Tennis Chatter

He never went so far away down but he certainly had his own plummet. He knows his valleys and maybe has reached his personal abyss in self-belief. But Andy Roddick knows now what it takes to regain that self-belief…and the bravado that once was evident with it.

I admit that his pronouncement about the narrowing gap between him and Federer sounds like a joke (The official head-to-head is 1-12. The exhibition win in Kooyong last week does not count but the inspiration could.) Human as I am, I have seen some jokes backfired so as a personal resolution for this year I prefer to take the side of the positive and the possible no matter how delusional it may sound.

It is obvious that Roddick’s newfound confidence has the Connors hue in it. If there is someone who knows how to use aggressiveness to one’s advantage in court and how to prove all people wrong, it is Jimmy Connors. So far, the Connors seed is slowly growing in Andy (did I just write that?).

Against world number 212 French wildcard Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Roddick lost the first set with a historic 38-point tiebreak and almost gifted the second set to his 21-year old opponent had not probably the memory of his first round U.S. Open exit in 2005 knocked him out of his senses to dig into his arsenal. He finally prevailed at 6-7(18), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-3.

After spending time in Disappointment Village, Andy is starting not to fight his own shadow anymore. Instead, he rechannels his frustrations to better himself as a player.

If that is not inspiring to some, I do not know what is. This is the Australian Open and life displays in full living color, in action, through the stories that tennis will bring in the unfolding two weeks. Too early to say but Andy Roddick’s story might just be one of its highlights.

This year’s defending champion, Amelie Mauresmo of France has some credibility fixing to do. After Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne withdrew from their match to hand her the championship last year, Amelie had her share of doubting Thomases until Wimbledon shut them all up. Can she defend her title to put a permanent lid to that horrible memory of a match? Does she have to prove anything at all?

The name Nicole stands for triumph. Like Jelena Jankovic, Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic, has a temper. She is hungry for a breakout but often hammers her own foot in tight matches. She was a surprise last year at Roland Garros when she created upsets against Amelie Mauresmo and Venus Williams. Her powerful strokes is often compared to Maria Sharapova. This and her other descriptions: leggy, blondie, plunging necklines, and yes, branded.

Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic needs to have the experience of big arenas to be able to unleash her booming forehand and display her serve and volley skills against the top players. Australia might prove special to her since she won her first career singles title in Canberra in 2005. She beat Martina Hingis in the final last year at the Montreal WTA tournament. She has the most classic face in the women’s tour — the type you would love to stare again and again without getting bored.

Her comeback seems like a long time ago so people should get over it by now. Martina Hingis reached the final at the Gold Coast two weeks ago. She fell on the first round at Sydney International last week. This champion has not lost her trademark court smarts but to dig deep into a Grand Slam tournament, Australian Open at that, endurance is a basic tool. The lesson from her heat-sapping classic match against Jennifer Capriati in 2002 should come handy now.

Does temper go with the struggle for perfection? Maybe or it may just be an expression of tension in tight situations. Russian Dinara Safina is short of temper but definitely not of skills. She avenged her defeat in Rome last against Martina Hingis in Gold Coast weeks ago. Consistency is still a question but if she can put her demon in its cage for a fortnight she may see her hard work pay off big time.

Another Russian who has the strokes that could match the big hitters is Elena Dementieva. Her weak serve is a public joke. But hey, this is a grand slam event and anything, anything can happen. So every match should be like a prayer for Elena to be able to go further and hopefully earn a Grand Slam trophy she so beautifully deserves for all the dedication she gives to her game.

So what if the Russians are charging towards the Australian Open with their full battle gear? So what if American women players are short of invisible? It takes only one to rock Rod Laver Arena. In two syllables, Li Na, just might be the one. She was the first woman from China to be seeded and to reach a quarterfinal at a Grand Slam tournament (Wimbledon). She may just perform some firsts in this tournament so let us not take her for granted.

The Australian Open will be kicking off this Monday. As a rule, ladies first so let us devote today’s post to the women players who, by the mixed line-up, can surely heighten our coming week. Already withdrawals of top names are causing quite a racket. Foremost among them is the tournament’s 2004 champion and 2006 runner-up Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne who announced her withdrawal last week due to personal reasons. Venus Williams is officially sidelined with a persistent wrist injury. During the build up for the Australian Open, ominous withdrawals sprouted here and there. Anastasia Myskina of Russia hurt her toe in Auckland last week and is currently recuperating. From the Sydney International tournament, Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova had to quit due to a respiratory virus. Russian underachiever Nadia Petrova pulled out as well due to abdominal strain. So far, no official word on whether they will skip the AO.

