Madrid’s blue courts

March 14, 2012 Leave a comment

The Mutua Madrid Open, one of the biggest tournaments on the tennis circuit, gets underway from May 4th-13th.

Illustrious names have lifted the title in the past including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal while 2012 promises to attract the same calibre of high-profile players from both sexes. However, different this year is the new blue clay courts they’ll be playing on.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, tournament consultant Ion Tiriac has been sitting on the idea for some time. Not only do the courts look unique and quirky but, the theory is, fans attending the event at Caja Magica, and those watching around the world, will benefit from the change.

The bright yellow colour of the ball contrasts well against the blue surface and provides better accuracy where a shot has impacted. Tiriac says: “The Mutua Madrid Open is a tournament that despite having ten past editions under its belt has just been born.” Others aren’t so keen. Nadal still believes in the tradition of red clay but with it being a unique concept on the tour, surely it’s worth a chance?

Other news coming from the tournament is its official clothing partner ellesse will be working with French fashion house Surface to Air to style the ball boys and girls throughout the week. Ellesse has previously dressed players such as Chris Evert, Boris Becker and Guillermo Vilas and has a rich history with the Mutua Madrid Open. They’ve also began a model competition to coincide with the event, details of which can be found here.

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Special thanks to ellesse for the photos of the blue courts. For more information on the brand visit www.ellesse.com

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Esther Vergeer is the GOAT

February 9, 2012 2 Comments

Esther Vergeer It’s a question we hear debated regularly: which tennis player is the greatest of all time?

After discovering the remarkable story of Esther Vergeer only last night, there is no doubt in my mind that she surpasses the likes of Roger Federer and Steffi Graf in the list of contenders.

Having been diagnosed with paraplegia at the age of eight, the Dutchwoman has an unrivaled record in wheelchair tennis. She’s won a total of 39 Grand Slam titles, held the world number one ranking for 13 years, went 26 months without dropping a set in the mid-2000′s and is currently on a 444 match winning streak in singles.

Some tennis fans will already know of the now 30-year-old in some capacity but with records spanning into the 20th century it surprised me to learn of her so late. Even non-sport fans know who Federer is so you’d expect a CV like hers to make her a household name.

Unfortunately though, she remains a cult figure rather than a pioneer for disabled athletes, sports and events. Although she’s amassed over 5,000 followers on Twitter it doesn’t seem enough when you compare her to other successful disabled athletes.

Oscar Pistorius is probably the most famous disabled athlete in the world and has nearly 30,000 followers. Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson perhaps holds that acclaim in the UK with just over 11,000. Surely Vergeer deserves to be on a par with them.

Thankfully, more people are starting to take note of her amazing dominance. Novak Djokovic had his photo taken with her in a recent tweet mentioning she’d not lost a match since 2003, which had me in utter disbelief. Then I found a video of her doing the Australian Open’s ‘Open Drive’ where I truly understood the scale of her achievements.

Along with her array of Grand Slam titles (which could have been more if Wimbledon held a wheelchair singles event) Vergeer has won five Paralympic gold medals thus far and will be chasing more when she comes to London this summer.

One hopes the world will take note this time and with more support from names such as Djokovic, she can receive just recognition and give wheelchair tennis a louder voice whilst enhancing her legacy further.

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Gotta Love Fed Cup

February 7, 2012 Leave a comment

Petra Kvitova earned the clinching point for defending Fed Cup champion Czech Republic against Germany.Take a look at Petra Kvitova here. There’s fire in her eyes, passion in her stance and pride all over to be wearing the flag of her native Czech Republic.

That could have been one of many images from the WTA’s galleries displaying such hunger and desire to succeed at last week’s Fed Cup. The reason I mention it is due to a recent encounter on our university’s student radio sports show. They drafted me in as a tennis ‘expert’ to discuss the ATP World Tour Finals and the topic of Davis Cup came up.

Surprisingly I heard some resentment for what many believed was a format designed to make an individual sport a team game. It could have been hot air in order to provoke debate but it will be hugely disappointing if the majority of tennis fans dislike the Davis Cup as that’s considered in a far higher regard than it’s female equivalent the Fed Cup.

At the start of the year when sporting calendars are out in every newspaper, the Fed Cup final didn’t even get a look-in. Perhaps us Brits aren’t used to success and seeing us fail in another form of tennis is too much to take but our new-look team gives me reason to believe they’ll turn things around.

