Thursday, March 22, 2007

ATP Masters Series - Miami

The first Masters Series event of the year was won by world number two, Rafael Nadal, now the ATP tour moves to Miami for the second Masters Series event of the season. World number one, Roger Federer, will be hoping to begin another long run of successive victories. At Indian Wells, his chances of breaking Guillermo Vilas’s win streak record were ended by another Argentine Guillermo, Cañas. Meanwhile, Nadal will be hoping to build on his confidence boosting success last week and go into the European clay court season with momentum that looked unlikely preceding Indian Wells.

Here’s a look at what the draw has in store for us over the next ten days…

Federer looking to make amends

It’s not often that the world number one loses, and when he does, the tennis world is sent into frenzy. Last week was no different as Roger Federer fell to Guillermo Cañas, the Argentine was an unusually strong opponent for Federer to meet so early in a tournament and Miami may be a similar case. Possibly facing Federer in round two will be Russian, Igor Andreev. Looking to climb the rankings again following a prolonged period out through injury last season, the Russian is top 20 calibre and has the ability to test Federer and give him a testing early round match. Many will expect that Federer will come out all guns blazing in Miami to put right what went wrong at Indian Wells, it will be interesting to see how the match with Andreev unfolds should it transpire. Standing in Andreev’s way is American hopeful Sam Querrey.

The remainder of the first quarter of the draw has delivered some interesting encounters and possible battles. Cañas meets Tim Henman in the first round and will be looking to further extend his dominance over the Brit, having won 5 of the previous 6 meetings. Waiting in round two will be former world number one and French Open champion, Juan Carlos Ferrero. The Spaniard looked anything but that in his last outing against Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells where he was brushed aside 6-1, 6-1, Ferrero will be hoping to vastly improve on that display. An all French encounter could be on show in the second round in the form of Richard Gasquet and Sebastien Grosjean.

The player most likely to meet Federer in the quarter-finals is ninth seed Tommy Haas. The German has been in fine form in the past few weeks and lost out to Federer in two tight sets in Dubai just a short time ago.

Up for grabs

The second quarter has no clearly defined favourite, with a number of the more marquee players in the section not playing their best tennis at present. Nikolay Davydenko, David Nalbandian and Ivan Ljubicic can not claim to be in the kind of form that would see either of them as a strong pick to make it through. Of the three, Nalbandian is in the worst current state, and was beaten by Ljubicic in three sets at Indian Wells. Davydenko lost to Andy Murray last week having failed to take a chance to serve out the first set. You’d expect that the semi-finalist would still come from one of these three names, but who it will be remains to be seen.

Other players who will be hoping to take advantage of this quarter are Jose Acasuso, Tomas Berdych, Jarkko Nieminen and Carlos Moya. Berdych especially is in need of a few confidence boosting wins having had a poor season so far given the capabilities he possesses.

Young gun looks to continue rise

Andy Murray has risen to number twelve in the rankings and will be hoping for another strong showing in a Masters event to further elevate his position. The young Scot, coached by Brad Gilbert, reached his first Masters Series semi-final at Indian Wells following a bruising match with Tommy Haas. The bruises were courtesy of a fall on court, leaving Murray to carry a number of aches and pains most notably to his ankle and hip. Novak Djokovic put paid to any hopes Murray had of advancing further, with a straight sets win in the semi-final, taking advantage of an opponent who was not physically at his sharpest.

Murray has a tough road to travel if he is to reach the last four in Miami, most likely having to see off Lleyton Hewitt, Fernando Gonzalez and Andy Roddick. Incidentally, Murray has recorded wins over all three players in the past 14 months so will fancy his chances of possibly doing so again. Lleyton Hewitt was unable to build on a title success in Las Vegas, falling early in Indian Wells. Fernando Gonzalez has yet to hit the heights he reached at the Australian Open in Melbourne, the Chilean has not been able to ride that crest of a wave further as yet, but will be hoping Miami reignites the form he showed in the first Grand Slam of the year.

Being outplayed late in tournaments has been the story of Andy Roddick’s season so far, having previously been on the wrong end of strong business end performances from Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Tommy Haas this season, the American got another taste of semi-final defeat last week vesus Rafael Nadal. In his four semi-final appearances this season, Roddick has yet to win a set.

