browser bookmarks to this blog:

http://od-tennis.blogspot.com

Technorati Tags: tennis

Nikolay Davydenko's Fine

2007-11-06T09:39:00.000-06:00

Controversy has erupted about Nikolay Davydenko's fining for tanking a match against Marin Cilic, a Croatian teenager ranked outside the world's top 100.

Commenting on the umpire's warning that lead to the fine, Davydenko gave us the old....

This is just outrageous. How does he [the umpire] know what I was trying to do?

Ordinarily, I'd be firmly on his side, because I hate demonizing people by feigning omniscience to DIVINE their inner motives and intents and then condemning them for what YOU say they THINK and are UP TO. That rot is what politics has degenerated to, today. You just divine that they "don't care about the poor" or "want an excuse to wage war."

Case closed. How can the accused defend himself by proving a negative = that it isn't true?

But sometimes you can prove what a person's real intentions are. Here's a simple example. Let's say someone is complaining about a problem he has with someone else, say his doubles partner. He says that his partner always does this, and his partner always does that.

You get sick of hearing this every day, so you finally think about this problem and come up with some ways the complainer might try to resolve the issues with his partner. But guess what? He doesn't want to try any of them! In fact, his tone completely changes the moment you suggest actually doing anything about this problem. Suddenly, it's "no problem" anymore ... till the next time he crybabys in your ear about it.

You needn't be an omniscient mind reader to know that this "problem" ain't no problem, because he likes things the way they are and works to keep them that way.

So, concrete actions can reveal inner motives and intents, by pure logic. But always in a negative way, by proving insincerity, hypocrisy.

I don't know whether they did in Davydenko's case or not. So, I can't second-guess the official's judgement. All I know is that the official had the authority to make that judgement and did.

And, if you allow players this "How-can-you-tell-what-I-was-trying-to-do?" dodge, you have just opened wide the door to corruption, by making it virtually impossible to ever establish the fact when players throw matches. You have made match fixing so easy to get away with that it will run rampant.

What's more, even when childish players just tank matches because they're mad about something, the perception of corruption as the possible cause arises, which is almost as damaging to tennis as real corruption would be.

The circumstantial evidence against Davydenko weighs heavily against him. There are suspicious gambling patterns occurring around him. We are talking about Laws of the Universe here, laws of mathematical probability. So something untoward was going on to create that gambling pattern. Either inside information was leaked to some betters, or Davydenko just threw that match.

Either possibility is bad, but a leak needn't have been by Nikolay himself or with his knowledge and consent.

So, he's innocent till proven guilty, but I don't feel a bit sorry for the big baby.

He's a professional tennis player. One of the luckiest men in the world. He gets paid big money to accept gifts of the best clothing and equipment. He gets paid big money just to show up at tournaments. He gets paid so much big money for his wins as the World No. 4 that he could afford to throw matches any time he wants.

People pay money to watch him play. It's about time he grew up and realized that he enters into a contract with them when he enters a tournament. And his end of the deal requires him to do his utmost to win. Any less is breech of faith.

He owes us his best performance. Every single time he steps out there. So, it's time the crybaby grew up and stopped acting like a four-year-old every time he has a bad day.

He whines at us that...

Maybe my problems are psychological; maybe it's in my head.

Duh, you talk like this means it ain't your fault!

It's YOUR head, Dufus.

We know about the psychological battle in tennis. We play too, you know. We all experience the same emotions. But do we all act like you?

Did it ever occur to you that you should control what goes on in your head? What? is your mind some sort of race car that you "drive" with both hands off the wheel?

If you psychologically can't handle a bad tennis day, you have no business being a professional tennis player. The ability to retain your poise in competition is just as necessary as the ability to rip an 80-mile-an-hour forehand. You either have it, or your don't.

So, suck it up, Nikolay, or quit. Whacking the next two serves in anger over your last shot, in what amounts to an intentional double fault, is nothing but a professional tennis player's temper tantrum. Spare us, please. We pay to watch a man play, not a four-year-old.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Q&A: Should doubles players shift "as a unit?"

2007-10-31T12:03:00.000-05:00

You often hear this advice given in terms of the analogy that doubles players should pretend they are tied together by a rope.

I think I recall where this Tennis Commandment came from. I recall reading it in a doubles book quite a few years ago. If I remember correctly though, the author was talking about playing Both-Up. Which makes more sense. At least it made sense to me then, and I don't recall what he said well enough to comment further.

But nowadays, you hear this going around and coming around as a general rule about how to play doubles. And it's just wrong. At least as often as not, if you shift laterally in the same direction as your partner, one of you is shifting the wrong direction.

Here is an example. Most points, even at the highest levels of the game, involve a rally with both teams in the Up-and-Back Formation. The baseliners are exchanging crosscourt drives.

Every angle you feed your opponent gives him a sharper angle of return, so what happens? The angle of the shots in this rally increases. You have some sharply angled crosscourt shots going back and forth.

If your baseliner hits a sharply angled crosscourt shot, your net player must shift toward his alley to guard against the alley-shot return. And the LAST thing your baseliner should do is recover in the same direction (toward center). That's the most common positioning error doubles players make.

