2015 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters…ATP 1000…Monte-Carlo, Monaco

[stotty]

Djokovic looking bulletproof...

I saw from 4-3 in the first set to 3-3 in the second set in the match against Nadal. It's always nice to catch at least something of a match between lessons. Djokovic looked incredibly good. Hitting the ball so clean and to a length and looked like he had all the time in the world. He had Nadal pinned way back behind the baseline for most of the time I was watching.

The French Open is going to be interesting if that final were to come about. I mean, it wasn't as if Nadal was playing badly today. I still think Nadal will take some dethroning over five sets. Nadal's achievement at the French is the most remarkable in our sport as stroke points out. It's the toughest slam of the lot to win and only one other man has ever won multiple times like Nadal has.

I am not giving T-Bird much chance tomorrow...

Roll on the French....

[don_budge]

The Semifinals of the 2015 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters

I saw from 4-3 in the first set to 3-3 in the second set in the match against Nadal. It's always nice to catch at least something of a match between lessons. Djokovic looked incredibly good. Hitting the ball so clean and to a length and looked like he had all the time in the world. He had Nadal pinned way back behind the baseline for most of the time I was watching.

Roll on the French....

Tomas Berdych vs. Gael Monfils…Personally I have a difficult time understanding how a player of Gael Monfils immense talent can run so hot and cold. I didn't think he was all that sharp against Roger Federer as much as Roger played so passively. But then Monfils decimates Grigor Dimitrov…who admittedly has had his own problems achieving some semblance of consistency. Then Gael either chooses or is incapable or whatever…he doesn't show up to play Tomas Berdych. Somehow I had that impression early on as I watched the beginning of the match but I chose to go back and check on the beavers. The beavers and I are having a much more interesting matchup than those in professional tennis I can assure you. At this point in our titanic struggle I am in control…sort of like being up an early break of serve...but for some reason I suspect that they are laying low for whatever. I've cleared the dams and they haven't showed up for several days. Could it be that they are having their babies and are too bust? See what I mean?

Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal…Another interesting look at this rather non interesting tennis player…you might say non-interesting tennis players. If you ask me both are as boring as the day is long on Midsummer Day here in Sweden. Endless backcourt rallies with occasional dysfunctional foray's to the net. A sure fire recipe for a snooze fest. But you know me…perfectly capable of finding ways to amuse myself.

My first goal for this match was to document the Fafa Nadal preserve ritual. This little act of retardedness richly deserves some poignant analysis. Here it is as far as I could tell…

Swipe of the line to clear any clay off of it directly in front of him…a rather distinctive pull of the shorts out of his ass (he's at least one knuckle deep)…then with the right hand it is: tug the sleeve of the left shoulder then the swipe of the nose then the tug of the sleeve of the right shoulder…the nose again…then a pull on the right ear followed by another swipe of the nose and then finally it is the other ear. At the same time he is accomplishing all of this utter nonsense with his right hand he shows enough attention to detail to continually bounce the ball with his racquet ten times. This isn't quite enough though…he proceeds to bounce the ball five more times with his right hand before he graces us with a serve.

I think this is about as messed up as it gets. This prima donna makes his opponent wait through this whole dysfunctional ritual every single time he serves…not to mention the whole audience, live and on the screen. I know that if I was his opponent that I would make a little game of disrupting his little ritual. I would pull out of my return stance and hold up my hand early in each service game once or twice or three times. Just to see if he repeats the nonsense again.

The most amazing thing about yesterday is that the camera was deliberately panning away from Nadal from this ritual and showing Djokovic waiting patiently to return the eventual serve. The camera also was panning the crowd but the one thing that it wasn't doing all that often was showing this moronic sequence of events. Phew!

I watched a good part of the match Stotty. It seems you missed the points of convergence. At 3-all in the first set there was a very long game with Nadal serving and Djokovic managed to break him in that game. The game as I recall featured several forays to the net by both players…all as a result of drop shots and ensuing cat and mouse tactics. Djokovic's "tactic of the day" was to lure Nadal in and then to try and lob over his head. It was difficult to not throw up listening to the announcers gushing over this deviation front the endless backcourt monotony. Nadal played Djokovic rather evenly to this point…the all important seventh game according to Bill Tilden…but then Djokovic puts it in "bagel drive" and he was gone with the first set 6-3.