Nadal and Djokovic hoping to pick up where they left off

Indian Wells provided Rafael Nadal with his first title (and seventh Masters title) since the 2006 French Open and for Novak Djokovic his first Masters Series final. Both players will be hoping to continue that good form in Miami and have been drawn in the same quarter. Two players Rafael Nadal has not had the best time with in recent times are also in his section of the draw in the form of Mikhail Youzhny and James Blake. Nadal and Youzhny could meet in the 4th round, with the Spaniard possibly meeting Blake in the quarter-finals. Both Youzhny and Blake had disappointing showing at Indian Wells and will be looking to redeem themselves in Miami. Blake could meet Marat Safin in the 3rd round, with the Russian also looking for a good tournament to get his season going. Arguably the pick of the second round matches features Marcos Baghdatis and Juan Martin del Potro, this should be a tussle well worth seeing featuring two of the more talented young players on tour at present.

Sports Magician will be reviewing both Indian Wells & Miami following the conclusion of the Miami Masters.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

ATP Masters Series - Indian Wells

The first Masters Series event of the season is already underway in the Pan Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells. A field of ninety-six players means action has begun slightly earlier than most other Masters Series events which start and finish in the space of seven day. The seeds are in action today, and so we take a look at what the draw has produced and may have in store for us over the coming days.

The One Man Quarter

It may be boring, it may be predictable but there is no denying who is most likely to come through the first quarter of the draw and then the top half of the draw and be the eventual winner. You guessed it, Roger Federer. The world number one is in pursuit of another record – the longest win streak. Currently, Federer stands at 41 consecutive wins and if he defends the title will surpass the record of 46 held by Guillermo Vilas. The first opponent Federer is likely to face is Guillermo Cañas. The Argentine work horse is in the midst of another “comeback” player of the year phase, having returned to the tour late last season after his unjust suspension had been reduced. Cañas has elevated his ranking to 60 and it seems just a matter of time before he is knocking on the door of the top 20. The last meeting between the two was at the semi-final stage of Indian Wells in 2005, Federer winning in straight sets.

Further down the line, a familiar foe may face Federer in the form of Lleyton Hewitt. The current and former world number one’s have met on 18 occasions, with Federer leading the head to head, 11-7. The quarter-final from the first quarter could see a repeat of last year’s final between Federer and James Blake. The American has recently been caught up in the controversy surrounding the round-robin fiasco in Las Vegas and with Federer in his quarter will find it very difficult to defend the points he obtained in the tournament last year.

Other players who will be hoping to make some noise from this section include David Ferrer, Novak Djokovic and another player caught up in the mess in Las Vegas, Evgeny Korolev.

The “Final” Four Quarter

Given the run Federer has been on, there is not much hope that whoever comes through this quarter will be able to advance beyond the semi-final. In effect, the players in this section are playing for at best, a final four spot. Hopefully, that is not the attitude any of these players will take into a prospective semi-final, but from the outside looking in, that’s the way it looks likely to play out.

This section is loaded with some quality players and any number could find their way through. Nikolay Davydenko is a model of consistency and Marat Safin is always capable of beating any opponent, including himself. Andy Murray, under the guidance of Brad Gilbert is improving weak areas of his game (like fitness) all the time, and is also a threat to come through. Tommy Haas has been playing exceptional tennis in his past couple of tournaments in Memphis and Dubai. And then there is Fernando Gonzalez, who reached the final of the Australian Open earlier this year and will be playing his first tournament since the disappointment of being unable to carry Chile past Russia in Davis Cup action.

This should be an entertaining quarter, with possible match ups including Safin v Murray and a repeat of the Australian Open semi-final between Haas and Gonzalez. On current form such an encounter is unlikely to be as one-sided as it was in Melbourne in Gonzalez’s favour.

The Quarter of Opportunity

Thus far the season has not been a roaring success for any of Ivan Ljubicic, David Nalbandian or Andy Roddick. All three players currently reside in the top 10 and will see this as a chance to reach the semi-finals and a prospective final. Ljubicic started the season well with a tournament victory in Doha, and has reached two other tour finals in Zagreb and Rotterdam. On the face of it that’s a decent season to date, however, the Croat would have hoped that kind of form would translate into success at Grand Slam level. That was not the case in Melbourne as Ljubicic fell at the first hurdle and has had a disappointment on a team/international level with Croatia exiting the Davis Cup at the earliest opportunity.

