Tennis: Australian open: The champion

Federer won the Australian open '06 with some work. He was pushed hard by Haas, Nikolay Davydenko in the previous rounds. Marcos Baghdatis came in all guns blazing, and the hopes were high. For a moment, I was expecting the unexpected. It was a brief moment. Federer is a killer of dreams. He got his groove and the rest was expected.

Pete Sampras was a great server, good ground strokes, consistent to the point of being robotic. Both he and Federer had won 7 grand slams at this age. Federer is not the biggest server in the game, but what sets Federer apart is the sheer beauty of his ground game. Unlike Sampras, Federer makes his share of mistakes. But also unlike Sampras, he can hit a winner when he feels like, almost at will. His balance and position on court and are superlative. Experts attribute him to having the amongst the best ground strokes in the game. The challenge (as with Sampras) is clay.

I watched a few matches of the SAP open at HP Pavilion in San Jose last year, the highlight being an Agassi game. Looking forward to this years tounament.

Tennis: Australian open: Women's tennis..the pain continues

She defeated the first seed Davenport, fought back to send the fierce Sharapova packing, and was well on her way to becoming the champion. It was heart breaking to see Justine Henin-Hardenne, the eight seed from Belgium to go out due to retirement. Amelie Mauresmo was crowned the 2006 Australian open champion.

I would like to continue the thread "Tennis: Australian open: Hantuchova watch ends" on 1/22/06" regarding Sharapova's grunts. Clisters had to retire in the semi-final due to an injury. Henin had to go out due to lack of energy. She was on anti-inflammatory tablets for her shoulder, and she was having an upset stomach too. Suddenly the game doesn't seem idyllic anymore. I like to think of the champions as genuinely talented players, who are at the peak of their game, having fun playing. It’s disheartening to see that the players are in pain, grunting to stay there. It reminds me of games where performance-enhancing drugs are a norm.

Trying to remember why we started playing in the first place, because it certainly was not for money, or stardom. Unfortunately, I am not the only one who seems to have forgotten.

Tennis: Australian open: Mens tennis..

On a grass court in a well-trimmed wimbledon grass court in summer, Sampras would serve and rush to the net for the return, followed by volley. Seems such distant past. Nalbandian serves, stays back, and grinds out the points using his groundstrokes, and so does almost everyone else these days. Baghdatis reached the semi-final with a first serve percentage of less than fifty percent. Even the big servers like Krajicek, Rusedski seem to have disappeared with the exception of Roddick.

The groundstroke consistency seems to have improved especially on the backhand side. The strokes, which seem miraculous some years ago, now seem routine. The players seem fitter, more muscular, even more energetic, and more charged.

The matches last for five hours, and we haven't even started the clay court season yet. There is more talk of hours spent on court, as if talking of a marathon runner. It seems everyone around is a clay court player. Also, the players seem more neurotic, and erratic; emotional energy is a big factor in the game. Two sets can be lost, when the player seems to loose concentration. Even the fighters like Hewitt's seem to be few and far in between.

Things have changes, some for good, some for bad. It just feels different, that’s all.

Tennis: Australian open: Hantuchova watch ends

The women's fourth round saw another tough opponent for Hantuchova in Maria Sharapova, her almost siamese twin. The game was a very closely contested one, with Hantuchova taking a lead in the first set, but eventually being clawed down. One blunder by the line-person when Sharapova was serving at 30-40, break-point was to award a clean-out ball as an ace, it left Hantuchova visibly annoyed and distracted. Hantuchova lost the set 4-6. The second set also saw a good start (3-0) by Hantuchova, but an injury (seemed like a strain) slowed her down, and crippled the movement a bit. She lost the set 6-4. The Hantuchova campaign was over, but the career shows incredible promise.

What stood out in the game were the Sharapova grunts; loud in the first set, louder in the second. Contrast it with the ease and elegance of Roger Federer. A person usually grunts / groans in discomfort, and one wonders if the game is now so to-the-limit that it is a pain (literally) to play. One other game where people play through the pain is American football. I wonder if the rules of tennis can be bend to side-track the trend, but fall short of ideas on the actual changes. With the attrition of the hard hitting girls like Venus, Serena, Capriati the sustainability of the power game is in question. All said and done, it is assured that I am going to watch the next Sharapova match in mute.

Tennis: Australian open - Hantuchova vs Serena

Daniela Hantuchova (17) vs Serena Williams(13) in the third round would seem like a Serena whitewash for a guy like me, who hasn't kept in touch with the women's game enough. The William sisters used to walk into the court and display power and a game which was a notch or two better than any opponent. They ended up playing each other in the Wimbledon finals in 2003 (so much for competition). Title after title went to the William residence. Serena plays a power game with a big serve, and has won 7 grand slam titles. Hantuchova had never even won a set against Serena before, and only one tournament till date. On the upside though Hantuchova is a lean, athletic player who hits the ball very aggressively and very cleanly.
The game though had a different story, an antithesis to the description above. Hantuchova came out all guns blazing, and thoroughly dominated the first set, got three breaks and won 6-1. The second set was better matched, with Serena getting a early break. However Hantuchova came roaring back, and after a few nervous match points in the 12th game, won the set in the tie-breaker.
You got an impression that Serena was not as keen, motivated, or as focussed as Hantuchova. Hantuchova's game was one of very high consistency, aggressive serves, long wait between points, and ambitious drops. There were just traces of familiar Serena fight-back. The 2005 champion went out rather too tamely. Also with Venus knocked in the first round, the women's draw will seem queer, hard to digest.
Hantuchova seems to be a player of the coming times, one I will surely be watching very closely.
Match stats: http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/scores/stats/day9/2306ms.html

The intro..

Tennis, cricket, chess, movies, soccer, IT, technology, books, philosophy (not-theoretical), politics is the stuff of interest. Just getting initiated to the world of blogging..