Zap - there goes a crosscout a winner. But it shouldn't have been a winner, because instead of moving toward center, your baseliner should have moved out wide, into the alley, or perhaps even wide of it, to await that shot.

But, Clueless watches that crosscourt winner come back at a wicked angle and wonders how his opponent could hit such a sharply angled shot.

It was easy. Clueless FED him a sharply angled shot with that nasty angle of return. Then Clueless failed to position wide enough for that return. Instead of recovering TOWARD HIS ALLEY, he recovered toward center, leaving an opening as big as a barn door on his alley side.

The angle of return. The angle of return. The angle of return is what determines which direction you should move. No no-brainer rote rule will do.

Watch good singles players. When they hit a sharply angled crosscourt shot to their left, which direction do they recover? Toward their right. The closer they hit to the left alley, the closer to their right alley they position for that shot's return.

There's no arguing with the angle of return. It's geometry, Natural Law. Logic. Trumps any authority figure one might parrot.

In general, as the baseliner in up-and-back doubles, always position wider than you think you need to. Err to the crosscourt side. Watch out for that sharply angled crosscourt shot. Way too many of them go for clean winners in doubles, just because the baseliner thinks he should position inside the sidelines.

The opposite scenario is true too. If you center the ball in your opponents' court (as with a lob), both you and your partner shift toward center. Again, you're moving opposite directions, not as a unit. And this is true even when you're playing both-up or both-back.

I'm not saying that there aren't times you should shift the same direction, but more often not, that advice would be wrong.

Just another example of why you must use your own head and not just swallow whole everything you hear. If some tennis adage doesn't make sense to you, doubt it. Because there's a lot of junk going around out there.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Player Profile: James Blake Part 3

2007-10-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

Part 1 and Part 2

What about James' game?

He plays right-handed and has a one-handed backhand. He is very fast, especially considering his size (about 6'1" and 180 pounds). His game is somewhere between that of an aggressive baseliner and an all-court player. The tennis season is so long that there is no off-time in which to make the major change to an all-court game though. James goes all out for every shot. He has no real weakness, but his opponents stay away from his forehand and try to attack his backhand.

According to his coach, Brian Barker, the most defining thing about his game has been a series of brief periods of tremendous improvement.

The first occurred while James was in high school. He was one of those small, slight boys that you hardly recognize by their senior year, due to a huge growth spurt. He grew 8 or 9 inches and filled out in his junior year. Before that, because of his size, he had the scrappy game of a small and very fast player. But now he had muscle too, muscle he could spend on topspin, making his shots big and heavy. Consequently, his game acquired an unusual combination of characteristics. Result? He went from losing in the first round of the national junior finals in Kalamazoo to making the championship match the following year.

It's easy to jump to the conclusion that this improvement was due to his growth, but possible explanations for his other improvement spurts have no such easy-to-jump-to conclusions about what caused them.

The second spurt of improvement came while he played for Harvard. He went from being just another player on Harvard's tennis team during his freshman year to being the top-ranked collegiate player in the country at the end of his sophomore year.

What caused that? Unless you know the details of Blake's story, you can't even hazard a guess. But note that Brian Barker was still helping James during this time. And note also that James says Harvard was a humbling experience, because there you find yourself among people who have written novels at the age of ten and found cures for diseases. That puts your great tennis play in perspective. It ain't so hot in an environment like that.

The third great spurt was in about 2001, after several years of getting nowhere on the pro tour. James would get very upset about his losses and try to distract himself by staying up all night playing poker afterwards. Then he decided to face facts and got Barker to travel with him the whole season, not just 15 weeks per year.

Well, OK, he also decided to cut off those beautiful dreadlocks (sigh) = be himself, not a sex symbol.

Zoom, another improvement spurt. Was it the dreadlocks? Or was it Barker promising to jump out of an airplane at 10,000 feet if Blake ever won a title?

I kid you not. Sometimes motivating people is as simple as that.

Barker is obviously an important factor in Blake's success. Blake also cites his family. I suspect that Barker's influence is more than just technical.

James Blake, by his own choice, is a thoughtful person, not just a weathervane blowing in the wind. What you get when he speaks is the real him, not a parrot or someone whose behavior is calculated for effect rather than a natural expression of what lies within.

His coach and his family are likewise thoughtful people, who have provided a healthy environment for James to grow in, and they unselfishly have provided good guidance for his sake, not their own. I think that along the way, they have helped him discover important things about himself, life, and competition. Things that have helped him mature psychologically. It seems that, whenever he has learned something important that makes his attitude toward the game more logical and healthy, the next thing you know, he's beating opponents who used to beat him. The confidence he gains from that fuels the afterburners, and he then experiences one of these improvement spurts.

I think what's happening is simply that he suddenly starts playing closer to his potential.

Few players play anywhere near their potential. Players at the top of the Pro Tour are probably all playing at better than 90% of their potential. The rest of us are probably playing at closer to 50% of our potential – except in those rare moments when we get "out of our minds" and "into the zone."

