Loving the Sinner

 This post has been percolating for well over a year, but due to busyness, laziness, and a little fear of criticism, I've let these thoughts swirl exclusively in my mind and nowhere else. Until this tweet:

Happy New Year! Wishing you all health, love & joy in every moment & may you feel love & respect towards all beings on this wonderful planet.

I’ve spent fantastic quality time with loved ones over break & today I’m heading Down Under with an exemption permission. Let’s go 2022! pic.twitter.com/e688iSO2d4

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) January 4, 2022

"Oh boy, here we go..." was my first reaction. Naturally, all hell broke loose very shortly after.

By now, we are all aware of the international crisis that is Novak Djokovic's visa status and quasi-confinement shortly after touching down in Melbourne, putting his Australian Open campaign in grave danger and at the hands of the Australian Border Force, who seem determined to turn him away at the literal gate. Tennis Australia has mishandled completely botched the exemption process by not communicating honestly with players and attempting to skirt federal authorities, although it is becoming increasingly apparent that Novak and AO Tournament Director Craig Tiley were in cahoots. Politicians in the country see the Djokovic drama as easy pickings for cheap PR points. Australian media has used this story as ratings fodder, understandably so. It's all about Novak right now Down Under. But I will use this space to make it about ME.

I became a fan in 2007. I wasn't following tennis super closely at the time, but I thought Djokovic’s runs to the Rogers Cup title and US Open final that year were incredibly impressive. I also found him entertaining in the way buttoned-up Roger Federer and by-the-book Rafael Nadal weren't. He wears his heart on his sleeve when he plays and, juxtaposed with his technically pristine play style, I gravitated towards him, the first male tennis player I really, really enjoyed, probably ever.

As his star rose and achievements mounted, along came some unsavory... happenings. Some small and petty enough to disregard completely. Some more significant in which I either acknowledged his recklessness privately or played the role of Novak apologist on Twitter. Recently, the incidents are of such consequence that I’d wish he’d just go away for awhile and only show his face on the tennis court, wanting him to shut up and dribble in the truest sense. Should I even be cheering for him between the lines at this point?

--

Jessica Luther and Kavitha A. Davidson wrote a book that talks sports fandom, personal politics, and reconciling what it means to be caught in the middle of those two pillars. What do you do with a problematic fave or when your fave does a problematic thing? I’ve learned that it really depends on each person’s tolerance for any specific wrongdoing. Each person has their own scale and can weigh the good and the bad at their own discretion. You can apply your code of ethics how you want, with varying levels of severity, with whatever metrics you choose. You are your own judge, jury, and executioner, and it only has to make sense to you.

As far as my own fandom as it pertains to Novak, I guess it’s still evolving because I did like him. Still do. I think. It’s complicated. I like him most when he's playing or being charitable, and I like him least when he's embroiled in scandal. I definitely do not like him at the moment. I think I’ve landed in a place where I still want him to play, win, and achieve, but I have offloaded all emotional investment in his future after tennis. This is subject to change, of course. Maybe I’ll never root for him on the court again, though I don’t foresee a time where I’ll ever actively root against him.

Back when I was closer to “stan” level, I would’ve wished him the best life outside the court, kept up with his post-tennis pursuits, and hoped a statue of his liking was erected in the heart of Belgrade. It is natural for vestiges of "standom" to linger and it's probably the reason why I have yet to give him the total chop. I’ve outgrown stanning anyone not named Mariah Carey these days (it begins and ends with her!), so I won’t be too affected if and when Djokovic’s legacy is completely tarnished following this unnecessary mess.

But I’m still sad about this mess. To be clear, not sad for Novak: he is a very rich and successful person with an adoring family and following who will remain a very rich and successful person with an adoring family and following when this week is a mere speck in the rear-view window. I am sad for me, as I was looking forward to watching him go for history at his best tournament. I am sad that I just want him to leave Australia, go home, apologize, hide for a few months, and learn SOMETHING from this embarrassment (fat chance). I am sad for his other fans — some of whom I've gotten to know and most of whom are decent people — who enjoyed watching him play and likely won’t get to. And I am sad he is too brainless and hubristic to get a virtually harmless jab that would have avoided all of this.

New Season's Resolutions

Happy 2016, y'all! We are 14 days into the New Year, but it's never too late to think up some New Year's Resolutions or, better yet, 2016 goals that one can strive to achieve during this revolution around the big, bright, reddish-yellow orb of which we are so dependent sun. I have a list of general goals I would like to achieve this year (e.g. read more books), but I also have a couple of tennis-related items that would make me a better fan this year and in the years to come:

Resolution: never miss the drama
(Daily Mail | @WTAreactions)

• Organize Twitter - I deeply apologize for invading your mentions with quizzical notifications about being added to some random list, but one of my goals for the past few years was to organize my timeline and I'm forcing myself to get around to it this year. Parsing out certain segments of Tennis Twitter is already realizing benefits: I can get the latest goings on of Novak Djokovic and enjoy the Nole love bubble on one list, see what the journos are reporting on another, and curate the fun tweets from my favorite Tweeters without having to sift through the TL hay to find those lovely needles. I also find myself on Twitter less now that I know I can always go back and find the important tweets that I may have missed.
• Plan sleep - This is especially important this Australia swing for those of us in the States and Europe. FOMO is a major pandemic within the hardcore tennis fan community. With most tennis throughout the year playing outside of my timezone, I often find myself staying up until WTF o'clock in the morning or waking at ungodly hours to watch the matches I have circled on the Order of Play. None of this is good for my day-to-day life. Instead of getting involved in a marathon of matches, I need to pick my spots and understand that I'm just not gonna catch everything. Whatever I do miss, I can get a succinct recap by consulting one of my lists!
• Watch more challengers/juniors - Since streams are available for the ATP Challenger Tour and certain USTA junior events, I have little excuses to ignore this echelon of the sport. I've been spoiled by high-quality tennis from some of my favs, so this may be a difficult one for me to follow through on. Still, it would be beneficial to keep track of the young or obsolete talents at the lower levels of the game just to say "I saw them first" when they breakout on the main stage of the tour.

