Report Card: Praise for Rafael Nadal,Victoria Azerenko, and Serena Williams
By Courtney Nguyen
Monday, Feb 18, 2013 10:24
The Report Card hands out grades for the week in tennis. This week, Rafael Nadal won his first tournament since the French Open and Victoria Azarenka topped new No. 1 Serena Williams in Doha. Milos Raonic three-peated in San Jose’s farewell and Juan Martin del Potro took advantage of Roger Federer’s early exit in Rotterdam.
Rafael Nadal: B-plus. Nadal was nowhere near his best at the Brazil Open, his second tournament since Wimbledon. He even looked a few notches lower than Chile the previous week. Part of that may have been due to conditions in Sao Paulo. Players complained about the dangerous courts and quick balls all week. Given Sao Paulo is about 2,500 feet above sea level, that meant a surprisingly quick court despite the surface (e.g., Nicolas Almagro served 28 aces in a three-set loss). These were not ideal conditions for Nadal, and with his knees hurting all week, it was a good effort to win his 51st career title and the first since Roland Garros, beating David Nalbandian 6-2, 6-3 in the final.
Here’s match point. No idea what he said to umpire Carlos Bernardes, but I don’t think they were exchanging pleasantries.
It wasn’t easy. Nadal was pushed to three sets in back-to-back matches by Carlos Berlocq (No. 78) and Martin Alund (No. 111) before capturing his 37th clay title.
“It’s very nice and important because at the end of your career what’s left are the titles, and depending on certain moments there are some titles that you appreciate very much,” Nadal said, according to ATPWorldTour.com. “This one I appreciate it the most because of all the struggles I went through during the week, with some problems with my knee some days.”
Nadal will take a week off to rest before heading to Acapulco, Mexico, for the final stop on his three-tournament clay swing.
Victoria Azarenka: A-plus. It’s undeniable that the subtext underneath the “Serena’s back at No. 1″ talk last week was the long-running skepticism directed at Azarenka’s vise-like grip on the top ranking for more than a year. Her two Australian Open titles, a 26-match winning streak and reliable foray into the final four almost every weekend were shunned in favor of Williams’ flashes — much more consistent flashes, as the latter half of 2012 proved — of brilliance. So in her last day at No. 1 (at least for now), leave it to Azarenka to finally break through and upend the woman who supplanted her Monday, beating Williams 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3 in the Doha final.
Azarenka defended her Doha title, ran her 2013 winning streak to 14 and ended her run of nine straight losses to Williams since 2009. But more important, she proved how small the gap is between them — yes, this can now officially be designated a rivalry — and all this talk about Williams being so obviously the “real No. 1″ is a load of bull. At their best, Williams is still the better player — she was nowhere near her best all week, appearing to struggle with a cold. But how about acknowledging the fact that she has to be at or near her best to beat Azarenka? That’s not the case against anyone else on tour right now, and Williams knows it.
If you needed more proof that Azarenka might be worming her way into Williams’ head, look no further than the end of the first set of their final when Williams complained to the umpire about Azarenka holding her hand up during her service motion and slowing her down. That’s the stuff Williams typically ignores, but against Azarenka she let it get to her.
Serena Williams: A-minus. It was nice to see Williams show just how much No. 1 meant; she was reduced to tears after beating Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals to seal the deal. We always say that a fit and motivated Williams is the best, so seeing that emotion validated her decision to get off the couch and play Doha and Dubai and gun for that top spot. She’s in no position to coast now. Azarenka is on her heels to recapture the No. 1 ranking and challenge her at any tournament in which they play. Williams found great motivation in being the hunter. Now we get to see her respond to being the hunted.
Juan Martin del Potro: A. Rotterdam may have lost its big draw early when Julien Benneteau upset Federer, but Del Potro quietly decimated the rest of the field by doing something Federer couldn’t: hold serve. Entering Sunday’s final, Del Potro hadn’t dropped a set or his serve all week against quality players Gael Monfils, Ernests Gulbis and Grigor Dimitrov. He lost his serve twice in the first set of the final but still defeated Benneteau 7-6 (2), 6-3 to win his first title of 2013. He was also utterly charming in his interactions with the crowd. I know the “Gentle Giant” nickname seems cliché, but nothing suits him better.
Milos Raonic: A. Dominant as always in San Jose, Raonic closed the 125-year history of the SAP Open by winning his third straight title, beating Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3 in the final. In his three-year run, Raonic went 12-0, won all 24 sets and held serve in 122 of 124 games.
