Why we Watch

            We tennis fans love watching our sport for many reasons.  We enjoy seeing the skills we struggle with at the club being practiced by the world’s best players.  We enjoy the drama as a server is poised to start a critical point in a match.  We enjoy the intense, one-on-one competition as players give everything they’ve got in a tough encounter. 

            But the emergence of Roger Federer onto the pro tour has provided yet another reason.  When Roger plays his best, with his incredibly graceful movement, phenomenal agility and heart stopping shot making, we can revel in the beauty of tennis played in another dimension.  When he harmoniously blends his diverse skills to produce one of those symphonic performances, watching him gives us a joy that transcends the thrill of competition, and allows us to experience, even if vicariously, the glory of human achievement at its highest level.  It makes us feel good just to be alive. 

            Such was the case in Roger’s third round annihilation of Thomas Berdych, a perennial top ten player who came to this tournament well prepared.  I honestly expected Federer, who has been out of competition for 6 months, and who struggled with his timing in his first two matches, to lose to the big, strong Czech.   But instead Federer put on one of his legendary displays, and left everyone in the stadium awash with admiration and gratitude at being able to be part of the experience.  Roger has done this sort of thing before, of course (see his 2009 Australian Open match with Andy Roddick, for example), but we never tire of seeing it.  It’s worth watching an entire tournament just to see a match like this. 

            An addendum.  I believe Roger Federer is the best singles volleyer (please note: I don’t think volleying in doubles and singles are exactly the same) in the world, and perhaps in the history of tennis.  Take a look at the first point of the 5-4 game in the second set if you want to see what I mean. 

Aussie Open, Early Observations

Djokovic out.  The big story, of course is the defeat of Novak Djokovic in the second round by Denis Istomin, currently ranked 117 in the world.  The match went 5 sets, and Istomin had to come from 2 sets to 1 down to win it.  There were several discernible weaknesses in Djokovic’ game that were uncharacteristic of him and that may provide insights into the decline of his dominance over the past six months.  Those weaknesses were:

1) He was slow to move out to the forehand side.  On several occasions Novak was late to balls that were hit wide to his forehand.  As a result, he was unable to set up securely for his shots, and the forehand either missed or failed to penetrate the court as well as is usually the case.

2) Poor decision making.  Novak’s shot selection was highly questionable on several occasions.  For example, he lost several points after attempting very difficult drop shots (for example, cross court droppers from 6 feet behind the base line).  Overall, his tactical skills were weaker than usual.

3) Emotional instability.  I believe psychological issues were the biggest reason Djokovic lost this match.  From the very start he was sarcastic about line calls and umpire decisions.  On one occasion he got into a heated argument with the umpire because she allowed Istomin to check a mark before deciding whether to challenge a call.  Such allowances are of course routinely made.  Novak also cheered wildly for himself when he made some good plays, (for example, a reflex volley at 2-2 in the second set), but his exuberance was out of proportion to the significance of the moment.  It almost seemed as if he was trying to convince himself that he was a great player.  He also made gestures suggesting that he was suffering from physical problems, a behavior much like that often seen from his countrywoman Jelena Jankovic.

Djokovic’ irascibility has been a constant theme since he began relinquishing his strangle hold on men’s tennis about six months ago.  The reason for his problems is of course unknown, but in my opinion, he will not be number one in the world again unless this issue is addressed.   He will certainly lose a lot of ranking points at this tournament, as he is the defending champ. 

Other observations. 

Krygios loses in 5.  Nick Kyrgios once again astounded the tennis world with a casual “tweener” in the 5^th set, with Seppi serving for the match at 6-5.  Kyrgios broke in that game to stay alive, but he hardly exhibited the competitive grit needed to gut out these difficult matches, and eventually was broken again to lose.  It may be time to start thinking that Nick is satisfied just to entertain fans with his world class skills rather than to become a dominant force on the tour.  Gael Monfils has been that way through much of his career as well.  Although Monfils has also appeared uninterested in several of his past matches, his behavior has never been quite as insulting to tennis fans as Kyrgios’.  My year end post in 2016 suggested that the behavior of Kyrgios and Bernie Tomic were things to watch in 2017.  So far Tomic, despite crowing childishly about himself on twitter, has behaved acceptably on the court.