What tennis resolutions do you have this year? Let me know with a comment or a tweet! Hope you're all ready for the Australian Open - should be crazy.

(p.s. Year of the Gentleman is still a tough album, so underrated.)

Hawk Eye

Tennis season is upon us! The season's first week is a deluge of matches and an abandonment of a human circadian rhythm, but it's always a fun reawakening to the sport that we love so dearly. Good thing, too, since we should get warmed up for the Australian Open right around the corner. As we become night owls for the next couple of weeks, there are a few players I will pay particularly close attention to in Melbourne:

Victoria Azarenka

The two-time Oz Open champ spent most of her 2014 on the sidelines plagued a variety of injuries and ailments that have derailed her momentum from the previous few seasons. Outside of training, her pre-Melbourne warm up will only consist of her very tough loss to Karolina Pliskova in the first round of Brisbane. 

Per @TennisReporters, Victoria Azarenka wanted but didn't get wildcard into Sydney, where she was 2012 champ. Instead, Gajdosova, Gavrilova.
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 9, 2015

Her lack of match fitness has been a key factor in her relatively snail-paced comeback during the grass season and summer hard courts. She'll go into the Happy Slam unseeded, a dangerous opponent for any of the top women to face early on. However, given her results the past 12 months, even a cushiony may not be enough to get her back to her winning ways.

Stan Wawrinka

With another Aircel Chennai Open trophy on his shelf, is Stanimal on his way to failing even better than last year? He's one of the most unpredictable players on tour, capable of beating everybody and losing to...well, nobodies. Fortunately for him, he's in form going into Melbourne, where he's defending his title and 2,000 precious ranking points. A repeat performance can really set himself up for another fantastic season. A first-week flop, however, can be the beginnings of a tailspin.

Agnieszka Radwanska

At last year's Australian Open, the award for Performance of the Tournament went to Aga hands down. But her murder of Vika in the quarters via carbicide only made the semifinal thrashing she received from Dominika Cibulkova more disappointing. The dark cloud of "what could have been" seemed to hang over the ninja's head for the entirety of her 2014 season, compelling me to go on Aga Ranking Watch for 2015. Hopefully her new coach, the legendary Martina Navratilova, has instilled new belief, as well as a new attacking mindset, in her as she goes into Melbourne. She should get a mental boost from her Hopman Cup performance, too, taking the title with partner Jerzy Janowicz (and giving hilarious on court interviews in the process).

Rafael Nadal

A scoreboard rout in an exhibition loss to Andy Murray is one thing, but getting beaten by Michael Berrer in his opening match in Doha is worrisome. The way he lost, winning the first set via breadstick and not being able to finish, was especially disconcerting. He may be a little competition rusty, but Nadal may be the most competitive athlete in any sport, let alone in tennis. Putting Berrer away should be an accomplishable task. Without much match play, Rafa goes into Melbourne a bit undercooked which won't suit him well. However, we'll see if his first round or two can help him round into find his form.

Caroline Wozniacki

Our favorite marathoner is coming into Melbourne with most of the momentum she built in the second half of last season where she surged from the depths of the Top 20 all the way back to No. 8. Caro seems to be a different player, going much bigger on her forehand than she has in the past. Her serve is clicking and her backhand is a legitimate weapon these days. Those boosts in power haven't sacrificed Woz's trademark speed; she'll always be the toughest wall for her opponents to break through. Still, heavy hitters like the Williams sisters, each of whom have afforded Wozniacki's last two defeats, can blast the ball past her, so it's hard for Caro to ever truly have any given match solely in her hands. A more worrying and immediate concern is her now bothersome wrist which forced her to pull out of Sydney (although it can be argued that she shouldn't have played there to begin with). It'll be interesting to see where her confidence is going into the first Slam of the year. Her fitness is renowned and she will be able to stand up against the oppressive heat radiating from the Australian summer sun. She's on the short list of favorites for the title, but if she comes up against a free-swinging floater, she could be sent packing prematurely.

Andy Murray

Official kit for the Australian Open (ausopen.com)

The runt of the Big Four has been making slow, sometimes steady strides back to where he was near the top of the game. While he finished 2014 with a strong record, his performance against his brethren have been much less than stellar, including a season-ending 0 & 1 embarrassment at the hands of Roger Federer in front of his hometown fans. Year 1 of Andy's comeback is now behind him, so it's only fair that expectations return to where they were pre-back surgery. Muzz has historically played well in Melbourne, reaching the finals on three separate occasions. Sadly, his ranking leaves him vulnerable to an undesirable quarterfinal meeting against Djokovic, Federer, or Nadal. A match against any of the Top 3 will be a must-see affair, the outcome of which will set the tone for Andy's 2015 season.

Dangerous floaters: Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, Camila Giorgi, CoCo Vandeweghe, Victoria Azarenka, Aleksandra Krunic, Dominic Thiem, Jerzy Janowicz, Nick Kyrgios, Vasek Pospisil, Bernard Tomic, Juan Martin del Potro.

Early champion picks: Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic. See you on the other side, with a pot of coffee, of course.

21 Questions

The summer sun has set in Australia for the ATP and WTA. Tennis has left the continent until 2015, but the train rolls along to the hard courts, whether outdoors or otherwise, of the Middle East and Europe. Many players take much needed breaks to enjoy family time, serve food to drivers stuck in blizzard traffic, or cover the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Still, there are many other unanswered questions that need to be tended to before we hit the restart button. U.S. hard courts and the Euroclay swing will be here sooner than we think! Here are some inquiries that will potentially require the rest of the year to investigate and uncover:

