2019 Sydney International...ATP 250...Sydney, Australia

[don_budge]

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/07/tennis/federer-carter-emotion-tennis-spt-intl/index.html

There is no Roger Federer in the draw at the 2019 Sydney International so technically it isn't really a tennis tournament. But that being said...things are changing. Roger has concluded his competition phase of preparation for the Australian Open and now he is going through his paces. Fine tuning. Extra service practice to hone in on the perfection that he will need to go deep into the draw Down Under.

Roger Federer is a human being more than he is a tennis player. Even he doesn't realize it at this point as his world is consume with his tennis. Sure...he has a family and it has given him some perspective but he lives in a fantasy world. Such as it is...being Roger Federer. In the article above we get a glimpse of Roger Federer the human being as he still gets emotional about a very close and dear friend whose life ended all too soon and all too tragically. His coach...the Australian who he claim is responsible for teaching him his technique. Peter Carter died in an auto accident while on his honeymoon back 2002 at the age of 37. Roger is now 37 years old as well.

My teaching paradigm which I hold close to my heart as it expresses my love for the game of tennis connects the dots all the way from Bill Tilden in the 1920's to Roger Federer in 2019. Just think...nearly a span of 100 years. A century. In my paradigm I designate Harry Hopman...the great and terrific, legendary Australian tennis coach as my coach. In honour and respect for the wonderful chapter he gave us in Australian tennis. But here it is...another dot. Peter Carter is that link from Harry Hopman to Roger Federer. You see...I'm not just whistling Dixie. I'm connecting dots.

https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/current/sydney/338/draws

So none of that has anything to do with the Sydney International...right? Don't be too sure. After all...I'm not and if I'm not why should you be? Stefanos Tsitsipas finds himself the #1 seed in this event and to my knowledge this might just be a first for him. The match he played against Roger last week was a splendid thing. I was anticipating that one for months. It didn't disappoint. Both players put on a fine display of beautiful one handed backhand tennis but Roger showed himself to be the master and Tsitsipas still remains the student. Hopefully he continues to develop at a rate that he has the past year. But he is due to hit a flattening of the learning curve sooner and later and my only hope is that he soldiers through it. He might need additional mentoring other than his Dad and I hope to God it isn't Patrick what's his hame...you know the coach of the Human Banshee on the women's tour.

Here Stefanos has only one option for success and that is to win the tournament. Anything else will be considered not living up to expectations. As he number one seed he has to plot a course through a labyrinth of opponents lining up to form a gauntlet...to put him in his place. The young upstart. It is an excellent draw for him and a great event for him to challenge. I hope that he gets to play Andrey Rublev in the semifinals. But the one thing I want more than anything for young Stefanos and that is to be 1000% prepared for the Aussie Open.

A tribute to Roger and a little pat on the back for don_budge. The paradigm is worth...it just keeps on affirming itself. Withstanding the test of time. All the way from Bill Tilden, Harry Hopman and all of the rest. The great, great men who made this game what it is. The Classic Game. The rest of it has only been window dressing. All of it except of course...Roger Federer.

[stotty]

I was looking forward to watching De Minaur play Opelka today but they seem to have been rained off. They played just one game which Minaur ground his way through to break the big serve of Opelka. I do admire gritty little buggers like Minaur who put everything they have into a game of tennis. Looks like we may have another Nadal on the horizon, minus the muscles.

[don_budge]

Stefanos Tsitsipas versus Guido Andreozzi

Stefanos Tsitsipas came out with guns blazing and then up 5-2 in the second set with a double break advantage he stumbled a bit. This is a fascinating point in a tennis match...trying to close out your opponent. There are two sort of natural reactions by both opponents at this point and they tend to work in unison...against the inexperienced. First of all the man trying to put the match away might just get a bit nervous or for some reason miscalculate his opponents ability to put up a fight. Faulty rhythm in the service motion will often manifest itself from out of nowhere and make serving out a match an adventure. Secondly...the man who is facing defeat is really going to fight harder and harder as the match is getting close to the end if he has had any kind of chance during the match. If he has been summarily blown away the entire match he might just throw in the towel but any tennis player worth his salt knows that one unique feature of the sport of tennis is the it isn't over until it's over. Many matches have been one snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

Tsitsipas seemed to have a hard time once he got to the point of closing out this opponent. This is great experience for him and hopefully somebody in his camp will eventually realize that as good as they think his serve is it still isn't a perfect service motion. The motion still evidences a source of friction and we all know what friction does. It impedes inertia. Stefanos had five match points and he finally closed out the gamely fighting Andreozzi, ranked #80. This is an excellent experience for Tsitsipas as he gets more and more matches under his belt at this level. The great thing about this kid so far is he doesn't let matches get away from him that he should win. This is one of the hallmarks of great champions. I'm not saying that the kid is a great champion yet. Nope...there is no way I get ahead of the curve. But his progress is methodical and consistent.

But I do wonder about that service motion and if anybody can get a message out to Stefanos Tsitsipas please let him know that don_budge has these concerns and will work for food. Not to mention for the love of the game. Thank you.

[don_budge]

I was looking forward to watching De Minaur play Opelka today but they seem to have been rained off. They played just one game which Minaur ground his way through to break the big serve of Opelka. I do admire gritty little buggers like Minaur who put everything they have into a game of tennis. Looks like we may have another Nadal on the horizon, minus the muscles.

Alex de Minaur defeats Reilly Opelka 6-4, 7-6. I believe that Alex has some rather daunting limitations but you cannot question his ability to scurry around and fight. He's a tough out if you don't have the weapons to put him away. Once he gets his teeth into a match it will be hard to shake him. His next opponent is Jordan Thompson instead of the projected Daniil Medvedev who obviously is making a calculated decision to rest for the Aussie Open rather than expend unnecessary energy in this meaningless tournament.

Andrey Rublev out to Yoshihito Nishioka. I wonder about the wisdom of Tsitsipas fighting to the bitter end in this tournament as well. But he's young and hungry. He is building confidence. But I want to see him perform on the big stage.