The second set was much the same except Nadal did not have the benefit of an early break and they dueled forever to 3-all in the second. Again it was much the same…the seventh game went back and forth forever until Novak Djokovic finally prevailed and then once again it was zoom…it was all over but the crying. On Nadal's part.

Rafael seems to be missing something. He definitely is missing some of his hair but there seems to be something else missing. Apparently he was off on a rather long sabbatical again. I don't know how many times in his career he has done so. But it raises a red flag for me and that flag is one of drugs and drug testing and drug cycling. I have heard or read rumours that in the past at least one of these sabbaticals was a suspension for use of illegal drugs and there apparently was a lot of money that exchanged hands to keep it on the QT. I wonder if that is what is missing…is that what is suddenly rendering the "freak of nature" human afterall. The lack of his favorite juice? He's a strange character if you ask me. A lot of strange facial expressions and twitches. He didn't used to look like that as a younger man.

Novak Djokovic for his own self seems to have a gear in the box that everyone else is lacking. The courts are tailor made for his impenetrable style of defence with the slow and high bounce. Nadal's forehand lacked the zip to put a dent in Novak's backhand as he just moves in on it and plays it aggressively crosscourt back into the teeth or he drives it down the line…thereby assuming control of the two possible permutations in an otherwise rather tactically limited game.

Did anyone notice that Nadal seems to have changed the backswing on his serve? Seems much larger than it used to be, less abbreviated...

I was very curious about this comment. It seems to be incrementally wider but somehow it seems to be still abbreviated. It happens rather quick so a slow motion or still footage comparison might reveal something. What ever it is…his serve does not seem to have improved either technically or tactically. Djokovic had not difficulty breaking it and he held his own rather routinely.

[klacr]

Berdych vs. Djokovic today.

Bad match-up for Berdych but he can take solace in the fact that the last time he defeated Djokovic, was in fact on a clay court (Rome)

Credit to Berdych for making it this far. His fourth Masters 1000 series final.
2005-Paris-Defeated Ljubicic
2010-Miami-Lost to Roddick
2012-Madrid-Lost to Federer

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

Berdych came very, very close today. Too bad he lost his lead in the first set. He stretched Djokovic to the limit today...

[stotty]

Djokovic is now so confident, he can go 2 or 3 love down and not even flinch. He can play badly and still win against most players...perhaps even all players. Not for one moment do you think he could lose to Berdych. It's getting dull because he's become so much better than the others right now. I hope Federer is going to get his training block right for Wimbledon. Nadal needs to get it together as well if he is going to retain his Roland Garros crown.

Above all we need someone new, someone quite brilliant to emerge, someone to spoil the party.

[klacr]

Monte Carlo Melancholy

Tough match. Berdych played at a good level and to be honest, I think we are pretty lucky we had Berdych playing in the finals for a competition factor. Those conditions were heavy and slow. Few players if any have the firepower to blast through the court in those conditions, Berdych can.

Djokovic's defensive abilities are on another level. When his offense is not firing on all cylinders, he just refuses to miss a single ball on defense. There was a rally in the 3rd set that lasted 35 shots. It was impressive. Berdych won it on a winner in the corner but Djokovic knew the damage was done. Berdych lost the next points in quick succession. Much like Agassi when he would run his opponents ragged and if player could hit incredible winner, let him have it, knowing that Agassi will now win the next two points while the opponent recovers.

Berdych went down two breaks in that 3rd set, most people began writing him off. But he broke back and had chnces to break again to get back on serve. If he got back on serve, would outcome have been the same? Possibly. But Berdych had belief in his eye. He didn't fade away.
Berdych was down a set and 2-5 vs. Djokovic in Rome back in 2012. he came back, won the set and took the match. Berdych knows he can do it.. He's getting closer. And that's all we can hope for as tennis players, progress.


Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Novak Djokovic vs. Tomas Berdych…2015 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters Finals

Above all we need someone new, someone quite brilliant to emerge, someone to spoil the party.

Tactically speaking professional tennis is at a standstill. Talk about the technique all you want but when it comes to tactic the game has become developmentally interrupted. That's a nice a way of saying it is retarded. Which it is.