Some reach the top of their potential briefly by pure psych jobs they do on themselves and their opponents, but players like Pete Sampras and James Blake are just really that confident and needn't make-believe they have any supernatural powers :)

So, they last. Barring any more catastrophes, you can expect to see James Blake at the top of the game for years to come.

He is currently ranked 10th in the world and battling for a spot among the top 8 in the Masters Cup to be played in Shanghai. He represents the United States (along with Bob and Mike Bryan and Andy Roddick) on the Davis Cup team, which will be playing Russia in the final on November 30.

If you are interested in him, check out his book, Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life.

Which reminds me that, about halfway through this profile, I realized it had never occurred to me to mention something. So, I decided to leave it until the end for those who think his color matters. James' mother is white, originally from England, and his late father was black. So, I guess if he was African-American by virtue of his race, she is European-American by virtue of hers.

Which reminds me of the hilarious effect of the term "African American" becoming synonymous with "black." It is the famous blunder by French TV anchors who use the term even when referring to FRENCH blacks.

Asked by Sports Illustrated whether his success has changed or impacted his racial identity, James replied ...

It's definitely something I think about. It's funny because it's always "first African-American to do this or that" or "first African-American since Arthur Ashe." It's great to mentioned in the same sentence as him but I -- my mom especially -- gets antsy. "Why can't I just be American? Haven't I achieved enough on my own to just be James Blake: American?"

Part of me is African-American, but it's not the only part. My mom was like, it was one thing when you were first coming up and there was novelty or whatever, but she feels, "You've done enough to warrant just being called an American." I tell people over and over, "I grew up in Connecticut," but it always ends up as "Harlem to Harvard, Harlem to Harvard."

I love Harlem, I love the Harlem Junior Tennis Program, but I grew up here and I'm not going to deny it to make a better story. To me, the story should be about the No. 6 guy in the world, and not where I'm from or not from.

Ah, what a breath of fresh air.

Which in turn reminds me of one of Martin Luther King's speeches in which he repeated his often-repeated "I have a dream" theme. He said that he had a dream in which one day two people would stop dead in their tracks two steps after passing each other on a sidewalk – realizing that they had not noticed the other person's color.

'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.

Almost all the other nations in the world are, or till recently were, the product of an ethnic bloodline. But we are a creature of our Constitution. We are African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and European Americans = all just Americans.

Technorati Tags: tennis

The Operation Doubles Connection - October Issue

2007-10-26T21:21:00.000-05:00

This month's issue of The Operation Doubles Connection, the free monthly newsletter of OperationDoubles.com is now online.

WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE

What's New at Operation Doubles
Featured Tennis Website of the Month
This Month's Tennis Quiz
This Month's Q & A
Tennis News & Upcoming Tournaments
This Month's Shot-Making Tip

Technorati Tags: tennis

SB: The Drop Shot - What, Why, Where, When, Who

2007-10-23T19:10:00.000-05:00

by Scott Baker
Tennis4You.com

I love the drop shot. What is a better way to demoralize your opponent with just one simple shot? What is a better way to force them to the net if they are not comfortable at the net, or to simply play with their mind as you force them to cover every inch of the court? However, is that why you use the drop shot or do you use the drop shot for less desirable reasons?

A lot of times the pros (and many of us) will use the drop shot as a move of desperation. Maybe we are being out rallied from the baseline and have lost some confidence, or maybe we get tired and want the point to be over quickly. Either way, I do not recommend that you use the drop shot as a desperate resource. Rather, use the drop shot as a smart and offensive shot in which you know will result in turning the point into your point to win. In most cases, using the drop shot as a desperate resource will cause you to hit a poor drop shot from a lousy position and you will most likely not win the point.

You always want to be in a favorable position to hit a drop shot. You never want to attempt to hit a drop shot when you are well behind the baseline. This means the ball has a longer distance to travel before it crosses the net, allowing your opponent more time to react and get to the ball. The best position to hit a drop shot is inside the baseline.

One of the biggest weapons you can have when you are going to hit a drop shot is the element of surprise. Anytime you telegraph (let your opponent see what you are going to hit) the drop shot you could be in deep trouble. If your opponent sees that you are going to hit a drop shot they might run sooner than you expect. If they get there in time while the ball is still high enough they might have a good shot to hit a winner or to take control of the point. To keep from telegraphing your shot, you need to bring the racquet back like you would normally to make it look like you are going to hit a ground stroke. I see a lot of players bring the racquet back and then stand straight up before the swing. By doing this you let your opponent know too early what your plans are. The longer you can make your shot look like a regular ground stroke the more off-guard you will catch your opponent. The slice ground stroke lends itself beautifully to the drop shot. There is almost no difference in the stroke until you hit the ball. If you are a big topspin slugger, hitting the drop shot in disguise will be a little tougher and will be telegraphed sooner.

The drop shot seems like such a simple shot, but can be very tricky to hit and hit at the right time in the point. Let’s take a look at the where, when, why, what & who’s of the drop shot.

What is a good drop shot?