Captain Judy Murray (aka Judmoo) has so far guided a strong field of female players both experienced and youthful to the play-offs of World Group II. Although Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong don’t have too long left in their careers they could leave the British team in a very strong position for Heather Watson and Laura Robson.

The British Fed Cup team featured Anne Keothavong, Laura Robson, Elena Baltacha and Heather Watson.

It’s not just my own country that gets me interested in the Fed Cup though. The idea of a World Cup-style tennis tournament every year is incredibly exciting, particularly as the current teams are only going to get better.

Russia is always churning out top professionals and choosing just five players is the toughest decision of all. Germany’s strength in depth is also impressive whilst the camaraderie in the camp shown across the board makes it a pleasure to watch.

The trouble is, players often see the Fed Cup as less important. The Williams sisters have only returned to play for the USA this year in order to qualify for the Olympic Games. For the other three years there’s a significant lack of participation from the world’s elite players, which I’m more disappointed than angry about. It’s the same with the Hopman Cup which I also believe is a great concept.

Look at these photos and tell me it’s not worth participating in. If everyone gave as much as Kvitova up top then we could have a tournament which is the highlight of any tennis season.

http://www.wtatennis.com/javaImages/1f/80/0,,12781~10453023,00.jpg

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Grand Slam Gal

February 1, 2012 Leave a comment

Just before the Australian Open, a fellow blogger and friend of Ace of Baseline kindly set aside some time to talk to me about her own website and what she plans to achieve this year. Here is the story of Melinda Samson, aka Grand Slam Gal…

As the tennis world congregates to Melbourne Park for the first major of the year, one woman is about to embark on a journey she’s been preparing for her whole life.

Melinda Samson will be doing the tennis fan grand slam in 2012, the year of her 40th birthday, which involves attending all four Grand Slam tournaments in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York.

Tennis fans worldwide dream of such an experience but for Mel, it was always when and not if.

She said: “It was about 12 years ago when I thought, you know what, I love travelling and I love tennis so when I’m 40 I’ll go to all the tennis Grand Slam events. It was always a thing I was going to do.

“In the last five years I thought, what do I have to do between now and then to make it happen? So I’ve just been working on the plans to make sure it becomes a reality.”

Having been to 13 Australian Opens so far, those plans hopefully include getting tickets for Wimbledon and the French Open using her Aussie Open membership but she’s willing to make sacrifices in order to fulfil her destiny.

“We’ll get some tickets but it’s whether or not we’ll get to pay face value. We don’t want to have to pay a ridiculous amount but if we have to then so be it.”

In her day-to-day life, Mel is a self-employed search engine marketer, a career path she decided on in order to do the fan grand slam. Along the way she intends to blog her experiences under the pseudonym ‘Grand Slam Gal’.

She’ll be expressing her thoughts on matches, the culture of the cities and also giving useful advice and tips for attending the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon or US Open.

“I love tennis and I love blogging,” she said. “So I just thought how great it would be to put a blog together about something I’m passionate about.”

Mel previously lived in Traralgon before heading two hours down the road to study at Melbourne University. She’s been a resident of the host city ever since then, going to her first Aussie Open in 1989.

Accompanying her on the journey will be her partner Andrew, who’s own nickname is ‘Ball Boy’. With Andrew being from the UK, they’ll base themselves there between the French Open in May and Wimbledon in June.

They’ll then fly back to Victoria for a month’s stay before heading to the US Open in mid-August to complete their dream year.

Of the four majors, Mel and Andrew have attended over 20 events between them but have never been to Flushing Meadows. Despite looking forward to the sights and sounds of the Big Apple, Mel is still certain what her favourite slam is.

“I’d have to say the Australian Open and I think even when I’ve been to them all I’ll still say that. Obviously it’s in Melbourne, it’s my hometown and I’m so proud of what a great experience Tennis Australia and Melbourne puts on for everyone who goes.

“I’m looking forward to it the most. It’s where my heart is.”

You can follow Mel’s journey across the globe at www.grandslamgal.com or follow her on Twitter @GrandSlamGal.

Mel at the Australian Open

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Azarenka Tops Poll

January 16, 2012 Leave a comment

Victoria Azarenka has come out on top as the player most likely to win their first Grand Slam this year. The Ace of Baseline public poll ran from the end of the 2011 season to the start of the 2012 Australian Open and the 22-year-old Belarusian won with 37.5% of the vote.

It had been a two horse race for a long while with Azarenka sharing the lead with current world number one Caroline Wozniacki until a flurry of late votes following her title success in Sydney swayed things her way.