For David Nalbandian, the season has not yet even begun three months in. The Argentine has been carrying injuries from the back end of last season into the current season and has rarely looked his best. With a fair amount of ranking points to defend over the coming months (semi-finals in Miami, Rome and Roland Garros), Nalbandian will have to be ready to perform sooner rather than later, otherwise his ranking will inevitably slip.

Whoever beats Andy Roddick should win the tournament. At least that is what we have seen so far this season, the big serving American has lost to the eventual winner in each of his three tournaments this season. At the Australian Open it was Roger Federer, in San Jose it was Andy Murray and in Memphis it was Tommy Haas. Although Roddick will be encouraged by reaching the latter stages of each of those tournaments, it can’t have done him much good to be outplayed in the manner he was by Federer and Haas specifically.

Roddick should progress to the 4th round at least where he could meet the winner of an exciting match to be played later today between Richard Gasquet and Juan-Martin del Potro. Ljubicic and Nalbandian could cross swords in the 4th round, with the Croat leading the head to head 4-2.

The Will Nadal Hug The Baseline Quarter

If Rafael Nadal can convince and program himself to play alongside the baseline rather than a few feet behind it, then he is as likely as anyone to negotiate this section of the draw. That being said, Nadal has been unable to stick to these tactics consistently and has experienced a continued dip in form and confidence ever since the 2006 Wimbledon final. Nadal plays later today against Arnaud Clement, should he be successful there are greater challenges that could lie ahead in the form of Mikhail Youzhny and Tomas Berdych. The Spaniard won’t be too unhappy to say the least if both players are removed from the tournament before he might have to face them.

Mikhail Youzhny is playing the best tennis of his career and in recent weeks has picked up a title in Rotterdam and only Roger Federer could stop him in Dubai. Youzhny could meet Nadal in the 4th round but will have to be on his toes from the off if he is not to fall to Jose Acasuso. Other players who will be hoping to come through the bottom quarter are Tommy Robredo, Marcos Baghdatis and Tomas Berdych.

Sports Magician will be previewing the Miami Masters.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Round-Robin Causes Controversy And Chaos

In the past couple of weeks, the sport of tennis has been a complete and utter mess.

Why?

The format known as Round-Robin, will be familiar to many of you from a variety of sports where the concept makes more sense. However, in tennis it does not. Part of the beauty of tennis is that there are no second chances, there is no tomorrow. You win and you live to fight another day. You lose and it’s time to check out of the hotel and go home or move on to the next tournament.

Tennis has a number of issues in and around the sport that have long needed to be resolved so that the game can progress. Innovation and ideas are needed to solve various problems, but the knock-out format was never one of them. Etienne de Villiers decided that it was, and the round-robin concept was brought in at various tournaments in 2007 as an “experiment”. The experiment is but two months old and has already proved to be far more troublesome than even the powers that be might have suspected.

Tennis is no stranger to round-robin; the format is used at the season end Masters Cup where the top eight players of the season compete in two groups of four. If it works at all, it works during that event which is designed to be a showpiece where the sport can in effect ‘show off’ its elite talent. Applying that format and concept onto the ATP tour itself was never going to work for a variety of reasons, many of which were outlined by tennis fans all over the internet on various message boards and blogs. It’s a great shame for tennis that the fans and some players could see the troubles that would lay ahead, but that those in the most prominent and decision making positions were unable to see the bigger picture.

Tournament directors want the ‘star’ or seeded players in their tournaments for obvious reasons. However, if tennis is to uphold credibility then those stars and seeded players must not be given second bites at the cherry just because it is more desirable from a television ratings or ticket sales standpoint. If this is all that matters, then tennis has or will become no better than purely manufactured entertainment rather than sport. Sport is about competition, not twisting, turning and manipulating rules in order for bigger names to progress and sideline those trying to make names for themselves.