A good drop shot is hit with slice/backspin.
A good drop shot bounces 6 times before it reaches the service line. A great drop shot never makes it to the service line.
A good drop shot is one in which the ball is on it’s way down when it crosses the net.
A good drop shot is one your opponent does not expect.

Why do you hit a drop shot?

To make your opponent run.
To take control of the point.
To bring your opponent to the net.
To win the point.

Where is a good place to hit the drop shot?

In the service box furthest away from your opponent. Always hit to one side or the other, never down the middle. Hitting to one side will give your opponent a longer distance to run and opens the court up for you.
Hit the drop shot behind your opponent so he/she will have to stop and change directions before they start to run to the ball.

When is a good time to hit the drop shot?

When your opponent stands well behind the baseline to return your shots.
When you drag your opponent well off of the court deep to one side or the other.
When you are standing on or inside of the baseline. Avoid hitting drop shots when you are standing behind the baseline. This gives your opponent more time to react and makes it a much tougher shot to execute!
When your opponent is not expecting it.
When you are hitting into the wind.
When the balls are getting old.

Who do I hit the drop shot against?

Players who do not run fast
Players who do not like the net
Players who stands too far back in the court
Clay court players

Good Luck on the Court!
Scott Baker
Tennis4you.com

Scott Baker
Tennis4you.com
Tennis Forum
E-Mail - tennis4you@hotmail.com
Copyright 2007, Scott Baker -- all rights reserved worldwide

Technorati Tags: tennis tennis instruction

Match Fixing? What Match Fixing?

2007-10-19T22:51:00.000-05:00

I don't get this: Match Fixing Hits Keep Coming (from Off the Baseline)

Where's the "match fixing" in all that?

Of course players are being offered bribes. Duh. Football players are offered bribes. Baseball players are offered bribes. Players in all major sports are offered bribes all the time. Jeeez, it is no news being trumped up into big news.

Gambling, gambling, gambling is the cause for 99% of it, not the occassional low-ranked player who wants to buy his way into "lucky loser" status for a chance to play in a major tournament.

And the more gambling there is on tennis, the more frequent bribe offering in tennis will be. It's a Law of (Human) Nature. Which is why I don't carry ads for gambling on tennis.

Tip: Ignore the press' tone. Especially when it's screeching bloody murder, pay careful attention to exactly what is being reported. (You need a sense of humor for this.) Bribe offering is not match fixing.

The fact that players are offered bribes does not make tennis corrupt.

TAKING BRIBES is match fixing. Too complex?

This is the latest craze in blaming the victim: because some crook offers a bribe, tennis is viewed as the corrupt one. So, what if the player refused the bribe? Muckrakers conveniently ignore that fact.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Player Profile: James Blake Part 2

2007-10-19T15:20:00.000-05:00

Part 1

In 2004, Blake was hitting with Robby Ginepri in Rome after both men had lost in the first round of the Italian Open. Blake, as usual, going all out as fast as humanly possible, stumbled while rushing forward to collect a drop shot. Head first, right into the net post.

He’s alive and walking today only because, when he felt himself flying, he was able to turn his head a bit to the side so that the post hit his neck a glancing blow.

He had broken his neck, and his scoliosis made it hard to determine how severe the injury was. So, for a time, James didn’t know whether to laugh or cry over the freak accident.

Mike Wallace (for 60 Minutes): Two days after the accident, James was transferred to another hospital for tests, still wearing his tennis clothes because he was too injured for them to be removed. “I was still covered in clay," he says.

Blake: I stunk. It was a low point in my life. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I knew I was seriously hurt, but I also knew that I looked ridiculous. So, I decided to laugh. I was so fortunate. My coach, Brian Barker was there. He said, ‘We got two options. We can laugh about this or we can cry about this.' And I immediately said, 'Let’s laugh. Let’s just kind of joke about it and hope that everything turns out all right. But if it doesn’t, I’ve got to find a way to still be happy with it.

Barker: He said, ‘We might as well laugh because you know, it’s pretty funny that a tennis player of my level with his coach standing right in front of him could run and go head-first into a net post.’ He’s like, ‘There’s got to be something funny about this when we look back.’ And he said, ‘So right now we’ll just kind of suck it up and make the best of it.’

Well, yes, the picture of it is kinda funny when you look back on it now, knowing that he was on a tennis court again in six weeks.

James insists that it was a fortunate accident, however. His father had cancer, and James hadn’t been told how bad it was getting. He would have been playing in Europe. But, coming home to recover from his broken neck gave him quality time with his father in the end.

It also put him through what only those who have been through it can know.

The exhaustion on top of the serious injury that had weakened him brought down his immune system and left him open to an attack of shingles, which is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox. James, who pushed it in getting back on the tennis court probably sooner than he should have, seems to have suffered a particularly severe case of shingles. It affected the nerves on his left side, paralyzing half his face, blurring his vision, and forcing him to shuffle along like an invalid. The paralysis could have been permanent.

When he got better, he again pushed it in an effort to get back on court and found that he could hardly hit the ball. “That was the first time when I really came to recognize the limits of willpower and resolve,” he writes in his book, Breaking Back.