Top-seed Maria Sharapova looks poised to continue her good form although she lost to the inspired Kim Clijsters in Hongkong last week. Did you notice Sharapova’s sincere smile despite the loss (she usually takes it seriously)? Maybe the seven-figure appearance fee she gained gave her a much bigger bottomline figure gap than Clijsters prize-money, eh? Oh well…if you have it…

I correctly predicted her U.S. Open victory simply because she has never looked more physically strong than now. She successfully relegated everyone at the baseline where her game works best. Why they did not resist her strongly enough I could not figure.

She is currently sweating it out at the Rod Laver Arena sustained by that energy drink she has recently chosen to endorse. Being hyped as leading the Russian women players into the Australian Open only empowers her more which adds to her being a legitimate contender for the trophy.

What I wish in this tournament is a breakthrough from the upcoming talents. If they will not be intimidated by Maria’s towering figure and her underestimating stare one of them will steal the spotlight. Heaven knows we need a new face preferably with the model attitude.

Meanwhile, here are my personal selected contenders in random order.

The in-form and fierce (yes, she’s the only face that comes to mind whenever I meet the word) Kim Clijsters can inspire herself (if she cannot, who can?) to another trophy to add to her mantle full of those muted things. It may not talk back to her as she rationalized the trophies’ personal value to her in the past but she can console herself many years later that it is a reminder that she retired with the sunshine reflecting her victorious smile on it in the Land Down Under.

Jelena Jankovic has, as of this writing, claimed victories over Martina Hingis, Samantha Stosur, Amelie Mauresmo, and Nicole Vaidisova at the Medibank International in Sydney. She will be facing Kim Clijsters in the final. This woman is maturing fast and my hope is that she will be kind to herself and to others under pressure. She can implode to the silent delight of her opponent and if she has learned her costly mistake in the 2006 U.S. Open, she will be dangerous and can potentially power her way through. She is set to break her 10-straight losing streak last year. She is currently on her eighth victory.

Former world number one Serena Williams’s self-belief is good on paper for now at the very least. She lost to Austrian Sybille Bammer in the quarterfinals at the Hobart International tournament this week. She has been struggling to regain her fitness after months of laying-off doing whatever she can get her creative hands into and suffering from knee injury. She has been missed on the tour but her blending back in has been far from her glory days. She needs to up the ante some more if she were to live up to her statement that it will only be a matter of time before she gets back on top. Or else…she just might get another letter from Chris Evert.

TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW…

More than three years of patiently coaching Lleyton Hewitt might have taught Roger Rasheed the value of earplugs. But even the earplugs gave up its job last Thursday when a reported locker room argument which started from the court between coach and player produced unforgiving words no decent human being can withstand.

Hewitt lost his round robin match to unknown (until now) world number 94 Russian Igor Kunitsyn 6-4 6-7 (7-4) 4-6 at the Adelaide International that night. Alright, his calf injury fueled the outburst or maybe the other way around. One never knows how far the mind affects the body.

Hewitt’s volcanic temperament is public knowledge in tennis. South American players seem to detest this guy particularly David Nalbandian (like poles do repel). Hewitt likes to be treated with respect obviously but his manner of asking it is a tad short of thundering. He is no Zeus and since he left his number one spot players do not anymore cringe in fear whenever he is on the other side of the court counterpunching the life of him.

The lava of his language must have burned Roger Rasheed enough to storm out and announce his departure as Hewitt’s coach twenty-four hours later. Previously, Hewitt had been coached by Darren Cahill (fired) and Jason Stoltenberg (resigned).

Why is this man so angry? This goes to show that fortune alone cannot happiness give.

To his credit, Hewitt certainly knows how to make news. No doubt his Australian Open preparation is in an uncomfortable and questionable plane. His idol, Pat Rafter (he literally lived under Pat’s shadow during his heydays in the pro circuit), politely turned down an offer to coach him so he picked former Davis Cup team mate and until recently professional golfer Scott Draper as coach in the interim.

That could be a blessing in disguise for Draper. History suggests that with Hewitt, familiarity breeds contempt.

The Australian Open will be next week and I am sure it will generate a blast of smorgasbord stories. So before a wave of the famous Australian heat comes aburning, let us digress as early as now to other quirky matters.

Let’s talk about hair.

Last year, Britain’s number one player and currently no. 15 in the world rankings Andy Murray could not seem to make up his mind about a change of hairstyle. He admitted that his personal barber for a long time was either his girlfriend or himself…using nail scissors. That explains a lot.

