London 2010 - Groups and Orders of Play

For the ATP WTF 2010 groups and Orders of Play please go Savannah's World

Soderling Wins First Masters Title

Swedish Robin Söderling holds his trophy after winning the Paris masters 1000 ATP tournament final on November 14, 2010 at the Paris Bercy in Paris.

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Still haven't watched a lick of tennis. So much farming to catch up on before the ground freezes and I'm a farmhand short to boot.

I wish I had caught the Gael Monfils - Roger Federer semifinal. That scoreline was loaded.

I see The Sod beat a pair of homeboys back-to-back to take the title, not to mention the one he ousted in his first match. Can you say Frenchmen killer?

A nice penultimate year-end finish for the Big Swede. Let's see if he's got any energy left for London. Surely his confidence will be sky-high.

Tennis and The Tea Party

 

 

Remember that time Rafa was cartwheelin’ fistpumps all over town after beating a qualifier in round two of a 500  event? Well…

 

 

 

 

 

 

*whispers* Think we should tell him it’s not 2003?

 

We don’t see this sort of thing nearly so often from you now, but like I said to Rafa – don’t ever change.

 

Roger Federer hit for the cycle in 2010: a Slam, a Masters Series titles, a 500-level and a 250-level title. (If this were any other player it would be a banner season; because it's Federer, we keep hearing how it's least productive output since 2002.)

-- SI.com

 

Actually no. Well, sort of.

 

See, the only people that actually focus on it being his “least productive output” are the type of cavemen that probably still think he’s world #1.

 

This is the opinion of a hot-headed fringe group – the ‘Tea Party’ of tennis.

 

Anyone else with even a passing interest in the sport (including me :p) picked up on his multi-tiered title tally (tongue twister, much), as well as noting that this is now his 7th consecutive final outside of the Slams.

 

 

And if we really want to be picky, then I think you’ll find it was 2008 (USO, Estoril, Halle, Basel), rather than 2010, that was his least productive.

 

Not that a deliberately skewed perception is anything to be surprised by – never let nerdy facts get in the way of a chance to play contrarian.

 

By the way, it might interest you to know that the exact same thing’s happened to Kim Clijsters, who’s also won a title at every WTA level (a Slam, a Premier-Mandatory, a Premier-5, an International Event…and of course the SEC), yet all we keep hearing is how unwholesome it is of her to be getting so “Williams” about her scheduling.

 

And so it was that Fed, in this week of mediocre sequels (I hope no one seriously bought into the idea of that ARod semi as “Wimby part 2”) and trumped-up revenge narratives (Fed either “only cares about the Slams” or he uses titles like this to avenge Slam losses – which is it?), fought his way past Pete Sampras’s title count to 65 ATP singles titles – 4th overall in the Open Era.

 

It’s a relatively light meander up to McEnroe (77). But to meet the real nutters – tennis’s gasoline-guzzling hell’s angels – you have to work your way up to three digits. Only there do you get to meet the likes of Ivan Lendl (94) and Jimmy Connors (109). I wouldn’t get too close however – not unless you want to get pulled into a drinking game involving engine oil and an industrial solvent.

 

***

 

Rafael Nadal

David Ferrer

Fernando Verdasco

Nicolas Almagro

Albert Montanes

Juan Carlos Ferrero

Feliciano Lopez

Guilermo Garcia-Lopez

 

8 of the 14 Spanish men in the top 100 have won ATP singles titles this season.

 

 

Simply an astonishing stat: it’s one thing having such an epic presence at the top of the game – quite another to make good on it.

 

Granollers had a chance to join this esteemed Spanish inner circle of truth. All he had to do was go through Daveed Ferrer.

 

 

And yet, just as you don’t think of beating Fed in Basel, you don’t beat the tournament co-owner in his own house – it’s just not the done thing deary.

 

(images: getty)

Taylor Dent Retires

Getty

Taylor Dent of USA plays a forehand during his match against Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia during day four of the Open Sud de France at the Arena on October 28, 2010 in Montpellier, France.

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This is understandable but too bad.

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Former top-25 player Taylor Dent is retiring from professional tennis.

The 29-year-old American was one of a handful of current pros with a serve-and-volley style. Once ranked as high as 21st, Dent had three back operations in 2006 and 2007 that derailed his career, then made a comeback and climbed back into the top 100 in 2009.

In a statement released Monday by his agent, Dent says he wants to stay active in the sport and "explore opportunities ... that my full tournament scheduled never allowed."

Bali: Disestablishmentarianism

 

 

 

 

 

Admit it.

 

You struggled with Bali just as much as I did.

