2016 Australian Open Tennis Championships

[stotty]

I really like Tomic's game but his attitude and overall demeanor is annoying. I love how Fed was asked about Tomic's declaration that his goal is to make the top 10 this year. Fed was asked about this and he said something like we have been hearing about Tomics goals from him for many years, but getting into the top 10? He first needs to get his game to the next level, whatever that is.

I would love Tomic to get his act together. He's a little different with his underpowered - relatively speaking - style of play. He needs to get on and do it, though...he doesn't have the time to flap about forever.

[stotty]

A little more foreplay before the curtain goes up and the show begins. Margaret court give some forthright views on the modern game.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/wShmJQq09ZbBN3ZnXNyVnJ/margaret-court-womens-tennis-is-a-little-bit-boring

[klacr]

A little more foreplay before the curtain goes up and the show begins. Margaret court give some forthright views on the modern game.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/arti...tle-bit-boring

What she says isn't wrong.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Margaret Court…Queen of the Court

A little more foreplay before the curtain goes up and the show begins. Margaret court give some forthright views on the modern game.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/arti...tle-bit-boring

Ultra fascinating article about one of the true legends of the game. Her views are straight and firm…like somebody else I know. She is right out of the "old" Aussie school of tennis where Harry Hopman was the task master.

Interesting that Margaret is the Pastor of a church that she founded. She believes in a higher power…something other than the ITF. Therefore she is not afraid to tell the truth. Everything that she says is the gospel and there is more that she has left unsaid.

I can never understand why the players of bygone eras never man up and tell it like it is but then I realize that it is all a matter of not biting the hand that feeds you. Most have connections and still have their livelihood in the game…it's a conflict of interest when it comes to telling the truth.

Tennis is a little bit boring? Well it's an understatement to anybody that knows any better.

"I think the women's (game) it's a little sad, there's nobody who stands out, I think we really have got to go back and look at the grassroots of the game. I always believe you can take a good athlete and make a good tennis champion out of them. If you see a good athlete they bring them in and burn them out too early and they're gonna make a tennis player out of them at 11 and 12, and it's too early."

Many of her comments really resonate with me. The quote above in particular. This is one of the big problems with the game today is the early hunt for the next professional tennis player. You end up with the men playing the junior game…on steroids.

Great find and great timing. This great Aussie champion telling the truth on the eve of the championships. The games have begun. Watch 'em and weep.

[klacr]

Fed, Djokovic, Berdych, Nishikori, Cilic all move through. Ho Hum Day 1 of Aussie Open. American Noah Rubin upset Benoit Paire. I stayed up all night to watch. I have a full 12 hour day at work today so that should be a doozy. Don't feel a bit fatigued as my adrenaline is pumping for the first grand slam of the year. My students are following their teacher, as many of them were texting me throughout night on questions about different players and various comments. They are just as tennis crazy as I am. I made them that way. Proud of it as well.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[bottle]

"If you see a good athlete they bring them in and burn them out too early and they're gonna make a tennis player out of them at 11 and 12, and it's too early."

Yes, Margaret Court appears to be a sage. Will have to watch out on this point regarding my 10-year-old faux granddaughter Cate in England. Will have to be aware of it when speaking with her parents. But I thought it a great sign that she recently scored eight (8) goals in a field hockey game. The next bit of cross-training should be her reading of the complete works of Fyodor Dostoevsky.

[gzhpcu]

There is also a cool Australian Open app for the iPhone for all the latest results and news... https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/aust...345137837?mt=8

[stotty]

Yes, Margaret Court appears to be a sage. Will have to watch out on this point regarding my 10-year-old faux granddaughter Cate in England. Will have to be aware of it when speaking with her parents. But I thought it a great sign that she recently scored eight (8) goals in a field hockey game. The next bit of cross-training should be her reading of the complete works of Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Ultra fascinating article about one of the true legends of the game. Her views are straight and firm…like somebody else I know. She is right out of the "old" Aussie school of tennis where Harry Hopman was the task master.

