Tie break, set 4, Almagro V's Ferrer

I don't have the heart to watch this one.  Both the players are pounding the clay in a determined dance...
And Ferrer wins the tie break- 7-4
Who will blink first? Ferrer or Almagro?
Ferrer is known as the 'Little beast', is know to get back every ball, running away on his nimble feet. Wait..there is medical time-out.  I think Almagro has cramps in his things and a medic is attengding him while he rests his face under the towel. Ok time's over and the little matador is on his feet. 5th set, 1st game.  Ferrer scores his first point as Almagro nets a volley. But Almagro holds his serve and bags the game.  Aha, 5 th game of the final set and ALmagro is serving at 15-30.  The two unforced errors costing him to give away two points. Unruffled, Almagro serves in the tight corner and has Ferrer scurrying to hit a backhand.  He opens up the court for the return forehand which is absolutely unplayable.  ALmagro scores.  But makes an unforced error to give level the score at 40-40.  Oops one more back hand finds the net and Ferrer stands at Adv. Oh dear, a loose forehand finds the net again and Ferrer walks away with the first break of the 5th set. 

Still on Day 9

Almagro looks like a matador in tennis shots with his hand moving in an arc and ending over his head. His back arched slightly and neck strained form the effort of backhand shot. The last set sees both the players tied at 4-4 having broken each other once. None are showing the slightest indications of wilting or giving up. Almagro and Ferrer are being driven to the end of their limits (I don't see them though) and .....Almagro breaks Ferrer for the second time to be 5-4 up in the 4th set and he is to serve which he hopefully will hold. This baseline game is really demanding, exhausting.  No delicate volleys or drop shots.  The ball whizzing like a bullet and the feet wearing down the baseline area with some manic running.  Did you know that Djokovic and Nadal ran nearly half a marathon which is 21kms in their 5 hr 53 minutes slug fest at the Australian Open?
Here to there is respite for the players, the rallies are there for sure but they are not the steady, middle of the line sort but crazy left hand corner to an impossible right-hand corner.  My estimate is at least 12 meters for a rally of 8 shots.
That is ......at least a dozen buckets of sweat in the 40 degrees centigrade!

Day 9, Almagro V/s Ferrer

If it is possible for the heart rate to up to abnormal levels by simply watching the game then well, I am dangerously close to a cardiac arrest as I can get.
Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer are hitting forehands and backhands like they are in a Nike advert. Hitting as close as possible to the sidelines and freely without a hint of hesitation or inhibitions. Both pummeling, punching, whiplashing and their arms flailing in back and fore motions like rhythmic gymnasts...just that the prop is no 10 gm ribbon but a 300 gm graphite racket.
Ferrer is down 4-6, 4-6, but has taken the last set intrepidly 7-5. His short, heavy set body is not lethargic and is not averse to run all over the court, giving as good as he gets.  Alamgro is no wuss either. His single fisted backhand has such tremendous power and just watching him has given me a frozen shoulder. I have seen him play at Chennai Open last year, he was drenched in sweat and trying to negotiate the intense himidity and the monster serve of Milos Raonic. He lost 4-6, 4-6 to the Canadian.  Now however I am reading a body language that has not an iota of self doubt.  That can be gauged from the total number of points won so far by each player- 92. His gaze steady and steely.  His shoulders at the ready.  You can't see those drooping and there is no self-flagellation either at points lost. This goes for both the players and is a mark of intense readiness- to win, whatever it takes.
At the end whoever wins deserves it.

4th round at the Australian Open and some questions

The Pre-quarter final rounds threw up some interesting observations.No 10. Caroline Wozniacki (and former No. 1) was playing Svetlana Kuznetsova who is ranked No. 75.  I have always loved Kuznetsova's game but I degrees.
I had the following questions:
1. Where are all the Russian ladies?
2. Can a person play the backhand as well or even better than the forehand?
3. Why was Caro ever World No. 1?
4. Why do we frequently see Yo- Yo sets in women's tennis?
The answer are- I don't know, I have never seen it before, I don't know and I really don't know.
Where are the Russian ladies?  Russia and countries that were a part of the defunct Soviet Republic like Belarus, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Latvia, Uzbekistan, produce tennis players like Pakistan churns out fast fearsome fast bowlers.  Of course what's common for these two are like both burn like comets, brilliant in their transience, produce smashing tennis and fade away.  Actually the tennis players don't fade away as much as hover on the edge of brilliance and in top 50. Take the case of Dinara Safina, former world No. 1, temperamental, brilliant player of mediocre player (depending on her mood swings) never won a grand slam and has now retired from the professional tennis.  Anna Kournikova, Vera Zvonareva, Anna Chakvertadze, Daniela Hantuchova, Bondarenko and Svetlana Kuznetsova...which brings us to the present and her 4th round match against Wozniacki and to the second question.
Svetlana's backhand finds the sweet corner spots and the way she hits it like a forehand in the sense that the same smoothness of action, the beautiful footwork and the natural sequence of actions that culminates in the double handed shot are a treat to savour. Opponents better watch out for that one.  She has won two grand slams and has been relegated to no. 80 and now No. 75 in world rankings due to knee injuries.  Hope she continues her run at the Open.  Kuznetsova next meet No. 1 seeded Azarenka.  It will be an interesting match for sure.
Meanwhile Djokovic survived a massive scare at the hands of the Stanislas Wawrinka (the man with the superb single fisted backhand) in a gruelling five hour- five setter. I think it was Wawrika's unforced errors that finally 'gifted' the match to Serbian. It was shattering to watch that ripper of a backhand finding the net. Djokovic exulted by taking his t-shirt off and baring his slender upper body. Another interesting observation- Novak always gives the opponent his dues.  After his match with Stepanek, he gave him a hug instead of hand-shake.  Today, he not only warmly hugged Wawrinka but also patted his cheek and hugged again. I think it makes the opponent feel better.  I admire that in the Nole.
Now on to the QuarterFinals!

