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U.S. Open
The U.S. Open, held at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, NY, is now well under way, with many surprising upsets in both the men's and women's draws.
The absence of the Williams sisters due to injuries in this year's Open definitely creates an opening for all the other women in the tournament. Although neither sister is currently #1 in the world (with Kim Clijsters knocking off Serena recently), either of them has won the U.S. Open for the past four years. Capriati is the favorite of Mac, and she has easily survived into the third round (defeating Torrens-Valero 6-0, 6-1 in the first round and Martina Sucha 6-1, 6-1 in the second). Notable defeats on the women's side - Maria Sharapova, the 16-year-old Russian who did very well at Wimbledon lost in the second round to Emilie Loit of France; eighth seed Chanda Rubin lost in the first round to Vento-Kabchi (ranked over 100 - how embarrassing); and Ashley Harkleroad, the 18-year-old American lost in the second round to Vera Zvonareva. All of the women's second round matches are complete. For those of you who are interested, Anna Kournikova, instead of actually playing tennis, is working for USA Network as an "Entertainment reporter."
On the men's side, things actually haven't been too surprising. Sorry for not being able to write more - I figure if I do, the information will be outdated anyway by the next day.
So if you're really interested in scores, stats, interviews, and rankings at the U.S. Open, be sure to visit usopen.org. In the meantime, they've been having pretty much constant rain delays anyways. Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi, at age thirty-two, has become the oldest men's number one of all time. He's won all the tournaments he's entered that I'm aware of this year, and unlike Pete, he seems to be getting better and better! He's excellent at placing the ball and maneuvering his opponents to tricky situations, and when hhe's down and there's a lot of pressure, he pulls through. Kudos Andre!
Pete Sampras
What has happened to Pete Sampras!?!? He hasn't played since his win last year at the U.S. Open. He claims that he will play this year but has withdrawn from all the tournaments so far saying that he wasn't ready for the highest level of competition. Better hurry up Petey!
Nasdaq 100 Open
Andre Agassi defeated Carlos Moya 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday, March 30, claiming his sixth career and third consecutive win in this tournament. This old guy seems to just get better and better. It makes no sense!
On the women's side, Serena Williams (surprise, surprise) defeated Jennifer Capriati in the finals 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells
In the men's finals on March 17, defending champion Lleyton Hewitt (whaat's wiith the doubble l's?) destroyed Gustavo Kuerten 6-1, 6-1. This was only the second time someone has defended a title at Indian Wells (first was Michael Chang).
In the women's department, Kim Clijsters (Hewitt's girlfriend) defeated Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 7-5. Davenport was attempting to be the first 3-time champion at Indian Wells, but that's too bad.
In other news, Michael Chang has announced that this will be his last year on the ATP tour.
Aussie Open Final Results
Andre Agassi demolished Reiner Schuttler (or however you spell it) in the finals 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.
Serena defeated her sister Venus in the finals once again despite her injury in her semi-final game. The score was 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4.
And in the wheelchair finals, number one seeded David Hall beat Robin Ammerlaan 6-1, 7-6 (7-5). (Don't ask me why I included that : )
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Instruction (based on the teachings of Bennet Sluzars)
There are two really important things to remember about tennis - footwork and weight transfer (well, actually three - timing). You have to use good footwork to get to the ball, and weight transfer to give you the power to hit the ball. Many of you may just use your arm to muscle the ball over the net. You're working too hard! There's an easier way that takes less work and gives a better result.
You need to transfer your body weight from the back foot to the front foot in every stroke. Here's how:
(I'm right-handed, so just flip these directions around if you're left-handed)
Forehand- You should first stand sideways facing your right with your shoulder pointing toward wherever you want to hit the ball and your hand pointed at the ball to align yourself. Your grip should be the western grip - hold you racket out in front of you so the face is perpendicular to the ground, and you should see two edges - put the "V" of your hand on the edge on the right. Now, this is important: You must start your motion with a turning of your hips. This shifts your body weight into the ball instead of just using your arm muscles. Once, you turn your hips, let the arm naturally follow the movement and go forward. Hit the ball slowly at first! Make sure you get the form right. Once you make contact with the ball, you must follow through by brushing upwards on it to generate topspin. This will give your hit more depth and margin for error. You should end with your feet in the same place, but your right shoulder in front (where your left shoulder was at the beginning) and pointing to where you were aiming the ball at.
When you get a little better at this motion, and it becomes more smooth, then you can gradually start swinging faster and leaning onto your left foot at the end for weight transfer.
Backhand- There are two types of backhand - the one-handed backhand and the two-handed one. I use the one-handed backhand because if you have enough strength, the motion is less complicated. The two-handed backhand is basically like the forehand on the left side. The one-handed backhand just uses your shoulder muscle. In either case, you need to use the Eastern grip (hold your racket out in front of you like you did before, but this time put the "V" of your hand on the left edge).
Stand sideways facing your left and having your right shoulder pointing to your target area. Make sure your racket head is below your wrist in preparation - this is very important! When the ball comes, get low under the ball, and use your racket to brush up the backside of the ball. Make sure to keep your alignment - don't turn with your hips like the forehand. Just use your shoulder as a lever. When you finish your stroke, keep your knees bent.
Volley-
Serve
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The Tennis Player's Must-Have Booklist (yes, tennis players have to know how to read) Winning Ugly
by Brad Gilbert
"Tim Gallwey's book, The Inner Game of Tennis, focused on the right-brain, or intuitive process. Brad's focus is on the left-brain, or analytical process. Gallwey pursued the joys of playing. Brad pursues the joys of winning. Gallwey was concerned with the 'inner game.' Brad is concerned with knowing what's going on right in front of him and taking advantage of it."
Instead of focusing on the technical aspect of the game, this book focuses on the mental aspect. Brad Gilbert, one of the highest ranking ATP players in career earnings (and the former coach of Andre Agassi; currently the coach of Andy Roddick, whose record has been 28-2 since), expells his profound knowledge of the dynamics of the game of tennis.
Brad Gilbert was known for his "ugly" strokes. In all aspects (except one), he shouldn't have been one of the top ranking tennis players in the world for so long. Or should he have? He realized these problems and used his strongest weapon, his understanding of the game and his mental strength, to succeed. I think he deserved to be up there.
The book is divided into three parts. The first focuses on preparing for the match - how to prepare mentally, what equipment to bring, how to stretch and warm-up properly, how to deal with nerves (a major problem for many players, including me), and how to grab the early lead. You may be thinking, "Who cares about all the details?" or "Give me a break, I just play tennis for fun!" To that Brad would say a) Who cares about gaining an advantage over the brain-dead opponent, and b) Isn't winning more fun than losing? The secong part focuses on playing smart during the match to win - including recognizing "hidden" important points in the game, how to repair the strokes that are failing you during the match, how to play against opponents with specific styles (including retreivers and serve-and-volleyers), and more. The final part focuses on "mind games, psyching, and gamesmanship and shows the different ways pros like Connors, Lendl, and McEnroe gain a mental advantage.
The book is filled with examples of the specific behaviors from Brad's illustrious professional tennis career, also. It puts grand concepts in simple, straightforward, easy-to-read and humorous style. Here's an example: when he writes about what he takes with him in his equipment bag, he writes that he brings extra shoelaces! Here's the quote: "You're right. Now I'm getting paranoid. You're thinking, 'Geez, does he carry extra jockstraps, too?' No, but now that you mention it..." | |
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