One reason Roger Federer has had the longevity he's had is due to good scheduling. There have been those that have suggested a "streamlined" calendar would make it more interesting for the fans, thus, the idea would be to have 8 months of tennis, with 2 months devoted to the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon,
After Wimbledon winds down, the tour diverges for a few weeks. Those who head to the US, can play Newport, the last grass event of the year, and a little over a week after Newport ends, the US Open Series starts up the hard court season. There are, much to Nadal's chagrin, three hard court
Perhaps the warning signs were there. Robin Soderling was on his way to a pretty easy win over David Ferrer when a bad call upset Soderling and he spent the rest of the match trying to regain control of a situation that went out of control. Soderling needed five sets to beat Ferrer. The day
Sometimes, a match comes down to nerves. Soderling was cruising in this match. Almost right out of the gate, Ferrer seemed despondent, thinking Soderling might overpower him. Now, Ferrer probably wasn't thinking that. Ferrer is one of the better competitors on tour. Despite his diminutive size, he is quick and chases down lots of balls.
Due to some previous commitments, I couldn't see any of the day's matches. Although I thought maybe Petzschner might give Nadal trouble because he gave Federer trouble in Queen's, I didn't think he'd take two sets off Nadal. The last two sets resemble the Haase match, i.e., it seems Nadal figured out what to do
Let's take a quick rundown of Saturday's matches. Petzschner vs. Nadal (Centre Court, Match 2) Petzschner was a bit unlucky. The last player not to get seeded, he was "awarded" the 33rd seed when Ernests Gulbis withdrew shortly after the draw was announced. Petzschner was moved to Gulbis's position in the draw, which meant the
Given Day 1's scares, most people probably felt that Day 2 would return more to form with seeded players taking care of business, and basically that's how the day has started. Rafael Nadal played Kei Nishikori in the first round. Nishikori is only 20 years old having trained at Bollettieri's. Nishikori had a wrist injury
In a post-match interview, John McEnroe asked if Rafa had played his best match of the year to beat Robin Soderling. Rafa said, no, it wasn't his best match. He thought he played better in Monte Carlo. Of course, announcers like McEnroe want answers that the best players play their best in the biggest spotlight.
They say Robin's most improved shot is his mind. But really, the all time champ is Rafa. Robin Soderling came out with a strategy to just pummel Rafa into the ground. It's a strategy that Almagro has used. It's a strategy Verdasco has used. But Rafa plays such amazing defense. With any other pro, this
Lleyton Hewitt was once asked who his tennis idol was. Rather than point to one of the numerous Aussies, many of whom had probably stopped playing by the time he was born, or even to players like Pat Cash, his role model was the Swede, Mats Wilander. Perhaps it made more sense, especially since Hewitt
