After Roger Federer had recorded his third win at the Madrid Masters in Spain last week and joined fellow record holder Rafael Nadal with 20 Masters titles, attention quickly focused to whether or not the experiment with the blue clay in Madrid was actually worth it.

From a pure viewing perspective the blue courts certainly ticked the box for me, the ball can be seen so much clearer on TV than when it’s played on the traditional red dirt, the blue court contrasts well with the yellow tennis ball and it certainly makes for a more enjoyable viewing experience.

I even enjoyed the pace of the court and I actually wish the tour had more variety in it’s surfaces throughout the year, watching a slow to medium court where players rally from the baseline for long periods can get a wee bit tedious at times, so the pace of the court in Madrid also ticked the box for me.

It was also a refreshing change to see attacking play and players being rewarded for their endeavours, mind you that may have had something to do with the third aspect I will now look at, the court surface.

The court surface at the Mutua Madrid Open was clearly responsible for the majority of the criticism that the tournament received, most players complained that the courts were far too slippery and did not allow for firm footing which ultimately could have led to accidents and injury.

The most vocal of more »

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Will The King Of Clay Be Dethroned in 2012?

With the clay court season set to dominate both the ATP and WTA for the next two months it seems timely to start contemplating the many questions that the slippery red dirt surface may help us answer in the months of April and May. With all four Davis Cup quarterfinals currently being played on clay the surface will completely dominate mens tennis for the next two months, women’s tennis will also be inundated with the red dirt surface in April and May although this weeks opening clay court tournament on the WTA calendar in Charleston prefers the more envious colour of green for their clay courts.

The only tournament that will be played on anything but a clay court surface for the next two months will be the WTA tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, the home of former women’s World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, the WTA e-Boks Open in Denmark will be the only respite and hiatus that players will get from applying their trade on clay courts for the next two months.
All other tennis will be played on the red dirt with one notable exception being the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid, the Mutua Madrid Open will be played in early May and will revolutionise the red surface and become the first clay court tournament to adopt the colour blue, it is well known amongst tennis fans that blue courts provide better viewing for fans inside the stadium and also those at home watching on television.

The steady diet of clay court tennis will have all dirt baller fans salivating at the more »

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When Is the Right Time To Retire?

With the latest announcement that Ivan Ljubicic will retire at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters this year and Fernando Gonzalez recently announcing that he will hang up his racquet at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami this month, these two players pending retirements has focused the spotlight on another popular and well known figure in our game, none other than Andrew Stephen Roddick.

Andy or A-Rod, as he is more commonly referred to, has lacked the usual spark that we have come to expect from him this season and many are now questioning whether or not the drive, hunger and determination is still there to make his way back up the ATP rankings.
Roddick has seen his world ranking drop to No.31, his lowest ranking since July 2001 and he no longer appears to be enjoying himself the way he once did, this could well be because he has been carrying niggling injuries though or it also could also have something to do with the fact that Andy turns 30 in August of this year.
I believe that the game has now evolved past the era of Andy Roddick, while he does still possess his booming serve it has become even more apparent that the game is more about dictating play with big groundstrokes and punishing rallies nowadays, players are also now more adept on the return of serve which nullifies Roddick’s biggest asset.

There have been players in recent history though who would suggest that all is not lost just yet for A-Rod, Andre Agassi is the obvious one who springs to mind but Roddick is more »

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Self Belief….This Is Nole’s Time!

We are only a little over one month into the 2012 tennis season and already Novak Djokovic has confirmed himself as the dominant player and undisputed No.1 in our sport. Affectionately known to most tennis fans as Nole, the 24 year old Serbian native has continued to display his undoubted tennis talent on the biggest stage and numerous people are now questioning whether he is capable of completing a calendar Grand Slam and/or a Golden Slam in 2012.
If Nole was to win the title at Roland Garros in France this year and complete his career Grand Slam then he will be the current holder of all four Grand Slam titles at one time, a feat not even achieved by his two closest rivals and fellow multiple Grand Slam winners Federer and Nadal. A win in the final on the famous Philippe Chatrier centre court on June 10 2012 will see the name of Novak Djokovic suddenly being talked about among the greats of the game.
His dominance in this golden era of men’s tennis makes his achievement all the more remarkable, it didn’t seem all that long ago that people were talking about him being born in the wrong era, especially when the Roger and Rafa rivalry looked like it would continue to dominate the game for many more years to come.

Like most things in life, sport and tennis at the top level also has it cycles and it’s ebbs and flows, Roger defeated Pistol Pete in his own backyard on the grass at Wimbledon in 2001, a win which no doubt would have increased Federer’s  self belief no end, as  more »

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Equality And Prizemoney In Tennis

Immediately after the euphoria of the longest Grand Slam singles final in tennis history in Melbourne, Australia, the debate and discussion surrounding equality and prizemoney in tennis was once again being talked about. “Equal pay for equal play” I heard many people saying, another comment I heard was that “men and women are wired genetically different though so it’s fair”, it’s quite concievable that many people could easily sit in both camps on this issue.
There are many questions to ponder regarding this subject though, some of which include the following….
Should the women be paid equal prizemoney for doing “arguably” less work over the two week period of a Grand Slam?
Should the women be forced to play the best of five sets in Grand Slam tournaments?
Should the men revert to playing the best of three sets in Grand Slams?
I’d like to take a look at these questions and give my views on each one.

On the first question, “Should the women be paid equal prizemoney for doing “arguably” less work over the two week period of a Grand Slam?
If you look purely at the facts based on output you would initially have to think that, no, they shouldn’t be paid prizemoney equal to that of the men, however the women would argue that they train just as hard as the men for the Grand Slams and it’s not their fault that some matches are over in less than one hour.
The women’s final was over after 1 hour 22 minutes in Melbourne compared to the epic 5 hour 53 minute marathon of the more »

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