1. Will Serena recover from a disappointing Oz for a third straight year? It's been hard luck Down Under for Serena. She's skipping Doha which may signal a more serious back issue than originally thought, but she should be well rested for Miami. Patrick Mouratoglou should be #proud either way.
2. Does Li Na have a healthy chance to get even closer to a Career Slam? The fact that this is even in the cards for her is a testament to her recent consistency. Li is great on all surfaces and, given Serena's occasional frailty at recent Slams, she should have a decent shot at a Wimbledon or U.S. Open title.
3. Will MaSha be ready to rev up her season post-Sochi? She was decent in Brisbane and off her game in Melbourne and the Paris Indoors. Sharapova's the defending champ at Indian Wells, so she'll have to find her form quickly.
4. How often will we hear "Pome!" at the other large events? Cibulkova showed every facet of her results by busting through to the final at the Australian Open, then losing her two singles rubbers in Fed Cup. I expect largely the same, though I wouldn't be surprised to see her have similar successes at Roland Garros.
5. Can Aga fight her own demons and nab that elusive maiden major title? Another Slam semifinal, another bitter disappointment. These are getting harder swallow for Radwanska. The Middle East and American hard court swing will be a good gauge to see where her head is at?
6. Will we see Auckland Venus or Melbourne Venus (or both) in 2014? She had many chances against Makarova in Australia, but played well through poor patches to push Ivanovic in New Zealand. It's a toss-up, but I think we'll see more of vintage Venus this year.
7. How can Vika get her groove back? She owned Aga, but got sliced open and carbo-loaded in Melbourne. Now she's dealing with a bum foot. Azarenka isn't defending until the summer hard courts, so these next few months present a big opportunity to pick up much needed momentum.
8. Will Genie 2014 mirror Sloane's 2013? Bouchard is steadier and is mentally ready for the pressure of being a top player. Expect her to use this rankings gain to her advantage.
9. How much confidence did Ana Ivanovic gain from her Australian summer? A title run and a win over Serena is pretty darn impressive. She looks happier with her team, too. Ana could be a threat to do some things in the coming months, especially as we head towards the clay.
10. Is Simona Halep ready for primetime? She's defending almost nothing in the next few months, but the pressure cooker will be on high once Rome rolls around. Making a Slam quarter should be good for her confidence.
11. Will Wozniacki fall even further? Eight Slams, zero second-week appearances. It's become a bad trend for Woz to get hit off the court without much of a fight. Still, with Serena, MaSha, Vika, and Aga in somewhat vulnerable mindsets, she can scrape together some solid results to get the train back on the tracks; she is derailed at the moment.
12. What is #Stanimal's follow up act? Wawrinka did something that even Federer can't boast, and that's defeat the Top 2 players AND defeat Rafa and Nole to win a Grand Slam. Hard to follow that up, but the current rankings don't lie. He's definitely the third likeliest to win the French Open this season.
13. Will Stan's win start a shift to a post-Big 4 era? Unlike Del Potro in 2009, Stan's title run did not seem like a "lightning in a bottle" type of performance. However, as we've seen with DelPo, it'll take more consistent, day-in and day-out high-level tennis than the result of a singular Grand Slam to shake the core of the Big 4 (I like to rhyme occasionally).
14. What does Dimitrov do next to impress? Baby Fed's game is awe-striking and dynamic and we finally have a very good Grand Slam result to back up the hype. His performance against Rafa was notable for the way he won the first set as much as it was for his reaction to ultimately losing the match. He's got the goods to play on all surfaces and a higher ranking should boost his chances of making three more second-week appearances at Slams this year.
15. What can Milos Raonic do regain control of the "Next Generation" conversation? Bernard Tomic was the first to make a Slam quarterfinal, Jerzy Janowicz made a Slam semi, and Dimitrov has that big win over a No. 1 and also made a quarterfinal appearance, beating out Raonic in the process. A loss to his cohort has shifted the attention away from Milos in a big way. He will need a stellar performance at either Indian Wells or Miami, semis or better, to grab back some of the hype that has been redistributed amongst his peers.
16. Has Novak lost his killer instinct? I wrote my remarks about Novak's recent Slam struggles here, but maybe losing Oz will galvanize him for the remainder of the year, just as losing the No. 1 ranking was a springboard for his immaculate fall. He's still, in my eyes, the best player on tour all things equal and that should give him some confidence going forward (I hope).
17. Is Nadal scheduled for a dip in results? The one thing Rafa has never done was earn the year-end No. 1 ranking for consecutive seasons. It'll be hard to match his amazing 2013, but he's ripe to hold onto the top spot given his big lead and Djokovic's shakiness.
18. Is Roger back on track? He ran circles around an out-of-sorts Tsonga and dazzled, though not without a slight stumble, against Murray. But then he was beaten down, mentally and otherwise, by Nadal. It was a great run and losing to Nadal isn't anything new for Federer, but the way he lost to him (and in Brisbane to Hewitt) has me hesitating to proclaim Roger "back." I need a bigger sample size.
19. When should we expect Andy Murray to return to form? Losing to an in-form Roger isn't the end of the world. Still, he has a chunk of points to defend before the European clay swing, and will want to get back on his horse quickly. Then again, Andy Murray and the month of March generally don't get along.
20. Are DelPo and Isner doomed to disappoint at the Slams? Both big men won titles the weekend before the Australian Open commenced and both were cut down during the heat wave, citing injuries. Del Potro has been dealing with the left wrist for some time and Isner said he had ankle issues in Auckland, you would think they would manage their schedules better to avoid early Slam exits. Our expectations of these talents are so much higher than their results on the major stages, and I don't see them improving too much on that front this year.
21. How different will the Slam winners look this year? An interesting question because both top-ranked players on each of the tours should expect at least some decline from their monstrous 2013 seasons and the No. 2s are in a bit of a professional flux. The French Open is likely the biggest opportunity for a Slam-less WTAer to nab her first major and I think the U.S. Open could be a chance for the ATP B-squad, particularly Berdych and Tsonga, to join Stan as this year's first-time champions.

Woof, that was long! Any questions you want answered for the remainder of 2014? Have a different answer to any of the questions already posed? Leave a comment! Doha and Rotterdam are underway, and it may give us some clues regarding these inquiries.

Mental Double-Edge

“I sincerely hope he can bring that mental edge because he recognizes the situations that one top player is facing, especially during the Grand Slams and the pressures and expectations. That’s what we’re hoping to work on and improve the most. And, of course, a couple of other elements of my game.”