Some strong play:  Milos Raonic has looked very strong in the early going.  He beat Gilles Muller in the second round.  Muller had won the Sydney warmup and played an outstanding match against Milos, but still lost in straight sets.  Raonic put a second serve in at 235 kph (!) in this tournament.  That is 146 mph.  If you want to see how much Raonic’ game has developed, watch the game he served at 5-6 in the third set with Muller.

            Andy Murray has also looked very good, and Alex Zverev prevailed in a first round 5- setter with Robin Haase.  That’s the kind of match Zverev must win to really move up in the ranks.  Also keep your eye on Jack Sock.  He’s looking good.

            On the women’s side, Serena Williams looks very good, as does Karolina Pliskova, who has surrendered only four games in her first two matches.  Johanna Konta also looked impressive in her dismissal of Naomi Osaka in the second round.

Federer has some issues.  Roger Federer won his first two matches, but he still looks rusty.  His footwork, upon which his timing depends, is still a bit sluggish.  He will have to improve to get past Thomas Berdych, his next opponent. 

Australian Open Outlook.

When was the last time the No. 17 seeded player faced an unseeded player in the first round on Rod Laver arena in prime time??  Such is the drawing power of Roger Federer, seeded 17 after a 6-month absence, who will play Jurgen Melzer.  Roger should win this, but the match might provide some indication of his chances to go deep in the tournament.  At the very least, Fed should go down as the most dangerous floater in the history of grand slam tennis!  Other interesting first round matches include:

The men:

Sock/Herbert:  Herbert is a good young French player with outstanding skills in doubles, and Sock is a young American looking to make a major statement in 2017.  Sock won the warmup in Aukland.   Sock has a weakness for playing low percentage tennis on big points, and that could make this match with Herbert more exciting than it should be.

Coric/Dolgopolov: Alex Dolgopolov is a talented shot maker who will probably never win a slam, and Coric is a young prospect whose luster has dipped a bit over the past several months, but who has been identified as a possible future slam winner.  This is a very important match for Borna Coric.

The women:

Bouchard/Chirico.  Chirico, the young American hopeful, will play Bouchard, the young Canadian who has “been there, done that”, with a trip to the Wimbledon final in the past, but whose career has been a roller coaster ride since the end of 2014.  This match could be close, and is a very important one indeed for Bouchard.

Crawford/Davis:  Two Americans going at it.  Crawford is a young, large woman with large shots, while Davis is a diminutive, feisty, fast player with more experience.  Davis won the Aukland warmup with a big win over Ana Konjuh.   This one could be interesting.

Halep/Rogers.  Simona Halep is one of the best players in the world, but can  be vulnerable at times, and Shelby Rogers is a very determined, hard hitting player.  Halep had better be on her toes for this one.

Konjuh/Mladenovic.  Ana Konjuh is a great young prospect, and Mladenovic is a very talented Frenchwoman.  This could be a close, dramatic match.

Bencic/S. Williams.  Serena has played very little tennis since the 2016 US Open, and Bencic is a steady professional who knows her business.  Serena has been vulnerable early in slams over the course of her career, and Belinda is no pushover.  Pay attention to this one.

2017 Early Impressions

The first tournaments of 2017 are completed, and here are my first impressions as we head toward the Australian Open:

Early showdown.  Number one Andy Murray played number two Novak Djokovic in the Doha final.  Djokovic prevailed in 3 sets and looked a bit more like the indomitable Djokovic of the last few years.  That’s good for Novak, who has a lot of points to defend in the early part of this year.  The irascibility Djokovic showed in the latter half of 2016 persisted, as demonstrated by a point penalty he received for racquet abuse at 30-30, 5 all in the second set.  That outburst cost him a game and he lost the second set.  Murray was also not quite at his best in this match.  Look for some grueling encounters between these two as the year progresses.