What is amazing about Djokovic is the things he can't do. His overhead and volley are less than world-class and his court sense at the net is almost amateur. His touch game is pretty average too. He makes far less drop shots than he pulls off. And his sliced backhand is also average (by world-class standards). To add to all this his lapses in decision making can be downright bizarre. Yet...despite all this he is the best player in the world.

Novak Djokovic vs. Tomas Berdych

I saw a good deal of the match. But only off and on. I watch a little then I have to walk away…it's really boring. The players are really boring. My mind wanders. I wonder how the beaver is doing…even though I know he is sleeping. I wonder what Puntzi is up to…a 10 week old chocolate lab puppy we took two weeks ago. Important things…away from the hype. The hype that has become professional tennis. I turn down the sound to avoid the likes of Mark Petchey bellowing about the greatness of the players. The superlatives of the points that they play. When I recognize it for what it is…politically correct tennis. It's being played within the control limits that have been designed by the tennis powers that be. The truth is…it sucks.

This final was no different than the final in Miami…that was no different than any other final that has been played without Roger Federer in the finals for the past umpteen years. What the hell…it may as well be forever at this point as those of us that know better will eventually lose interest and the whole things folds into a malaise of sheer and utter monotony. Enough boredom to choke a horse.

There was only one difference between this final and the Miami final and that is it appeared that Tomas Berdych played to the final point. But then again…it may have been a bagel in the final set if not for the rain delay. Mere speculation I know…but come on…Berdych was only cat food. For Djokovic. The reigning number one player in the world for the past million weeks or so. A player with a limited and one dimensional game. The greatest of all time some are starting to trumpet…the masses knowing no better follow in mass. Nodding their collective heads without any spine to correct themselves. What a world. What a tennis world…mirroring life. Metaphorically speaking.

Berdych played well? In what respect? Did he play imaginatively? With tactical acumen? Did he serve particularly well? Tactically speaking? Just what did he do that was "well played"? He his some good forehands and backhands? It isn't enough. Not by a long shot. You have to press the issue. You have to maintain pressure on your opponent. The prevailing excuse is the conditions and the surfaces and the strings. They don't allow for the transition to the net. It could very well be…except of course that nobody has tried it except some second tier players. There is no training ground for this type of tactic…all court tennis. It's the junior game on steroids. Sadly…that just may be literally speaking.

I saw Berdych attempting some net play. Some transition play. It was sort of sad. He repeatedly hit cross court backhand approaches into the teeth of the Djokovic backhand which is only slightly less stupid than trying to approach crosscourt into a Nadal forehand. The opportunities were there to come in and conclude things. But time and again he lets Djokovic play total defence and recover only to have him turn the tables and end up beating Tomas over the head with one of the table legs…over and over. Bludgeoning him into submission. Without that rain delay it may have been a bagel in the third. I sort of perversely wish it had been.

I took nothing away from that match. It didn't impress me. I am not in awe of Mr. Djokovic. I am more inspired by Mr. Beaver in my backyard. Djokovic has some serious limitations and it is only that there is not a single soul around except Roger Federer to challenge his defence. Even Roger slipped into the malaise when he insisted on playing the dinosaur tennis racquet for ten years past it's usefulness. If he had switched back in 2001 when he took over the reigns from Pete Sampras he may have been able to continue with his style of play. Why not? He has resurrected it at the age of 34.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6jt8-KpPsU

This is what the game looked like. Look what we have now. Evolution? Devolution! It's politically correct…and I disagree. I protest. Vehemently. Tell me I'm wrong. I would love to hear the argument.

[don_budge]

The Irony of it All…The Eclipse

Above all we need someone new, someone quite brilliant to emerge, someone to spoil the party.

The irony of it all is that Novak Djokovic has eclipsed the latest pretender to be the greatest player of all time in Rafael Nadal. One one-dimensional player eclipsing another one-dimensional player. Greatest Of All Time? Nope…not by a long shot. The best of the present…and the present being the shallowest of talent pools of all time. At least the shallowest in terms of diversity of play.

[bottle]

I am not in awe of Mr. Djokovic. I am more inspired by Mr. Beaver in my backyard.

