Musings from the World
of Tennis
By: Mark Wasserman
03/10/2006 Cupertino, California - To the casual fan, the five months between the Australian and French Open may seem like a time of inactivity for professional tennis (that’s just one of several solid arguments for pushing back the start of the Australian at least a few weeks, but that’s a debate for another day). Relatively speaking, there is a grain of truth in this notion, but there is plenty of activity in the tennis world right now that slips below the radar of the ESPN’s of the world.
First of all, the one and only Johnny Mac is back. In his first tournament, he and Jonas Bjorkman teamed to win the SAP Open in San Jose. Not too shabby for a guy that’s old enough to be the parent of many if not most of the current players on tour. But his win shouldn’t come as a big surprise to anyone. McEnroe has long been regarded as the best doubles player in the history of tennis. There’s a reason that, for a while, the best doubles team in the world was “McEnroe and his partner.” Since retirement he has kept himself in good shape, successfully competing on the Senior Tour. Look for his good results to continue. Teamed with a doubles player of Bjorkman’s caliber, there is good reason to think that, at age 47, there might be another Grand Slam title left up his sleeve. He hasn’t committed to the Slams yet, but it would be difficult to imagine him not playing after the kind of results he posted in his first tourney back on tour. As enjoyable as announcing may be for him, it cannot compare to walking onto Center Court at the All England Club with a Grand Slam Title on the line. It is truly unfortunate that McEnroe’s return may coincide with the advent of instant replay. What is he going to do now, yell at the replay camera?
Martina Hingis continues her successful comeback as well. Since an impressive run to the Australian Open quarterfinals. She has notched wins over former U.S. Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova and former Wimbledon winner Maria Sharapova, among others. Martina is playing at a high level very early in her comeback, but it may be too early to tell if she has what it takes to move to the next level, stringing enough wins over top players together to collect tournament titles. Early returns are promising, but she still has to deal with a lackluster second serve and a disadvantage in power to most highly-ranked players that will always be there. Fortunately, she has the smarts, timing, and all-court game to make up for most of her deficiencies.
In other news, all Rafael Nadal did in just his second tournament in four months was return with a victory over Federer in the finals of the hard-court tournament in Dubai. And by the way, this broke a winning streak of fifty-six games for Federer on hard-courts. Oh, it was also the first loss of the year for Roger. Not a bad effort for a teenager returning from a foot injury. Nadal now has a 3-1 career against the Swiss maestro. While I wouldn’t expect that winning percentage to last, the fiery Spaniard has clearly established that he fears nobody. He believes he can beat anyone, and he relishes the challenge of taking on great players. That includes the player that many think will eventually be known as “the best ever.” When other players take an early set off of Federer, it is almost as though they still don’t believe they have much of a chance (just watch Andy Roddick’s body language when he plays Roger). When Nadal takes a set on Federer, it is different. He goes in for the kill. You can sense the difference. He doesn’t wait for the inevitable Federer run, he continues attacking. It’s early, but the Nadal-Federer matchup has promise to become one of the all-time great rivalries. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.Press Contact:
Mark Wasserman
mark.wasserman@tennismates.com
Phone - 408-903-9513
Fax - 866-803-5321