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 »

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 »

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 »

3 Days, 3 Shockers (or “How my men’s team died”)

First day, first shocker.  Davydenko lost to Florian Mayer in 4 sets.  OMG!  Admittedly, Mayer had just beaten Delpo in his first match since his return to tennis, but that was easily dismissed.  Davydenko had never had trouble with Mayer before.  Mayer had rarely if ever shown the sort of tennis necessary to beat a player like Davydenko.  So the first round looked easy.

If form held, Nikolay’s first seeded opponent (3rd round) would have been Verdasco.  Nice.  Davydenko has a career mark of 7-1 against Verdasco, the only loss coming in ’05 on clay, and including a 5-set victory in last year’s Aussie Open.  I like that for an over-16 seed!

What’s more, Nikolay’s record against Berdych, clearly his probable R16 opponent, is 9-1, with Berdych’s only win coming on grass at Wimbledon in ’09, a surface Davydenko famously hates.  So Nikolay looked — after the draw and before the tourney started — like a near lock to be in the quarters against Djokovic.  Or so I thought.  Oops, no Davydenko.

I picked my unseeded male player by starting with the top ranked unseeded player and checking his first round and probable second round opponents.  Very important to have a weak first round opponent because of the big penalty for first round losses.  So who looked like the worst player in the draw?  Bernard Tomic.  The 18 year-old Aussie was 5-11 lifetime in ATP events, including 0-2 this year.  He tried to qualify for this tourney but was beaten in the first round of the quallies.  T more »

The Perfect Men’s Team

Who could have possibly guessed (though part of it is obvious)?

Nadal & Federer (obviously), Djokovic, Youzhny, Verdasco or Soderling , Wawrinka, Monfils and Gasquet or Robredo.

Perfect.  Obviously, the only choice that makes a difference above is if Verdasco beats Nadal or Soderling beats Federer.  Don’t hold your breath.

Perfectly, you also picked a Nadal/Federer final with the eventual winner winning.  Nicely done, champ! more »