"Mental edge." "Mental" seems to be Novak Djokovic's go-to vocabulary word of 2014. How does a player who was, until very recently, ranked No. 1 in the world, expert vanquisher of match points against him, and six-time Grand Slam champion need someone with fewer career accomplishments than he help him with the game's mental approach?

During Novak's ascendence to the very top of the tennis world, he received criticism for many different things: his cocksure attitude, his brash confidence, and his annoyingly accurate impersonations left a bad taste in the many mouths of the sport's traditionalists. (I've always loved and appreciated his early behavior.) The abundance of loathing he garnered from the lovers of the Federer-Nadal rivalry was even further augmented by his ability to thwart their battles for ATP supremacy.

The singular on-court aspect of Novak that was easy to bash, however, was his lacking mental fortitude. For someone who talked a big game and backed it up quite often, Novak was horrible when the chips were down. King of Retirements and master of double-faulting break point down, his lack of fight that his contemporaries had, specifically Nadal and Andy Murray, was his Achilles' Heel throughout his Slam-less 2009 and 2010 seasons.

But that all changed, starting with his back-from-the-brink win against Roger Federer at the 2010 U.S. Open semifinals, saving two match points. His next intermediary achievement was leading Team Serbia to their first ever Davis Cup victory. Those two shows of determination catapulted him to one of the greatest seasons in tennis history. In 2011, he took home three Slams, five Masters titles, and achieved 41 consecutive victories and never looked back. He was 6-0 against Nadal on all surfaces (and all in finals) and once again was left for dead against Federer in the U.S. Open semis before saving two more match points, one of which was eradicated on one of the most memorable service returns ever struck.

As if that wasn't enough to prove his fortitude, he played an epic 2012 Australian Open final, Novak's seventh straight meeting against Nadal at that stage, and outlasted one of the games greatest ever competitors, both physically and mentally, in a nearly six-hour slugfest. He didn't sustain this extraordinarily high level of success throughout the remainder of 2012 and 2013, but who could? He was consistently in the mix late in majors and held the top spot of the rankings for over 100 weeks, a benchmark only the legends reach.

In 2013, Novak found himself losing a little more frequently, both on big and small stages. Mental lapses became a bit more commonplace, most infamously during his Roland Garros semifinal against Rafa when, up a break in the fifth set, he ran into the net, losing the point on an easy putaway. Game, set, match, and year to Rafael Nadal. Djokovic was unable to bring it against his rivals for the remainder of the Grand Slam season.

Okay, so Novak was slightly below his ridiculously high par. No big deal. He won a ton of nail-biters over the years, those things are bound to even out in a sport with such small margins. On top of that, he managed to salvage at least some of his 2013 with a blazing fall, winning every match, including two routine victories over Nadal, to close out the season. No need to panic, right?

Which brings us to the hire of new head coach Boris Becker, tennis legend and owner of the proprietary "mental edge" that Novak believes will help him in 2014. There were jokes and laughs and doubts about Becker's ability to coach at this level, but Novak had his reasons. Novak, the most complete player in the game, likes to improve and add new tricks and he believes Becker will teach him to be more aggressive on serve and in the forecourt, all while giving him that oft-cited "mental edge."

We saw Becker's influence on Novak's game at their first tournament together, the Australian Open. Then in the quarterfinals, while involved in another five-set overtime tussle with Stanislas Wawrinka, his abilities to close failed him in a big way. He went up a quick break in the fifth set only to immediately dump serve on four careless forehand errors. He failed to convert break points in the pivotal seventh game of the set. Most egregiously, he horrendously shanked an easy forehand volley down match point. The one part of Novak's game he was supposedly improving deserted him for one crucial moment.

That being said, I am not blaming Boris Becker. He didn't hit that sitter volley for Novak. I'm not blaming the tactical choice to serve-and-volley, either. Novak has been implementing serve-and-volley throughout many matches in 2013 and the play got him the result he wanted, until it got to the "volley" portion of the strategy. I'm more concerned with what was going on in Novak's brain while it was sending signals to his right arm and hand, lungs, and legs.

All of this talk about Novak trying to find the "mental edge" over his rivals got me wondering if there is an "edge" to find. The "mental edge" is something that comes to you. But it doesn't come in your dreams at night in a 'Eureka!' fashion. It doesn't come on the practice courts with a brand name coach at your helm. It comes right at the exact moment you need it to. It comes when you blast a backhand down the line to set up an easy crosscourt backhand winner against your chief rival at a tournament he won eight times in a row. It comes to you when your opponent comes to the net on a great approach only to be felled by your brilliant passing shot. It comes to you in a single gutsy forehand while emotionally vulnerable and down match point, with the Greatest Of All Time serving on the other side of the net.

Whatever "mental edge" Novak Djokovic is looking for, he may not find it in Boris Becker. It comes and goes, flitting between the guys at the top, and it takes experience before it finds you again. Rafa regained the "mental edge" on Novak after seven consecutive heartbreaking losses. Wawrinka may have found the elusive "mental edge" last summer in Flushing Meadows. At this moment, Novak is overthinking in his search for it. He needs to let the "mental edge" come to him. Boris Becker may yet be a great addition to his team, but if Novak thinks that Becker will provide the cure to his recent Grand Slam disappointments, he may find himself hunting for the "edge" in vain.

(Link: a great live analysis of Novak Djokovic vs. Stanislas Wawrinka by @juanjosetennis of The Changeover)

Oi...

The Australian Open has just begun and I have no idea what will happen. Well, I have an idea, but it will likely mean very little come Day 14. Anyway, I can give you a 41% guarantee that the following WILL happen. Here are my picks for Champion and "Surprise Semifinalist":

• Men's Champion: Novak Djokovic - He's coming in with a head of steam. I understand that an entire offseason has happened and that new coach Boris Becker can throw a small hitch in his game, but Nole has been the king of Melbourne Park for three years running. I can't foresee anyone bringing him down, especially with Nadal's semi-shaky Doha title run (and his ridiculously tough draw) and Andy Murray's limited match play since the U.S. Open.
• Surprise Semifinalist: John Isner - Much like Novak, he's coming in with some momentum ahead of a solid title run in Auckland. He was fortunate enough to be in the quarter anchored by a rusty Murray and an erratic Federer. Big John's big serve should do a ton of damage and he should feel no pressure this year, having missed last year's Oz due to injury.
• Women's Champion: Serena Williams - I'm not gonna bother rationalizing this pick. NEXT.
• Surprise Semifinalist: Andrea Petkovic - She was drawn into the slightly unstable Sharapova quarter and she has a manageable path. She plays No. 32 seed Magdalena Rybarikova in the first round, but Magda is known to crap out in Slams. Petko could get JJ in the third round.

I'll stop myself here before I make myself look dumb. Looking forward to enjoying the Happy Slam and lots of coffee on weekday mornings. Sleep is for the weak. Or for the smart, whichever.

Slammed Shut

Istanbul and London are right around the corner for the Top 8 women and men, but let's take a moment to look back on four tournaments that supercede the WTA Year-End Championships and the ATP World Tour Finals.

What the heck happened in Melbourne, Paris, SW 19, and New York, you ask? Well, take a seat, grab a drink, and read this recap of the Grand Slams of 2013!

Australian Open

Defending champions pre-tournament with their 2012 trophies.
New photo shoot deemed unnecessary.

What happened: see last year's Australian Open. Actually, that's a slight on Oz 2012, which was a really exciting tournament. This year's Australian was a bit of a yawn. Djokovic won for the third straight year, defeating Andy Murray in four relatively unremarkable sets, and Azarenka defended her 2012 title against Li Na. Sharapova and Serena were cruising through the early stages of the tournament when they were abruptly stopped by Li Na and Sloane Stephens (with help from an injured ankle and back) respectively. There were no real surprise losses on the men's side. As something of an anti-Nadal fan, I definitely missed his presence late in this year's Oz, especially considering how good the final weekend of last year's tournament was with him in it.

What will be remembered: for the women, the big stories of the tournament revolved around Sloane. Her beating Serena was a story that lasted the entire season with many twists and turns throughout. She was also the victim of MTO-gate when Azarenka viciously stole the match from her grasps (lol). We will also remember the rebirth of Stan Wawrinka in that epic match with Djokovic in the 4th round where Stan just ZONED, but Novak dug in and pulled it out in the end. Lastly, although she ended up getting blasted away by Li Na in the semis 2 & 2, Maria Sharapova started the tournament by winning her first TWENTY-EIGHT GAMES. What.

French Open

What happened: exactly what you expected, but you couldn't help, but be impressed by how remarkable the achievements of Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal were. Serena finally won her first Roland Garros title since 2002, the kickstarter of her eponymous "Serena Slam." For someone who had always found the clay a pain, Serena's variety was on display throughout the tournament alongside her ever-present power and she found herself cruising through most of her matches (shoutout to you, Sveta).

This also happened. Who knew protesting same-sex
marriage could make a man look so gay?

Rafa's run was a bit more complicated. He got off to a bit of a slow start in the first three rounds and collided with Djokovic in another 5-set thriller in the semifinals, recovering from a break down in the last set and eeking it out 9-7. While the final versus David Ferrer was the most assured forgone conclusion in tennis history, it was a coronation of Nadal's comeback and his cemented status as the King of Clay with his eighth French Open title (fourth in a row), becoming the winningest player at any single Grand Slam. Sorry, Roger.

What will be remembered: three of the four semifinals will be remembered for many different reasons. The airtight three-setter between Sharapova and Azarenka was one of the best matches of the tournament, Serena's demolition of 2012 finalist Sara Errani in 46 minutes was unreal even for her, and Novak's tragic net violation while up a break in the fifth set against Rafa took the air out of the remainder of his 2013 (until his recent title runs in Beijing and Shanghai).

We will also remember the run of Gael Monfils and the many pictures he inspired, Venus's wonky match with Ula Radwanska, and Andy Murray's boredom. I think we'd all benefit from Andy skipping the French Open from now on. He's probably never going to win the thing and his tweets were such a value add for the for tournament.

I would need a seat if I had blown four match points, too.

Wimbledon

The world pouted with you, Rog :(

What happened: The real question is what DIDN'T happen? Rafa went out to Steve Darcis on the very first day, then EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER was eliminated on Black Wednesday including Victoria Azarenka (injury), Ana Ivanovic (suckitude), Caroline Wozniacki (suckitude aided by injury), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (injury aided by suckitude), and Marin Cilic ("injury"). Sharapova joined the fray when she went down (literally; she slipped on the grass several times) on Court 2 to fellow gruntie Michelle Larcher de Brito. However, all of those exits paled in comparison to the ousting of Roger Federer at the hands of Sergiy Stakhovsky, Fed's first loss before the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam since Roland Garros 2004 (if I could ALL CAPS numbers, I would). A truly historic day in tennis. Serena would join the upset club soon after, blowing a third set lead to Boom-Boom Lisicki in the Round of 16 on Manic Monday. Absolute madhouse of a tournament.

Oh yeah, there were winners at this year's Championships! Sir (well, almost) Andrew Barron Murray made it rain and ended a 77-year drought for a British male singles Wimbledon champion by completely outplaying Djokovic in the final. There were cheers, there were blown calls by Mohamed Lahyani, there were Djokovic meltdowns, there were pointed celebrations at the media. The match had everything. I was even inspired to write down a few thoughts on Andy here.

On the women's side, 2007 finalist Marion Bartoli made the most of the messy draw to scrap her first Slam. With the Top 3 out of the way, Marion didn't drop a set (nor played an opponent ranked above her) culminating with the blitzing of Sabine Lisicki in the final. It would be the last match win of her career. What a way to go out!

Maria's DGAF face.

What will be remembered: other than everything, you mean? Aside from the above, we will remember Jerzy Janowicz's breakthrough to the semifinals, the decimation of the bottom half of the men's draw and the complete shitshow that became of the entire women's draw, Juan Martin Del Potro re-arrival for the second time in 2013, Laura Robson's good showing, and Murray leaving the entire country on the edge of their collective seats during his comeback win versus Verdasco. Off the court, this was also the tournament where Serena and MaSha aired out their dirty laundry about each other's love lives. Tennis drama at its finest. It was phenomenal. I'm slightly embarrassed at how much I enjoyed all of it.

U.S. Open

King of ... Cement?

What happened: competing with the Australian Open for most forgettable Slam of the season. Both finals were good theater, but the finalists were all but guaranteed and the winners were pretty much called weeks before main draw matches got underway. Serena and Rafa capped off career-best seasons by downing their primary rivals and contenders for Player of the Year in Azarenka and Djokovic. So many parallels with Serena and Rafa's season. Both win the French Open, go out early at Wimbledon, and come back with a vengeance in the summer hard court swing and add to their tally of major titles and improve their arguments in their respective G.O.A.T. debates.

What will be remembered: two one-handed backhands soared while one fell away. Stan Wawrinka played another 5-setter with Novak Djokovic in the semifinal, once again going down. He wasn't playing as well as he did in Melbourne, but props for ramming through Berdych and Murray, then taking Novak the distance. Richard Gasquet finally made the quarterfinals, then got all greedy and made the SEMIFINALS. He ended up getting killed by Nadal, but good on ya, Reesh. The same can't be said for Roger Federer, who is starting a new kind of streak. He lost in the Round of 16 to Tommy Robredo in straight sets in what was a confusing match. His forehand couldn't find the court and he quickly lost his first match to Tommy Robredo on his eleventh try, denying us our first Fedal encounter at the U.S. Open. Lame.

She was a little excited.

Serena killed her competition through the semis, but her fourth round match against Sloane featured probably the most exciting set of tennis in the tournament pre-finals. The match had an edge to begin with, with all of their off-court drama and whatnot, but what struck me as incredible was how Serena was able to win with her defense. Sloane was crushing her forehand, yet Serena was there for nearly every one of them. Sloane eventually started to go for too much in the second set, which was one-way traffic for our champion.


So what's to come for the rest of the year? Can Serena remain motivated and hungry to finish the year as strongly as she started (she already won Beijing)? Will Rafa win his first World Tour Finals title? Will Djokovic or Vika (or Maria or Andy or, dare I say, Sloane Jelena?) make any dent in the confidence of the top man and woman of their respective tours? We will see what the end of the season has in store, it could mean good things in 2014 for those who make the most of it!

Remember When February Was Supposed To Be Dull?

I was really looking forward to my month off from blogging as tennis is usually quite dull, still suffering from the post-Aussie Open hangover. Foiled again by Nadal!

That's right Nadal made his return last week from a seven-month hiatus at Viña del Mar, an ATP 250 tourney, on his beloved clay surface in both singles and doubles with Juan Monaco, and things were going quite smoothly until he ran into the stalwart grinder we all recognize as Horacio Zeballos. And while I will neither confirm nor deny that I knew of Zeballos' existence on tour until a few days ago, I'm quite shocked he managed to spoil the King of Clay's welcome back party.

Nadal looked quite good in his matches leading up to the final (although he did say he was still experiencing minor knee pains during the event) and I really couldn't tell you what happened to him against Zeballos, but I yelled in surprise when I saw this picture on Twitter:

Don't get used to this image.

Nadal and Pico ended up losing in the doubles finals as well. All in all, I'm sure Rafa is both encouraged and disappointed by this week, but it seems like mostly good news. We'll see whether he gears himself up for the spring U.S. hard court Masters or save himself for the Euro-clay season. Best of luck, Rafa! We've all missed you...well, all except Andy Murray.

Any thoughts on Nadal's season to come? Will he keep up with his Big 4 brethren? Doha is up for the ladies with the #1 ranking up for grabs yet again! Sure to be another exciting week. In February, of all months. Who knew?

(edit: almost forgot, Rafa's Welcome Back Tour rolls on this week at São Paulo where he'll once again be in the singles and doubles draw (with David Nalbandian)! Be sure to keep tabs!)

Jetlagged

I can confidently say that my body clock has reset to Eastern Standard Time (six days later).

What an Australian Open! ...Okay, it was actually a little anticlimactic. Dare I say Oz was disappointing? Here are a couple of things that made the Happy Slam such a downer:

All flower, no power (or accuracy).

The matchups we were all waiting to see were lackluster or didn't even happen. We all marked Maria Sharapova's third-round clash with Venus Williams on our calendar and were hopeful for an intense, albeit noisy, match since Venus looked almost as good as MaSha through her first two opponents...DUD. MaSha crushed Venus, yet celebrated like she won a thrilling three-set final. I was left with my mouth hanging open in shock because it was such a one-way street.

That wasn't the only one. Serena and MaSha were on a collision course to meet in the finals, but back spasms and Li Na put the respective breaks on their near flawless Oz Open runs. Even Nole vs. Andy was a little hard to watch. The one match that actually lived up to it's billing was Andy vs. Rog in the second men's semis. Most of the others were not up to par.

Another bummer was the crazy number of injuries. Serena rolled her ankle before her first set was over and was laboring throughout her shortened second week, Sloane Stephens had three or four straight opponents take medical timeouts, Andy Murray seemed to slow down a step in the third set of the finals because of those unsightly blisters, and the whole Vika shenanigan made injuries the talk of the tournament. Depressing.

Leave a comment if you think there were even lamer things about this year's Australian Open or if you feel like it wasn't that bad of a Grand Slam at all! Here's to hoping the season goes up from here. Congratulations to Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka for defending their titles! Davis Cup is already upon us. Good luck to Jim Courier and the USA squad!

Vika M.D.

While I was drowsily waiting for what originally was a lackluster match to end, Victoria Azarenka and Sloane Stephens decided to bring tons of drama and controversy in the final moments (further delaying my bedtime...).

Serving for the match at 5-3, Vika blew FIVE match points, most of them off of bad errors. Vika was visibly upset with herself during that game, Sloane was finally coming alive with the crowd firmly behind her, and that's when the breathing issues/chest pains/rib aches/knee problems/panic attacks occurred.

What did Vika do about all of this? She committed a crime against tennis humanity, the UNTHINKABLE: she called a medical timeout.

I think I broke my "clutch" bone...

You've probably read the rest of the script. Sloane was left idle for ten minutes, cooling way down, Vika got her nerves untangled where no one can see her, and broke on her very next match point to clinch her second straight Australian Open final. Then she gave the nail-in-the-coffin on-court interview that would forever turn the American tennis contingent against her. When asked what "difficulty" she was facing, Vika bluntly stated her nerves got the best of her during those crucial moments.

Rough. As someone who really enjoys Vika's game and personality, I wanted to fly to Melbourne and rip the mic out of Rennae Stubbs' hand. It's gonna be an uphill battle with the fans and media for at least the rest of the year...

There were many aspects about the MTO which will live in infamy that plain didn't look good. The timing was bad. The duration was bad. The whole thing just seemed wrong. Still, I'm gonna defend Vika for a moment.

First and foremost, she's had breathing issues before. Before 2012, she was the queen of retirements, a few of them with exhaustion as the cause. You absolutely cannot blame her for being cautious. Safety first, kids!

Second, she cleared up her on-court interview in her presser. Vika said she misunderstood the question, and I believe her. It was worded in a very unclear way and even I, an English-speaking American, was lost in translation a little from the phraseology of it. The "difficulty" doesn't equate "injury" for me, so I can only imagine what a non-native English speaker understood.

Third, she didn't do anything illegal! She's well within her rights to take an MTO anytime she isn't feeling okay. Most pundits out there were screaming for a rule change, but, as is the norm with critics, they are yelling and overreacting without providing any practical solutions. What is the ITF gonna do: only allow MTOs before your own serve? Only when your up a break? This seems like a slippery slope. Think back to last year's French Open when Grigor Dimitrov was FLAILING ON THE GROUND, but his trainer couldn't even TOUCH him until he climbed back up his high chair (seriously, that chair was so unnecessarily tall). Is that more fair than allowing an MTO during a changeover? Don't think so. It really isn't Vika's fault Sloane couldn't hold to stay in the match, and it's not like Sloane was serving lights-out up until the last game to begin with.

The other person rooting for Vika.

Nothing left to do but see how this situation affects her preparations for the final against Li Na, who gave Sharapova the business in the semis. Don't worry, Vika, I'll root for you even though I may be one of two people that will do so come Saturday.

Leave a comment to discuss the most talked-about MTO in history or to bash RedFoo's ridiculous hairstyle and fashion choices. Those glasses need to go...

Semis Are Set Sans Serena

Okay, no time because because the the women's semifinals start in a few minutes/seconds, but I must address a few things about what we've seen this past week:

Sloane Stephens defeats a hobbled Serena. I'm thoroughly shocked at the outcome because Serena seemed to have felt better physically in the third set, but so very happy for the teenager. Sloane is here to stay!

Djokovic wins five-set epic against Stan Wawrinka. Once again, Nole had me awake all hours of the night and 'til the wee hours of the morning. A challenge here or there could have altered the complexion of the final moments, but Djokovic prevails.

Sharapova rolling through her opponents. She must have eaten a truckload of these because she is riding the longest sugar-high ever. With Serena out, she has to be the new favorite (Sorry, Vika).

DelPo ousted early. Very disappointing result Down Under. There is a big ol' brick wall in front of him at the majors and he needs to figure out how to scale it. And quick.

Federer schools the cool kids in class. Roger has the most varied offensive arsenal in tennis history and he showed it against two vastly different youngsters. He showed Tomic what finesse was about and he outserved Raonic. The old guy's still got the goods.

Anyway, gotta run! Enjoy the rest of the Australian Open! Sure to be an exciting finish :)

Hot In Hurr'

102 degree whether not withstanding, it has been a blazing-hot Aussie Open two rounds in! The race for the second week has reached a fever pitch and there are some blockbuster matches for us all to drool over.

So what happened through two rounds down under? Well, for those of you too lazy to bother watching, there's been a lot of this:

...major hubbub about this:

...too much of this, and EVERYONE is talking about this:

And I didn't even mention Tomic's cheekiness or Jerzy Janowicz's craziness.

Now it's time to look forward to the third round where there are a handful of intriguing matchups to grab our attention, but none bigger than MaSha vs. Venus. Venus is playing really well and is 2-0 vs. Maria on the GS stage, but Ms. Sugarpova has been beating the daylights out of her opponents so far (see bagel picture above). Venus, however, is a veteran who moves well and hits almost as hard as MaSha, so I do not expecting anything remotely close to a bagel. Still, MaSha's heavy hitting game is a little more consistent so I pick her to win in three tight sets.

Another interesting match up is our new favorite hot-head Jerzy Janowicz against Nico Almagro. They both have big serves, Almagro has the beautiful one-handed backhand, and Janowicz has the huge forehand that can cause damage. What impressed me about JJ was his ability to comeback from two sets down in his now infamous match against Devvarman and I worry about Nico's concentration in long battles. I have Janowicz in 5.

Lastly, our two favorite English-speaking youngsters on the WTA face up. Laura Robson, pseudo-hometown favorite in Melbourne, is just coming off an 11-9 third-set triumph against 8th seeded Petra Kvitova. The bubbly Sloane Stephens had two fairly routine wins in the early rounds against unseeded opponents. There is much at stake for both of these women as the winner of this match would be the favorite in the Round of 16 to get to the quarterfinals. Their most recent meeting was a straight-set victory by Stephens, so I will have to take her in three sets. Still, I may be a bit of a homer for picking her (USA! USA!).

Anyone disagree with my analyses? Any other matches to keep our eye on as we head towards the weekend? Leave a comment and discuss! And remember to hydrate, wear sunscreen, and keep your wide-brimmed hats close.

Call Me Crazy: Wild 2013 Predictions

I think Ivan Lendl taught him how
to take trophy photos...

Four (or three depending on you timezone) days 'til Oz! Time to get excited.

But this is the last shot we all get to make outlandish predictions for the season then gloat about how awesomely smart you are come November. Btdubbs, called this after Melbourne last year:

But never mind how great my instincts are at these things, we can predict things that are way more unlikely to happen! So put away those slightly edgy predictions and go all out insane!

I will layout three very thoughtful, reasonably risky predictions that can be pushed close the edge of the Crazy Cliff without completely falling off (because I actually believe in them):

Exhibit A Reasonable: Rafael Nadal will not win this year's French Open
Even with Rafa's knee troubles, this prediction is sure to turn a few heads. Rafa is the undisputed King of Clay and seems to be gearing up his body for the Euro swing. Could still use a little more spice, however...

Exhibit A Crazy: Neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal will win a Grand Slam tournament in 2013
Now THAT'S preposterous. We haven't seen that since...since...God, I don't think I was even born yet! (I was, and it was the year 2002.) But look a little closer. Rafa has never been out of the game for as long a stretch at a time, EVER. On top of that he usually takes a little while to boot up before his game is back to where it was before his extended hiatuses. As for our beloved G.O.A.T., let's face it, he's getting old. Like, real old. I'm not saying he's washed up, but competing regularly against the likes of Novak and Andy will not aide in Roger's bid to stay fresh throughout the season (all of the other members of the Big 4 have a habit of playing in long matches) and he's also prone to going down against big hitters that litter the Top 10 (see 2012 Basel vs. DelPo, 2012 U.S. Open vs. Berdy, and 2011 Wimbledon vs. Jo-Willy). 2013 is shaping up to be quite the tough test for Fed.

Exhibit B Reasonable: Someone outside the Big 4 men will win a Slam
It'll be tough to break the foursome at the top, but this is as good a year as any for one of the many power hitters to barrel his way through that brick wall built by Rog, Rafa, Nole, and Andy over the last 7235691 years. Fed will be 32 this summer, Rafa's knee issues are well documented, and neither Nole nor Andy can make you feel completely helpless a la Federer in his prime or a healthy Nadal. David Ferrer gave the second tier a sliver of hope by winning the Paris Masters last fall. At least it's something to hold on to.

Exhibit B Crazy: One Grand Slam Final will feature two players outside of the Big 4
Bear with me for a second! Most of you will scoff and say I've gone too far, but let's look at the facts. DelPo is a Grand Slam champion and posted great wins vs. Federer and Djokovic in 2012. Berdych has beaten Fed twice in Grand Slam quarterfinals and may have been a 2012 U.S. Open finalist if it weren't for that goshdarn wind/tornado. John Isner is always a threat with his serve, Tsonga should be reinvigorated by a new coach, and Raonic keeps improving. What's stopping from the stars and planets from aligning? Yes, I understand it will take every star, planet, and asteroid in the entire galaxy, but it can happen!

Exhibit C Reasonable: Serena Williams will achieve the calendar year Grand Slam
This is a feat that would be extraordinarily impressive, even for Serena. Most people have her locked to win Down Under and you just know she's extremely motivated for a second Roland Garros title to complete her second "Serena Slam". Still, as you look down the road, it's hard to see anyone challenging her at Wimbledon and she'll be favored at the U.S. Open as well. While potentially an outstanding accomplishment, not exactly putting your neck on the line.

Exhibit C Crazy: Caroline Wozniacki will win the U.S. Open
I saved the craziest prediction of all for last, but before you check me in at the asylum, consider this: The pressure is finally off of Caro. The pundits have stopped talking about how her game isn't major material. No more Slam-less #1 remarks. And now that people have grown weary of her many shenanigans, she can go back to focusing on what made her the year-end #1 WTA player for two consecutive years. In her early days at #1, her game was fine. She was just missing the element of mental toughness. I think that this could be a defining year for Caro if she pulls her focus together. Let's not forget that she gave Serena one of her four losses in 2012! Then again, that may be a bad thing...

I WILL exact my revenge...

How crazy am I? Genius crazy? Stupid crazy? Leave a comment to discuss whether or not I should be institutionalized. But I'm warning you, I will be unbearably high on my horse come season's end.

P.S. can anyone name the four ATP Slam winners of 2002? Major points to those of you who don't have to look it up.

Horsin' Around

Boooooriiiiiiing. Even they look bored by their own victories.

Here I was thinking we would have an exciting weekend of tennis full of surprise titlists, but we were thwarted by the usual suspects.

Serena winning the WTA Premier in Brisbane. Andy, Aga, Li Na, Tipsy, Gasquet winning the smaller events in their respective tours. I thought Dimitrov had a real shot against an out-of-form Murray, but it wasn't meant to be. There was one small upset with Spain winning the Hopman Cup over Serbia! One out of seven ain't bad...

This week am hopeful...nay, EXPECTING a dark horse to triumph! The fields the week before the commencement of a Slam are much more manageable for second-tier players, and those preceding the Australian Open this year continue that trend (except WTA Sydney, which is somehow a Premier event, but that's a complaint for another paragraph...).

I will take advantage of one of the four weeks out of the year when you can make what would normally be a dark horse pick and have a decent chance of being right! 

Sloane Stephens is obviously my choice for the Hobart title. She's going in with a lot of momentum and confidence. Benoit Paire is a good pick for Auckland. He's talented and is coming off a doubles title in Chennai. Dare I believe in Bernie Tomic once again? His road to redemption has been very encouraging in this early part of the season going 3-0 in his singles matches in Perth, including a huge win against Novak Djokovic. Hopefully he can keep his focus for an entire week to bag the ATP Sydney title.

I would pick a second-tier player for the WTA Sydney tourney, but the first SEVEN SEEDS are in the Top 10. Picking a dark horse would be silly.

Seriously, WTA, what is with the Premier events a week before Slams?? This happens at New Haven, too. Encourage these girls to focus on the real prize instead of a relatively unimportant tournament. Notice how out of those seven Top 10-ers, NONE are in the Big Three. Tells you what's on the minds of the 2012 Grand Slam winners. That's right, a GRAND SLAM. </rant>

Who wants to challenge these picks? Anyone think an even darker horse will raise a trophy? Anyone brave enough to go chalk (a risky pick in itself considering the abundance of dangerous floaters)? Leave a comment to make a bold selection or bash the WTA schedulers.