Dimitrov impresses.  Grigor Dimitrov defeated Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori on his way to the Brisbane title.  Grigor looked great in these matches, where he demonstrated fabulous racquet skills, terrific court coverage and more velocity and bad intentions on both his first serve and forehand.  He is definitely a player to watch this year.

Watch out for Zverev.  Alexander Zverev played exhibition matches at the Hopman Cup, but looked very good there.  He beat Federer in a match with 3 tiebreak sets, and although Federer tends to treat exhibitions like this as exercises for tuning his game rather than serious competitive encounters, Zverev looked really good.   Roger also hit the ball very cleanly and seemed to move better as the tournament progressed.  Both of these guys should be fun to watch in Melbourne. 

Pliskova continues.  On the women’s side, Karolina Pliskova picked up where she left off in the latter half of 2016, drubbing Alize Cornet in the Brisbane final.  She has amazing weapons and seems to be handling better the psychological stresses of top level competition.  It’s hard to know just yet what her best surface is, but it’s always been my contention that powerful hitters who are relatively lacking in quickness do better on slower courts.  They can still hit through the court under slow conditions, and slower surfaces allow them to get to more balls and set up better for their big shots.   Lauren Davis won in Auckland, a great win for the diminutive American.  She beat Ana Konjuh, a very talented youngster.  20-year-old Katerina Siniakova beat Johana Konta and Simona Halep en route to the Shenzhen final, where she defeated Alison Riske of the US.  Siniakova is another intriguing young player on the WTA tour along with Naomi Osaka and Konjuh.

            My opinion is that the women’s tour will be wide open this year.  I don’t see anyone really dominating, so it should be exciting.

The 2017 season is on!

So now we begin the 2017 tennis season.  The big story, of course, is the return of Roger Federer after several months.  Federer is playing the Hopman Cup exhibition in Perth.  He won his first match easily over Daniel Evans, then lost in three tiebreak sets to Alexander Zverev.  Federer’s stamina looked good in that second long match, and his ball striking has been excellent.  His movement seems a bit sluggish, though, and he has been a bit more inconsistent than usual.  For example, he double faulted twice in a row in the first set tiebreaker with Zverev.  Roger can be forgiven for being a bit rusty, but assuming he trained hard for the season, there is some cause for concern for how this 35-year-old will perform in big tournaments with many tough players to face in consecutive matches.  He still is so much fun to watch, though!!

A big story in that second match was the play of Zverev.  The 6’6” teenager move exceptionally well, hit groundies very hard from both sides, and produced some monster serves.  His serve seems bigger than last year, and he made a high percentage of first serves in this match.  He looks poised to have a great season in 2017.

In Brisbane, Grigor Dimitrov has looked exceptional, with decisive wins over Stevie Johnson and Nicolas Mahut.  Dimitrov has bulked up just a bit and is playing with a purpose.  Perhaps he will finally fulfill the longstanding high expectations of the tennis pundits.

Murray and Djokovic are both in the Qatar warmup, and both are winning.  Murray looks slightly more solid right now, though conditions are difficult, with high and variable crosswinds.  If these two meet in the final there, the match should be quite interesting. 

Nick Kyrgios, who is playing in Perth, and Bernie Tomic, who is in Brisbane, have both displayed a bit of psychological instability even at this early stage of the season.  In my 2016 year-end post, I opined that their ability to handle their emotions and fulfill their promise would be a story to follow this year.  Let’s see.

On the women’s side, Madison Brengle posted a surprise early round win over Serena Williams.  Serena fans needn’t be too concerned, as she has been out of competitive tennis for quite awhile, and tends to pay closer attention in majors.  Like Federer, though, she’s not getting any younger.  Caroline Wozniaki has looked strong in this tournament, and it will be interesting to follow the play of this former #1 this season.

            Ana Ivanovic has retired, so the WTA will lose one very good player and very beautiful woman.  People may say she should have achieved more, but she did, after all, win a major (French Open 2008) and become the world’s number one player.   Her play was quite inconsistent last year.  We’ll always remember her fabulous forehand!

            So, fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a