Ted Robinson’s Matchpoints

PIck up a Sunday paper in London and the first 7 pages of every sports section are Andy Murray. There is a dissection of his entourage, a team of 7 that replaced the solo coaching of Brad Gilbert. There are columns from his mum and big brother, a doubles player of moderate success.

Being a prominent sporting figure in these parts is lucrative. After all, there is little competition in that arena.

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Winning Wimbledon, though, would make Andy Murray a sporting hero.

And what’s funny is that his game might allow him, and a nation, to dream.

Murray has always had the talent, now he has some sound grass -court experience, and finally, he seems to have grown into his body and out of his immaturity. His Saturday win over Tommy Haas featured high level play on grass, including the short variety that endears Murray to all who truly love the game.
 
What struck me was his body language- it was less mopy, less Gumby-shouldered, less negative. A wise person recently commented that the difference with John McEnroe was that John used anger as fuel. It was often a positive for John while Murray seemed to drag himself down through his behavior.

Now, Murray looks and acts like a man who believes he can someday become a British hero. Perhaps not now, with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in their prime, but someday soon.
 
Nadal followed form with a decisive win over Nicolas Kiefer – after a first set in which the over-30 Kiefer turned bacvk the clock. He struck serves in the mid-130’s, moved adeptly and struck the ball with significant pace. Pushed to a tiebreak, Rafa delivered the goods, then broke Kiefer’s spirit in the next two sets. A potential Nadal-Murray quarter is still a delicious thought
 
I lamented here how frustrating it is to pull for James Blake. Perhaps Richard Gasquet is that man for the French. He bails on Davis Cup, wanting no part of an indoor match with Andy Roddick. He bails on Roland Garros, the tournament where he clearly cannot handle the pressure. But at Wimbledon, he is a different player, again in the round of 16 and a legit threat to disrupt the Nadal-Murray match. Wimbledon is to Gasquet what the US Open is to Blake, their one major to shine.
 
Jelena Jankovic wanders through the first week in anonymity, although her third-round win owned a share of drama. A hyper-extended knee hampered, followed by a tape job that hampered Jankovic enough to cause her to remove it in the third set. She is always injured, always bandaged and always calling trainers on-court. Yet she is still No. 2 in the world and still a darkhorse threat in Week 2.
 
Monday is Williams day. But I hope that Bethanie Mattek seizes the moment to make people talk about her tennis rather than her wardrobe.

A little tennis and a little culture from Roland Garros:

Not a great day for tennis - Serbia was the winner as the three standouts advanced to the semis. Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic won easily while talented Ernests Gulbis tested Novak Djokovic. Clearly seen, though, was that Gulbis must overcome a lack of training in Latvia. A hurry-up dose of experience and wisdom will give him the chance to be a Top 10 player.

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Big loser was Nicolas Almagro. Strong clay court results in the anonymity of lower tier tournaments do not translate into success at a Slam. Hate to be this strong but Almagro’s effort was pitiful. Court Chatrier is the biggest clay court stage in the world and he simply did not compete at anything approaching an acceptable level. Too often did Almagro stand still and watch Rafa Nadal winners fly by.

Can Nadal be better on clay? In the last four rounds, he has lost 17 games in 12 sets.

Junior focus: Ryan Harrison, 16, lost in 3 sets but in a Tennis Channel interview sounded amazingly poised. And he voiced the truth that must change for the US to ever truly hope of succeeding at Roland Garros — the clay here is not at all like the clay Harrison had played on at home. We must offer our best players the chance to train on red clay.

Pat McEnroe offered an interesting take on Melanie Oudin, the No. 1 seed in RG’s junior girls competition. Pat raved about her fight. It’s necessary for Oudin, from the Atlanta area, stands just 5-4. Unless she finds a height burst, it will be exceedingly difficult to project Oudin as a champion, but a good pro career is within reach due to her powerful ball striking and exceptional competitiveness.