So he passed the buck to his fans via a hair poll on his website. Sweet, isn’t it? Yeah, I thought so. I mean, once in a while the famous do have the temerity to ask ordinary mortals for help, right? What can you do? It’s a symbiotic world. He even shared matter-of-factly in one interview, “I never brush it when I get up in the morning, and I never put any products in it. I do wash it, though.” Well, that would do, Andy.

Eventually he had his thick unruly mop snipped for a good cause partly by DJ Scott Mills. The £10,000 raised went to Children in Need, an annual British charity organized by BBC.

Hmmm…what’s next? Dental bleaching?

On the other hand, Belgium’s Xavier Malisse scored some points last week. First, he focused on his focus problem which often was a thorn on his road to reaching his full potential. No reported tempers rising happened, another major point. He won his second ATP title in Chennai against Austria’s Stefan Koubek 6-1, 6-3 although the surprise of the week was snatching a feather for his professional cap from the much disappointed world no. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals (Rafael, you are slipping in all surfaces but clay). He also won the doubles title with compatriot Dick Norman against, what do you know, Rafael Nadal and fellow Spaniard Bartolome Salva-Vidal! Xavier’s only title came at Delray Beach in 2005. Minor point: he was once linked to Jennifer Capriati.

Going back to the hair, last year I found this tennis player’s mane disturbing…and painful! Ouch! It was like a homemade facelift exercise. HAIRY-ble!

Good thing the ponytail went kaput this year. That was not a lucky charm at all. Let’s face the fact that Federer Jr. is not yet born. Xavier’s good looks now shine clearer and his confidence is obviously off to a good start.

No one has it all.

I was somewhat whining to my best friend who is at the other side of the world about some very lucky individuals seemingly having it all. With full wisdom she gently reminded me that they only look like it and I should know better.

The Belgian press has been reporting the rocky stage of Justine Henin’s marriage to Pierre Yves Hardenne. The personal problem cited for her withdrawal from the Australian Open has finally gained face and several speculations are now currently circulating the tennis community.

Justine always comes across to me as an extremely focused and determined giant despite her petite form. She can explode anytime in the court with her all-around game. These days betray that her life which is often characterized with mystery and aloofness has its fragility. For sure this setback shows in Juju’s face for hers is a countenance that seldom successfully displays a veneer of being “OK�? in depressing situations.

Society sometimes loves to put an ambitious woman down as if she is an anathema to Mother Earth. Because of a woman’s multiple roles in society today, to achieve balance in their private lives is no mean feat. It is indicative of one’s priorities.

There is more to Justine, I am sure. Athletes know how to figure things out in difficult situations. That is their instinct. However, an athlete is foremost a human being before anything else. And suffering is part of being human.

As the saying goes, you cannot put a good woman down. People should know better.

This time nobody stole Jeca’s thunder. Jelena Jankovic opened 2007 with a win by earning her second title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. She convincingly defeated fifth-seed Russian Vera Zvonareva 7-6(9), 5-7, 6-3 in an almost three-hour match.

The 21-year old Serbian is one of most talented players to watch this year in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. It would seem that she is determined to put her experience during the first half of 2006 way behind her. The sometimes tempestuous player (recall the U.S. Open flareup with the umpire during her match with Henin-Hardenne) had the misfortune of losing her opening matches ten times in a row between January to May 2006. Out of sheer frustration, the 2001 former Junior No. 1 almost traded her racket for a college diploma.

She was the best student in all the schools she has attended (Serbian, French, American schools). The premium that Jelena is putting on a university education is a logical offshoot of having economists as parents in a close-knit family. It continues to be a big goal in her life. A very wise decision, indeed it is!

Jelena’s breakthrough year happened in May 2004 when she won her first WTA Tour singles title in Budapest. She had her taste of what the possibility would look like in the big arena of tennis in the second half of 2006 when she beat Russian Elena Dementieva in straight sets in the 2006 U.S. Open to reach the semifinals before eventual finalist Justine Henin-Hardenne took her out of contention.

Her mean forehand is a weapon of choice and her two-handed backhand is not to be underestimated in producing winners (ask Serena Williams how she struggled in their 2005 semifinal match in Dubai).

Jelena is one of the most animated and articulate tennis players in the tour. She is currently ranked no. 12 in the world.

Here’s to the hope that she will be more consistent this year.

There is an unwritten professional ethic that unless you are dead or dying you have to do what you have to do.

