Tennis in March And the blue clay conundrum of Madrid Open

We are barely into the third month of the new year is and as I mentioned out tennis players are really ratcheting up frequent flyer miles. March sees only two ATP tournaments - The BNP Paribas at Indian Wells and The Sony Open Tennis at Miami both of which are ATP 1000 championships.  So March offers a brief respite before the onslaught of April and May tournaments that serve as a run up to the French Open at Roland Garros starting on the 25th of May.  All ATP tourneys in these two months are clay court tournaments. So while the players will have bang their shoes with their rackets to loosen the clay stuck to the soils, it will be easier on the knees. Nadal who broke in the new season by playing in Vinal del Mar in Chile has already asked to lower the number of games to sustain the longevity of the player as well as his fitness. Federer has already announced his plans of taking a two month break to spend time with this family.  He will be seen next playing in Madrid Open that starts on the 5th of March. 

 Madrid Open had generated a lot of heat last year when it unveiled a new blue clay surface. Former tennis champion Ion Tiriac own this tournament and was responsible for this change from red clay to a blue dyed surface. This provoked an unfavourable response from the top players like Viktoria Azarenka, Djokovic and the King of Clay, Nadal himself.  

To reach difficult shots on clay, professionals often slide on the crushed brick that blankets the surface, but they can usually stop and change direction without much trouble. Djokovic said he felt off-balance and unable to control the ball during his match against Mr Gimeno-Traver. Victoria Azarenka, reckons the blue clay has also affected the bounce of the ball.  This ATP 1000 tournament is seen as a warm-up for the French Open.

Nadal lost to compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the third round while playing on blue and Rafa threatened to skip Madrid Open if the organisers did not revert to the old, comfortable red clay.  "If things continue, [there] will be one less tournament in my calendar," said the Spaniard. Djokovic to has taken the same stance while Federer has asked The players to 'stop complaining'.  While he agrees that the blue clay feels definitely different, it's his job to play and adapt to changing conditions. "If you want to be a good clay court player, you must be able to play everywhere", was what Federer said of the this out of the 'blue, change. Serena Williams too echoed similar sentiments.  The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allows any player who has clocked up more than 600 matches in his professional career to skip one of the year's eight mandatory Masters 1000 tournaments, which include the Madrid Open. Both Nadal and Federer are eligible for such an exemption (although their rankings could fall if they took advantage of it).  

However it won't come to that at all.  The blue clay used at Madrid Masters has been banned from all ATP World Tour events in 2013. "After careful consideration, I have decided that blue clay courts will not be allowed next year. I very much believe in innovation and exploring ways to enhance our sport. While the blue clay may have offered better visibility on television, there were clearly issues with the quality of the courts in Madrid this year ..." Executive Chairman and President Brad Drewett said in a statement after a meeting of the ATP Board of Directors in London.

So all's well with our world.

I was watching Berdych versus Tobias Kamke in the second round of Dubai Duty Free Championship. I have already said that this ATP 500Tour can rival the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 arena.  It is a self sufficient global village hotels, restaurants, pubs, golf club and even a yachting club. But as of now, Dubai will have to wait because it will still have to fill the stands that are empty for such a world class event.  It's the same sad occupancy story with other second round matches except that of Federer's.  

People come to watch him play. Even the early rounds with wild card entrants, low ranked players and debutants are a full house if Federer is playing.  And now it makes more sense because chances of witnessing Federer in full flow are more probable in the early rounds and by the semi final round when all the top four meteors collide onto his path, his game becomes laboured and we have to go through the four setter exercises in futility.  However as long as Federer keeps his top spot Camp Murray will have to keep cribbing about how 'slot' favouritism leans toward Federer by scheduling all his matches for the more prime time evening viewing as was the case in the Australian open.

 That's the way it is and will be as long as you are successful,  and have camera candy.  Federer has both in abundance and with the addition the twins ( something that no players on the tour have and by that I mean children) his stock has risen really.  His twins and his fatherhood find a mention in all post match interviews.  People seem to love it.  Back to the third round of the Dubai Duty free and our little man Davydenko is playing Federer. He loses the first set 6-2.   I am seeing Federer in full flow including his patent down-the-line forehand on winged feet . The delicate volleys are intact and precise lobs are all there.  It's only a matter of time before Federer moves on to the quarter finals at his favourite destination-Dubai. 

For this championship, I have spotted Federer wearing his light grey t-shirt, dark horrors and pink shoes combination, a carryover from take Austrlian open.  He is wearing Vapor 9 Tour shoes from Nike.  Earlier in the day I say Berdych wear the same shoes in fluoroscent green colour.  The Vapor shoes from Nike seem to be popular on the tour. 

And predictably Federer has won the quarter finals against Davydenko 6-2, 6-2.

Dubai Duty Free Championship 2013

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is an ATP 500 tournament that has been played since 1993.  The total prize money is USD 2 million. Just like the O2 in London, this stadium in Garhoud, Dubai when not being used for tennis tournaments doubles up as a leading concert venue having played to acts such as Sting, Gerri Haliwell, Bryan Adams, Enrique Iglesias, Gloria Gaynor, Coolio, Shaggy, Sash, Maxi Priest, Big Mountain and Bally Sagoo, while former world boxing champion, Chris Eubank, staged his first Middle East bout on centre court in 1997. The complex is a self sufficient world village with the best 5 star hotels, restaurants offering an array of cuisines from across the world, pubs, souvenir shops, spas, golf and yacht clubs. Great for a holiday I think. Somehow I can't bring myself to plan one to Dubai. Is just not a holiday destination for me.  I have all the sun and sand that I need in India itself. No, Dubai doesn't do it for me yet. The association of Dawood with Dubai is just to strong for The image to shrug of easily. Doesn't float may boat Sir! 

Coming back to the championships, all top seeds crossed the first round hurdle except for Tipsarevic. Davydenko beat a surprisingly off-colour Tipsarevic 6-0,7-5.  I never understood how The frail looking Nikolai Davydenko manages to play a power sport such as tennis in this day and age.  by his own admission, the matches take a toll on him, whether the hot environs of Dubai or the cool of O2.   He won the ATP world tour championship in 2009 and if I remember right, he admitted in a post match interview that he loses as much as 7 to 8 kgs in a tournament and struggles to maintain his body weight.  Ranked 46th, Davydenko says that he is happy to just hang out in Top 50 now and he doesn't do a bad job of it either.  For someone who turned pro in 1999, Davydenko has been in Top 10 from 2005 till 2010. He still manages to pull off upsets of top seed like Tipsarevic ( in the current tournament) and he beat Ferrer in Doha earlier this month.  So all in all its a manageable ambition hat he has to stay in Top 50.  

Meanwhile Federer defeated Tunisian wildcard entry Malek Jaziri but not before the popular Jaziri had skimmed the first set off the world no.2.  W have the same story for other top seeds Tsonga and del Potro, where both lost the first set to bounce back.  So all is well with the top order. I was watching the first round match of the Dubai Open and I feel it has the potential to rival O2, even though the latter is an ATP 1000 event.  Where is scores is the crowds though.  You can have world class infrastructure and the best in business athletes competing in your event.  But the even an be a success only if it has the patronage of the spectators, the wild cheering and  full stands that was lacking in Dubai.  Lets see if the crowds thicken with the progressing rounds.  I am interested in 2nd round where Del Potro plays our very own hero Somdev Devvarman who defeated Igor Kunitsyn 6-1, 6-4. Wil update on the match meanwhile off you go for a camel safari in the dunes while I stay tuned.

Doha Open and some interesting tidbits

After the first grand slam of the year in Melbourne, our tennis stars are scattered all over the world- literally from South America to the Middle East, playing tournaments in sunny parts of the world like Doha, Qatar and Vina del Mar, Chile.  Qatar is turning into quite the center of attraction for world class atheletes. The connection is quite incestous.  Nasser Al Khelaifi is a Qatari businessman and the president of PSG or Paris Saint Germain FC.  Did I tell you that Khelaifi is also the general manager of al-Jazeera Sport, the Qatar-owned TV station and, after the PSG takeover, the media outlet bought up a tranche of Ligue 1 broadcast rights, to emerge as competition to the previously dominant Canal Plus. Al-Jazeera has launched the subscriber channels beIN Sport 1&2 in France to screen its matches and Khelaifi is an emerging media rights player. He refused to comment on whether he would bid for the overseas rights to the Premier League when they became available.

Money is obviously flowing like oil.  Al Khelaifi recruited Beckham on a 5-month contract to join PSG at 8,00,000 Euros a month or 1 mil USD that he will be donating to charity. An estimated 212 million pounds has already been spent.  The 38 year old Khelaifi is suave, smart and seriously well connected.  He also has some heavy- weight connections like that of crown prince of Qatar, Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani. They met through tennis. 

Oh and Qatar will also be hosting the World Cup (football) in 2022. 

Ok now back to out tennis stars and their activities for the next couple of months before Roland Garros.

The next hotspot of Miami, where the Sony Open will be played. Rafa played in Chile and then flew to Brazil to play in the Brazil Open in Sao Paolo which he won by defeating David Nalbandian.  This the Mallorcan's first trophy since his French Open win (def. Djokovic) in 2012. 

Meanwhile Victoria Azarenka defeated Serena Williams in Doha Open. looks like some surfing in Malibu did her good. Vika retained her title but lost the No 1 ranking to Williams who has climbed back on a good two year gap. 

The nest ATP world tournaments are places like Memphis, Marseilles, Buenos Aires, Dubai, Acapulco and Delray Beach.  And this is only the timetable till February end! Of all these ATP tournos, Dubai will have the maximum traction- there are all the usual culprits from Top 10 in men's and woman's tennis, with Maria Sharapova, Nadal, Murray, Ferrer being the only exceptions. Tickets can be found at www.timeouttickets.com

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis offers a grand spectacle the mundane name of the championship notwithstanding!

Playing tennis with the right gear- SHOES

I started playing tennis with an absolute beginner’s racket in terms of quality and pricing. It was a Kuaike.  But to play with it now, especially after I switched over to n-code from Wilson is like watching a black and white Crowne TV instead of a 72 inch wall mounted flat screen.  You get the point, don’t you?

If I remember right, I wore a pair of sneakers and later heavy soled running shoes to move about on the tennis court.  Bad choice, in fact terrible choice. I didn’t realise it then but that was the reason why I stumbled every time I had to so a Serena from one end of the court to another or had to rush to the end. I got to the ball but couldn’t hit it because I tripped. Every single time!
Now I wear a solid pair of Reebok with flat soles that do the trick of protecting my knees, at the same time are supple and thin enough for me to feel the surface I am moving on. Running shoes with fancy sole like mine- Reebok Verona II DMX ride were great for running, had wonderful cushioning (like a stuffed leather chair) but were awful as tennis shoes.  I literally had excess baggage that hampered movements on the court. My toes and sole could not get the feel of the court they were supposed to run on. They were completely insulated and you certainly do not want that. 

So when the sole came off and I had to buy a new pair, I tentatively asked the salesman for Tennis shoes and he pointed me over to a whole rack of delicious shoes waiting to be worn.  I was in seventh heaven. When I tried one on, I practically wept for the relief that my feet felt.  I could feel the hardness of the ground, the many layers that protected my joints did not inhibit that connection. ‘Thinking on your feet’in the literal sense is important for any racket sport- tennis and badminton especially and the right pair of shoes will help you enormously in upping your game. So get a pair that has a flat sole, not a chunky one.
Illustrated here for difference-

This is the Vapor Tour 9 from Nike, Roger Federer’s shoe of choice and he wore them for Australian Open. It is designed like a running shoe but with the support and stability of a tennis shoe. Because you don’t run mindlessly on the court. The shoes need to be designed for sudden starts and stops and changes in direction that enables you to reach the ball.  Your opponent has sliced the racket so you rush toward the net anticpating a volley, but the next moment the ball hit an arc high above the net, a lob. And you are suddeny running toward the baseline with all that you have got. The shoe needs to go with this flow.The Vapor Tour 9 is priced at USD 130 on http://www.tennis-warehouse.com

These are Ziglite Electrify running shoes from Reebok.  Look at the sole, it is thick, inordinately so for playing tennis.  So the natural choice for this sport is a shoe type like the Vapor and not the Ziglite. 

Since we are on the subject of shoes, might as well see what other top tennis players like Nadal for instance endorse. The bright pink shoes also from Nike are Air Max Courtballistec 4.3.  Bit more clunky for my liking, but I am thinking for Rafa’s intensely physical style of play, these shoes work as the cushioning takes the sting out of heavy landings.  The sole is still flatter than that of a running shoe. Priced at USD 130, these are available for sale on http://www.tennis-warehouse.com. I haven’t seen them yet in Nike stores in Chenai.

Rafa playing in Air Max Courtballistec at the VTR Open in Vina Del Mar in Chile

I also like the shoes that the Williams sisters wear. Both endorse Nike.  What you see is the Nike Air Max Cage, priced at USD 115 on http://www.tennis-warehouse.com







Bottomline- Get a shoe that is flexible, flat-soled and is able to negotiate movement patterns on the court that emulate the cardiogram. Don’t wear shoes that make you a leopard. Wear something that turns you into a hunter!

A comeback and other same old, same old

Welcome back Rafa!. 