Wednesday:
Women’s quarters find Svetlana Kuznetova facing first-timer Kaia Kanepi. Kuznetsova has the experience and the ability to withstand Kanepi’s power. Dinara Safina tries to reach her first Slam semi as she faces Elena Dementieva. But Elena has experience on her side in this matchup and has reduced her double fault problems. Is Dementieva ever favored in a big match?

Roger Federer is placed on the second court for his quarter with Fernando Gonzalez. Gonzo is playing more wisely on clay, an endorsement of coach Larry Stefanki, but history (10-1 Fed) and weather (heavy and damp) favors Federer.

Can Gael Monfils handle the moment? He’ll have a huge vibe in his favor but a tireless opponent across the net in David Ferrer. Ferrer should be too consistent for the erratic Monfils.

Culture notes:
My hotel TV carries a dozen Arabic channels, including Al Jazeera TV. The English-speaking channel has a US studio, incredibly clear pictures and the startling sights to an American viewer of women anchors in Muslim head wear.

BBC News, also available here, covers the US elections as if it were theirs. Interesting to frame the coverage here with Bill Clinton’s eternal popularity on this continent.

The lamentable state of our news coverage is evident at all times here. Multiple networks available here, including CNN International, cover Zimbabwe, the Pakistani suicide bombing and the aftermath of the China earthquake far more comprehensively than anything most of us see at home.

An action-packed week for tennis: Roger Federer finally picked a coach and the selection of Jose Higueras signaled Federer’s intent on returning to form on clay (and the results were immediate, as Fed’s first title of 2008 in Estoril came in his first week of working with Higueras), the Davis Cup fallout continued with the French press hammering Richard Gasquet for ducking Andy Roddick last weekend, James Blake went to Houston and reached the final on clay albeit against a lesser field (but I see the Monte Carlo draw and Sam Querrey is the lone American) and, thanks to SI’s peerless Jon Wertheim, I learn that Alexandra Stevenson, 27 and ranked 258, qualified at Charleston and won a match before falling to Jelena Jankovic.

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But the real story of the week was in Charleston. And her name is Serena Williams.

She won the event, her second consecutive. She beat Maria Sharapova decisively which, after smacking Justine Henin in Miami, gives her wins over the top 2 women (computer be damned.)

Serena is fitter than any time since her reign atop the game ended in 2004. She is displaying the toughness that characterized her great years. Dropping a set to Vera Zvonareva in the Charleston final didn’t deter her, just as in the Miami final against Svetlana Kuznetsova or the Charleston match with Sharapova.

That match was a significant statement. Serena’s world changed when Sharapova hit her off Wimbledon Centre Court in the 2004 final. Now Serena has won the last 4 matches against Sharapova and hasn’t lost to her since 2004. Serena’s serve was emphatic as she won 16 of 18 points on her serve in the decisive third set in Charleston.

Serena is now back to 6 in the world. She heads to Europe as a threat to win again and women’s tennis needs this. The Slams will be much more fun with Serena in the mix.

Lindsay Davenport wasn’t a mom on the court Sunday in Key Biscayne, she was a champ again. In this year of a woman and a black running for our highest office, sensitivities are high. Thus, emanating from the black hole of the blogosphere are comments that Davenport should not be labeled a mom making a comeback, just as we didn’t reference Andre A as a dad trying to win one more Slam.

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Fair enough, but if we can put aside irrational sensitivity, what Davenport accomplished Sunday is precisely why she is praised: 9 months after giving birth she whacked the #2 player in the world.

Sorry but that is astounding.

To the match: Davenport struck the ball with power and precision from the first point. Whether Ana Ivanovic was in awe of Davenport’s returns or the experience of playing Lindsay herself is a matter only the Serb can answer. But for one hour in Miami, it was as if Davenport was again the champion and Ivanovic the upstart, rather than the reality of their current rankings.

By contrast, recall what Maria Sharapova did to Davenport in their second round Aussie Open match, Maria imposing her will on the former champ to remind Lindsay of the current pecking order.

