Sean,
This is about Anderson:
http://www.tennis.com/features/general/features.aspx?id=121880

I think Djoko was tired and just hit a good player.

Anderson just turned pro. In 2007!

Poor Novak - but this’ll be good in a way. It will pull him back down to earth, give him some perspective. He’s so young to be going on such a tear. Of course I am sad for him too, but I think it’s not such a big blip - or egg - however you want to look at it, in the larger scheme of things. He doesn’t need to get to number 1 or even number 2 this year - just maintain. He’s still one of my faves, win or lose.

Have faith Shital Green!

Gasquet just laid an egg too, b.t.w. - upset by Tursonov.

not too surprising. his lack of consistency and tendency to fade in back to back tournaments is well documented.

plus, he’s been getting so hyped lately that i’m not entirely disappointed to see him blown out in the second round.

and before i get lambasted, i will admit that i’m not a fan of novak and his family. they’re a little cocky and there is something to be said for humility.

also, is this a good time to reiterate sean’s ability to call the winners in any given tournament?

sorry…..

Must see matches tomorrow:

Fed-Monfils

Murray- Ancic

who is Gabriela Navratilova btw?

Zola,

“Anderson just turned pro. In 2007!”

Yes, and he’s already got to the finals and Vegas and a win over a top ten player! He’s no complete “rookie” though; he’s a former Illinois NCAA doubles champ. So we’ll have to keep our eyes on this dude.

Yes, he was in the college circuit, is really tall…and guess who he practiced with the day before?

Novak is no doubt a great player, but I will repeat what Andrea said, he has faded in back to back tournaments before. The exact same situation happened last summer , he won in the canada masters and lost first round in the cincy masters. The difference this time is that he has 500 ranking points to defend, so at the end of next week he will be about 2000+ points behind federer (assuming he doesnt have an early loss) and maybe about 1000 behind nadal (again, assuming he doesnt lose very early).
This goes to show that just one bad tournament can set him back quiet a bit, whereas last week it was looking like he would be overtaking nadal very quickly.
Looking forward to federer-monfils tomorrow.

and “djokovic lays an egg in miami”, rediculous expression………………….

Karena, yes, I read he took a set off Roger! I wonder if Roger was giving him tips - hey maybe it was a conspiracy? LOL.

Jane,
No kidding. and he is efinitely no rookie.

Karena,
yes, I read he practiced with Fed the day before. I bet he got some good tips!

May I kindly point a discrepancy in the claims here. Djoko has faded in back-to-back tournaments before - this is true - but only on a couple of occasions (in 2007/08) as fall as I can tell. For instance, look at this run:

Rotterdam O7 - semis
Dubai 07 - quarters
IW 07 - finals
Miami 07 - champion
M.Carlo 07 - R16
Estoril - champ
Rome - quarters
Hamburg - quarters
RG - semis
Queens - R16
Wimbie - semis

That’s ELEVEN tournaments in a row in 2007 (on 3 different surfaces) wherein he got to *at least* the quarters in all but two of them.

The ONLY real fizzles in 07 are Canada then Cincy, which joe mentioned, and then Paris and the Masters Cup at the end of last year, when he was pooped out. In 08, he fell early only at Marseille thus far, but was sick. He even had to pull out of Rotterdam when he won l.y. because he had the flu.

People, be fair! How does a player go from 80th in the world to 16th, and then 16th to 3rd, all in two years time, not to mention being the first ATP player ever to win “most improved player” in back-to-back years if he is not pretty consistent. If you don’t like him that’s cool, but ook at the results please.

“look” not “ook” - got on a rant there, sorry.

Speaking of eggs - I see Nalby lost the first set to Malisse 1-6. But knowing Dave he may come back and win the next one 6-0.

The horror, the horror.

Nalby became the third sad victim after Djoko and Gasquet stumbled. More coming tomorrow for sure!

Shital Green,

You’re right - probably more topsy-turvy results to come. Don’t you think Federer is sitting back and smiling right about now? There are still a lot of tough customers though - Rafa Roddick Murray Tsonga…we;ll see what evolves next.

Did I read somewhere that there was more of a break between these two tournaments last year, like a full week or something? Maybe I dreamt it.

Nobody mentioned that Novak had a bunch of early rd exits in few weak touneys in Europe, right after winning AO? Motivation is a bitch

sorry, losing in davis cup and 2nd rd of Marseille

Bo - he had the flu apparently.

Finally a chair umpire had the guts to warn a top player for the insanity that gets passed off as ritual.

A roc’s egg from chokovic who I had just bumped to no.1 in the hardcourt rankings. He is still susceptible to a big server who has a huge serving day. Who is listening to “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight”? nadal or federer?
Who is going to cash in on this opportunity to pull away in the rankings?

