Shanghai: “Remains of the Clay”

 

Just a moment to reflect on those I’ve jinxed, written off or otherwise cut-down in their (sub)prime.

 

And those whom I missed out should not feel themselves hard done by – your time cannot come too soon.

 

Everyone has hidden talents.

 

And last week I really went to town with my own.

 

So we’ve seen the one where you rankle Fed into a McFlurry of Long-Shanks with your mere presence on court. Show us another trick.

 

       

 

For what it’s worth (quite a lot as it happens), you’re now the proud owner of 6 Masters titles – the most any player’s ever won without bagging a Slam itself: if you were a WTA player, now would be the moment we’d take you out to be flayed and dismembered – or, if you’d prefer it, the other way round.

 

The tennis media does both – to the soundtrack of your choice, and at no extra charge.

 

 

Nevertheless, Muzz turned out to be the only top five player to play consistently to his ranking all week. I know that word’s virtually taboo these days. All the same, no one else was up to this most devalued of key performance indicators. And he did it without a coach. Again.

 

I’m not even going to attempt to defend the debauched way in which I went about throwing water on the idea that he could create any sort of a stir last week.

 

Not just in the finals, not even against Jo-Will-He-Wont-He.

 

No, I charted the precise geography and thermodynamics of Muzz’s expected downward spiral with nothing less than Hawkeye exactitude – all before he’d struck a single ball – all before I’d seen him strike a single ball, which, as it turned out, wasn’t before the final.

 

 

If I’m subject to a self-imposed gagging order in that respect, then I figure there’s not all that much left to say.

 

Except, if that’s “all” it takes to get you play to your ranking Muzz, I know what I must do.

 

Say all you want about the pissy, schoolboy-errors with which Fed flounced his way out of the final - the fact remains that it was he (not Djoko or Robin) that made the final and that it’s him (rather than Muzz or Djoko) back at world #2 (again).

 

 

 

A gross-out spectacle it may have been (and it was), but that’s now four out of four Masters finals since Madrid (and a win in Cincinnati) - so much for it “only being about the Slams”.

 

It probably is the twilight of his career, but it’s worth remembering how you still get burnt if you venture too close to a dying star.

 

Up until the semis I had thought Djoko was the best player of the week (mostly through idle hearsay it must be said) .

 

He had, after all, only just gone and won in Beijing (in a delayed Monday final - a win here would have meant, amongst other things, being the only man to ever win two titles in  one week).

 

As it stood then, either one of Fed or Djoko might have lifted the trophy:  it wasn’t just me that thought that 1st set of the Novak/Fed semi was the performance of the week from both men.

 

 

But nooo, I had to go the whole spit-roasted hog and pronounce that match a virtual final – it’s winner being, in my eyes, the most deserving of the title itself, certainly more so than those two miscreants contesting the other semi.

 

Poor sods – they never had a chance.

  

Well now. Here we all delightfully are in the blessed heart of darkness itself.

 

 

This one was such a splenetic mess, I’m almost inclined to exonerate myself of any and all blame. Sauron himself could not have said or done anything to make this any worse.

 

Describing this as a tennis match would be like speaking of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ as a Merchant/Ivory production.

 

 

In my defence, it’s the season ending, indoor swing – which should, by rights, be Big Rob’s best chance at winning just about anything – it also happens to be when my virile rooting interests are at their most prurient.

 

Alack Rafa. When you were overwrought by Gilly-Glopez in Bangkok, we turned a blind eye to your malfeasance, blaming it on the capricious whim of destiny, the spiritually sanctioned “law of averages”.

 

Coming into this, I dared suggest you might actually be beginning to find yourself on a surface, and at a time of the season, we normally reserve for big-swinging reprobates.

  

Yet, for every step Jurgen took in, you haplessly gave way - for every ball he took on the rise, you shunted one back hopelessly short. There’s nothing here we haven’t seen before, and it’s really not all that surprising with the year Jurgen had been having.

