Since World TeamTennis began in the 1970s, Billie Jean King often was approached about setting up shop in the nation's capital. Well, in a nearby suburb, anyway. Finally, someone came forward with a plan to put a team right smack dab in the heart of downtown D.C. -- and that made it a perfect fit, as far as King is concerned.
The tour takes a breather from its hectic masters series schedule this week as it crams in two smaller level international series tournaments. With the Roma Masters coming up next week, most of the top players will be out of action this week. Barcelona in particular will have its share of great players entered as the Spaniards do never want to disappoint the home crowd. Munich, will host a smaller level draw as local talent will be looking to gear up their games as the up coming masters series in Hamburg is around the corner.
On to the 1st review of the week and Barcelona, Spain. It seems as though this is the year of 4 peats for Rafa Nadal. The defending champ of pretty much every major claycourt tournament is going for his 4th Barcelona crown and as usual it will not be easy. The Mayorcan will have to contest against fellow top ten players David Ferrer and David Nalbandian and surprise wild card entry James Blake. The event hosts 13 local heroes in the 56 draw, and I have a feeling the hometown crowd will have a Spaniard to cheer for in the final. Nadal is running with a remarkable record on clay, since July 25, 2005-present, Nadal has a 137-13 career record on clay (18 titles). In 2007 he captured five of his six season titles on clay at the AMS Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, AMS Rome, Roland Garros and Stuttgart. If anything is able to top those astounding numbers, Rafa has also won 97 of his last 98 matches on the dirt.
However, don’t be surprised if Nadal doesn’t take home the title in this years Open Sabadell Atlantico. Reasons being that he has just come off of a victory in Monte Carlo and has the Roma Masters to defend next week. Rafa has already voiced his utter displeasure for the ATP and how they have condensed 3 claycourt masters series into a 4 week span. Clearly, if Nadal can win all 3 events as well as Barcelona and Roland Garros, this will have to have been the best year by any player on clay in the history of the game.
The draw breakdown looks favourable for the top players to move through the draw. Nadal has a relatively easy draw with a potential clash with fellow Feliciano Lopez in the third round and either former number one players Juan Carlos Ferrero of Carlos Moya in the quarter-finals. With all this adversity I still like Nadal to climb his way through the draw.
Second seed David Ferrer with Fernando Verdasco and Tommy Robredo standing in his way towards the quarter final. The feisty Spaniard looks good to reach at least the semi-final, with King David Nalbandian a potentially waiting for him. Although this is not a masters series its undoubtedly the 5th biggest claycourt tournament in the world to win.
The second review of the week, takes the tour to the once mighty tennis nation of Germany. Munich will hold the BMW open this year and they were able to attract a relatively decent field. Defending champ Philipp Kohlschreiber will be joined be Paul-Henri Mathieu and Fernando Gonzalez as the top two seeds. As well the flashy Frenchmen Gael Monfils and in form Igor Indreev will be participating. The 32 man tournament does not have the fire power of the Barcelona draw but will still provide many good matches for the Munich fans to chear for. Along with the €59,100 1st prize winners check, the champion also receives a brand new 2008 BMW. Nice life!
On to the draw and not to many compelling matches early on to get excited about. This is truly a very open draw and I believe there will be a surprise winner or finalist this year. Perhaps Juan Martin Del Potro will finally make some noise as he has been off with injury as of late. Marat Safin and Tommy Haas are also entered and will try and gain a few wins as both players are on the downward side of their careers. Look for Philipp Kohlschreiber to make a deep run in hopes of a repeat performance.
Please check back throughout the week as we will have updates from the matches as well as comments. Please check out the links provide below to both tournaments.Enjoy!
Barcelona, Spain www.opensabadellatlantico.com
Munich, Germany www.bmwopen.de
Technorati Tags: Carlos Moya, David Nalbandian, Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Gonzalez, Fernando Verdasco, Gael Monfils, Igor Indreev, James Blake, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Juan Martin Del Potro, Marat Safin, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Rafael Nadal, Tommy Haas, Tommy Robredo
Another great week of claycourt tennis. Another great week of destruction by Rafeal Nadal on the his favourite surface. The Spaniard once again solidified his great form and focus on the games toughest surface. Rafa sliced up or should I say top-spinned all his opponent’s into mercy at the beautiful Monte Carlo Country club.
Rafa looked crisp all week as he took down the likes of Mario Ancic, Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Ferrer, Nikolay Davydenko and Roger Federer all in straight sets, and took home his 4th straight Monte Carlo final. Nadal truly plays a fine brand of clay-court tennis. He never looks like hes out in a set. He was down at multiple occasion against Ferrer, Davydenko and R-Fed and come back strong in each set. Rafa has now won 99 of his last 100 matches on clay!
Nadal will look forward to continuing his dominance on clay next week in his native Barcelona. His draw looks fairly decent and if fatigue does not set in, Nadal looks to 4-peat there as well. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, if Nadal can win Barcelona, Roma, Hamburg and then Roland Garros, will have to be the single greatest year for any player on clay. Especially considering the fact the tour calender is condensed this year because of the Olympics. Good luck and vamos Rafa!
On to Mr. Federer and his great run to the finals. R-Fed looked great all week as his 9 match winning streak came to an end. All in all Roger has to be happy with his Roland Garros preparation. He already has a title in Estoril to go along with a final appearance in Monaco. It seems as though Jose Higueras will keep his job. Federer will be off next week as he arrives in Rome on Wed to start his preparation for the Roma masters which take place from May 5-11, 2008. Im sure Federer is looking forward to making the final, Im not so sure that he is eager to play Nadal again.
The claycourt season is in full swing, with 2 weeks down and 5 weeks to go. As well the top two players are starting to return towards the winning circle which is good for the game and the fans. I look forward to the coming weeks and the continuation of the Federer/Nadal saga.
Technorati Tags: David Ferrer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Mario Ancic, Nikolay Davydenko, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer
Developing points in tennis is what makes this game so enjoyable. I came to this conclusion after watching a match between two 16 year old boys hit the ball so hard it was worth stopping to observe. The problem was that I found myself getting disinterested quickly.
How many times has one watched a point where the ball lands in the middle of the court with no thought process 20 to 30 times? To some this would be a great display of endurance. However tennis is built on the premise of tactics, height, depth, spin and much more.
In our junior academy we emphasize movement of the ball, different styles of play, and different shot making. The idea is teach our juniors rhythm and random shot making together to produce the best possible point. The points are still long lasting and any passer bye is much more inclined to watch a point where the ball travels from side to side, deep to short all ranging with different types of spin. Enjoy this pure complex game!
Conan Lorenzo
Director of Junior Tennis
La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club
2000 Spindrift Dr.
La Jolla CA, 92037
Technorati Tags: Conan Lorenzo, Tennis Coach
Roger Federer beat Gael Monfils of France 6-3, 6-4 Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters. The 12-time Grand Slam champion overcame an early break against Monfils and looked to have recovered a day after he had to come back from 5-1 down in the third set to beat 137th-ranked Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo.
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