The Miami draw opens for Davenport, she should be unthreatened until a potential semi against Jelena Jankovic. A few more wins and Davenport should hike her ranking high enough to ensure missing tough early-round matches. Meanwhile, Justine Henin and the Williams Sisters slug it out in the top half- can you believe that Serena and Henin may again meet in the quarters. Nothing should Serena more motivation to get herself out of the 8 seed.
 
It shouldn’t be hard to take a collection among the players for a nice retirement gift when Fabrice Santoro puts the racquet down. Again, he showed James Blake and the tennis world how you can survive among the bigger and stronger with lots of wile and guile. To me, Santoro is like a knuckleball pitcher – hitters hate facing them because they see them so rarely and they demand extreme patience.

I’ll miss Santoro because sport thrives on contrast. No one plays like Santoro, and Justin G predicted on our FSN telecast that no one ever will. If so, tennis will be poorer although many opponents will breathe easier.

Daniela Hantuchova was up 6-0, 2-0 on Ana Ivanovic and you could feel the depression oozing out of my TV all the way from Melbourne.

I’ve been there. Endless hours of early round matches are tolerable because you know there is a payoff… the money rounds.

Then, you have a semifinal wipeout and the letdown is evident.

Maria Sharapova continued to steamroll the field although her win was less about her play and more about Jelena Jankovic appearing physically unable to handle the moment.

Jankovic is a fighter who scraps for everything. Add to that her relentless scheduling and the worry is that her stay at the top of the game could be brief. Except for her 2006 Open semi against Justine Henin, Jankovic has hit a wall in the final rounds of majors. Does she pay a steep toll for her lack of physical strength? Does her meek serve place too much stress on the rest of her game?

Martina Hingis and Henin are champions without size. Elena Dementieva has reached Slam finals without a serve. So, the thought is that Jankovic needs to show she can handle the moment, the last defining quality of a tennis champion.

Sharapova didn’t have to play her best to win but she can be excused after the demolition of Henin and Lindsay Davenport in earlier rounds. She showed her first signs of nerves, tossing in multiple doubles when trying to close the first set.

But Jankovic cooperated by serving 3 doubles in the first game of the second set and the rest of the match was about Jankovic determined not to pull a Henin and quit a match she was surely going to lose.

So when Ivanovic completely locked up in the first set against Hantuchova, we were wondering if the lone women’s match of the fortnight was going to be Maria-Henin.

Then, if quality wasn’t paramount, drama took over in the second set. Ivanovic held to win her first game and then seized the momentum with a break. After a Hantuchova hold, the key game of the match was played. It was game 6, second set and Ivanovic fighting for survival, finally playing with the necessary force, needed seven deuce points before holding. The flurry of tennis, much of it played for Ivanovic without a safety net, seemed to bring the Serb into the match.

The third set had no real swings, just the growing feeling that Hantuchova’s nerves were let her down. The bright young Slovak has rebounded from a meltdown that saw her cry on court at Wimbledon, suffer through an eating issue and slowly rebuild her game that once drew raves from the likes of Billie Jean King.

Slam finals have eluded Hantuchova and the thought of a finish line seemed to unnerve her. In fact, Ivanovic is no steely player herself, but she had the one advantage of having reached a final (RG ‘07.)

Hantuchova made her fatal mistake in game 9 of the third set smacking a volley into the net on break point. Ivanovic had no trouble finishing a match that made me think of Boris Becker.

The great Becker once said that the fifth set was not really about tennis but about the heart and the head. An exaggeration no doubt, but I get his point. And I believe it. And I think it holds true in many Slams within the last 8 women. Few have the hardened confidence of a Sharapova or Henin, most wobble on their way to becoming a champion.

Three of the four women in these semis are still wobbly in the biggest matches. And that’s why Sharapova should win her third Slam Saturday.

Great foreshadow, don’t you think, of a Venus-Serena final. We hadn’t had one in 4-and-a-half years and the tennis gods seemed to be aligning to repeat history. Both had favorable quarterfinal opponents, players they had dominated in past matches, and two heavyweights were smacking each other around in another quarter.