 

All the same, it shows you can still be beaten on this surface (by a relative lightweight on aggression alone) – despite being uninjured, despite being relatively fresh and exuding so much confidence there’s a very real danger of it being re-classified as a banned substance.

 

Not content with desecrating the legacy of individual players, I turned my hand, now, to clay court tennis itself.

 

Did I pay attention to the fact that Daveed Ferrer had only just cracked the top ten?

 

I did not (although in my defence, neither, it seems, did anyone else).

 

Only to see a poor-man’s-Daveed snuff out Rafa’s conqueror before coming unstuck against Muzz in the semis. Still, it’s worth nothing that it was Pico, rather than Dasco, Wawa or indeed Rafa, that made it out of that section of the draw alive.

 

 

For what it’s worth, I still think that clay-court tennis best functions as a cultural remnant of it’s heyday back in the late 80s and 90s- just like Merchant/Ivory productions of the same period.

 

But that shouldn’t mean clay-courters don’t hold their own alongside big-budget, all court tennis – however little might “remain of their day”.

 

Shanghai: “Paradise Lost”

 

 

Well if  ever you wanted concrete proof of how exactly “Paradise is Lost” and of the utter fragility and “Unsustainability of Excellence”, then today provided it in spades.

 

Jurgen didn’t play a bad match per say, it just wasn’t a patch on yesterday’s performance and allowed a far more passive (if more resilient) clay court specialist back into too many points.

 

 

 

I have the highest respect for Pico, whom I like to think of as something of a poor man’s Ferru (with better hair).

 

And I fully accept he has just as much of a right to a fanbase as either one of  Rafa or Fed– even if it is mostly down to the hair.

 

But I also think that his style of play is something of a dying breed. For better or worse, what we once thought of as “clay court tennis” is even being phased out on clay courts themselves by the type of pace that Robin should have employed successfully against Federer only hours later.

 

Instead, Sod came out (and went out) fully flatulent. And it wasn’t pretty (flatulence rarely is).

 

Fed said afterwards: “Even top 5 players have bad days [like this]...surprising Robin couldn't even get hardly any aces in".

 

 

Never was a truer word uttered.

 

In fact the only reason this didn’t happen, is that Fed, quite wisely, did just enough to get through (Which, as it turned out, didn’t actually need to be very much – God knows what would have happened if Fed had gone to town).

 

I almost wish he did.

 

***

 

Ashamed to say it, but I haven’t managed to watch a single one of Muzz’s matches.

 

He always seems to breeze through matches I don’t see. But not, sadly, vice versa. I’m guessing there’s some kind of a quantum paradox going on there.

 

 

Like some strange modification of Schrodinger’s Cat, that precludes him from winning matches unless they take place in a confined arena, are completely untelevised and seen by precisely no one - the instant someone observes a ball being struck is when things begin to unravel.

 

Does such a match even take place, philosophically speaking, if no one sees it?

 

In any event, his recent flameouts mean I’m less hopeful of his chances here than I am of Fed’s or indeed Djoko’s, who I’ve heard, is playing better than anyone else at this event.

 

Which probably makes it right that those latter (best) two should both meet in the semis, if not the final – and the winner of that match should, by rights, go on to win the title.

 

Most likely, however, one or both of  Schrodinger’s Cat and the “Theory of Unsustainable Excellence” will intervene.

 

And we’ll see one of Muzz or, dare I say it, Pico walk away with the trophy.

Shanghai: “Vindicated”.

 

 

You might expect me to feel vindicated given how loudly I’d been pontificating about how Rafa’s participation in both Bangkok and Tokyo mightn't be the best thing in the aftermath of Flushing.

 

 

You’d be right. I do.

 

Feel free to compose 15th century couplets praising me in the comments section below. I’ve hired a couple of minstrels to relay them in the great medieval banquet I’m hosting in my honour .