Round 2 

 World No 1 Victoria Azarenka V/s No 94. Elina Daniilidou of Greece. The verdict again was certain as to which way the match would swing. Even as I write, Vika is up by one set and five games to love in the second. Its match practise as usual for the 23 year old Belarussian who has come a long way since she was 18 years old and lost her only match against Elina Daniilidou in three sets! I wonder what it must be like for Elina whose story must be similar to all those who hover lower than 50 in world ranking. She has been at no. 94 for pretty much her entire career and she is 30 years old. It must take a lot of guts and also a thick skin to hang around there for so long. Guts because your talent lies exposed for all to see when you are playing any top 10 player. You are made to chase fluff all around the court and in the end the ball just whizzes by as you make your spirited run and then just give up because you simply wont reach the ball even with the tennis racket attached to a bamboo.
It must take nerves of steel to play again and again knowing that it is an exercise in futility. The top player send winners and you can only smile slash put your hands up in despair and call on the gods above to give you that one face-saving game. Thick skin because well the inadequacies are so glaring so as to be embarrassing. At the end of the day, it’s a job like any other and the result of this occupation is a win or a loss. Result- 6-1, 6-0.
Go team Vika! We want to see you win against Willimas!
The next match I am watching now is the rising Aussie tennis talent and ex- Enfant Terrible (he has promised that he has matured and learnt his lessons) Bernard Tomic V/s the German Daniel Brands. Both held on to their serve in the first set. But Brands is up one set in the tie breaker. Oh wonders, Brands a single fisted back hand which for me is a joy to watch as opposed to the laboured double- handed one. He has an overall solid game and I am thinking a better one that Tomic. He is mixing his shots well and his sliced drop shots are frequently finding Tomic behind the baseline. The Aussie is making more enforced errors that his German opponent. My bet is that Brands will win the second round and go on to meet Federer in the 3th. It will be interesting to watch the Swiss and the German meet at this stage. I feel that Brands has the game to make things a little harder for Federer.
 So lets see which one of them makes it to round three for masterclass lesson from Federer

More first round results...

1st Round match between Victoria Azarenka and Monica Nicolescu. To start with of course I knew what the outcome would be- that Victoria Azarenka would win in straight sets and she did- 6-1, 6-4. Nicolescu looked lost in the first set and made 13 unforced errors as against 6 from Vika. The second set was more equally poised as Azarenka made a string of 17 unforced errors as against 7 from Nicolescu. That forehand of Azarenka’s fired from sharp cross-court angle is like a terrible weapon and Nicolescu countered it with her own brand of topspin forehand which was a revealation of sorts because I have never seen anyone return with such unusual forehand which must be putting a strain on Nicolescu. So I suspect like players have a strategy of attacking a backhand, Azarenka attackec Nicolescu’s forehand with the expected results- in a prolonged rally (maximum 20 shots) Nicolescu’s found the net unerringly! Result- Azarenka wins agains Nicolescu but not without a scare in the second set! Meanshile we find Serena Williams dressed in deep purple matched with orange wrist-bands and an orange hairband toying with Edina Gallovits Hall of Romania. While Gallovits made her mark all over the court, Williams barely moved. A double bagle victory for Williams over Hall- 6-0, 6-0. I am betting on Azarenka matching forehands with Williams in the finals at Melbourne!

Australian Open 2013, Melbourne, 1st round Action

The first of the grand slam tournaments of 2013 and it is sure to follow the the script of the year that went by or a couple of years that went by. Men's tennis has arrived at a stage where the game has steadied around four or five players that make it to the semi-finals- Federer, Djokovic, Murray, Rafa and it is either slash or- Tsonga, Ferrer, Berdych, Del Potro, Tipsarevic is in the next tier. The end of the last season saw Novak Djokovic fend off Roger Federer's claim to the ATP Tour Finals season end Trophy and set the tone for the year that was to come. From the chilly climes of London to the blistering heat of Melbourne. The season never ends in more than one way! The first round at Aus Open serves mostly as a practise game for the the top seeds. There are players like Lleyton Hewitt who give players some grief with their tenacity and ferociousness. Even after all these years (he was the number one seed almost 10 years ago and while Roddick has retired, he is still around,he can give a player like Tipsarevic a run for his first round money. He lost of course but as usual the scores dont tell the whole story. There have been no premature exits so far, all the top seeds- men and women have breezed through- Sam Stosur, Sharapova, Anna Ivanovic (she is always a prime candidate for a shock exit!), Djokovic, Tipsrevic are on to the next round. Murray is playing Robin Haase of Netherlands even as I write and he is up by two sets and two games to love in the third. Another twenty minutes and Murray will be done here. Keep tuned it for more updates from Australian Open in Melbourne!