But he did break back into the top 50 on the ATP Tour the following summer.

But where was the turning point in his career? He can’t pinpoint one.

When he grew 9 inches a matter of months during his junior year in high school, he suddenly became a high school player who went undefeated his last two years. AND from being a player who never made nationals to beating the best juniors and becoming the top 18-year old in the country. Then, during his first two seasons in college, he went from being the No. 2 at Havard to being the top college player in the country. On the pro tour, he got nowhere for several years. Then – boom – he’s getting into the later rounds of Grand Slam tournaments and beating Andre Agassi. Even the triple-blow of what happened to him in 2004 didn’t take away his mojo.

So, where is that cliche called a “breakthrough”? What made him rise above the pack?

Many like to theorize. But Blake himself doesn’t.

In the May 2003 issue of Tennis Magazine, we read:

In Cincinnati, shortly before the 2001 U.S. Open, Blake beat two Top 60 players before losing to Patrick Rafter in three sets.

“A lot of guys, their egos are pretty fragile, and if someone ranked way below them gives them a good match, it’s, ‘Oh, I played horribly,’” Blake says. “Rafter didn’t say that. He told me, ‘You could have beaten me today. You could beat me on any given day. It’s just that maybe you didn’t believe you could. You had your chances and you didn’t stick to your game.’ To hear him say that was a big boost to my confidence. Rafter is one of those guys who definitely had to earn it, and maybe he saw that I wasn’t one of those kids who thought the world owed him something. But until then, I didn’t feel that I belonged on the ATP tour at all. After that, I started thinking, ‘Maybe he’s right. Maybe I do belong out here.’”

That’s it. Simple confidence. Otherwise known as “mojo.”

To be continued.

Technorati Tags: tennis

The BBC - Misrepresent Anything? Plug Your Ears!

2007-10-16T09:32:00.000-05:00

Something tells me that Andy Murray has learned his lesson.

According to him, what he's said to have said ain't quite what he said.

Ordinarily, I'd think, "Yeah, a likely story." But, unfortunately, I know the credibility of the BBC. So I'm listening, Mr. Murray.

So, you say that your remarks in your interveiw with BBC 5live were taken out of context. OK.

Here is what the BBC says.

Murray told BBC 5live he believed some tennis matches are being fixed - and that all the players are aware of it.

Unequivocal. That's what they say he says.

But click the Interview button in that article and listen. He says NO SUCH THING!

Credibility Score: Murray 1 / Press -1

Where's a quote to that effect in this entire article? Nowhere!

Credibility Score: Murray 1 / Press -2

You don't even hear the question he was answering, do you? No context whatsoever. So, Mr. Murray is telling the truth. His remarks were taken out of context. Why?

Credibility Score: Murray 2 / Press -3

Do Auntie Beeb a favor and read further than the headline, subheadline and first two paragraphs now and then. Always catch what's buried in the second-to-the-last paragraph.

You have Roger Federer saying he knows of no bribe taking. You have Tim Henman saying that he has no first-hand knowledge of bribe OFFERS but has heard rumors of such. He says nothing of any knowledge of bribe TAKING. So, since "all" the players are supposed to know what these two deny knowing, where's one bit of evidence here that doesn't CONTRADICT the BBC's claim? one bit of evidence that players are taking bribes?

Where have I seen that stunt before? Hmmm. Hmmm. Oh, I remember now! The Inquisition used to pull it. If you actually read the pile of testimony under the indictment, you discovered that it all was probative of innocence, not guilt. But of course nobody ever bothered to read much beyond the headlines.

Credibility Score: Murray 2 / Press -4

I note that Andy's repeated efforts in plain English have all somehow failed to inform the press that he wasn't talking about "match fixing." That he was talking about bribe offering.

Who are the press to disagree with him on what he was talking about? They weren't present at the BBC 5live interview. How can they fail to regard Andy as anything but THE authority on what he himself was talking about? Sheesh.

Credibility Score: Murray 2 / Press -5

It isn't just the BBC now. For example, here we have a journalist report:

Murray's clarification of his remarks as his "trying" to clarify them
his denial that he was talking about match fixing as his "seeking to clarify" his remarks on - you guessed it - "match fixing."

That ain't credibility.

Credibility Score: Murray 2 / Press -7

match fixing / bribe offering
Journalists are wordsmiths, so don't expect me to believe that they don't know the difference between those two terms.

And here get an eyeful of the press' infuriating stubbornness in head-lining his comments as his "match fixing" comments! (That's for the 70% of readers who read the headlines and maybe the first few sentences only.)

Credibility Score: Murray 2 / Press -8

Murray:

It was taken out of context, I never said once that players fixed matches and that players were involved directly in betting on matches. I did say that there was a lot of betting in tennis and everyone knows that betting within tennis is going on. Three or four of the players have said that they've been offered [bribes to throw] matches, and I definitely said that that stuff goes on but whether players are accepting the money or not, nobody's been [found] guilty and until they have I don't think tennis matches have been fixed. I never said that. I know what I've said and I've spoken to a couple of other players about it and I don't think what I said is as big an issue as has been made out.