I like the way Margaret isn't phased by modern tennis. I find that really impressive. The majority of former top player de-hype themselves as years go by to the point where they seem to bury themselves further and further into oblivion. I assume out of wanting to appear modest. I think they end up believing their own de-hyping and capitulate to the awe of modern tennis. There are some things compared to the past that modern tennis is better at, and there are some things it is far worse at. As don_budge often says, engineering has so much to do with it. Tweak the engineering and you will almost certainly end up with different players.

I think what Margaret was trying to say in commenting she was more aggressive than players today is that she was more tactically aggressive. She had the forecourt game to carry those aggressive tactics out. The pinnacle of aggression lies in having a decent net game...to finish things off...like punctuating the end of a sentence.

The 'children starting too young' comment resonated with me also. It's detrimental to 95% of children to start too young. I started both my boys when they were aged 10. We pottered about with bat and ball periodically before that, but not much. Both my boys have a good chance of playing for life as a result. Had I started them aged 6, 7, 8 or even 9, they would have been statistically far more likely to burn out. As a development coach for over 30 years, I am in a strong position to say tell you that what Margaret says is absolutely true, it's good advice.

A bog standard day at the Aussie Open...nothing worthwhile for me to comment on, so I won't.

[lobndropshot]

We left Denver Saturday morning, forty-one hours of travel and five hours of sleep later. I was standing in front Rod Laver Arena as Mrs. Federer walks 4 feet in front of my wife and me. Mirka is taller than I expected she is about 5 10 or 11.

We hadn't planned on going our first night in Melbourne. But, once I was there I could not resist and I wanted to see what ground passes would cost. So we lined up in a the ticket queue behind a young lady about 25 years old. I was shocked when the lady's friend arrived later and didn't get instantly promoted to the front of the line. In Denver she would have just gone directly to the front of the line.

Initially I had just wanted to see the price of ground passes. However, when we got to the attendant my wife asked what was available for Rod Laver Arena and we purchased eighth row seats along the baseline. It was way more than I wanted to spend, but I was helpless who could say no to Federer seats?

Seeing Federer in person is much different than watching 1000s videos of him. On the video you can look at what he does frame by frame and convince yourself what he does makes sense and is in fact possible. However, at least for last night, what Federer does on the court makes no sense. I was deeply humbled by his ability to be effective and efficient with virtually all shots. What I found most amazing is Federer's ability to pick up the ball right off baseline and hurt his opponent and pressure them right away. Also his slice slides and stays lower than I expected. His slice is a shot that would piss me off if I had to face it just seems so difficult to attack and gives him so much time to get back into position.

Yesterday seems like a dream and I can't wait for more today! I am off to Olympic Boulevard.

[gzhpcu]

Lucky guy!

[don_budge]

Jetlag…lobndropshot steps up!

We left Denver Saturday morning, forty-one hours of travel and five hours of sleep later. I was standing in front Rod Laver Arena as Mrs. Federer walks 4 feet in front of my wife and me. Mirka is taller than I expected she is about 5 10 or 11.

We hadn't planned on going our first night in Melbourne. But, once I was there I could not resist and I wanted to see what ground passes would cost. So we lined up in a the ticket queue behind a young lady about 25 years old. I was shocked when the lady's friend arrived later and didn't get instantly promoted to the front of the line. In Denver she would have just gone directly to the front of the line.

Initially I had just wanted to see the price of ground passes. However, when we got to the attendant my wife asked what was available for Rod Laver Arena and we purchased eighth row seats along the baseline. It was way more than I wanted to spend, but I was helpless who could say no to Federer seats?

Seeing Federer in person is much different than watching 1000s videos of him. On the video you can look at what he does frame by frame and convince yourself what he does makes sense and is in fact possible. However, at least for last night, what Federer does on the court makes no sense. I was deeply humbled by his ability to be effective and efficient with virtually all shots. What I found most amazing is Federer's ability to pick up the ball right off baseline and hurt his opponent and pressure them right away. Also his slice slides and stays lower than I expected. His slice is a shot that would piss me off if I had to face it just seems so difficult to attack and gives him so much time to get back into position.