The recent earthquake in Taiwan left our network cables in tatters. Our virtual reality has been in total blackout for days.

Repair has been like a crawling hundred year old turtle. Timing is the key to log into the internet nowadays otherwise one gets a daily dose of frustration. Most people have lives to live outside their PCs as well, yes, thank God! Even calling overseas is tedious and telephone operators’ ears and noses are actually breathing fire from hearing customer complaints coming at full merciless speed. Lest we forget, customers are always right. Despite delays and to make up for some days’ absence beyond my control I will try to do multiple postings in a day.

In fairness I am pretty sure that network servicemen are working overtime to fix the problem. Cables were supposed to be buried underneath the ocean so frogmen are now starting to grow gills in their long exposure to water.

Since internet service is a marketing construct brought about by technological outburst, Asia went catatonic for a while when all electronic lines were disabled after the earthquake. Pre-internet days are dragging things in slothful pace. You can feel a silent panic happening since isolation is not anymore a sound policy today. Something in this manner: “No internet? Fine! Still no in connection? How long would this go on? Tennis season is already starting and I have deadlines! Oh, my, what should I do? I have forgotten how to write long hand now!�?

Here’s the scoop: this is the best time to stop and smell the flowers.

For the longest of time I could not digest the reason why some people play tennis until midnight on any given working week. I initially thought it was just for health reasons but when I learned the hours they spent in the tennis courts around my beautiful city, I began to scratch my head in wonder.

Learning the sport was gradual. In my mind I was spitting expletives on how in the world the grip can affect the spin of that small yellow ball. Coming towards a beginner’s face it should have been engraved with “eyes on the ball!�? since that rule is as staple as hearing in music appreciation.

How I finally got to learn the grip, the stroke, the serve, the bloody footwork, heck, the proper breathing, and my preferred battle cry is another story I will elaborate some other time. For now, suffice it to say that once I have learned the sport, I wondered no more about the hours “wasted�? in playing it. It was one of those seldom times that I relinquished my freedom to complain. I had my fill of that with soccer, badminton, softball, volleyball, basketball, mountain climbing, even chess! Not tennis. While learning, I was a picture of patience. Once I have become competent, I long for more and more hours to play if only my arms and shoulders allow.

The very freedom tennis provides the individual to attack the ball is astounding. Execution is instinctive yet calculated. The joy of mental estimation is inescapable. It is artistic yet very physically demanding. The court becomes a microcosm of life in motion and you as the player are alone to figure your way around it. That is the very reason why the on-court coaching started by the WTA last year is a gag. What brings out the hysterics is the reaction of some players who insist (like robots) that they play by instinct yet openly cheat in front of millions (code: banana fingers).

Tennis is also an expensive sport. I studied it seriously the moment I landed my first job. One look at me and my first instructor’s initial concern was “I will understand if you find it too expensive and quit later on.�? It is different being underestimated for your looks; it is another matter if you are underestimated for your capacity to pay. He made it totally easy for me to kick him out.

Curiously, some of my young court associates talked about playing the sport in their old age, imagining themselves calling each other up in that exaggerated wobble of old people’s voice, “Hey buddy! Tennis tonight?�? Conversations like that often illicit laughter and playful bantering.

Oddly enough, I do not see it as an impossible scenario (old men and women swinging rackets is recreational to the eyes). Only one reason will move us to continue this sport: LOVE.

You cannot be serious! I am no McEnroe but that was my initial reaction to Martina Hingis’s recent engagement to 28-year old Czech Radek Stepanek. Currently in Queensland as a top for the Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourt championships, she broke the news to colleagues while practicing at the Gold Coast. She is currently sporting her signature sparkling smile coupled with a new diamond ring.

Love proved to be lovelier the second time around as the pair were said to be childhood sweethearts before they went about their separate business as teeners. They hooked up again last June. He was her hitting partner during the WTA Championships in Madrid. She was a picture of a supportive loved one during Wimbledon and the Madrid Masters.

Publicly, the 25-year old Hingis has been known to date Magnus Norman, Ivo Heuberger, Justin Gimelstob, Sergio Garcia, and Julian Alonso. She was also linked to England soccer star Sol Campbell and the man who successfully prosecuted her stalker, Florida Assistant State Attorney Christopher Calkin.

Stepanek and Hingis are quite a peculiar pair. She is the inimitable Swiss Miss, he is known to execute the worm dance victory celebration. Fashion-wise she is not a drag at all, he once wore a hideous-looking striped black and white umpire shirt during a match. Alright, opposites attract. And love rules!