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Exhibit A: Nadal, the Modern Tennis Man

Posted: May 26th 2009 12:24AM by Greg Couch (author feed)
Filed under: French Open, ATP

What we're seeing at the French Open is the evolution of sport. Rafael Nadal, Modern Tennis Man, won his 29th consecutive match at Roland Garros Sunday, breaking Bjorn Borg's record of 28. Nadal is going for his fifth straight French title, which would break Borg's other unbreakable record.

And this isn't a baton handoff through history as much as a climb up the evolutionary ladder. Borg is Neanderthal man. Nadal is actually the same guy, modern epoch.

Continue Reading Exhibit A: Nadal, the Modern Tennis Man

Federer Beats Back Nadal and History for 5th Wimbledon Trophy

Posted: Jul 8th 2007 6:34PM by D-Wil (author feed)
Filed under: Tennis

8 COMMENTS

Roger Federer beat a more potent competitor that Rafael Nadal today to win his fifth straight Wimbledon title. He defeated the crushing weight of history. With Bjorn Borg, the only other man to win five Wimbledon championships in a row in attendance, Federer held his nerve and beat Nadal, 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-2.

With this win Federer, only 25, has now won 11 Grand slam titles, just three behind U.S. great. Pete Sampras. Nadal valiantly played the part of potential foil to Federer. But in the end, Nadal's lack of a consistently strong and varied serve, plus his inability to pressure Federer by attacking the Swiss player led to Raffa's ultimate demise.

After the match, each player complimented the other using the usual platitudes. However, Nadal must surely rue the fact that twice in the final set he had double-break point on Federer's serve and failed to convert any of the four break points. Federer must privately know that Nadal has shown an increasingly prevalent knack for coming up just short against the world's #1 on every other Grand Slam surface except clay. And even at the French Open, if Federer has Nadal in a pinch late in a match, Nadal's proclivity to hit his groundstrokes a little weaker, move his feet a little less, and serve a bit slower might even haunt him at the French Open.

While there are a slew of young players on the horizon who are unafraid of Nadal, all of them fear Federer. Look for Roger to end this Grand Slam season with a 12th trophy after the U.S. Open in September.

Time For Five-Set Women's Grand Slams

Posted: Jul 6th 2007 12:50PM by Larry Brown (author feed)
Filed under: Tennis

21 COMMENTS

I just got done watching Novak Djokovic defeat Marcos Baghdatis in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. As you can tell by the picture above, the match went nearly five hours, lasted five sets, and it was an utter duel that tested endurance, strength, moxie, and heart. Only a day earlier, I saw Djokovic grind for four hours in a four-set 4th round win over Lleyton Hewitt. That same day, second seed Rafael Nadal, who has since reached the semifinals, rallied from down two sets to beat Mikhail Youzhny in five, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. That was an incredible turn of events in which the better player won out in the long run. Putting all this together, plus many other years of watching both men's and women's tennis, and I'm led to conclude that the women are missing something. They are missing the magic that the men put on display at each Grand Slam event. They are missing five-set matches.

When you think of some of the greatest matches of all-time, what do you think of? You're all but guaranteed to see the 1980 Wimbledon final between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe on everyone's list. Why? Not only did the match give Borg his fifth straight Wimbledon singles title, but it also went five sets, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 8-6, with the 4th going 19-17 in a tiebreaker. The 1975 US Open semis between Guillermo Vilas and Manuel Orantes would have to make the list. Orantes rallied from down two sets and 0-5 in the fourth set -- one game away from losing, to win in five sets. The 1989 French Open Final between Michael Chang and Ivan Lendl was another legendary match. Down two sets to none, Change fought back, and eventually won it in five sets -- serving underhand in the fifth because of injury.

Continue Reading Time For Five-Set Women's Grand Slams

Pro Tennis: It's High Time to Bring Back Wood Rackets

Posted: Jun 2nd 2007 9:35PM by D-Wil (author feed)
Filed under: Tennis

21 COMMENTS

Professional tennis players need to go back to wood.

After watching Maria Sharapova hit one of her patented squash-like wristed stretch forehands and watching Rafael Nadal (both Maria and Raffa bludgeoned their opponents today at the French Open) do the same, and many other not-so well known players hit similar shots, I got disgusted. I'm joining John McEnroe's oft-spoken suggestion to both the men's' - ATP - and women's - WTA - tours, bring back the wood!

I have grown tired of watching pros hit "equipment shots," the kind of shots that were impossible before the advent of composite tennis rackets. I'm tired of players with marginal games, but with one weapon only advance far in tournaments because they can now use their on stroke, swing as hard as they can and hit winners from anywhere in the court.

Today power is more important than strategy and speed is more important than court position. The ability to generate tons of power only through racket speed means players are no longer forced to think their way through a point. Why do that, when you can slug your way out of trouble, a la Fernando Gonzalez? Sure, Gonzo has hired Larry Stefanki, to help him think more on the court, but he still largely stomps his way through matches like the proverbial bull in a china shop.

Wood rackets are much heavier than their composite cousins, and do not require as much racket speed to generate power. However, with their smaller racket heads, the "sweet spot" - that perfect striking area on the racket face - on a wood racket is actually smaller than a tennis ball. The sweet spot on composite rackets is more often than not, oval and the size of two tennis balls in width and two and-a-half balls in length.