 

   

 

There is, however, another possibility: that the very same thing would have happened, had Rafa done nothing more strenuous than a spot of fishing and the odd pillow fight with Xisca in the month, or so, after winning in Flushing.

 

That according to the law of averages he was actually due a loss, a real high-profile one (piddly events like Bangkok don’t count), given he’d seen the quarters or better of every event he entered this year.

 

Couple that with Jurgen playing what he described as “the match of his career” (“I could hit winners from [sic] any shot”) and it suddenly seems that much more plausible.

 

Playing like that, I can see Jurgen beating any top five player – including Fed. Like the man said though, you don’t often manage that, let alone against the very best.

 

Won’t stop me rooting for him to qualify for the WTF (over say NANDO, or BERDMAN).

 

 

 

According to the sales blurb, Fed’s shirt is supposed to be lavender (some people have even taken to referring to it as “purple”).

 

Maybe it is - under UV-lighting (As an interesting aside, I rather like the idea of having all sorts of weird subliminal sh*t UV-encoded on it – stuff to get in his opponent’s head – stuff to project power – sneering at the haters – whatever he wants. Just consider the possibilities for a moment).

 

His opening matches haven’t been especially polished, though that’s arguably exactly what’s needed at this point. He peaked early against Sod in NY and just look at how that turned out.

 

 

Sod always worries me when he plays Ferru – there’s no reason on paper he should be troubled by him and yet he somehow always is. Not today, thankfully – a straights win there means we get a re-match of Flushing.

 

Can we get a leeedle late-season surge going dya think Sod? Would that be too much to ask?

 

(Images: Getty)

Shanghai: So What Have We Learnt, Gentlemen?

 

1) Just what is Rafa so pumped about?

 

Being Rafa of course. Silly question.

 

(Reuters)

 

If the Asian Swing really is a “swing”, then Rafa’s the kid that always takes things too far by pushing your 7 year-old self so high up, you end up crying.

 

I don’t suppose I’ll ever completely understand why playing these piddly events means so much to a guy that’s just written history. But then isn’t that exactly what Rafa’s all about? Barely stopping short of non-metaphorical cartwheels after beating a qualifier in round two of an ATP 500 event? Don’t ever change.

 

I might be wrong about this, but it’s almost as though he’s relishing the feeling of being able to play with the total abandon that must arise from being, a) injury free and b) able, therefore, to deliver his level best on a surface not traditionally considered “his bag”.

 

What all this means is that he’s got “nothing to lose” in the truest sense of the phrase: not in the way, say, Oscar Hernandez might have “nothing to lose” when he takes to court against Fed; not even in terms of ranking points (virtually none to defend until next year).

 

Perhaps this might be the best chance his career ever offers him of winning the WTF - the one title that eludes him. God knows what will happen if he wins in Aus.

 

Needless to say, this is both hugely problematic and profoundly dispiriting news for the rest of the tour.

 

I’d be be doing cartwheels too.

 

2) How good is Djoko’s Calculus?

 

If tennis was A-Level Maths, then  Djoko just went through a point of inflexion at Flushing.

 

 (getty)

 

I don’t think for a minute that he’ll repeat those highs right away, but I really don’t want to believe that was just a one off .

 

Personally I think it’s perfectly natural to have a slight dip in trajectory after such a defining performance before readjusting to a renewed sense of your self worth.

 

But he does SO need a good showing here: he’s got all those points to defend in Paris.

 

3) How much can ‘The Cone’ help Fed to “get it together”? “Get what together”, exactly?

 

In some ways, Fed’s in the same kind of “what now” transition Djoko is. The difference being that whilst Djoko’s Flushing performance was a step up from the way he’d been playing of late, Fed’s is more business as usual - which means that he’s mostly kept it together and (perhaps more importantly) hasn’t had any real WTF results (Baggy/IW perhaps the oddest loss, and yet take a look at what he had to say).

 

 (Reuters)

 

That gusto totalling of Sod in the gustiest conditions we’ve seen this year was as good as anything we’ve seen since the final of Melbourne (if not better given the wind).