Yesterday seems like a dream and I can't wait for more today! I am off to Olympic Boulevard.

What a travel day. How much of that was layover time? How many flights? How much was the entry into Federer's match? Great that you spent the money…I probably would have chickened out. I refused to pay six euro's for a piece of pizza in the Frankfurt, Germany airport.

One great post! The slice taking off on the court may indicate the court is just a tad quicker. Two important observations that Federer's coach is hopeful emphasizing to him. Difficult to attack and added recovery time. Thanks for taking the time out to report to us.

Another indication of a quicker surface is Fernando Verdasco's butt kicking of Rafael Nadal in five sets. Good bye Rafa…second first round exit from a Slam in 44 tries. Verdasco just started hitter winners in the fifth set…Nadal was up 2-0 in the fifth and never saw the ball after that.

Looking forwards to Jack Sock and Taylor Fritz.

[klacr]

Adios Rafa!!!

Verdasco was not intimidated nor aware that Nadal was the favorite. Verdasco thumped that forehand. What a beautiful shot that is.

Nadal out in 1st round.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

I didn't see the Verdasco/Nadal match. From what I read it sounds like a sensational performance by Verdasco.

But doesn't the ball have to be sitting up a bit to allow someone to clean that many winners? It sounds like Verdasco was getting to play completely on his own terms in the last three sets. I just wonder if Nadal has lost penetration on his forehand and he has come to rely mostly on movement to eke out wins these days? At the end of the day, a human can move at a maximum of 28mph while ground shots can be struck in excess of 90mph...so only one winner.

I wonder what Nadal's penetration and length were like in that match? Did anyone watch it?

[don_budge]

Fernando Verdasco vs. Rafael Nadal...

I didn't see the Verdasco/Nadal match. From what I read it sounds like a sensational performance by Verdasco.

But doesn't the ball have to be sitting up a bit to allow someone to clean that many winners? It sounds like Verdasco was getting to play completely on his own terms in the last three sets. I just wonder if Nadal has lost penetration on his forehand and he has come to rely mostly on movement to eke out wins these days? At the end of the day, a human can move at a maximum of 28mph while ground shots can be struck in excess of 90mph...so only one winner.

I wonder what Nadal's penetration and length were like in that match? Did anyone watch it?

I watched the tie-break in the fourth and the last set. You have long been a fan of Verdasco's forehand and you have posted a clip of it from Wimbledon. The ball must have been setting up at least as much as it was on the velcro grass. But Nadal's ball does sit up a bit with the topspin and as you point out…it is questionable just how much "penetration" there is on his ball. Verdasco was taking some devastating shots at the backhand as well…he sort of applied the Djokovic tactic. He went aggressively at the forehand and opened up the backhand side. He definitely had Nadal on the run and all he could do in the last set was try to defend.

But it was totally futile…after he go up 2-0 he seemed to lose his concentration and at the same time Fernando turned on the afterburners. Mats Wilander was very impressed with the performance. He was commenting on the lack of service dominance with regard to Nadal. Nadal's nerves seemed to be a bit shaky in the end…particular with respect to his serve. It sort of let him down. I seem to remember someone writing about a service motion that when suspect might get a bit shaky when the chips are down. Verdasco was tagging his returns on both sides.

Verdasco's forehand was very impressive but I was also impressed with his backhand. He had the pedal to the metal on both sides and what is more I seem to recall that he had won 25 of 27 net approaches as well.

[klacr]

Nadal's forehand started to lose some depth, Verdasco said "thank you very much" and started dictating. And yes, the 25 out of 27 net points won was lovely to see. Verdasco, to his credit was a top 10 doubles player not too long ago and had some great success winning the ATP World Tour Finals a few years back. He's not a stranger to the forecourt.

here are some stats
http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/...y7/1133ms.html

I knew that match would be a tricky one for Nadal. Verdasco has beaten him 2 out of the last 3 times before that Melbourne encounter. Verdasco has game and mentality to upset Rafa. And he did. Kudos to him for believing in it, executing it and embracing the net.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton