All you wanted to know about Jerzy Janowicz.....

but didn’t (because you hand’t heard of him?  The tennis world has been in search for rightful heirs to the Federer and Nadal. Janowicz has been largely overlooked in the sea of players like Tomic, Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov and even Dolgopolov. Not anymore.

At 6ft 8in, there are two players that eclipse him by an inch and two- John Isner, who played the longest professional tennis match in history at Wimbledon and currently world no.23 and Ivo Karlovic, currently world no. 153. Both these statistic are irrelevant as is his own ranking compared  to Murray's No.2  What matters is how well he is playing now. 

There have been tall players who had the advantage of height and raw potential who failed to enjoy sustained success on the tour.  Janowicz hasn’t had it easy at all and his story as an impoverished Polish tennis player who once had to depend on the benevolence of New York’s Polish for tennis shoes, will fascinate many and compel them to root for him.  Like all low ranked players, he has done his time- sleeping in cars, staying in budget hotels, to economizing with just one croissant before matches in Paris.  Last year at the Australian Open when Murray and Djokovic were battling it out at the finals, Janowicz did not compete as he could not afford the expensive flight tickets to down under. Instead he opted to head to England for gainful employment. 

Along with training or perhaps more than that, it will be the hardships he has had to face to come this far in his game and in world rankings that will have built his temperament, that in the past has been volatile echoing the self-destructive streak of the Russians players. We know what can be achieved if you are able to curb your temper and channelize constructively.  Federer once rivaled the greatest racket basher Marat Safin in talent and temper.  In Federer’s words they could have competed for who bashed the most rackets on court, but this couldn’t go on indefinitely and apart from entertaining the crowds didn’t bring any gains to the table.

 If Janowicz is able to control the reptile inside his brain that threatens to lash its deadly tail at every error or lineman’s call, it will take him away from his powerful game. He needs to conquer the inner demons that rear their heads inside his head before he bring his opponents to his knees with the 140mph heat missile in his quiver. It’s a good thing that he plays Murray who also gets angry, mutters reprimands and can hit his own personal crescendo in the anger stakes.  But Murray has the experience of playing at these levels for longer and is waiting for his sun to shine at SW 19 for the last two years.  Murray has pressure and at this stage Janowicz has nothing to lose.

Which means in Serena’s words, he can play with freedom and an unbearable lightness of being! 

Williams V/s Lisicki, Round 4

4^th Round and the much anticipated between Sabine Lisicki and Serena Williams, the world no.1 versus world No. 23. The rankings didn’t matter much really, for the first time I felt no one bothered with the rankings as much as with the thought that that Williams could possibly meet her match.  I saw Lisicki for the first time in Wimbledon 2011.  What struck me was her body language, it was high voltage but never high strung, she wore her emotions on her sleeve, smiling and mostly smiling. But it was never anger or verbal self-flagellation.  It was simply like she was on a practice court.  I think her emotions infected Serena as well for I saw her appreciate Lisicki’s shots and even mutter ‘great shot’ once.  Now that is rare.  Even after the match, the proverbial handshake was more than that and not a perfunctory brush of fingers between the conqueror and the vanquished. Serena had words for her and I saw Lisicki mouth thanks you twice.  I hope what Serena said was “all the best Lisicki, you can go all the way”.  

I loved this new Avatar of Serena. 

Yesterday I mentioned that Williams will win albeit in a three-setter.  The first will be a sitter for Lisicki but the second and third will be walkovers for Serena.  It could have come true if Serena had held her nerves, it  affected her game which was intact but for the numerous unforced errors which gifted Licki points at crucial times. Not to say that Lisicki was waiting for an attack of nerves from her opponent.  More often than not, if you don’t wilt under the Serena sun, you stand good chances.  You need to be mentally strong and not heed Williams’ reputation or her fierce stares or her 123mph serves.  

If you can get in edge ways than you can roam like a wild horse in Williams' head.  Lisicki did just that and her natural exuberance helped in blinding her to Serena’s nastiness and surprisingly Williams did not get nasty at all. Lisicki’s best serve came in the last game of the last set when she was serving out for the match.  It looked like the famed Williams flight of the phoenix when a resurgent Williams is absolutely unstoppable.  That’s when Lisicki served her 130mph serve and it whizzed past Serena. She followed it with yet another ace and it was just another few moments when she closed the match and fell face down in joy and disbelief.  She got up immediately and walked over to Serena.  Serena said that she played a super aggressive game and When you have absolutely nothing to lose you can play with so much freedom and you can be so loose. Gracious behavior and kind words personified from Williams. 