And, within 24 hours, the Sisters are gone. From everything. Serena tanked her quarter to Jelena Jankovic, and then the Sisters dropped a doubles match after winning the first set.

On Wednesday afternoon in Melbourne, Venus played a match all too familiar to those who have followed her in recent years.

Erratic was the best word to describe the elder Sister. Her normally splendid serve only appeared in bursts, leading to an astounding number of breaks (how can Venus have lost serve over 25 times in the Open?)

She fell into a service pattern that was quickly detected by the wise Pam Shriver and Mary Joe Fernandez. One would imagine Ana Ivanovic noticed as well.

Venus was invisible off the ground, striking just 4 winners, all off her forehand.

Overall, it was a stark reminder that since being dethroned atop the sport by Serena, Venus has been a one-venue standout.

She rules Centre Court, Wimbledon.

There her game returns and she flows as if it was 7 or 8 years ago. She crushes groundstrokes with utter confidence and her game is remarkably free of errors.

For 5 years, she has been a good, not great player everywhere else tennis is played. She is a round of 16/quarterfinalist that eventually runs into a good player not intimidated by her name.

And that’s where Ana Ivanovic grew up before our eyes. Yes, she has played in one Slam final but nerves have been a question. She hasn’t played well in the brightest lights, albeit against top-flight competition.

Before this quarter, she had never taken a set from Venus and was blasted off the court in 2 Slams last year by the Elder.

So, when Ivanovic won the ragged first set in a decisive tiebreak, a barrier was broken.

Then, Venus won the first 3 games of the second set and a reversal seemed imminent.

Except Ivanovic hit the emergency brake, broke back to 3-3 and then won the significant point. With Venus serving at 3-3, 40-15, Ivanovic won a long grinding point that required heavy movement from both on a hot afternoon. The measure of fitness is always the points that follow and the new and improved, in that regard, Ivanovic went on to win the next 3 points and break.

Even though Venus broke back to 4-4, Ivanovic had stopped the momentum. And moments later, the match was hers.

That’s 3 appearances in the “final 4” of the last 4 Slams for Ivanovic, the Djokovic of the women’s side. What Ana lacks is the signature win that her comrade Novak achieved over Federer in Montreal last August.

Now she gets a revived Daniela Hantuchova in the semis and the certainty of Maria Sharapova in a potential final.

Venus? She’s 27 so it’s hard to think much will change. When she hits the grass of Wimbledon again in June, she will likely morph into the queen for two weeks. But that’s her term limit.

Immediate thoughts after watching Serena Williams lose: Why should I be surprised? She is the most confounding, unsettling, and often distressing athlete I have ever covered. She can be so dominant, thus planting the seed in our minds that she should win any match. When she doesn’t, we look for excuses.

So, when Serena serves at 3-5 in the first set and plays as if she couldn’t care less about the outcome, we are offered a menu of problems, including the previously unmentioned item of a practice court spat with Oracene.

I watch her half-hearted effort on TV and wonder, in a sport neck-deep in worries about players throwing matches, if anyone will ask that question.

I see Serena serve puffballs in a game to stay alive in the first set, then four games later, blast a 119 MPH ace. How?

Why is she so rigid in her movement? She lumbers between points as if she were an arthritic twice her age. Is there a physical problem? If so, the TV accurately remembers her “miracle” rebound from injury against Daniela Hantuchova at Wimbledon 2007.

Why do too many Serena matches revolve around these questions? Why does the TV tell me that Serena is fitter yet catch her breathing so deeply after every long point. When she does win a long point, she invariably loses at least the next one in play. If Serena is fitter, she clearly isn’t fit enough to play with the best.

Finally, I am told that Serena’s loss is a “huge upset” and the “biggest story out of Melbourne so far.” Huge? Jelena Jankovic is 3 in the world. It was her first win against Serena but let’s remember that in the last 14 Slams, Serena has been past the quarters twice.

An upset? Yes? Huge? I don’t see it.