Kash:

“Who is listening to “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight”?” **** Hush my darling, don’t cry my darling, the lion still sleeps tonight …****

I didn’t know you were a doo-wop fan? But then, what do I really know about you? Except at times you like to indulge in eating ‘vinegar’ potato chips, which makes you so surly and …? It seems that I’m dating myself about that doo wop stuff, but actually, I’m not that old to remember those days, but my mom and dad were great fans of doo wop, and now I record all of their shows from PBS. TJ Lubinsky has done a good job keeping the doo wop memory alive. If it weren’t for DVDs I could have easily worn out the grooves of a record. I’m still in awe of Jay Black’s ability to carry those notes in ‘Cara Mia, Why? I have to come down to earth now and back to tennis.

I’ll say both Fed and Rafa will slit the spoils, and Fed could pull away in the ranking points for the time being. I suppose that’s keep you happy for the time being. Try eating the ‘honey’ potato chips.

Correction: Last para should read, “I’ll say both Fed and Rafa will split the spoils.” sorry.

Kash,

“Finally a chair umpire had the guts to warn a top player for the insanity that gets passed off as ritual.”

Djoko was warned during his semifinal match against Fed at the AO at 5-3 & deuce in the 2nd set; he was also warned in the quarter final at IW against Wawrinka on a break point of his serve. So these warnings are nothing new, and Djokovic has said he doesn’t object to him, only wishes the umpire could maybe give him a heads up if he’s taking long,say, in a change-over before he gets the official warning.

In those two previous instances Djoko pulled himself together, won the point, game and match, but today I think he was a bit spent, he was up against a great and unknown opponent and he lost fair-and-sqaure.

As he said “But, you know, that’s okay. It’s all part of the game.”

This clearly showz how difficult it is to do what Fed and Nadal have acheived over the last few years. Winning or reaching finals in back to back Masters and Grandslams. Nadal has done it thrice on Clay.. Fed has done it infinite times on all kind of surfaces.

Especially Fed reaching 16 consecutive finals in 2005.

Hope its a Fed vs Nadal finals..

Tejuz:

Howdy, where have you been? Hibernating or in stasis? Glad to see you back. Are you being shocked, or have the shocks been too much for you? Mind you, you’ll only be shocked twice — once is not enough.

Kash:

FYI. I posted same on another thread for jane and TD.

“Djokovic, leading 2-0 but facing break point, was dribbling before a serve when umpire Norm Chryst warned him for taking too much time. Djokovic whacked a forehand winner to end that point, then screamed in the umpire’s direction and shook both fists. The crowd hooted at the Serbian.

Two points later, when Djokovic hit a first serve into the net, several fans cheers [sic]. He glared toward the stands, then lost the point and the game when he blew an easy volley.”

Sounds like an exact repeat of the AO final. When is the boy going to learn that he can’t bully people into submission, let alone adulation (actually, he can only bully them into the exact opposite reaction)? I’m beginning to think that when he says he’s an emotional person and shows his emotions on court, that translates as “I’m an angry person and I have anger management issues.” I guess he can at least be glad that Kevin Anderson’s mom isn’t named Dijana….”

Here’s the link.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/tennis/03/28/bc.ten.keybiscayne1.ap/index.html?eref=T1

Von:

I am sorry but I am too weak with the whole “music” thing! I remember that song from Lion king, with absolute disregard from where the song originated from. I know thats really embarrassing

Thanks for all that info, next time I wont make such a fool of myself in a conversation about that song.

And I will say let us stick to the Fed and Rafa will slit the spoils. This is no more tennis, it is a macabre war out there. Seriously though, I cant believe neither of those two have won a title yet, this year. Good luck to the andy’s till they get beaten by the FED (Does he have to beat both or only one of them) A-rod missed out on a golden chance last week. He could have taken Fed out in the quarters if Fed played the way he did against fish. I guess it is only fair andy beats fed in a classic like the safin-fed aus 05 match. I still refuse to give Fish much credit for the SF match, seeing as he got routed by clement, of all people. He still played real good tennis through out the tournament and I did hope he beat djokovic in the final. My hope realised 1 match later. I need to make my hopes stronger and more dark magic.

Last but not the least, in accordance with all the craziness going on in tennis, I propose a-rod as french open champ and davydenko for wimbledon. gaudio makes a come-back to sweep olympics, usopen and the masters cup. I think I need some more sleep!

Jane:

I forgot the AO warning. Good to see the chair umpires cracking the whip. Next time they should have some soap solution to rinse the player’s mouths when they utter cuss words in Spanish or russian or mandarin or all the trillion + 1 languages in this world.

Tejuz:

Fed made those consecutive finals in 06, i believe.

Yea Von, Djokovic needs to ease out a little. People loved it and condoned all his arrogance because he was chasing fed and nadal. Now that he is in the same league, if he goes about venting them on the umpires, linesmen and the crowd, he will be shooting himself in the feet, and all other parts of his anatomy except his arms.

I am guessing his PR agent is going to have some classes for him and his family over the summer. The family is sending the wrong messages to people that you need to be disrespectful of the person at the top to get to the top. That, as Fed would say, is a real pity!

Kash:

“Thanks for all that info, next time I wont make such a fool of myself in a conversation about that song.”
****The next time you talk about that song, you’ll look like a whiz kid with the newly acquired info on Doo Wop.