Now that I have said what I had to for the loser and the winner, I must say that I expected more from this huge match.  It was engrossing in the way that no one expected how Lisicki would respond to Serena getting ‘serious’ about her play if she wanted to win the 4^th round.  Serena has a better game than Lisicki’s.  There were nail biting moments that would invariably end in the painful anticlimax of an unforced error from Serena with routine shots that she wouldn’t even need to see to be able to hit them.  It was fascinating to watch Lisicki get on without being rattled even once, not at Seren’a winners and not at the errors she herself committed.  In the end you needed a strong head as much as a great pair of hands against the greatest players of our era. 

Day 2- Roberta Vinci V/s Li Na

Roberta Vinci is Sara Errani’s doubles partner and world no.11. I am favouring the World No.11 Li Na to sail through. But having seen how women’s matches go, it might be a three setter with the yo-yo swinging towards Li in the first, then lunging at Vinci in the second and finally towards Li in the third.  This has been happening a lot of late. ..

Anyways, here we go, first set with Vinci serving.  Right now Li Na’s shots-both forehand and back are looking strong as she makes Errani chase fluff in the opening game of the first set.  None have come to the baseline so far and the one time that Vinci does, she is caught wrong-footed with a cross court volley by Li Na. Vinci loses her service game.  Li Na breaks early!

And that’s Li Na’s husband with a grin on his face.  Oh Oh is Li Na going to double fault? A weak second serve but a down the line backhand hits the stands instead of Vinci’s racket.

Another backhand sails right past Vinci. I am impressed- perfect balance on the front right foot and there goes another forehand landing spot on the line!
Li Na’s backhand is the perfect text book variety, great control and the ball landing right where she wants. Li Na holds her serve and s up two games to love.

Vinci’s second serve is expectedly weak.  Li Na is attacking her game from the word go and stamping her authority or should I say stomping her authority of Vinci.  Will it be a double bagel? Well at least Li na knows that her game is rock solid. If anything I see in Li Na a strong opponent to Serena Williams.  She is setting her shots beautifully, constructing points , 3 backhands and then bam..a forehand down the line.  She is using all corners of the court and oh yes that text book- perfect backhand, She is almost kneeling on her right leg and the backhand goes kissing the net. I am seeing Li Na play after a long time.  Almost a year and her play though well-rounded wasn’t imprinted on my mind.  But now if this is how she plays (so far no unforced errors) and there goes one unforced error and also the possibility of Vinci breaking her. But the way I see it is that Li is not being stretched really. She is dictating the play, coming to the net if she thinks it’s a winning point; so no pressure here. And Vinci breaks Li Na. Li Na is still up 5 sets to 1.  Having said that it is painful to watch long rallies on grass being controlled from the baseline.   Vinci double- faults to level the score at thirty all but wins the next point with an ace.  We are 24 minutes into the first set and some lapses in concentration from Li Na.

While the commentators are saying it’s a lapse in concentration, I think for this point it was a last minute change in shot selection.  Technically perfect, is Li Na’s game fun to watch? I am unsure here.  It’s like watching Lendl play only its more staid, solid but staid.  Maybe it’s the opposition, maybe this is her style. But I like her double-handed backhand. Steady, balanced and poised on one knee almost touching the ground.  But then again, I have not seen her being stretched on her backhands.  She seems to have enough time to position herself well behind the ball to hit it at will. 

Li Na wins the first set 6-2.

Second set and Vinci serves.  That’s lovely down-the-line backhand under pressure from Vinci.  Li Na should have won this point by playing a cross court but was unsuccessful.  Vinci is serving and loses her serve.  The last point gifted free of cost as she netted a forehand volley in the net.  

Li Na up by three sets to love.  It’s not that Vinci is not a good player but lacking in strategy? Possibly.  Li Na’s game is faultless…backhand, forehand, serve, volley, finding all the corners of the court from the baseline and also her rushing to the net which is not frequent, has netted her points. Li Na holds her serve and is up four games to love.  Body language is now talking rather than the racket for Robert Vinci and it’s not positive.  Vinci loses her serve and Li Na is now leading at five games to love.  I still think if Vinci had rallied, she might have made a fight out of this score.  Li Na now serving for the match.  She now has 3 match points but a forehand sails wide and now she has 2 match points.  One more match point as Vinci scores one more point and Li Na wins. 6-2, 6-1. In sizzling form, Li Na in a mere 55 minutes. 

Vinci did not deserve this, she will be disappointed with this performance. 

Li Na now in the quarter finals of 2013, for the third time! Cheers and all the best Li Na!

Day 4..Wimbledon

Day 4 sees three players ranked 1 and 2 respectively play seeds 23, 20 and 13 respectively.

The 4^th round match will decide if the old order will be restored or continue to be shattered. 

Serena Williams expects to be tested against Sabine Lisicki, Murray will test his new-found calmness against the temperamental yo-yos of Michail Youzhny and Novak Djokovic will check out the resurgence of Tommy Haas who is cresting on his 17^th outing at the SW19. 

What are the odds that Serena and Novak will fall to Lisicki and Haas and Murray will be beaten in 5 sets? The Odds are low, very low in fact close to zero. Lisicki will probably take Williams to the three set wire but will crumble in the end to the menace of Williams.  Youzhny will be outplayed thoroughly. Haas will pose a problem to Djokovic.  Novak will win but not before Haas takes a set off the No.1 seed. This is my prediction for Day 4 on Centre Court.

The French players at SW19

The French have a brigade stronger than their army at the SW19. Lead by Jo Wilfried Tsonga, there is Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon, Nicholas Mahut , Julien Benneteau and the lone woman ranger Marion Bartoli who is ranked at no.15.

Among these players, I love watching Richard Gasquet- the strongest reason being his single fisted backhand and that he gravitates to the net at every opportunity and treat the grass surface as grass and not hammer blows from the baseline.  The problem is we all know that the these players with the exception of Tsonga will not reach beyond the quarter finals.  

Gasquet has played in 7 Wimbledon championships and his best result has been the semifinals in 2007. Gael Monfils has never progressed beyond 3^rd round, Gilles Simon has done one round better than him and so has Benneteau. Bartoli has played in 10 championships and her best result came in 2007 as a Wimbledon Finalist. Tsonga has shown the most promising performance. Ranked at No.7, he has played in 5 championships and his best result has been the semi-finals in 2011 where he beat Federer and in 2012.

 All these players have been around for at least 10 years on the tour and may never beat their peak results which are at best average.  Many of them are in top 20 and their rankings will slide even further as years progress (Lleyton Hewitt at No.82). 

But Hewitt at least got the kiss the trophy in 2002 and enjoy a brief fling with being No.1.  

Wimbledon 2013

Roger Federer, current world no.3, will be targeting an unprecedented 8^th Wimbledon title ten years after he won his first.  For a number of reasons I am excited for a number of reasons this year at the all-white grand slam.  All the top 4 players are there without exception.  Djokovic, Murray, Federer, Ferrer and Nadal.  Only 4 rankings but 5 players! Due to an algebraic quirk, the equation that spews out the ranking system at Wimbledon has now ranked Ferrer ahead of Nadal.  A lot of hue and cry has been made in the media about the comedy of this particular act.  Having said that, I also think Ferrer fully deserves this ranking.  At 31 Ferrer is playing the tennis of his life and as he said, this is his last chance of getting the best results of his career on grass.  

Talking of age, 31 seems like the golden number- Serena Williams, Federer, Ferrer,  are all 31 and two of them are defending champions while the third is enjoying the highest ranking of his life at no.4, one place ahead of compatriot Nadal.  Then there is Berdych and Tsonga lurking dangerously close to the surface of the top 5 and are capable of pulling off an early upset.  Berdych’s recent clashes with Federer have all ended in his favour.   Del Potro  Richard Gasquet and Stanislas Wawrinka are at 8, 9 and 10 respectively.  I feel Wawrinka has the potential to reach the quarters and then the semis.  I love watching him play, probably at par with Djokovic because one can learn a lot by watching him.  He is the only player apart from Gasquet and Federer to practice the single-fisted backhand, his volleys are superb and generally he is not content to hammer from ball upon ball from the baseline. Should that happen and then per chance the opponent attack his back hand, he will simply whip  the racket and swat the ball very deep either down the line or across the court.  Unlike many of the top 10 players, most notably Murray, he does more than keep the ball in play from the baseline, he will mix his shots, vary the tempo, risk a volley and most importantly fearlessly leave the baseline.