The SAP Open: B. A piece of tennis history ends with the tournament relocating to Memphis next year (the current Memphis tournament will relocate to Rio de Janeiro). Though sentimentality surrounded the tournament last week, it also highlighted how far it has fallen over the years. HP Pavilion was embarrassingly empty during the day, and the night sessions didn’t fare much better. As sad as it is to see the tournament leave, there’s no denying there was nothing for it here.
Roger Federer: C-minus. Federer never looked 100 percent comfortable in Rotterdam, losing to Benneteau in the third round 6-3, 7-5. Benneteau has played Federer tough in the past, beating him at the 2009 Paris Masters and pushing him to five sets at Wimbledon last year. But Federer dropping serve five times to Benneteau was surprising. “If you lose your serve five times, like I did today, you can’t win indoors,” Federer said.
Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska: B. The WTA’s Big Four is starting to turn into the Big Two, with Sharapova and Radwanska making the Doha semifinals only to lose quietly to Williams and Azarenka, respectively. At this point, these losses are just as mental as they are technical. Sharapova again looked intimidated facing Williams, losing for the 10th straight time since 2004, 6-3, 6-2. Radwanska fell for the seventh time in a row to Azarenka, 6-3, 6-3.
Julien Benneteau: B-plus. The 31-year-old Frenchman had a great week, beating Federer and Gilles Simon and not dropping a set heading into his eighth career ATP final. Unfortunately, he came out of that final with the same result as his previous seven: a loss.
John Isner & Ryan Harrison: D. The Americans lost their opening-round doubles match in San Jose 6-2, 6-1 to Alejandro Falla and Robert Farah in … wait for it … 37 minutes. I’m still trying to figure out how you lose a match that quickly. Even if Falla and Farah registered a perfect match, they’d have to win 48 points. When you factor in changeovers and set breaks, there was only about 25 minutes of play. Head-scratcher.
Petra Kvitova: B-plus. We finally, finally, saw glimpses of the Kvitova of 2011 in her 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 quarterfinal loss to Williams. I can only hope that match triggers something. She’s the only woman on tour who can match Williams power for power. It’s a whole new ballgame if she can play that kind of tennis consistently.
David Nalbandian: B-plus. In his first tournament of 2013, Nalbandian beat Almagro 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (3) in the Brazil quarterfinals before losing quietly to a subpar Nadal in the final. Looking fitter than ever at 31, could Nalbandian have one more quality year in him?
Dubai Duty Free: C-minus. The tournament has barely started, but I question the decision to award 18-year-old Yulia Putintseva, ranked No. 101, a main-draw wild card over two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who played her way in via qualifiers. Putintseva made the finals of Dubai’s $75,000 ITF tournament in December but has yet to post back-to-back WTA wins this year. Kuznetsova, ranked No. 51, made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and has two top-10 wins. She is also a three-time finalist at the event, including as recently as 2011. Her dismay is understandable.
Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci: A. Azarenka’s not the only one with a winning streak going. The No. 1 doubles team made Doha its third title of the year and has won 14 consecutive matches if you include Fed Cup.
Christina McHale: B. The American, trying to find her top-25 form since being diagnosed with mono after the 2012 Olympics, scored back-to-back wins for the first time since August. She defeated Vera Dushevina and Lucie Safarova before suffering a 6-0, 6-0 demolition at the hands of Azarenka. The victory against Safarova was her first top-20 win since June.
David Goffin: D. Proof double bagels aren’t just a WTA phenomenon.
Piotr Wozniacki: F. His yelling at a chair umpire to effectively bully her to change a call in his daughter’s favor was bush league. He made Caroline look like a child. She can argue her own calls.
Ernests Gulbis: B. Could it be less than a year ago that Gulbis routed Tomas Berdych in the first round of Wimbledon? Now No. 132, Gulbis qualified for Rotterdam and won his first ATP main-draw match since October, rolling past Robin Haase 6-2, 6-1. Amazing what you can do when you quit smoking.
Mona Barthel: B. She’s beaten three top-10 players in the last two weeks, including a 6-1, 6-2 victory against fellow German Angelique Kerber in the Doha second round before losing to Wozniacki. Check out this cold handshake exchanged with Kerber after that beatdown:
Sloane Stephens: C. It was a tough return for Stephens after she withdrew from Fed Cup, citing an abdominal injury. In her second match since the Australian Open, Stephens had four match points in the second set and served for the match twice but was unable to close out Klara Zakopalova, losing 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). That’s a tough loss, but Zakopalova is ranked just seven spots behind her. Stephens then fell to Sorana Cirstea in the first round of Dubai on Monday.
Grigor Dimitrov’s shoes: D. How is he supposed to get traction in his game when he can’t get any traction on the court? He looks like Bambi on ice.
Mastering the game of Tennis is very hard and requires a person's mind and body to be in-sync. As hard as it is, it's not impossible to improve your game and develop through time. This requires a proper learning atmosphere, a good diet with sports supplement, and lots of practice.
Master your Warm-up
Being able to properly manage your pre-game warm up routine will definitely affect your launch in a game and maximize tennis performance. Keeping in mind some of these tips will allow you to be competitive from the get go.
For a warm up session to be a success, you need to focus on these main areas.
· Noticing the opponent's weakness.
· Effectively warming up key muscles to avoid injury.
· Groove the strokes to make you feel confident of the shots you will play.
· While warming up, try not to miss a single shot.
· Practice your short and ground strokes.
· During a warm up session, your opponent will also be aiming right at you which will help you get an idea of his level of skill and which side of his is stronger.
Improve your Mental Game
Many people often lose matches when they miss a few shots and have a mental breakdown in the middle of the Tennis court. If you find yourself losing many matches and are prone to losing your temper more often on the Tennis court you might be suffering from what many tennis players call the 'yips'.
Unfortunately for you, there are no quick remedies for improving mental strength while in a game. Research has shown a slight improvement in players using the proper techniques at warm-up sessions and a tennis supplement before and during a game.
You can get many Tennis supplements in the market that will make you a lot calmer and keep you from losing your cool and flinging your racket while you're on the Tennis court.
Hitting Depth
Players often like to play short and invite their opponents to attack. If you hit short shots regularly there is no need to change your technique, just line them up more to your target and make them go slightly further. You can also maximize tennis performance by choosing a deeper target and having a good follow through that reaches your target.
Technique: Intimidate your Opponents
To improve your strokes you will need discipline and energy that you can get from a tennis supplement, you will also need to hit the ball in targets which will challenge your opponents every time they face you on the court. The idea is to develop the ability to play the ball where you want it to go.
Make subtle adjustments to your game, after you have mastered the execution of your serves and are hitting your areas you can then focus on smaller targets, this will mostly depend on how good your strokes are. Your level of accuracy and consistency will also intimidate your opponent, which will force them to play harder strokes and give away more points.
Keeping your targets in mind is important, that is what any instructor will tell you. It will be the catalyst that will enable you to achieve your objective.
If Rafael Nadal successfully returns from injury, his rivalry with Novak Djokovic could move to the top of the list
Few matches have ever had as much riding on it as last year’s French Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
While Djokovic failed to become the first man since Rod Laver nearly 50 years ago to hold all four major titles at once, Nadal won a record-setting seventh French Open. It was their 15th meeting in a tournament final. Given their proximate ages (Nadal is 26; Djokovic is 25), It's not unreasonable to expect Djokovic and Nadal to break the Open era record for most final confrontations, established by Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe.
This 15-final run leapfrogged over Boris Becker and Ivan Lendl, who met 13 times, and it equals the number of finals contested between Jimmy Connors and McEnroe, who had to juggle his three rivalries—with Lendl, Connors and Björn Borg. Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, joined by Becker and Stefan Edberg, are next on the list, but just one final ahead (16).
Like McEnroe, Nadal is a moonlighter when it comes to his rivalries, even if he has only had to work two jobs. He has clashed with Roger Federer in 19 finals, and it would be nice to see them meet in another one or two, so they might equal or surpass the record established by McEnroe and Lendl. But the smart money is on Nadal and Djokovic taking over the top spot. If Nadal’s health troubles are behind him once this spring’s clay season begins, they might even do it this year, which would position this as the Open era’s rivalry of rivalries.
Tennis15-30 senior writer Peter Bodo began covering the sport in 1973 and has since written hundreds of essays and profiles, in addition to half a dozen books.
Monster Walk for Strong Hips to Prevent Injuries and Improve Performance
By Suzanna McGee
Wednesday, Feb 13, 2013 07:11
In tennis, you need to start quickly, accelerate, stop, change direction, load and unload your legs and hips and for all this you need to strengthen your feet, hips and core.
The modern tennis with the open stance forehand causes the right hip (for the right-handed player) to absorb huge forces during the loading and unloading phase of the stroke production.
The repetitive nature of tennis works the right hip repeatedly and it is very common that you develop imbalances: overactive and tight right hip, and weak left hip, which often doesn't fire. (the neuro-muscular connection is lost). When the gluteus muscles in the hip get weak, other supporting structures such as hamstrings or lower back need to help during the movement and they get overused and tight. Weak glutes can also cause knee problems.
When the running mechanics are not correct, (fore example the weak glutes make the knees buckle in) then each step you take, there are increased forces on your joints in your knees, feet, or hips, which over time leads to overuse injuries. It is obvious that we have to pay attention to our glutes. One of the simplest exercises to execute is the tube walking, also known as monster walk. You don't need any gym equipment and you can do it anywhere, anytime. You will feel a big difference in your movement on the court after only a few sessions with your rubber band.
Tube Walking aka Monster Walk Sideways Place the rubber band around your ankles. Get into the athletic position with bent knees, neutral lower back and looking forward. Start walking sideways maintaining a posture with bent knees. If you are strong, you can get even deeper. Open your stance wide and keep good tension on the band. Step out to the side with one foot and then step in with the other foot, without dragging it on the ground. Make sure that your knees are always aligned in one line from the hips over the feet and the feet are pointing forward. If your glutes are very weak, the knees tend to buckle in to compensate. Don't let them!
Walk 20-30 steps one way, and then return to the starting position working the opposite hip. If you want to increase the difficulty, put the band around your feet instead of the ankles.Monster Walk Forward and Backward In the same athletic position and the band either around your ankles or feet, widen your stance and start walking forward with small steps, about 3-6 inches. Make sure your hips and chest are facing forward, don't rotate your entire pelvis while you walk. After 20-30 steps, reverse the movement and walk backwards. Your glutes should be on fire by now!
Repeat the sequence 2-4 times. To give your hips a little break between sets, perform some core exercises: plank, plank with twists, or regular simple crunches. Pay attention to your body and learn to observe how it feels after your tennis practice. Is your lower back tight or sore? How about the hamstrings? Are your adductors (inside of the thighs) shortened? There is a big chance that your glutes are weak and/or not connecting. Pull out your band and do your monster walk.
You will become strong and pain-free really fast, and your tennis game will follow and improve surprisingly a lot. I like to shop online and I like the quality of Power-system's products so I get my bands here at powersystems.com.
If you like to go shopping, you can find the bands in many forms in any sport store of your choice, or on Amazon.com. Two Enemies of Success in Training and Life We all have ideas what we want to do and achieve -- in life or on the tennis court.
Often, we feel like we don't have time to work on our goals now, or we still need to do something first, or we have to learn more how to do it. This thinking stops us from achieving. There will never be a good time to start. The time is now. You can do just a little bit at this moment, and another little bit tomorrow.
If you keep doing this, suddenly you realize how far you have reached. Do you want to become more flexible? (I hope you said "yes"). Do you want to get faster or stronger? Or you need to lose some weight? Your objection may be that you don't have extra 3 hours a day to go to workout, then run and stretch and then eat a healthy meal. Well, start small. Do just one round of the monster walk, it's 5 minutes. Stretch 5 minutes while watching the news on the TV. Eat a few apples and vegetables (5 minutes). If you do this every day, you will be amazed how far you will reach if you stick with it!
Get inspired by these great words by Napoleon Hill:PROCRASTINATION This is one of the most common causes of failure. "Old Man Procrastination" stands within the shadow of every human being, waiting his opportunity to spoil one's chances of success. Most of us go through life as failures, because we are waiting for the "time to be right" to start doing something worthwhile. Do not wait. The time will never be "just right." Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.
LACK OF PERSISTENCE Most of us are good "starters" but poor "finishers" of everything we begin. Moreover, people are prone to give up at the first signs of defeat. There is no substitute for PERSISTENCE. The person who makes PERSISTENCE his watch-word, discovers that "Old Man Failure" finally becomes tired, and makes his departure. Failure cannot cope with PERSISTENCE.
Serve, Anyone? If you have been around my newsletters for a while, you may be familiar with the Tennis Forehand Solution program that my friend and exceptional tennis pro Jeff Salzenstein created. It helped me and many players improve our forehands dramatically. Jeff has been working on his Tennis Serve Secrets program and released it a few days ago. Jeff had one of the biggest, nastiest left handed serves on the tour and even hit a 136 mph serve in the BNP Paribas Open at the age of 32 (like a fine wine, he is aging well!). His serve also helped him break the top 100 for the first time at the age of 30.
If you feel like you struggle with your serve, or you need to make some final improvements for it to be a real bomb, you may want to check out Jeff's newest program on serving. You will discover the big ideas and proven serve lessons that work with all of his personal students giving them super fast results. Jeff has 100% money back warranty if you feel like you haven't been helped. I just hope I won't play against you in the future!