One lesson I have learned in Serenaland: reaction is better after reflection. So nothing more until I hear Serena’s words and chew on the community’s feelings. More in the next entry.

And that’s why it is so much fun to watch Maria Sharapova and Justine Henin. Here are two women who for all their foibles, Sharapova still shrieks and Henin’s on-court tactics are dubious to a fault, never cheat the fan. They play with utter intensity, the mark that brands champions.

Yes, I know Henin quit in the 2006 Aussie final, but her track record clearly proves that to be an anomaly.

Their first set was the best women’s tennis of this Aussie Open. And second best isn’t in the same universe. A wretched first week, sadly the norm for the women at Slams, has given way to a terrific set of quarterfinal matchups.

Sharapova is back, not only with her serve. But her groundstrokes are looking like the day she became a champion, stunning Serena at Wimbledon. And now her fitness and movement are much improved.

In the 10th game of the first set, a classic game that should be replayed for ages, Sharapova won a long rally that ended with both players moving to the net. Not only would Maria rarely win that point against a top player, but she would normally pay the price on points to follow. After this point, it was Henin who was breathing hard, stalling for time before serving the next point while Sharapova calmly waited.

Give Henin credit — only her extraordinary fight kept her competitive against Sharapova’s first set onslaught. Remember that Henin gives away almost 9 inches in this matchup.

Also good to see Henin’s family in her box of seats. A second remember when we are reminded of off-court woes that can impact a player: Henin’s marriage dissolved at this time last year. After a break to deal with the matter, she returned to dominate the field at 63-4.

But this Aussie Open appears to be Sharapova’s story. She clearly thrives in the brief off-season. This is her fourth straight Aussie semi- her loss to Serena last year was her first final. If she maintains anything close to the form she displayed against Henin, this will be her first Aussie title.

What a day/night/morning at the Aussie Open: Andy Roddick falls in a well-played five set match and Andy himself says he’s “tired of thinking of new ways to say the same thing,” James Blake looks to be done at the hands of a fading Seb Grosjean only to rally from 0-2 and 1-4 in the third set breaker to win in 5 and suddenly James’ five-set failures are a fading memory, Lleyton Hewitt takes down Marcos Baghdatis in a match that STARTED near midnight and ended at 4:30 AM in Melbourne, last year’s finalist Fernando Gonzalez is sent home by a young Croat named Marin Cilic, Venus continued to cruise while a shocking slide continues for Amelie Mauresmo who showed a shocking “lack of nerves” in falling to Aussie Casey Dellacqua, and “peripheral” women Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anna Chakvetadze fell (isn’t it sad to label Kuznetsova when she is 2 in the world but does anyone think she can win a major if Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova and the Sisters are on their games?)

Yet it all pales next to Roger Federer and Janko Tipsarevic. In the fifth set, for the first time in 5 years on a court other than Roland Garros, I thought Federer was going down. Tipsarevic played with such boldness, never buckling in the presence of tennis greatness, striking the ball beautifully and answering every moment where Federer tried to exert himself. A sense washed over me that this would be the moment that the great one would be proved human.

Wrong again and I couldn’t help but be amazed by Federer’s fitness in the late stages of the fifth set. His workouts in the searing heat of Dubai don’t receive much publicity but last summer, American Jesse Levine talked about his experience as a “practice partner” to prepare Federer for the US Open. There were always 3 or 4 young players ready to practice with Federer. They rotated, staying fresher under the blistering sun. Federer, though, always stayed on court.

In Melbourne, Federer reaped the benefits of that work. We rarely see it because he is seldom pushed to five sets. But in the fifth set against Tipsarevic, as in last year’s Wimbledon final, Federer’s tennis is challenged but his body doesn’t fail.

The level of play produced by Tipsarevic was astounding. He simply didn’t miss of the ground and hit with enough force and depth to prevent Federer from exercising his strength- controlling the groundstrokes.

As Roddick had in defeat, Federer produced a record-setting service night. But that Roger needed 39 aces is further proof of the play of Tipsarevic.