The bracketed clarifications are mine. When people speak extemporaneously in a press conference, they constantly misspeak like that. But when it's obvious what they meant, it is unethical for you to take advantage of the error to muddy the quote so that hurried readers miss the point or, worse, interpret it backwards. Honest journalists either indirectly quote accurately or add a bracketed clarification to make clear what the speaker meant.

It's about truth, not word games.

Notice in those articles, how seldom the British press credits the source of the information. How do you check their quotes against a transcript then? They make it sound like Andy said this to them. This makes the American press look good, because the American press would have stated that Andy made his initial remarks in an interview with BBC 5live.

Credibility Score: Murray 2 / Press -9

("Number 9 ... number 9 ... number 9 ... number 9 ....")
This may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Players like Andy have learned a lesson about the press. Let's hope it sticks. For, as Dave Winship pointed last week, tennis must not just be clean; it must be perceived to be clean. Just the perception of corruption could have a devastating effect, and Andy's remarks were used to portray tennis as corrupt. Players must be wary of the press sexing up their remarks on issues like this.

Let's hope they also have learned how important it is for them to immediately report any bribe offers and to name names. If you are a player, any other player taking a bribe is not your friend: he is endangering your livelihood.

And it is good that tennis authorities are taking this seriously. The amount of betting on tennis has skyrocketed. So there WILL be attempts to fix matches. You can count on it.

Tennis must respond by shoring up its defenses against corruption. One weak spot in the battlements is the players who usually lose in the first round. They hardly win enough to cover expenses. That makes them vulnerable to bribery. You not only have to discourage corruption; you have to reduce the temptation to it.

Yes, this may mean that the players at the top may have to get a little less money so that those at the bottom get more. That won't kill anybody.

Why would anyone bribe a low-ranking player to throw a match he's almost certainly going to lose anyway? First, that isn't always as certain as one might think - not against an up-and-comer for example. And, second, this could be done just to implicate a player so that he doesn't dare disobey orders to do some dirty work for the Mob later.

Anyone who thinks the risk of corruption is a minor matter should study some history. The history of professional boxing. Once corruption in a sport gets started, it is very hard to stop. It spreads like gangrene throughout, and the result ain't a pretty sight.

All indications are that tennis is clean. This doesn't mean that no one anywhere has ever taken a bribe, but if that has happened it is rare. Let's take care to keep it that way.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Something Odd

2007-10-13T16:40:00.000-05:00

I ran across something odd.

From The New York Times January 24, 1998:

Headline: TENNIS; Majoli Blunders Her Way to an Early Exit

That's an article about the 1998 Australian Open. And, way down at the bottom of it, we find this tacked on!

Nonheadline: "Apology to Spirlea"

MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 23 (AP) -- Richard Williams, the father of the teen-age tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, has recanted his charge that there is racism on the WTA Tour. Williams, speaking by phone Thursday from his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., also apologized to the Romanian Irina Spirlea for calling her ''a big, tall, white turkey'' after she bumped Venus at the United States Open semifinals in September.

''I love Irina Spirlea,'' Williams said. ''I don't see any prejudice at all. I met with her and apologized for making a stupid statement.''

"Big, tall, white, turkey," eh? Has Richard Williams ever looked at Venus?

Sheesh.

I don't have to impersonate an omniscient God who reads minds to know that calling Irina "a big, tall, white turkey" -- wait. The Times leaves out the ugly word ugly.

So, let's correct the Times. He called her "a big, ugly, tall, white turkey." And I don't need to read minds to know that this racist and sexist slur was motivated by racism and sexism.

Richard Williams' own words testify against him on that charge.

But he had no such evidence against Spirlea when he impersonated an omniscient God who knows what people are thinking and accuses them of thought crimes.

So, that's not my question.

My question is that if he committed the offense in September during the US Open, why did he wait until January during the Australian Open to apologise and recant?

Over the phone???

He attacked Spirlea's reputation in public, so he should have recanted and apologised in public.

I want to know who called whom? Did Richard Williams call Robin Finn of The New York Times to make this wonderful apology and recantation? Or did Finn just call him, in hopes for some controversial stuff to liven up his copy with?

Was this "recantation" therefore actually just an "Oh, by the way..."

And why did the New York Times bury the story so that no one knows that Spirlea's accuser ate his words, so that restoration of her good name has not been made?

People have a right to their good name. And it's time some folks learned a little respect for that human right.

Technorati Tags: tennis

DW: PUT UP OR SHUT UP, ANDY!

2007-10-10T13:32:00.000-05:00

By Dave Winship
OnTheLine.org

When ATP officials quiz Andy Murray about his match-fixing allegations, they should surely censure him for his lack of discretion if they fail to squeeze names out of him. The governing bodies are fully aware that the integrity of the sport is jeopardised as much by speculation as by hard evidence that players have been taking bribes to throw matches.