 

It is hard to care very much for an event that positions itself as a wannabe-SEC for the almost-but-not-quites of the WTA – especially when Aravane, the only reason I pretended to care about it, goes out.

 

And yet, at a certain level, it’s difficult not to admire the way it embraces its fugly, ‘have-not’ status. Not only that, but it appears to have found its calling as a comeback vehicle for former world #1-cum-starlets.

 

Or is that mostly starlets?

 

For any ground Bali made up was swiftly lost with this little stunt.

 

 

And now you’re just a badly run 70s beauty pageant.

 

I’m confused – did she win the event or is she “dolled up” to present the trophy?

 

Is this the so called ‘Tour of Champions’ or ‘Miss World’?

 

There’s a reason these things are considered dated ya know.

 

I didn’t watch it – did she give the obligatory speech on world peace and underprivileged children too?

 

Was the word “ambassador” mentioned? *shudder*

 

More importantly, was any of this ever meant to form part of the WTA roadmap? I assume BJK is ‘on board’?

 

Now the good stuff.

 

Ana’s back in the top twenty which, amongst other things, means she’ll be seeded in Melbourne. Difficult not to be pleased by this news whatever your opinion of her – she was always too good to sink as low and be out for as long as she was.

 

It’s good for another reason too: since she nosedived two years ago there’s been an implicit acceptance of the idea that it would be “bad form” to criticise (or even to draw attention to) the unfortunate habit she has of fist-pumping her opponent’s UFEs. Yes, I’m afraid that’s bad form too – even (or especially) when a Grand Slam Starlet does it.

 

But now, of course, it is (or should be) open season on all of that.

 

 

I’m not holding my breath. Starlets always get a free pass for bad form and there’s no reason to suppose that’ll change any time soon.

 

Though this is less about Ana (whom I really believe almost does it habitually) than it is about objecting to having a relentless media-machine foist its clumsy, establishmentarianist vision of “class” upon you.

 

As you well know, I have very strong opinions on exactly what constitutes class (see ‘Dementieva, Elena’) – being told how to think makes me especially queasy.

 

I’ve no axe to grind with Ana – she seems nice enough in other respects, and she’s not that different to countless other players in respect of the fist-pumps either (habitual or not). But then they’re not being lauded as “ambassadors of the sport”, are they now?

 

After all that’s preceded I hope you’re still able to believe that I actually enjoy watching her play and have missed having her around.

 

I’m even prepared to make her one of my top 128 picks for the Aussie Open.

 

Like I said, ‘Open Season’.

Face Of The Day

Getty

Andy Roddick reacts after a point a ball to Roger Federer during their Swiss Indoors ATP tennis tournament semi-final match on November 6, 2010 in Basel. Federer won 6-2, 6-4.

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Tennis is like a soap opera. Now matter how long you've been away, you come back to see the same old story lines. I guess it's appropriate that Roddick gets the first nod upon my return for Face Of The Day, losing in straight sets to none other than Raja.

The more things change.....

Ready….Set….Withdraw!

 

 

 

 

PARIS (AP) - Top-ranked Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Paris Masters for medical reasons.

Tournament director Jean-Francois Caujolle said Friday he did not know the exact nature of Nadal's ailment. The ATP tour said Nadal would discuss the reasons for his withdrawal at a news conference in Paris on Sunday or Monday.

The Spanish player recently said he was feeling fatigue after a successful season in which he won the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Nadal has not played since a third-round defeat to Jurgen Melzer at the Shanghai Masters on Oct 14.

With Nadal's withdrawal, Roger Federer has the No. 1 seed and will start against the winner between Nicolas Mahut and Richard Gasquet. The tournament begins Sunday.

 

 

I’m assuming this is, indeed, ‘fatigue’ though we’ll only know for sure after his presser next week.

 

Are those Southeast Asian chickens now coming home to roost?

 

Or is it a more random niggle? Might it even be precautionary?

 

Is he saving himself for London WTF – the only high-end title he’s not won?

 

Is that even allowed?

 

And what, incidentally, is the correct protocol under such circumstances?

 

Can a blog post be entirely composed of questions?

 

Would it be wrong of me to try?

 

You have to think Rafa would need a sick note to pull out of a Masters 1000 event, no?

 

(Did that last question actually qualify as question? Or was it a fudge?)

 

Can fatigue even be diagnosed in the conventional sense?

 

Was playing both Bangkok and Tokyo going into Shanghai a mistake?

 

Are cumulative, delayed effects indeed the bitch everyone says they are?

 

Was I right or was I right?

 

How do you say ‘yes’ and still make it seem like a question?

 

Are you still listening?

 

Why?