The men’s tennis has been consistent and the top 4 rankings have been dividing the spoils of 4 grand slams between them. The lower ranked players have also been consistently been nipping at their heels and the slightest weakness will have them jump at the higher seeds.

What happening with the top 10 women? Plenty apparently…off court.  Serena Williams has been bringing a lot of mouth to the table aka press conferences.  The rape remark storm had barely died down when she made another comment about Sharapova going out with ‘the guy with the black heart’ (ref. Grigor Dimitrov) and ‘not being invited to the coolest parties’. Who cares!  Why in spite of sweeping all tournaments in her way and also swatting players like flies, Williams makes such juvenile remarks is beyond my understanding.  She has a certain stature is 31 years of age, has more than 10 years of pro play under her belt and ditto those many years of tour experience.  She has stumbled and learnt, been injured and written off more times than she cared and she has come back…and how. Yet she behaves like a teenager mentioning ‘coolest parties’. 

Why Serena, why? She collects her French Open trophy like a little girl who skips her way to the desired object, she giggles, pouts and pirouettes.  It’s  frankly disturbing.  But Williams is no 1 and the hot favourite to win the grass affair.  Sharapova and Azarenka are ferociously mewing at her heels.  But I have realized that something like black magic happens to the opponents when they play Williams, they crumble before the game even begins, they play strangely, make errors, and hand Williams the match; such is her power (playing power not black magic).  Serena’s appearance on the court is intimidating.  Her stares, fist pumps do the damage psychologically and her cheetah- like movements on the court take care of the best played shots.  Her confidence and menace is terrifying. The only thing I can hope for is score more competitive than a tame 6-4, 6-4.  

Of the rest of top 10, I consider only Petra Kvitova, Sara Errani and Li Na who have great game and will put up a fight.  I will just mention without commenting on Radwanska, erstwhile no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber and Maria Kirilenko. Outside of top 10 are so many bright stars that behave like comets.  Sam Stosur for one is the brightest of them all.  This stupendously fit Australian has taken on Williams before and knows her in all her strength and ugliness and she has won. But one doesn’t hear of Stosur beyond round 3 or even 3 these days.  Sabine Lisicki has spunk and is not bogged down by pressure of higher rankings and then there is Elena Vesnina fresh from her victory at Eastbourne and the American Jamie Hampton who was the finalist at the Aegon International Title.   

Oops the clock is ticking…only 6 hours to go.

Dubai Duty Free Semi final between Djokovic and Del Potro

Del Potro V/s Djokovic. World no.1 tennis player who is actually a skier a disguise against the 6ft 7inch tower of Tandil. It's a no brainer actually.  Djokovic is hitting down-the-line backhand shots at will at time and placements of his own choosing.  The skier's slide is intact and allows him to beat Del Potro's advantage of height.  He is moving the ball and mixing his shots is at practise session.  I would give an arm and a leg for that killer backhand. And sorry folks, while Federer is still my favourite player, he stands no chance against Djokovic.  This guy is superhuman, he can adapt at will, emotionally I have always seen a tough g who has the grace to smile at an impossible shot that his opponent has hit and acknowledge as such.  I think this comes to his aid when the chips are down and he is ready to claw is way up and out of the hole.  Now enough of Nole, While I was writing this, Del Potro stopped my hand from writing his obituary and has broken Djokovic to go up 3-0 in the second set. That apart and whatever the outcome of the match maybe (Djokovic will win of course), I have always felt sorry for Del Potro who burst brilliantly on the international circuit by being the youngest player at 18years to capture the US Open title by beating Federer in 2008 when he was two sets down. After that he has not made good on the promise that he showed. Plagued by injuries, He was sidelined while other other players Djokovic and a little Murray surged ahead. And now as things as things stand, he will always be in the top 10.  

Coming back to the game, I realise that Dl Potro is merely responding to the Djokovic's game.  Engaging in rallies is ok, except that with Djokovic the rally can go on forever while he makes you do the corner to corner drill and then you commit an unforced error at the end of which you are exhausted while Mr.Djokovic is ready to do another ski jump.  It is useless.  I wonder where does the reed-thin Djokovic get his energy from or where he stores it.  Anyways Djokovic has broken back and is now serving to level the score at three games all.  My bets are 6-3in Djokovic's favour.  

Have to rush folks.  Will catch up on the game after an hour, by which time it will be done and dusted of course.