Hard evidence would at least give them the opportunity to impose a swingeing penalty on an errant player to act as a much-needed deterrent to others. Until that moment arrives, the ATP and their counterparts in the WTA must rely on tightening up their anti-corruption procedures. An ATP spokesman has stated: "Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and the ATP has shown that it will act where it has information which requires investigation. Our anti-corruption programme has stringent procedures in place to deal with any suspected corruption." The plan is to tighten this up further by ruling that players will risk disciplinary action if they fail to inform the authorities within 48 hours if they have been approached to throw a match. ATP chairman Etienne de Villiers has disclosed that he will meet with the ITF, the WTA and the grand slam tournament organisers to consider setting up a tennis anti-corruption unit. "A dedicated global tennis integrity unit is a key priority for the sport and plans to create one are well-advanced," he said.

Certainly, some joined-up thinking would be nice. The approach to sports betting legitimacy is handled in a wildly inconsistent fashion around the globe. Bookmaking is highly regulated in some countries, criminalised in others. And those committed to curbing the industry now find themselves thwarted by the proliferation of online gambling websites. Gambling policy is riddled with contradictions anyway. It's an embarrassment that governments become so reliant on the revenue raised by the taxes they introduce ostensibly to control the social damage caused by excessive gambling.

The suppression of gambling on moral grounds is an untenable notion. Laws that are blatantly ignored and routinely violated are worse than useless. Gambling may be a vice, but it's a matter of personal choice. People who succumb to excessive eating, drinking, smoking or gambling have only themselves to blame. It's highly debatable if governments should be in the business of protecting people from themselves. But the rigging of sporting contests falls into the category of external harm and the state does have a duty to protect its citizens from it.

Anyone who cheats at sport and profits by betting on their action should be subject to the full rigour of the law. Until procedures are in place to facilitate the apprehension of these criminals, players like Andy Murray must put up or shut up. They must cooperate promptly and fully with the authorities if they have any incriminating evidence. If they are merely spouting uninformed conjecture, they would do well to reflect on the effect of their "revelations" on the reputation of their sport.

Copyright 2007, Dave Winship -- all rights reserved worldwide
Dave Winship is an L.T.A. coach at the Caversham Park Tennis Club in Berkshire, England, and the author of OnTheLine.org magazine at http://www.tennisontheline.org/.

Technorati Tags: tennis andy murray

The Tennis Doubles Match Play Guide

2007-10-08T16:16:00.000-05:00

It's done! The Match Play Guide is done. (I hate the end of writing and designing a book. You keep thinking you're almost finished and then remembering that you've gotta do this and that too. It's like the finish line keeps running away ahead of you.) The regular (US) edition is already available. The International edition will be available just two or three days.

Technorati Tags: tennis tennis instruction tennis doubles

Tennis Tip: Learn How to Pick Up a Tennis Ball

2007-10-05T08:21:00.000-05:00

Does your husband refuse to play doubles with you because you can't pick up the stupid ball right? Do your teammates act like they don't know you when someone points at you and asks, "Who's that klutz over there who can't even pick up the ball right?"

Well, your shame has come to end. To the rescue - Tomaz Mencinger with the key to tennis happiness. No, it ain't your service motion or your backhand. It's how you pick up the ball.

Introducing the ultimate weapon in psychological warfare...

How to Pick Up a Tennis Ball - From Hopeless to Jedi Master

Ha! Wait until your opponents see you do THAT!

May the Force be with you.

Technorati Tags: tennis tennis instruction

Mediocrity Pays Tribute

2007-10-05T08:06:00.000-05:00

I just received an email message TO me, purportedly FROM me, which it is not. The FROM address is spoofed, apparantly because some competitor is worried.

I'm polishing my fingernails over it, of course, but I am also pursuing action against them right now.

So, if you receive an email message that says it was from me, I don't think you should open it. I didn't, because Windows warned me of active content. But here is the header information.

X-EMS: wait 10s
X-EMS: wait 20s
X-POP3-Rcpt: kathy@operationdoubles.com SPOOFED
Received: from pool-141-158-213-238.alt.east.verizon.net (pool-141-158-213-238.alt.east.verizon.net [141.158.213.238]) by host2.secureserver15.com (8.12.11.20060614/8.12.10) with SMTP id l95D4qm7005284 for ; Fri, 5 Oct 2007 09:04:53 -0400
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2007 09:04:52 -0400
X-Originating-IP: [14.89.61.08]
X-eid: 7.0.Cq.2I3.1tH7t9.XoCJRF..P..1fAm.YGobPOE0
X-pid: 061240
Message-ID: <81926265572.9429260428851@delivery.net>
Received: (qmail 3370 by uid 518); Fri, 5 Oct 2007 09:04:54 -0500
Message-Id: <20071005040454.3372.qmail@pool-141-158-213-238.alt.east.verizon.net>
To:
Subject: Check out what's new
From:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

This is an HTML message that does not contain a plain text body.

The originating IP address is...

