Tennis Fool's Posts - Tennisopolis : Tennis Social Network2024-03-29T11:52:47ZTennis Foolhttp://tennisopolis.com/profile/tennisfoolhttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3139110724?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://tennisopolis.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=0vpivvb66xoo3&xn_auth=noIsner/Mahut Wimbledon Marathon: Does the Winner Lose?tag:tennisopolis.com,2010-06-24:1869403:BlogPost:4128782010-06-24T01:05:51.000ZTennis Foolhttp://tennisopolis.com/profile/tennisfool
What other adjectives can I use that haven't already been taken? Epic. Outstanding. Ridiculous. <br></br>
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Sure other players won today including Roger Federer who was tested again by qualifier Ilija Bozoljac while Venus Williams took out red hot Ekaterina Makarova, but it was a match that ended yesterday and that also ended tonight at 59-59 all in the final set with no winner in sight that has become not only the tennis match of the tournament, not only the match of the year, but one for all…
What other adjectives can I use that haven't already been taken? Epic. Outstanding. Ridiculous. <br/>
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Sure other players won today including Roger Federer who was tested again by qualifier Ilija Bozoljac while Venus Williams took out red hot Ekaterina Makarova, but it was a match that ended yesterday and that also ended tonight at 59-59 all in the final set with no winner in sight that has become not only the tennis match of the tournament, not only the match of the year, but one for all time. But even if a winner finally emerges (or collapses) tomorrow, will it even matter considering the physical and mental toll it could cost him the rest of the season? <br/>
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The first round match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut today entered the history books on all levels of the sport: longest fifth set both at Wimbledon and in the Open Era, longest ever match at Wimbledon or at any other Grand Slam, most games ever played in a match in the Open Era, most aces ever served in a match and probably a few more I can't dig up. And if Taylor Dent hadn't hit a 149 mph ace in his losing effort to Novak Djokovic today, John Isner would have had the fastest serve in Wimbledon history. <br/>
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<a href="http://adjustingthenet.com/2010/06/23/isnermahut-wimbledon-marathon-does-the-winner-lose/">Read the rest of the post here.</a><br/>Grass Court Season Preview: Does "Real Tennis" Start Now?tag:tennisopolis.com,2010-06-12:1869403:BlogPost:4102422010-06-12T14:26:54.000ZTennis Foolhttp://tennisopolis.com/profile/tennisfool
<p>Now that the long and grueling clay court season, owned by one man, is done, we’ve now entered not only the midpoint of the season but for some tennis purists the only part of the season that matters. And although it’s probably premature to start analyzing the recent early exits by top seeds at the Queen’s Club event while Roger Federer cruises to what looks like another trophy at Halle, it’s probably more fascinating to try and analyze why this time of year, always so brief and almost…</p>
<p>Now that the long and grueling clay court season, owned by one man, is done, we’ve now entered not only the midpoint of the season but for some tennis purists the only part of the season that matters. And although it’s probably premature to start analyzing the recent early exits by top seeds at the Queen’s Club event while Roger Federer cruises to what looks like another trophy at Halle, it’s probably more fascinating to try and analyze why this time of year, always so brief and almost overdrenched with tradition, becomes the focal point of the entire sport each year.
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<p>It’s not necessarily that the best tennis all year is played on grass, but the fact that more people, especially those who don’t follow the sport on a regular basis, follow Wimbledon than any other tennis tournament amplifies the results regardless of the quality of play. That’s what makes it and the grass court season such a dichotomy.
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<p>Read the rest of the article <a href="http://adjustingthenet.com/2010/06/12/grass-court-season-preview-does-real-tennis-start-now/">here</a> .</p>Is Ernests Gulbis the Next Marat Safin? Probably.tag:tennisopolis.com,2010-05-06:1869403:BlogPost:4015152010-05-06T17:30:00.000ZTennis Foolhttp://tennisopolis.com/profile/tennisfool
It's still a little soon to start reading the tea leaves for future guidance into Ernests Gulbis's career after his semifinal run at the Italian Open last week. One thing is for sure, the 21 year old Latvian who has been touted as the "next big thing" is finally, and I do mean finally, living up to that hype. <br></br><br></br>After several years of showing flashes of brilliance and flashes of awful, mixed in with a bad judgment call last year in Stockholm involving certain "ladies", Gulbis, with his…
It's still a little soon to start reading the tea leaves for future guidance into Ernests Gulbis's career after his semifinal run at the Italian Open last week. One thing is for sure, the 21 year old Latvian who has been touted as the "next big thing" is finally, and I do mean finally, living up to that hype. <br/><br/>After several years of showing flashes of brilliance and flashes of awful, mixed in with a bad judgment call last year in Stockholm involving certain "ladies", Gulbis, with his powerful strokes and his candid yet funny demeanor, reminds me of another past champion -- Marat Safin. <br/><br/>I remember watching Gulbis take on Safin at last year's L.A. Tennis Open and couldn't help but notice the similarities in both players, playing and personality wise. In a previous post, I wrote the following, "This match was like the younger brother taking on the older brother...Both players tossed their racquets around and moaned their plights throughout the match. Gulbis has long been cited as a player to watch, but he's slipped a bit in the rankings, now at 62. From what I saw, he doesn't have a "shot" in his arsenal yet, and his mind games will need to be worked on if he wants a shot at the top tier."<br/><br/>Safin won that match as part of his '09 retirement tour and as result of his departure from the game, Safin's former coach, Hernan Gumy, signed on with the Latvian late last year. Since then Gulbis, who shared a similar Safin trait of not being too keen on practicing, has now embraced hard work along with toning down his mind games, especially when he loses points. In the past, Gulbis would immediately smash a racquet or scream in "pain". Now, as we saw in Rome, he seemed to brush off adversity almost with a shrug.<br/><a href="http://http://adjustingthenet.com/2010/05/05/is-ernests-gulbis-the-next-marat-safin-probably/"><br/>(Read the rest of the post here.)</a><br/>Tsonga & Gasquet: A Changing of the Guard in Monte Carlo?tag:tennisopolis.com,2010-04-21:1869403:BlogPost:3988802010-04-21T04:00:00.000ZTennis Foolhttp://tennisopolis.com/profile/tennisfool
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3149147254?profile=RESIZE_320x320" style="float: left;" width="200"></img> With the start of the clay court season, talk always focuses on the many Spanish players in the top 30 of the ATP tour, each of which has a good chance of doing well in the coming months. Less noticed, but by no means should they be overlooked, are the growing number of French players in the top ranks as well. During today's early round action at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, a possible shift in the French guard may have been cemented as Jo-Wilfried…</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img width="200" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3149147254?profile=RESIZE_320x320" alt="" style="float: left;"/>With the start of the clay court season, talk always focuses on the many Spanish players in the top 30 of the ATP tour, each of which has a good chance of doing well in the coming months. Less noticed, but by no means should they be overlooked, are the growing number of French players in the top ranks as well. During today's early round action at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, a possible shift in the French guard may have been cemented as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, earned a tough, yet impressive win while Richard Gasquet, who once laid claim to being the highest ranked Frenchmen, crashed out in under an hour to Tomas Berdych. <br/></p>
<br/>For awhile it looked like Tsonga, with his physical prowess and fan-favorite persona, would play second fiddle to his countrymen Gilles Simon, who was as high as No. 6 last year, and Gael Monfils, the flashy yet injury-proned star who got to the French Open semifinals two years ago. Yet injuries to both Simon and Monfils has limited their action this year allowing Tsonga, with his semifinal run at the Australian Open, to pass them both. With his 7-6(5), 7-5 win over Nicolas Almagro today in Monte-Carlo, Tsonga proved that despite his so-so results last year in clay, this year might be a different story. The question for him will be can he be patient enough on the red clay to use his game to its full advantage, or will he let his sometimes shaky mental resolve get in the way. <br/><br/>For Gasquet, 2010 is so far not the momentum building year he'd hoped for. Despite hitting some fine shots, he was clearly overmatched by the uber-confident Berdych who took out Gasquet 6-2, 6-0. Although Gasquet returned to the game last September after being briefly suspended, one would think by now he would have found his game to climb back into the top 30 where he was this time last year. Technically his shots look fine, but whatever mental toll the suspension and resulting media coverage Gasquet endured has stayed with him. <br/><br/>Although he's been on tour awhile, Gasquet is only 23 years old, so he's still got plenty of time to return to the top tier. But one gets the feeling he needs to make a move now to do so. Will the clay courts be his place to do that? Maybe. But I wouldn't be surprised if he makes his move late in the year on the hard courts. As for Tsonga, despite title wins at the Paris Indoors and Tokyo, many have been waiting for him to really step up and challenge for a Slam as he did in Australia a few years ago. It's hard to say if this year's French Open is the place for that, but considering how long the French have waited for another winner since Yannick Noah back in 1983, Tsonga could be their best bet. And with the rest of the French guard either nursing physical or mental injuries like Gasquet, Tsonga will need to get used to being the head of the French guard for quite some time to come.<br/><br/>Erik Gudris is a writer and media consultant based in Los Angles. He manages the tennis news site <a href="http://adjustingthenet.com">Adjustingthenet.com</a>.<br/>Sharapova & Ivanovic: The Burden of Being a Brand.tag:tennisopolis.com,2010-04-06:1869403:BlogPost:3965942010-04-06T16:40:42.000ZTennis Foolhttp://tennisopolis.com/profile/tennisfool
<p>With her first round loss to Maria Kirilenko at the Australian Open, Maria Sharapova’s comeback is still slowly getting back on track in 2010. Though in her press conference Sharapova confidently said “I’ll<br></br> be back on a second Saturday. You’ll see.”, her “second career” is not just about hitting tennis balls.</p>
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<p>With her reported new deal with Nike worth $70 million dollars over eight years, Sharapova is still the highest paid female athlete.…</p>
<p>With her first round loss to Maria Kirilenko at the Australian Open, Maria Sharapova’s comeback is still slowly getting back on track in 2010. Though in her press conference Sharapova confidently said “I’ll<br/>
be back on a second Saturday. You’ll see.”, her “second career” is not just about hitting tennis balls.</p>
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<p>With her reported new deal with Nike worth $70 million dollars over eight years, Sharapova is still the highest paid female athlete. With her new fashion line, Sharapova emerges as a “brand” that will remain in the sports apparel and maybe even the fashion world long after she retires from the game. <span id="more-1281"></span></p>
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<p>The issue remains whether Sharapova, who is playing this week in Memphis, can sustain her tennis career long enough to challenge the records set by Justine Henin and Serena Williams. Or will the demands of being a brand prove too distracting for Sharapova?</p>
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<p>Another top player attempting to turn herself into a brand is Ana Ivanovic. Despite her French Open title and brief stint at No. 1, Ivanovic’s recent on-court struggles, including pulling out of this<br/>
week’s event in Dubai, raises questions on how long she will remain in the game. Despite this, adidas recently signed the Serb to a lifetime deal that will extend beyond her playing career and, hopefully, extend her <a href="http://www.anaivanovic.com/">“Club Ana”</a> brand as well.</p>
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<p>Most of the top players have clothing deals and other endorsements. Venus and Serena Williams even design their own clothing lines and have other ventures, including being minority owners of the Miami Dolphins. But Sharapova and Ivanovic are at a point in their careers where they are becoming more known for their endorsements than their tennis. Does their tennis suffer because of the time commitments they must make to sustain their brands? Maybe. Just today Sharapova said she <a href="http://tennisreporters.net/FedCupalabama_21610.html">could not commit to Fed Cup</a> because of her schedule, according to Matt Cronin. Read into that what you will.</p>
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<p>Both Ivanovic and Sharapova are still in their early twenties, so their chances at Grand Slam success is still high. But if Ivanovic doesn’t win another Slam, it won’t be as damaging to her status as it<br/>
would Sharapova, who despite winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, would still be looked upon as an underachiever considering she is the better player.</p>
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<p>I don’t see Ivanovic, despite being a darling of <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010_swimsuit/models/ana-ivanovic/">Sports Illustrated</a>, becoming a huge brand unless she turns her game around and wins more titles. Sharapova’s brand is assured so long as she can return to her winning form and get more press about her play than what she is wearing. Remember, in fashion, your dress shouldn’t take the spotlight away from you. <br/></p>
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<p>(This article originally appeared on <a href="http://adjustingthenet.com">AdjustingtheNet.com</a>)<br/></p>