 

I realise this will go down as one of his two worst Slam years since 2003, but it’s worth noting that it required three career-defining performances from top ranked players to bring that about – not something he’ll want to see repeated, but not nearly the catastrophe suggested by the column space devoted to doom-mongery.

 

Worth also mentioning that whilst I think input from the Cone will be invaluable over the coming months, I stand by my original assertion that his role will be (and should be) more about quietly nudging Fed back into reoccupying that mental space that wins Slams - renewing that sense of confidence that he can, indeed, beat everyone, dominate even the way he says he can (telling, that he chose  “dominate anyone” over “everyone” – not even he would claim to be able to dominate the way he did in 06-07).

 

Less important will be the need to “come to the net”, “to mix things up”, or any one of the manifold tired technical enhancements being touted as this years “silver bullet” solution to his “problems” (if you can call them that).

 

The tour moves on, players develop new weapons, so it is, of course, critical to keep your finger on the pulse and to understand how best to refashion a gameplan to respond to that.

 

It’s one thing to say that “Rafa has a beefier serve now, so I need to be ready for that”.

 

Or that “Djoko is clearly returning more fearlessly from the back of the court - I definitely ought to be prepared for that”.

 

Or that “Muzz is undergoing something of a career-tailspin, in a bit of a funk right now, so maybe I can bully him a little and profit from that”.

And yet, I can’t help feeling that a player like Fed, or indeed Rafa is less about mere technicalities, than they are about their formidable presence and belief: the belief that they really are, naturally, a superior order of being on the tennis court – in, of course, the most inoffensive way imaginable.

 

4) Where’d it all go wrong for Muzz?

 

*Grits teeth*

 

I want to say good things - hopeful things. It’s just that they don’t seem to accord with the narrative right now.

 

 (getty)

 

It wasn’t so much that he went out to Wawa at Flushing – it was the miserable, vacuous way in which he did. And there weren’t even any answers forthcoming from the post-mortem.

 

I didn’t follow Beijing very much but from what I gather, things weren’t considerably different against Ljuby.

 

Can you do us all a favour and appoint a coach already? A Coach-shaped cut out will suffice until you find a real one – something, anything to direct all all those death stares and verbal refuse at.

 

For one thing, I really don’t think he’s the “going it alone” type.

 

What was perhaps most concerning about the Flushing loss was the lack of any real diagnostics in it’s aftermath – Muzz was at a loss to explain his lack of energy and even went on to say he “might never win a Slam”.

 

Nothing hugely irresponsible about that – even the top players are more likely not to win a Slam than they are whenever they enter one. But being in the top four since 2008 and one of the esteemed few that has a winning record against Fed and Djoko and a not too blemished one against Rafa either, you’d think he’d have a less instinctive measure of his own self worth – though perhaps not, given that that presser was given less than an hour after the match.

 

In any case, get on to it Muzz, and soon. I have this horrible vision of you being drawn to play Phillip Kohlschreiber in the not too distant future with no one in your box and Miles Maclagan in his.

 

I agree: let’s not go there.

 

5) And the Others?

 

» I’m trying not to read too much into Sod’s loss to Fed at Flushing.

 

The wind was wreaking havoc, Fed was playing his best tennis of the year – looking back at it now, it was never really going to happen.

 

But I have to raise an eyebrow when Sod goes down in straights to Daveed Ferrer.

 

There’s also the uncomfortable fact that despite his recent success over Rafa and Fed – he’s now lost to both of them in their most recent respective Slam encounters.

 

 AP

 

» Davydenko: Remember him? Actually defending points here and, of course, at the WTF next month.

 

» Too early to diss Berd very much. A first round exit at Flushing is certainly a shocker – though it’s worth remembering how very new it all is to him. If he flames out early here or in Paris, or at the London WTF (assuming he qualifies), we’ll talk.

 

» Don’t expect too much from Delpo until the middle of next year. And then maybe only after that. But you already knew that.

 

» ARod is infected with the passive, top-ten, grinderman bug -- that had hitherto plagued only Novak – until further notice. I almost think less of myself for not expecting very much from him in what’s left of this year.

 

» Daveed Ferrer is  a top ten player – I keep having to remind myself of that. Don’t expect him to give anything less than his insolent, blue-collar, overachieving best to make the most of it.

 

» Mikhail Youzhny has a shot at end of season glory of some kind – and should by rights be made president, of something.

Nikolay ‘Flatlines’ Nadal

 

(Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Davydenko d. Nadal 7-6(7-3), 6-3

I dunno what 80s Horror/Sci-Fi enthusiast has been put in charge of the trophies during this Asian Swing, but this item of ‘silverware’ looks a little like what’s left of an unsuccessful fusion between Freddy Krueger’s claw and the Predator’s Dreadlocks.

Are all Masters ‘Shields’ to be themed like this?

  (Photo: AP)

Davydork almost turned in an appearance.

    (Photo: AP)

…and Nadal sported that exact same WTF’ed look Djoko had on not 24 hours ago.

It goes without saying how chuffed I am with this result.

Not only does he deserve it, but it’s almost certain to ensure his appearance at London. Nik’s made the cut for the TMC these past four years, and the landscape would seem quite bereft without him; though in a less obvious way – like a DVD without Flemish subtitles.

The tennis itself didn’t quite reach the heights of yesterday’s Nikolay-Djoko semi but was entertaining enough all round, and as always, an absolute groundstroke clinic from Nik.

Is he still the best returner in the game, when he reaches these heights? Difficult to say. The game’s evolved from three or four years ago when even the stats showed that this unassuming Russian triumph of substance-over-charisma out-gunned everyone (including Big Swiss Cheese) in every returning category imaginable.

But did Nadal look vulnerable out there, or what?

We all know of Nadal’s well documented, troubled past with so called “flat-liners” (so called by no one else but me): flat-ballers with timing and hand-eye coordination proficient enough to take aim and hit the lines with a strike rate of above 50%.

“I have my chance in the first set and I am especially happy with one thing — it’s the first match after my injury comeback against one top player,” Nadal said. “I really felt I really have chances to win.

“That’s the most positive thing for me, and I fight all the time with a positive attitude, no physical problems. So that’s very good news for me.”

(tennis.com)

Fair enough, and he is on an injury comeback. But let’s not forget that Nadal opened his account this year by winning two of the most prestigious hard court titles out there. Far be it from me to accuse Rafa of complacency, but I don’t think I could stomach making it it ‘ok’ again, for him to reach hard court finals he doesn’t win.

What’s a man to do?

(FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

Davydenko d. Djokovic 4-6 6-4 7-6

Nothing much you can do.

I have to admit I’d only been keeping a half open eye on Nikolay’s fortunes this week, expecting another valiant but ultimately, ill fated effort. On the evidence of this performance however, this is beginning to shape up like Miami last year, when after a similar spell out in the cold, Niki peaked, laying waste to A-Rod and Rafa en route to his second career Masters title. In the final of which Nadal looked as equally devoid of any answers, as Novak did in that final set tie break today.

The truth is, Niki only knows one (very effective) mode of play, and there’s very little anyone can do (except, you know, that Swiss bloke) when he reaches these heights; you might, however, have expected Novak to fare just a little better given their very similar style of play.

(Photo: AP)

But Novak, has been in something of a transition this year. That’s me being generous. I’ve described his play as exhibiting more grind than should come naturally to him, and recently he’s even been given over to some unbecoming episodes of ‘lurking’. Behind the baseline that is.

You all know who the traditional ‘lurkers' are: Gael, Reeshard, Nadal even. But last time I checked, Novak wasn’t one of them.

Seeing him behind the baseline is a bit like watching Dementieva serving aces on her 2nd serve. Oh wait, it's been that sort of year.