The poll result in full was:

Caroline Wozniacki: 25%
Victoria Azarenka: 37.5%
Vera Zvonareva: 6.25%
Agnieszka Radwanska: 12.5%
Marion Bartoli: 0%
Andrea Petkovic: 18.75%
No new winners in 2012: 0%
Others: 0%

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So Far So Good

January 9, 2012 Leave a comment

Photo Source: AFP / Getty Images

The first week of the ATP and WTA seasons have been concluded with many of this year’s featured players performing well.

Tournaments in Brisbane, Auckland, Chennai and Doha boasted a number of high-profile names while the Hopman Cup also panned out Down Under in Perth.

With many ranking points to save early on this year, Milos Raonic got off to the best possible start by winning the second ATP World Tour title of his career in Chennai. The 21-year-old Canadian beat Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) in a final which didn’t feature any breaks.

Andy Murray took no time to claim his first title of the year and 22nd ATP World Tour crown of his career as the world number four went all the way at the Brisbane International. Not only was it the maiden event of 2012 for the Brit but also the first with new coach Ivan Lendl.

The eight-time Grand Slam winner has been installed to take Murray to the next level by claiming a major title himself. Lendl watched from the stands as his pupil dispatched of Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 6-3 and, with improved movement on the court, he will be a serious title threat again at the Australian Open.

Murray had beaten Dolgopolov in last year’s Aussie Open quarter-final when the Ukrainian emerged as a main player on the tour. The 23-year-old’s chances of jumping another step and making the top 10 this year look to be on the right track.

At 19, home favourite Bernard Tomic is set for big things. After breaking the top 50 last year he’s backed that up with a semi-final berth already.

There was less joy for Kei Nishikori though, as he fell in the second round despite being seeded fifth. Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and Ryan Harrison both crashed out in the first round but young Aussie James Duckworth took full advantage of his wildcard by beating Nicolas Mahut in the opening round.

For the ladies at Brisbane there were less positives. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova went out in the second round along with Bojana Jovanovski but they had some saving grace as they were beaten by eventual champion Kaia Kanepi and multiple Grand Slam winner Serena Williams respectively.

Things didn’t improve in Auckland. Top seed Sabine Lisicki made the last eight but had to retire in her quarter-final match due to an abdominal injury. She’ll be hoping it doesn’t prove too serious and won’t keep her out of the first major of the year next week.

Elsewhere, Rebecca Marino lost her first match of 2012 in straight sets but teenage Czech Karolina Pliskova came through qualifying to make the main draw.

At the Hopman Cup, Petra Kvitova and Tomas Berdych took the main prize for the Czech Republic but Grigor Dimitrov put some impressive displays in for Bulgaria including a 6-2, 6-1 win over top 10 player Mardy Fish.

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Abierto Juvenil Mexicano 2012

January 3, 2012 Leave a comment

While much of the world celebrated the Christmas holidays, a host of young tennis players were seeing through 2012 in Mexico City. The Abierto Juvenil Mexicano, previously known as the Casablanca Cup, began on Boxing Day and although much of the event took place last year, it’s the opening tournament of the 2012 junior circuit.

The clay court event was being held at Club Deportivo Chapultepec for the first time having been on the hard courts of the Club Casablanca Satelite. Here’s a round-up of the action:

Round 1
Seven of the 16 seeds in the boys’ draw fell in the opening round. The highest were Dutch fifth seed Moos Sporken and Peru’s sixth seed Daniel Santos who both crashed out in three sets. Home pressure told for another pair of seeds when Mexican wildcards Andres Zepeda and Ivar Jose Aramburu Contreras defeated Jorge Brian Panta Herreros (9) and Tendai Tapfuma (12). The bottom three seeds consisting of British duo Sam Hutt and Jordan Angus along with Russian Anton Desyatnik all went out in straight sets. In the girls’ draw Osaka Mayor’s Cup quarter-finalist Katy Dunne lost in the first round for the second successive Grade A event. The 11th seeded Brit lost 6-4, 6-1 to Russian Elena Maltseva. Belgian Kimberley Zimmermann’s victory over 15th seed Petra Uberalova of Slovakia was the only other notable result.

Round 2
Fourth seed Hassan Ndayishimiye’s exit proved to be the biggest shock of the round in the boys’ draw. American qualifier Martin Redlicki always had the Burundian rattled after forcing a first set tiebreak but despite losing it he went on to win 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-3. Thien Nguyen Hoang (13) was the only other seed to fall. In the girls’ draw, three seeds were sent home as Ayaka Okuno (6), Rebecca Peterson (9) and Laura Pigossi (16) all lost in straight sets. Japan’s Okuno proved to be the only one of the top eight seeds missing in the third round.

Round 3
Second seed Yoshihito Nishioka, an Orange Bowl semi-finalist a fortnight ago, succumbed to the home advantage as he lost to Ricky Medinilla. The Mexican produced a great performance, taking the match comfortably with a 6-2, 6-2 scoreline. Matteo Donati, who had beaten sixth seed Daniel Santos in the first round, continued his impressive form by beating 11th seed Mikael Torpegaard in the third. He emerged victorious against the Dane 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 and was one of three unseeded players in the quarter-final draw. Meanwhile, the seeds continued to progress in the girls’ draw as the top five all made it into the last eight. Daria Salnikova progressed and Maltseva re-emerged to prevent eighth seed Deborah Kerfs from making it a clean sweep of seeds in the quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals
It wasn’t long before the top seed Nikola Milojevic joined Nishioka through the exit doors. Despite heading into the last eight having not dropped a set, the Serb found himself well beaten by Israeli eighth seed Bar Tzuf Botzer 6-2, 6-3. In fact, all of the quarter-final matches in the boys’ draw were decided in straight sets. Third seed Frederico Ferreira Silva and 10th seed Stefano Napolitano ended the runs of unseeded pair Donati and Medinilla respectively but fifth seed Connor Farren was on the wrong end of a 6-2, 6-3 scoreline as Argentine Juan Ignacio Galarza progressed to the semi-finals. There were no significant shocks in the girls’ draw as top seed Ganna Poznikhirenko, third seed Elizaveta Kulichkova and fourth seed Kyle McPhillips all overcame lower-ranked opposition. However fifth seed Varvava Flink’s relatively easy 6-2, 6-4 win over second seed Zarah Razafimahatratra was somewhat of an upset.

Semi-finals
An all-Russian final line-up emerged in the girls’ draw after Flink and Kulichkova emerged victorious against higher seeded opponents. Flink reached her first Grade A final after beating the USA’s McPhillips 6-3, 6-4 while Kulichkova had to overcome her doubles partner and top seed Poznikhirenko of the Ukraine. The pair lost the doubles final to Marcela Zacarias and Laura Pigossi but Kulichkova could salvage some joy at the end of the day with her 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win in the singles. Elsewhere, Silva and Napolitano made it to the final of the boys’ event with the Portuguese beating Botzer 6-4, 7-5 and the Italian scrapping through 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 over Galarza.

Finals
Napolitano and Kulichkova were crowned the inaugural champions of the Alberto Juvenil Mexicano with both claiming straight set wins in their respective finals. Kulichkova defeated her friend and compatriot Flink after dominating the first set and coming back from 5-3 down in the second to win 6-2, 7-6 (9-7). Napolitano had an easier ride against Silva winning 6-4, 6-4 to bag his first Grade A title. Silva did have some revenge though as he ruined his opponent’s perfect day by claiming the doubles crown. Silva and his American partner Connor Farren defeated all-Italian pairing Napolitano and Matteo Donati 4-6, 6-4 [10-4].

Photo Source: Francesco Panunzio / itftennis.com

Photo Source: Susan Mullane / itftennis.com

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Watson Injury

December 28, 2011 Leave a comment

Heather Watson has pulled out of the ASB Classic, the WTA season opener in Auckland, due to a sprained ankle. The British number three and world number 92 expects her next tournament to be the Moorilla International in Hobart before entering her first Australian Open main draw on January 16th.

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Best Exhibition Ever?

December 17, 2011 Leave a comment

There’s something about Kim Clijsters that I just love. In the third year of the Diamond Games exhibition event in her native Belgium she showed me exactly why I’m so fond of her; producing more classic viral moments than the OMG Cat with the help of sister Elke, fellow Belgian Yanina Wickmayer and current world number one Caroline Wozniacki.

Here’s the cream of the crop. Over the mic she declares the first man to kiss Wickmayer wins a car…

 

Know any exhibition moments to top this? Comment and share your favourites!

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Duckworth Wildcard

December 16, 2011 Leave a comment

James Duckworth has been given a wildcard place at his home Grand Slam the Australian Open. The 19-year-old had reached the final of the Aussie Open play-offs but lost in straight sets to Marinko Matosevic. As preparation, Duckworth will enter the qualifying events at Brisbane and Sydney leading up to the first major of the year in Melbourne.

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