Let’s look at some of the instances this season where round-robin has brought about the kind of problems that many claimed would occur beforehand:

· Early in the season, both Xavier Malisse and Richard Gasquet commented on how there was absolutely no motivation or need for them to extend themselves in their final round-robin matches after they had both won the set they needed to progress, regardless of whether they lost the match. This was a situation that was clear to those with their eyes open that would occur many times over the course of the season and the players in question deserve credit for calling it like it is.

· In Buenos Aires last week, Juan Carlos Ferrero had lost his opening match to Nicolas Devilder. Devilder had earlier lost to Nicolas Lapentti. This set up a match between Ferrero and Lapentti where all permutations lay open; that was until Lapentti had to withdraw prior to the encounter. The result of which meant that Devilder was the victor of the group due to his head to head victory over Ferrero. Etienne de Villiers assured tennis fans that the introduction of round-robin would produce no ‘dead’ matches and yet Ferrero had to play exactly that against Lukas Dlouhy (drafted in due to Lapentti’s withdrawal). The result of the match had no bearing whatsoever on the tournament, it was completely irrelevant. The beauty of round-robin, huh?

· This week following the debacle in Argentina, came an altogether more absurd turn of events. A group containing James Blake, Juan Martin del Potro and Evgeny Korolev in Las Vegas looked very interesting as it featured the defending champion (Blake) and two highly touted and promising youngsters (del Potro and Korolev). Del Potro beat Korolev in straight sets and Korolev then beat Blake in straight sets. It meant that in the final group match, Blake needed to win for the loss of less than six games and the young Argentine needed just six games to advance as the group winner. Del Potro was not as his best physically and Blake led 6-1, 3-1, it looked like he was going to win the match by the score he needed. Del Potro couldn’t go on any longer or at the very least it wasn't in his interest to do so as he has a whole season (and career) to think about, not just playing out a match where he is in no condition to compete at the level required.

As in Buenos Aires due to the Lapentti withdrawal, the result of the Blake/del Potro match was now of no consequence due to the retirement. The determining factor would be the Blake/Korolev head to head, and thus the Russian was the legitimate winner of the group. Case closed, right? Not quite.

Not happy with their number one seed being knocked out in such circumstances, the ATP decided to…how shall we put it, ‘modify’, their rules mid-tournament. James Blake was to be declared the winner of the group and would advance to the quarter-finals. Why? Etienne de Villiers decided over a phone line that ‘James was within just a few games of wining this match comfortably to advance’, so I guess we are to assume that the head of the ATP not only is going to “shape the future of men’s tennis” but he can literally see the future too!

The decision caused uproar amongst players and fans, with Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt being vocal on the subject immediately. The fans had their say too in the form of this petition that will be forwarded to the ATP to further indicate their disgust at both the round-robin format and the unwarranted intervention in Las Vegas by the head of the ATP.

The pressure got to the ATP and eventually sense prevailed and their own rules respected, Korolev was declared the winner of the group and he went on to make the semi-finals of the tournament before a hard fought loss to Jurgen Melzer. All in all it has been one big mess that tennis could well do without, so much for this format being easy to follow and ‘fan friendly’. Are instances like this really likely to encourage those who are not yet avid tennis fans to become so? And just how much ‘experimentation’ are the already dedicated tennis fans supposed to put up with before their concerns are given more respect and consideration?

It’s incredibly disingenuous for anyone to claim tennis is now more ‘exciting’, the reality is that it is more chaotic and confusing. Furthermore, it is not about tennis fans not being able to embrace new ideas and change. The reality is that some things need changing, but this was not one of them. How much more needs to happen for this to become plainly obvious to those who don’t yet see the light? Time will tell. Hopefully, tennis will not suffer as a result.

On March 22nd the issue of round-robin will be discussed at an ATP board meeting. If you wish to add your support to the petition to be done with round-robin, please sign here. And to follow the progress of the petition and see what else you can do to make your voice heard, please take a look here and here.

Friday, March 02, 2007

If You Love Tennis & Hate Round-Robin

If you agree with the sentiments I have expressed on this petition, please sign it and leave (if you wish) an appropriate comment (please keep it clean and constructive). I would like to get as many signatures as possible and send this to the relevant people before this "meeting" of the minds. Thanks for your time and hopefully support. http://www.petitiononline.com/nomorerr/petition.html
 
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