I guess he’s been trying to forge together a more well-rounded tennis product, which is a lofty aim, and deserving of some success. But it’s success which can’t come too soon IMO.

All this uncertainty about his game makes him uniquely vulnerable to someone like Nik, who doesn’t need to think twice about how exactly to best use the sharpest (and only) tool in his box.

That’s not to say Novak didn’t try however; the quality of this match (and that final set tie break in particular) makes up very nicely for my being denied a Rafa-Soderling match up for the second time in two weeks. Yeah, I’m not about to forget that in a hurry – especially now that Nik has just usurped Big Rob’s place in the Race to London, leaving Nando of all people in the eighth position.

“I’m in a final and that’s very important,” Nadal said. “It’s my first final since I’ve been back and that’s a good result for me.”

(tennis.com)

I’m thinking that with it being Nadal’s first final since his return, and with Nik playing as well as he so evidently is, this might be as good as it gets for Rafa.

Having only played two complete matches this week can’t have been of much help either (Ljubicic and Lopez today brought the men’s infirmary-count to nine).

Maybe we should pass on yelling out ‘Break a leg boys’, this week?

On Scheduling, “Manhood” and other Marat Pet Hates

"I always thought it's best to give the players a schedule that enables the players to be at their best," eight-time Grand Slam champion Agassi said in a teleconference ahead of next week's Venetian Macau Showdown with Pete Sampras.

"The off-season is healthy for players and the fans—it builds up anticipation for the fans.

"I think the tour should tighten up the schedule, so the top players can play more often in a shorter time. I would like to see everyone come to the table and work out a schedule that suits everyone."

-- Andre Agassi on everyone’s favourite punch bag right now, the schedule

Ok, but isn’t that exactly what the mandatory designation of the Masters-1000s was meant to be about?

Show up at these nine events (and the Slams) -- a total of 17 tennis weeks -- and spend the other, very generous 30 odd weeks, basking in the Seychelles; or, you know, playing some tennis. Selectively.

There is an argument to be made, I suppose, in favour of spacing out that very intensive stint of tennis that begins with Indian Wells and ends at Madrid.

If I had anything to do with it, they’d be forced to supplant that post-Wimby no-man’s-land of the tennis calendar in July, with a half-decent grass court Masters event. Though I’m not aware that anyone, as of yet, has sought my involvement, so you’ll be forced to continue to make do with that quasi-clay-court season they currently have. Nikolay’s most prolific section of the year.

Marat’s brought the issue up before - 5 years ago, to be precise.

"In 2004, we had this discussion at the Olympic Games with [Andy] Roddick," said the 29-year-old Russian who plans to retire next month after a decade and a half in the sport.

"I was saying that the season is too long - we should make it shorter, and the guys, they jumped on me, like I was the one who was wrong," he said.

"So look at all of them - everybody is falling apart," Safin said. "Everybody is getting injured left and right, and everybody is complaining the season is long. It takes six years to realise that something is wrong?

"It's a beautiful sport, so why kill the players and make the calendar basically playing 12 months of the year?"

(Times Live)

This is the first I’ve ever heard of any kind of ‘fallout’, if it can be described as such, between Marat and A-Rod, though am I the only one mildly amused (and somewhat relieved) by his reference to the game as a “beautiful sport”?

This from a self-professed hater of all things sport. Not with a racquet, not on TV, not even a ten-minute kick around in your neighbourhood. Heartened and relieved to discover that that wounded anti-hero act is nothing more than a front, where tennis is concerned. Marat doesn’t hate tennis any more than I do. It’s the competition and the grind, he finds so problematic.

“Everybody is falling apart” this week however, with Juan-Marteen, Gael, Stanislas and of course A-Rod, all retiring hurt in their opening two matches.

Berdych looked set to do the same opposite Marat, pulling up after dropping the first set, for some extended treatment to his thighs and knees.

His subsequent quick recovery (on the back of which he reeled off the remaining two sets), left Marat deeply mystified and understandably unimpressed; and questioning of Tomas’s manhood:

"The fact [is] that I've known the guy for so many years. I've been nice conditions with the guy, and then look at this ? to hold [a] show? Just come on. Just grow up a little bit. 26 years old - Just deal with that."

And there was more from an indignant Safin.

"If you're losing, be a man and lose as a man. Don't pretend that you are injured and then you start running around and start to hit winners, and then pull [your] hands up in the air after winning the match?

…

"I mean, what kind of sportsman are you? What kind of man are you?

"Of course [Berdych] will say, No, I [have] been injured but then I felt a little bit better. He will find 10,000 excuses [but] it is not enough."

"[Either] you're playing or you're not playing. If you're not going to play, so don't play. If you're playing, then just shut the f**k up and play, basically."

"And you're a man, so just lose like a man."

(TVNZ)

And so ends Marat’s penultimate stop of his farewell tour; perhaps a little ironic, that this last few weeks saw a lift in his form.

My mind's still in a quandary as to whether it’s Murray, Daveed or Marat that hits that shot the best. I don’t think Murray’s action’s half as pretty as those other two. And I think Marat might just have the edge over Daveed in pace.

So many memories…

***

So here’s how it is.

Big Rob edged out a truly lacklustre Jo-Willy in straights today, leaving both him and Rafa set up with immensely winnable matches.

Rafa’s looked mighty fine throughout this week, but particularly in that three set blast-off he and Blake gave us yesterday (Is it me, or has the James Blake-Kelly Jones match up seen the greatest turnaround in form in recent coaching history?)

I may get my wish of a Rafa-Soderling semi final after all.

(PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

And it concerns me not, that Rafa thinks of Big Rob with little warmth, and about as much affection as he might reserve for the Antichrist. If anything, it will add some very welcome edge; and if not, might we be seeing a Murray-Delpo-like burying of the hatchet, culminating in a worthy man-hug at the net?

Not to mention that the stakes have just been upped again, with Big Rob supplanting himself ahead of Tsonga and claiming position number eight in the Race to London?

This match needs to be played. I will not be denied.

Something’s gotta give

(Photo by Victor Fraile/Getty Images)

“It was enough to make me stop a tennis match … beyond that I don’t know, that’s not my profession,” the 27-year-old Roddick said of his left knee injury.

…

“Trust me, as frustrated as (the Chinese fans) are that we’re not here, I promise you we’re more frustrated,” added Roddick.

(Yahoo! Sports)

And with that, A-Rod’s penultimate stab at banking some invaluable ranking points, and strengthening his bid for London, comes to an end.

This a mere two days after his and Rafa’s (double handed) swipe at the lengthy season.

Every year this argument is doled out with unfailing regularity, and every year it always seems to outlast the season that is it’s subject.

While Nadal abides by the "jock code" and doesn't attribute defeat to injury, it's clear he is playing hurt. (The stats don't lie either: He had zero aces and lost the majority of points on his serve against Cilic. That's saying something.) When one of the sport's most magnetic figures -- a supreme athlete and consummate professional -- simply cannot make it through a season abiding by the entry rules as currently written, think it might be time to rethink the schedule?

-- John Wertheim, SI.com

Agreed.

The season is monstrous in terms of both length and intensity.

Only, talk of restructuring opens up that can of worms in which tournament organisers will be required to cede either their position in the calendar, or their standing from a rankings standpoint.

It’s easy to say the ATP should step in, but do they really want their offices teaming with Hamburg-styled litigation once again?

I don’t believe the ATP can ever fulfil the combined player-tournament charter once envisioned for it: a conflict of interest, if ever I saw one.

A-Rod abides by the “Jock Code” too; but there’s a reason neither Federer nor Murray are here this week.

Something’s gotta give; maybe it’s the ATP, and not the Calendar that needs restructuring.