OrgName: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
OrgID: IANA
Address: 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
City: Marina del Rey
StateProv: CA
PostalCode: 90292-6695
Country: US

NetRange: 14.0.0.0 - 14.255.255.255
CIDR: 14.0.0.0/8
NetName: PDN
NetHandle: NET-14-0-0-0-1
Parent:
NetType: IANA Special Use
Comment: Please see RFC 3330 for additional information.
RegDate:
Updated: 2002-10-14

OrgAbuseHandle: IANA-IP-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number
OrgAbusePhone: +1-310-301-5820
OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@iana.org

OrgTechHandle: IANA-IP-ARIN
OrgTechName: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number
OrgTechPhone: +1-310-301-5820
OrgTechEmail: abuse@iana.org

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2007-10-04 19:10

The subject of the message is "Check out what's new". That can change in spammer's dumps on the Internet from recipient to recipient though.

In any case, I sent no such message. I never do. I reply to personal emails that ask me a question, and I send out a newsletter to those who sign up for it, once a month, period.

The Asian Tennis Federation's Threats

2007-10-03T08:59:00.000-05:00

Here is proof that the human race is getting stupider by the day: The Asian Tennis Federation says that in tennis, we must forgo competition and execute racial quotas. But just for Asians. The big tournaments must kick 25% of the world's best players out of the draws, giving those spots to Asians.

Or else.

Or else what? Or else "We have the money. We have a big population."

Sounds like extortion to me.

I am tripping over my jaw. Where does one start with such an absurdity as that? If you make sport unsporting, what have you got? Not sport, that's for sure.

Duh, do you guys in the Asian Tennis Federation have the faintest idea what sports is about? Do you have the faintest idea what "fair play" is?

Or did you miss that chapter?

This is stunning obtuseness. Prepare for farce: how much do you want to bet that legions of social engineers will be calling it exactly what it most ain't = fair?

FAIR is when merit, and merit only, gets you to the top.

Not your race. Not who your Daddy is. Not your income. Not your religion. Not your sex. Not nothing but how well you play tennis.

Too complex?

Nothing is more inherently unfair and prejudiced and discriminatory than giving Person B a higher place than higher-scoring Person A because of who Person B is.

The very idea flies right in the face of what sports is all about - right in the face of the concepts of a level playing field and fair play.

The Asian Tennis Federation has completely missed the boat about sports, which may be why the Asian culture doesn't produce many top competitors.

OK, a different culture. But I have a suggestion: If you want to participate in world tennis, just catch on, please. Then you won't need any unfair quotas to see Asians in the draws.

In fact, the way to make sure that Asian tennis never gets any better is to give Asian players these handouts.

Asians are perfectly capable of competing with West in anything they set their minds to. (The Japanese have proved that many times in many ways.) Therefore, how dare anyone insult them by insisting that they need the crutch of special treatment.

Technorati Tags: tennis

Your Emotions During a Tennis Match

2007-10-03T08:32:00.000-05:00

Everything you do has a moral effect on you and everyone it relates to. That is, it affects morale.

So, when you're down, never let it show. Do feel what you feel, but it's private so keep it to yourself. Be like birds: they can be so faint they're one second from dropping dead, but, to hide their weakness from predators, they still manage to look fit as a fiddle. When you're dog tired, put a spring in your step. When you err, make light of it.

There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.
— Hamlet, William Shakespeare

Nonetheless, the surest way to show emotional weakness is to lie about your feelings by pretending you don't have them. For one thing, doing this is self-delusion. Furthermore, your adversaries just see right through the charade and smell blood.

Your feelings aren't "right" or "wrong," and you cannot control or change them. All you can control is your actions.

For the most part, it's best to keep your feelings to yourself on a tennis court. But many people confuse that with repressing your feelings.

Repressing your feelings is just a lie that buries them in the subconscious, where they mushroom unchecked by any limiting influence and where they rule your behavior like an unseen puppet master. So, know/own them instead. Let them remain in the conscious layer of your mind, where you are aware of their influence on your behavior and can temper it with reason and good judgment.

This is why some players show anger without harming their play or boosting the opposition's morale. Indeed, if you feel it, there's no real harm in showing anger now and then. So long as it's in a mete amount and there's no chagrin in it.

I really don't mind the shows of emotion, banging your racket, getting upset in the moment — that's just adrenaline. But that constant feeling of hanging your head, walking a little slower, just being dejected. You're showing your opponent that you're ready for him to beat you, and that's not a good thing.
— James Blake

Exactly. People play tennis for the same reason they read a novel — for the emotional experience it supplies. Therefore, expect a few emotions. That just means you're alive.

Disproportionate anger and chagrin, however, make errors a weighty matter. To keep chagrin out of your head, just keep things in perspective. A match is just a game — fantasy warfare, a war you really want to win but one waged in sport, one there's no loss in losing. And missing tennis shots is no measure of your personal worth!

For excellent advice on how to get along with yourself and your errors, I highly recommend Tim Gallwey's book, The Inner Game of Tennis.

One more thing. When you step out onto the court, don't forget something as important as your shoes and racket — your sense of humor. It's armor proof to the arrows and bolts of the inner battle.

Which is nothing, because it's all in the head.

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