Last thought: in tennis, we know more than most about Serbia. What too few know, and wasn’t emphasized last night, is that Tipsarevic stayed home while Jelena Jankovic, Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic all left to pursue their tennis dreams. He had no benefactor and had to develop his game amidst the devastation of war. But Tipsarevic and his fellow Serbs have one thing in common: they have shown us all heart, fight and above all, fearlessness. After a childhood of bombings, warplanes and ethnic cleansing, what about a tennis match can cause one to back down? Tipsarevic showed the answer was not even the great Federer.

Each year we are reminded how little form exists at the Aussie Open. It stands on an island, detached from the rest of the tennis year. It bears little connection to the rhythms and demands on the body of a “season”, one reason why I have no understanding of the calendar year “Grand Slam.”

Serena Williams winning four in a row was a Slam, it matters not to me one bit whether you win the Aussie on the front or back end of the run.

So, I shouldn’t be surprised that my dark horse men’s pick, Andy Murray, is out in the first round. He lost to a talented young player, Cassius Clay (young Ali) lookalike Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in four sets. Murray has talent and smarts, but has yet to prove his chops on the big stage. This loss is certainly a setback for Murray, who had early-season momentum on his side. But Murray can’t allow it to be a lingering issue with the year ahead.

Rafael Nadal won his first match on a cool night, an environment not often seen in Melbourne, while Roddick also won although both were pushed in early sets. Nice win for Mardy Fish as well.

Jelena Jankovic showed fight in a choppy 12-10 third set win over Tamira Paszek while Serena and Justine advanced easily in their opening matches.

And Lindsay Davenport needed three sets to win her first round match, and in the process, became the WTA all-time leader in prize money. Davenport’s career earnings of $21,898,501 surpasses Steffi Graf, and is trumpeted by the WTA as the leading number in women’s sports history. If true, somewhere, Billie Jean King is smiling.

Maria Sharapova won her first round as well, so the stage is already set for one of the women’s draw premier battles, Sharapova and Lindsay in the second round.

On the eve of the Aussie Open, while we await the ultimate status of the new playing surface, the true questions are whether anyone can derail Roger Federer’s march to a 13th Slam and Justine Henin’s dominance, now 28 straight matches:

Look at the seeds behind Henin: Kuznetsova has played in 2 Slam finals, Ivanovic one and Jankovic has proven she can beat everyone else. But none of them ever leaves you with the belief they could beat Henin when it counts. Jankovic lost SEVEN matches to Henin in 2007, the last four in straight sets. Justine is 16-2 against Kuzy and 4-0 versus Ivanovic.

So that leaves us Serena and Venus, in opposite halves of the draw and opposite states. Serena has a title to defend, one that was supposed to catapult back to the top except for the roadblock thrown up by Henin. While Venus continues to give no indication that she is a threat anywhere but Wimbledon.

Then there are Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova. Henin is fortunate that they play each other in the second round. Sharapova is motivated to rebound from a year ruined by injury. Could Davenport, if she survives the second round, be this year’s Serena, playing herself into championship form round by round?

The men always seem to produce a surprise in Australia. Be it Fernando Gonzalez and Marcos Baghdatis, the last two finalists to fall to Fed, or a veteran reclaiming success (recall Marat Safin 2005), we may well see an unexpected man playing for the title. If so, the pick here is Andy Murray, free of injury and a coach.

Andy Roddick is always fit at the start of the year and has played well Down Under but if the rumors of a slower surface are true, neither ARod nor James Blake is helped.
 
Could Lleyton Hewitt make a homeland run under the guidance of Darren Cahill? Does David Ferrer, the great overachiever of 2007, have the goods on the big stage after his breakthrough at the US Open?

Then there are Rafa and Djokovic. Which Nadal is in Australia, the monster of the first six months of 2007 or the fragile shell of himself who played the second half? And is Djokovic rejuvenated after a successful but exhausting 2007? If both are right, Fed could have some tests before creeping closer to Sampras.

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