Philipse Brook runs through the heart of the most beautiful part of Garrison, New York just across the Hudson River from the battlements of West Point.

At sometime between ages six and ten for me a pair of beavers came along and put up a dam. Suddenly we had a skating pond right next to the lawn which I have continued to mow when I return to Garrison.

It was on that lawn behind Saunders' farm house that Pete Seeger told me that he and my oldest friend Sandy Saunders and a bunch of donors decided how to finance The Clearwater, an education-oriented replica of the Dutch ships that used to sail up and down the Hudson.

It was from that lawn that Sandy's father extended a ladder out onto the ice after I skated too near a spring.

The county didn't like the beavers as much as we did since they never stopped their construction and water began to flow across Old Albany Post Road, a dirt road kept hard with calcium chloride from Detroit.

A paddy wagon came and took away some beavers but didn't get them all. So the paddy wagon came back again and again over a couple of years.

Finally the beavers were gone but their pond remains.

And Sandy, a Republican from back in the time when Republicans cared about the environment, maintained a certain Jeffersonian animus toward tyrannous road crews.

One time on sleds in our forties at about 100 mph we were sledding down the longest hill of any dirt road in Garrison when the road crews went out of the way to detach Sandy from the rest of the couples so that the police could handcuff him and take him off to the hoosegow.

I guess he had been defending our right to the hill (more like a cliff) the same as he would beavers when the guys in orange trucks just wanted to sand it.

[don_budge]

Commentatoes…

Check out the gushing of the commentatoes for some rather mediocre play being hyped into superlatives. This is why I turn off the sound unless there is actually a human being with tennis knowledge doing the commentary.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/04/15/Monte-Carlo-Top-Hot-Shots.aspx

In a word…nauseating.

[stotty]

Check out the gushing of the commentatoes for some rather mediocre play being hyped into superlatives. This is why I turn off the sound unless there is actually a human being with tennis knowledge doing the commentary.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/04/15/Monte-Carlo-Top-Hot-Shots.aspx

In a word…nauseating.

Good to see Nadal didn't play the tweener the Monte Carlo clip. Points are just too important to him to waste like many others do.

But, yes, commentatoes....Petchey is the world's worst. He loves the sound of his own voice and is a cocky sod.

I guess the problem is they always feel they have to say something. The good thing about Frew McMillan is that he doesn't talk unless there is something worth saying. I like that.

[klacr]

Good to see Nadal didn't play the tweener the Monte Carlo clip. Points are just too important to him to waste like many others do.

But, yes, commentatoes....Petchey is the world's worst. He loves the sound of his own voice and is a cocky sod.

I guess the problem is they always feel they have to say something. The good thing about Frew McMillan is that he doesn't talk unless there is something worth saying. I like that.

Good points Stotty. To me, talking is like currency. It tends to lose its value when too much gets produced. For tennis commentators, there is a fine line, many of them completely step over it.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

Djokovic playing at a high level (baseline). As much as I am not a fan of the negativity towards some of the best players in the world, It's hard to disagree with don_budge on his thoughts of Djokovic's volley skills and acumen (or lack thereof) in the forecourt area. It really is deplorable. I saw it first hand in Miami vs. Murray but the Monte Carlo final was not as frequent due to the surface. With that said, Djokovic is still #1 and I am many spots below him so my opinion carries little weight in the Djokovic world. And besides, if it did, Why would I want to help him improve? My teaching, coaching skills and belief is in Berdych. He has me on retainer...he just doesn't know nor has he activated me yet .

Not waiting by the phone though.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA

[GeoffWilliams]

Joker's volley game proves you don't need to be a good volleyer in today's game to be #1. I've seen him make volleys, that I would look better hitting! And that's not exaggerated. Sad to see, but he can lay down a good drop now and then. Too tentative, too much pathetic blocking, with no punch to his put a way opportunities. Sampras is probably aghast at it all.

[klacr]

Joker's volley game proves you don't need to be a good volleyer in today's game to be #1. I've seen him make volleys, that I would look better hitting! And that's not exaggerated. Sad to see, but he can lay down a good drop now and then. Too tentative, too much pathetic blocking, with no punch to his put a way opportunities. Sampras is probably aghast at it all.

So how good could he be with volleys? Kinda scary

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton