As Roland Garros Play Rolls On, Schnyder Ends Distinguished Career
As the world’s top players on the WTA tour continue to battle it out on the red clay of Roland Garros, one woman who graced the tour with her tricky play will return to the Grand Slam no longer. A personal favorite, the 32-year old Patty Schnyder announced the end of her career on Saturday during a special press conference.
A perennial top-ten player in the world, Schnyder will be missed for her sheer talent and impressive results on tour. But accomplishments aside, there was something about her game that always intrigued me profoundly; I’m talking style and finesse. The spin that Schnyder used no longer exists to the same degree, especially with her left-handedness. That display of tactics made me appreciate the beauty of spin and the aesthetics of the game as Fabrice Santoro did for me on the men’s side. As the women around her seemingly pound the ball as hard as possible, Schnyder symbolized a true diamond in the rough with a game like no other.
Adding to what personally enamored me besides her game (and similar last names aside) was one specific interaction I had wither. At the US Open a couple years ago, I had the opportunity to approach Schnyder after a doubles loss. Gathering my courage, and almost too late for she was briskly walking to the player’s lounge, I asked for an autograph. Schnyder agreed. Sure, she wasn’t in the best of moods, but she showed true poise in allowing a young fan her signature despite such recent adversity.
Giving her a yellow hat I received at the Grand Slam event the previous year, I fumbled with the marker. She took it, and there was my first signed item from a professional tennis player.
I’ll never forget that moment because I finally interacted with a player — an idol — on a personal level. No longer did these individuals remains just exceptional athletes relegated to on-screen entertainment, or even seem diminished as simply a display of talent. Instead, they became people, not Herculean celebrities. Here was a woman fighting her heart out to advance to the next round in the doubles competition, losing, and still having the decency to sign a nervous kid’s autograph.
I profusely thanked her and whispered good luck in singles. She nodded, left, and on walked away one of my all-time favorite tennis players.
Congratulations to Patty for an excellent career and good luck to her in any future endeavors.
For more on her myriad accomplishments, check out this bittersweet WTA article here.
French Open Predictions 2011: ATP Tour
Novak Djokovic has owned this year so far with a staggering number of consecutive wins, including a handful over the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal. The question of the tournament, therefore, becomes: Can Djokovic take this all-time high confidence to a Grand Slam on Nadal’s own turf? That is, if both make it that far. How about Roger Federer, once a contender for any and every title on tour? With Andy Roddick and 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero out, the field looks a little wider (although whether or not those two could have significantly swayed the flow of competition also comes into question). Regardless, here’s a preview of the second Grand Slam of the year on the red clay of Paris.
Rafael Nadal’s Section:
He may be struggling to defeat Djokovic on clay in the Masters events. Roland Garros, however, is Nadal’s Grand Slam comfort zone. With the best-of-five set format, there doesn’t seem to be anyone in this section of the draw who can put a dent in his aura of clay court invincibility. Except for one guy. That’s none other than Robin Soderling, who defeated Nadal in the fourth round in 2009, as the no. 23 seed. The Swede then went on to make the finals, falling to Federer. In 2010, he came out swinging again by repeating the result. In the end, however, Nadal got his revenge in straight sets, winning 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
With a potential (and highly probable) clash in the quarterfinals, it’ll be Nadal making good on his performance last year against Soderling. He’ll win again in three sets, although by a closer margin.
One to Watch: The one name other than Nadal and Soderling who sticks out as a potential giant-killer is Gilles Simon. With a fourth round match against the Swede a distinct possibility, it’ll be interesting to see in what shape the victor advances. Nadal looms for him right after. Additionally, American Mardy Fish also appears in Soderling’s section to make things even more interesting.
Bottom Line: Nadal faces a tougher test against Soderling in the quarterfinals, but ultimately seals a solid win to get to the semifinals.
Andy Murray’s Section:
Since making it to the Australian Open finals, Murray lost the spark for competition and regained it with some solid clay results leading up to this event. His first tough test comes with a potential third round meeting against Milos Raonic, the Canadian who shocked all with his trip from the qualifying to the fourth round. Since then, he’s held success on tour, winning his first title on the hard courts of San Jose. On clay, he’s held modest success, despite losing in the first round of his last two events at Madrid and Rome.
While Murray and Raonic have yet to meet, it’ll be tough for the young Canadian to take out the Scot in the best-of-five setting. That possible match will be decided in four sets.
Ones to Watch: While the Murray / Raonic combo grabs most of the hype in this section of the draw, watch out for Gilles Simon, who exhibited flashes of brilliance in an epic, five-set match again Roger Federer during the second round of the Australian Open. He shouldn’t pose to much of a threat here, however, given his latest, sketchy results on clay, including losses to both Murray and Raonic in Madrid, Monte-Car (to Murray) and in Estoril (to Raonic).
Also making this section of the draw a little trickier is last year’s semifinalist, Jurgen Melzer, who eventually bowed out to Nadal. Quite notably, he took out Djokovic in the quarters in five. Nicholas Almagro, too, has been having a strong clay season and has the game to take out Melzer in the fourth round.
Bottom Line: Murray makes the fourth round after a tough test from Raonic. There, he’s likely to face Melzer. Murray wins in five.
Roger Federer’s Section: Federer’s section constitutes a heavy part of the draw, filled with talented players, such as David Ferrer, Kei Nishikori, Gael Monfils, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Of course, if anyone can handles these players to get to the quarters, it’d be Federer. Although he does face Feliciano Lopez in his opening round, a solid player, who he owns a 8-0 advantage over in head-to-head meetings. Regardless, Federer’s been off these days, losing early to Richard Gasquet and Melzer in two tournaments.
Ones to Watch: All the men listed above have the ability to make it deep in a Grand Slam, although Nishikori may be the one with the least experience at this point in his young career.
Bottom Line: Look for a quarterfinal match pitting Ferrer, who played well in his first three clay tournaments before falling to Nadal twice and Djokovic, against Federer.
Novak Djokovic’s Section: He’s owned the tour this year, taking the first Grand Slam of the season. Can he grab the second, too? It’s his to win with Nadal the only one truly standing in his way. Of course, he’s defeated Nadal in four finals this year, including the last two on clay. His main competition comes in the form of the number six seed, Tomas Berdych, who hasn’t been too successful on clay this year. He did, however, make it to the semifinals of the French Open last year, losing to Soderling. He then proceeded to make it to the Wimbledon final.
Ones to Watch: Marin Cilic, Mikhail Youzhny, Richard Gasquet, and Juan Martin del Potro all reside in this section of the draw. While none of them have the ability to touch Djokovic at this point in his career, they may give Berdych difficulty. Look for Rome semifinalist Gasquet to put up a fight against Djokovic in the fourth round.
Bottom Line: Djokovic defeats Gasquet to get to the quarterfinals.
In the Quarterfinals: With the above predictions, the quarterfinals will showcase Nadal taking on Soderling; Murray against Melzer; Ferrer against Federer; and Berdych against Djokovic.
In the Semifinals: Here, I see Nadal facing Murray and Federer against Djokovic to round out the final four.
Djokovic, Sharapova Take Italian Open Titles Before French Open
Novak Djokovic has cemented his dominance over the ATP tour, including world number one Rafael Nadal, by beating the Spaniard in straight sets to claim the Rome title. The 6-4, 6-4 win earned Djokovic a 37-0 streak, making him the only man to defeat Nadal on clay twice in a year, including a win in the Madrid Openfinal. He’s defeated Nadal four times in finals this year, too.
For Djokovic, the victory couldn’t come at a better time, positioning him as an even heavier favorite as Roland Garros begins next week. He’ll likely take this confidence with him and make it deep in the tournament, if not win it entirely. Of course, while defeating Nadal on clay in a best-of-three match setting is extremely impressive, it’ll a whole new test attempting to take out the king of clay in best-of-five sets. There’s also the possibility of Djokovic taking the top spot in the world at the French Open.
He’s incredibly focused, too, saying, “I definitely am amazed with my playing. But there’s no time to enjoy it—I’ve got to get ready for Roland Garros.” Now, that’s pretty Terminator-style, isn’t it? Djokovic isn’t messing around in the least these days. (Think back to all those happy-go-lucky impressions, right? More on that below.)
Sharapova’s 6-2, 6-4 win over Stosur shows that the Russian might prove strong enough to advance deep at (or win) the Roland Garros tournament, the only Grand Slam title escaping her.
At the trophy presentation, Sharapova said, “This is just the beginning of many things to come. This is just the start of everything,” Sharapova said during the trophy presentation.” That’s the Maria we’ve all come to know and love. She’s back in the top ten and, like, Djokovic, she’s all business.
Check out this recent Tennis.com article for more.
Also, for a look at the days of Djokovic poking fun at his fellow players, and the (in)famous impressions of Nadal and Sharapova from the US Open, see below.
All-American Affair Hits Italian Open Doubles Final
There may not be any Americans in the top ten for the men or women, but at least there’s a strong US presence in doubles at the Italian Open this week. For the men, Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish advanced to final with a huge upset over Bob and Mike Bryan in the quarterfinals. Meeting them in the championship match will be Sam Querrey and John Isn.
And who said US talent can’t play on clay? Step aside, Michael Chang.
What’s exciting about this marquee match-up is that it symbolizes the older wave of American talent taking on the young guns. Both Roddick and Fish have been in the top ten (with Fish actually replacing Roddick for a brief period before a recent slip in the rankings). Meanwhile, Querrey and Isner have the talent, but not the results quite yet when it counts most.
Therefore, it’ll be a fascinating display of tennis and a potential coming-of-age if the Querrey-Isner combo can overcome the favorites, Roddick and Fish.
My thoughts? It’s not quite their time yet. Roddick’s serve will match up well with Isner’s, so it should go into at least one tiebreak in this best-of-three format. I’ll give Fish the edge over Querrey on groundstrokes.
It’ll be a battle, but the older guys will prove to be just a little stronger in the end.
Sharapova Advances to Rome Final, Beats Angry Azarenka in Quarterfinals
Maria Sharapova faced a tough test against Caroline Wozniacki before advancing to the Rome final. If she can beat Sam Stosur, Sharapova will claim her first title since her 2010 Strausborg title.
With the win over Wozniacki, Sharapova has solidified her head-to-head over the world number one to 3-2. She beat her 7-5, 6-3.
A dramatic display of contained power, the Russian even fell on the red clay before eventually taking over the set and the match. As Tennis.com’s Bobby Chintapelli put it, “Sharapova, a self-described ‘cow on ice,’ perhaps turning too quickly or stepping incorrectly, fell hard and fast and completely. She lay there for a few seconds, all 6’2” of her sprawled out on the red clay. Then she got up and went on to win—and did both without as much fuss as you’d expect.”
And the drama didn’t even begin there for the 24-year old Sharapova. Her match against Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals proved just as nail-biting.
Apparently, the Belarussian said “f—ing bitch” during her 4-6, 3-0 loss as she retired due to an elbow injury. It was unclear, however, whether the words were meant for Sharapova. Azarenka’s remarks prompted a posting of the following statement on her twitter account: “Very sad and tough day for me. Very hard to retire like this. Said some things to myself on the match that I’m not proud of. But it was just being mad at myself. Will never refer anything to my opponent. I play with respect to every single player. I apologize if there was a misunderstanding of that situation.”
This was the 10th time that Azarenka has retired in a match since the beginning of the 2010 season, according to a report from Tennis.com.
For a video of Azarenka’s outburst, watch below.
Djokovic’s 35-0 Streak: What the Wins Mean
It’s been one of the biggest stories for ATP tennis these past few months, and it’s for a good cause.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic started the year off pretty impressively by claiming his second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. Since then, he’s forgotten how to lose. With a recently cemented number two ranking above Roger Federer, Djokovic looks poised to one day overtake even Rafael Nadal as the world’s best player in the world. Well, at least by the computers.
But, the truth of the matter is, does Djokovic deserve to be called the best in the world? Sure, he’s won the last 35 matches, trailing only tennis legend John McEnroe’ s record 42-0 wins in 1984. Now, that’s a huge achievement for the Serb. My feeling: Not quite yet.
The simple truth: six titles this year and counting or not, Djokovic needs to keep the wins going on the biggest stages. He’s already proven he can handle Nadal on clay and Federer on hardcourts. Now he needs to have some repeat performances at Roland Garros and Wimbledon to solidify his awesome play of the past few months.
He’s obviously got the talent to collect more Grand Slams, it’s just a matter of when.
For more, check out this recent article on Tennis.com.
A Family Affair: What I Enjoy Most About Tennis
- Photo: Paul (from Emma Sicalowski’s camera) You can see me on the right with the cool transition lenses, repping my team in a Goucher tennis t-shirt.
Capping off a fantastic season with Goucher tennis this year, the men’s and women’s teams came together on a sunny day to play the annual mixed doubles tournament. Although hampered a little for those invested in the Men’s Lacrosse final, which ended in a 12-8 defeat by the University of Scranton Royals, getting back to the court allowed for a welcome dose of carefree fun.
It’s final’s week, complete with all the stress that comes with the essays, projects, and three-hour exams. Stepping on court without any pressure, and enjoying the company of people who have truly become my family and support system this year, was very welcome. There’s something about the event that allows me to forget any outside worries and just focus on what I love most about tennis: itsquality of bringing people together.
In fact, the event both this year and last reminded me and solidified in my mind why I hope to go into tennis journalism. It’s helped rekindle thoughts about the sport, which has become a passion of mine these past five years.
My love of tennis began when my dad took me to some public, asphalt courts in Long Island on my way to visiting my grandparents. With a couple of racquets in hand, he seemed committed to teaching his son to appreciate at least one sport. I wasn’t so sure about the whole thing from what I can recall. Having never really excelled at athletics, I didn’t feel confident enough to enjoy his initial enthusiasm.
That, however, quickly changed for the better.
With dad’s instruction, I actually found that the game wasn’t too bad afterall. Sure I missed most of the time, and my shots had the tendency to follow the trajectory of a homerun (heck, they still do sometimes during practice), but I remember coming off the court that day with the realization that a)tennis wasn’t so bad afterall and b) spending time with dad could be pretty cool.
To keep it brief, I learned to relish playing with my dad that day and over the subsequent years (although, yes, I would sometimes get a little to competive playing him) and what would later evolve into a family affair, including my grandparents and uncle. I’ve even recruited my brother and sister more recently — I got my brother his first racquet at two years old, talk about pushy, right?.
Mixed doubles with my Goucher College family – the tennis teams – reminded me of all this, and what an awesome feeling it is to play with people you love for fun. That’s the kind of tennis that keeps me so enthused writing about, and which I hope to make a career of in the coming years.
For more about the Goucher College athletics program, click here.