Nadal has just won his first match after being laid low for seven months with a knee injury.  After the low of being defeated by Lukas Rosol at Winbledon, Rafa has won his first match at the VTR Open in Vina del Mar in Chile against Delbonis 6-3, 6-2. Not bad. Now we would like to see how long his knee holds. For the moment lets do some globe trotting at the far end of world. Where exactly is Vina del mar?

In the land that gave of Machu Picchu and colorful ponchos! Vina del Mar in Valparaiso is the fourth largest city in Chile and a popular summer beach resort. Vina del Mar means Vineyard by the sea in Spanish. Overlooking the Pacific, Vina is also a surfer's paradise with the Pacific throwing up record-breaking waves for the surfers to conquer.  Meanwhile our Spanish conquistadator, Nadal has fallen behind his main rivals - Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray - and now will be scrutinized as he attempts to win his eighth French Open, which starts in late May.  With Nadal turning 27 during the tournament and being the game's most dominant player on clay, the question is wil the knee trouble him or will be trouble the top 4?

Will it affect the rankings, now that he is back? Because David Ferrer grabbed the No. 4 spot, Murray is on 3 with Federer and Djokovic steady on 2 and 1 respectively.  Will Ferrer be able to hold on to his career best ATP ranking of 4 and most importantly who will Rafa dethrone- Murray and Federer or Muray but not Federer?

Elsewhere, Djokovic was busy with his eponymous foundation, where he spent time with differently able children.  Nole will help in equipping the school with special tools and fitness machines so that the children will be able to play.

Sloane Stephens, since her epoch match with her model Serena Williams has been busier than ever on Twitter. She has since appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show

Andy Roddick is doodling on the other kind of green- the golfing kind, with Dustin Johnson at Pebble Beach.

And Andy Murray has reportedly bought the Cromlix House hotel near Dunblane, the 14-bedroom property that has been a popular wedding venue for more than 30 years and is believed to have bought the property, which was on the market at offers over £1.8m.

And world no 1. Victoria Azarenka is surfing in Malibu.  Well here's a well deserved R & R for the lady. Herels hoping her ribs don't cave in the next time and she handles the pressure better. 

Andy Murray burried in the hole by Nole

Sorry couldn't resist the pun!
So Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray yet again (for the second time) in the 2013 Australian Open Finals at Melbourne.  Andy Murray's form in the season opener was fearsome- not a set dropped, and all matched under 3.5 hours.  No gruelling five-setters for Andy this year which prompted me to change my thoughts on Murray being the 'slogger' in all his matches. As opposed to this, Djokovic had to negotiate some tricky matches-the punishing five setter, five hour match with Stanislas Wawrinka and Radek Stepanek.  Stepanek is a tricky player to face.  He plays a lot of doubles matches and doesn't hesitate to abandon the baseline in the favour of the net. Stepanek rushed to the net as many as 67 times and changed the baseline dominated rules of the game against his match with Djokovic. If I remember right then he also skimmed a set off Djokovic in the 2012 Wimbledon. Not bad for the 33 year old Czech. As for Stanislas, well he is Stanislas and I admire his game. He has a single fisted backhand to die for- unleashing huge power with his top-spin backhand and extreme accuracy that would put precision bomber to shame.
Anyways not digressing! 

The point being that Nole had to go through the grind but came out tops after each of his matches and who could forget Berdych the Brazen!  I can never trust the top four to win comfortably against him. His gaze doesnt betray the butterflies (I am sure he must be feeling in his stomach) his cold, unnerving gaze reminds me of Ivan Lendl.  Do check this out! But there he was, our Nole, disarming the advantage of the Berdych length and the breadth and winning in straight sets. The 2013 AO final was supposed to be tennis at its youngst best and finally out of the shadows of Federer. The 'pain game' that Murray called it and Murray was prepared to suffer.  "I 'll be ready for the pain," he added about the final," and I hope its a painful match. That means it'll be a good one."  The pain was there alright, but in its glaring absence! It was really an anti-climax.  There were no cliff-hanger moments, no drama which means that Nole was on top and rightly as predicted by the experts, Djokovic wrapped the AO final in 4 sets, in 3 hours and 23 minutes as opposed to 4 hours and 5 minutes and the slimmest margins last year. 

This year, Murray's crowning moment came in the semi-finals against Federer where he wrong-footed the elegant Swiss in a 5 setter that proved that the Scot was finally playing like he owned the court and not merely as a contender. There was no self-doubt there. He was playing flawlessly,alas Nole was the Serbian Superman here!