“Good luck to the andy’s till they get beaten by the FED.”
*** Be nice, I want A-Rod to win and move up in the rankings. I can’t believe the turn of events from July ‘07, when he was No. 3, and now he’s at No. 6. Had A-Rod not lost last week to Haas, he most probably could have won the whole thing. What a shame. Damn Tommy Haas. The guy just irks me. I was positive that he would have retired against Murray.

Re: “I propose a-rod as french open champ and davydenko for wimbledon. gaudio makes a come-back to sweep olympics, usopen and the masters cup. I think I need some more sleep!”

I can handle A-Rod winning the FO. We’re both crazy, but stranger things have happened. I’ll definitely throw a party if A-Rod pulls that win off. You know, something’s gotta give, and A-Rod absolutely deserves some wins against Fed. I can dream can’t I. I also need some sleep, I just pulled an all-nighter on research and case prep, and am so saturated with facts now, that I can’t shut down. There must be a better way to make a living. When you find one, let me know.

Since I’m only a few hours from South Beach, I should just drive out there and watch the matches. Look for me among the spectators. I’ll be the woman in the dark glasses, nodding off.

I think Djoko has to be careful. He turned 19000 people in AO against himself. Here in Miami he was the defending champion, yet again managed to make the whole center court boo him, the defending champion! that’s not too good. He needs to be careful and needs to know that people will not tolerate “anything” coming out of him just because he is No 3 in the world. Unfortunately he is learning “PR” the hard way.

Zola:

Guess what, the Tennis channel is picking up 24 hours of delayed coverage on Miami. I’m so happy. At least i’ll be able to see some additional matches. Do you have a ladder so that i can climb up to the roof top and shout it out.

Von, thanks for the article link. (Hope I didn’t wake you)

I like Djokovic’s fire - call me crazy but it’s true. I liked Johnny Mac in his day too.

If Djoko roars at the umpire (which he never has) or crowd, and they turn on him, well he’ll have to deal with it. So far he has not been bothered when he’s done this in big matches; in fact he’s actually won them!

This time it made him lose his focus, and it was too deep into the match to recover; in his words, “I wasn’t able to focus myself in that moment”.

Sometimes that happens; when Roddick got angry at the umpire against Khol at the AO late in the 5th I think it hurt him, but other times Roddick’s fire has helped him (have you seen that video on Youtube where he gets mad over a call but then hits a serve that gets stuck in the clay?! Funny)

Djokovic has a certain bravado on or off the court that people are already reacting too so I think when stuff like this happens they jump all over him. If it doesn’t make him lose matches, if he can stay focused, then it doesn’t matter to me. But if it’s going to hurt him (like when Safin mentally implodes) then he’s going to have to do something about it.

Kash,

“Next time they should have some soap solution to rinse the player’s mouths” — haha — that’s be something to see.

Tejuz,

“This clearly showz how difficult it is to do what Fed and Nadal have acheived over the last few years. Winning or reaching finals in back to back Masters and Grandslams. Nadal has done it thrice on Clay”

You’re right; it does. It’s quite a feat these two have pulled off, being 1 & 2 for so long. Borg still thinks Rafa will be first to dethrone Roger and get to number 1; I read it somewhere yesterday.

For those who are interested, here’s the article with Borg tipping Rafa to get to no.1 next [smiling Zola? ]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/28032008/3/borg-sees-nadal-replacing-federer-world-number.html

Jane:

“Von, thanks for the article link. (Hope I didn’t wake you)”

You’re welcome. No you didn’t wake me — I suppose I’m excited about seeing some tennis that I can’t fall asleep now. All of those statutes are whirling around in my head, but I’m well prepared for Monday now, so I’m free to watch my tennis without feeling guilty and that gnawing feeling.

I didn’t post that article as a negative thing, I just did so to give you some info since you had mentioned some of it to TD yesterday, and when I came across it, I thought you probably would have liked to see it. To be truthful, I didn’t read all of it. Djoko knows how far he can go without his actions becoming detrimental to his game. He’s just a feisty little guy, that’s all.

Jane,
yes, I saw that article.
“HUGE SMILE”

I love that Borg made such a suggestion. But still it is very difficult. MonteCarlo, Barcelona, Rome and Hamburg are back to back. Then RG and Wimbledon.
I think Rafa has to skip a couple of those clay tournaments to ease the pressure on his body. Nevertheles, it is always encouraging when a legend like Borg makes such comments.

Von,
Here’s the ladder:
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I am glad you get to see the matches on the tennis channel. I like to see the matches live! If you decide to watch them on pc, I guess you can go to channelsurfing.net. I also heard that starsports and CCTV ( on sopcast.com) will show the matches.

Tejuz
nice comment on Fed and Rafa’s consistency. That’s what came to my mind too. Especially what Federer has pulled off is extraordinary. Novak or others might one day be No 1, but doing what Fed did, is a very high standard.

I don’t blame Djoko for losing in the first round and don’t think he laid an egg. It is just human to be tired, or excited, or exhausted. What Fed and Rafa have done is quite extraordinary.

I also have to add that the way Djoko has progressed, in a couple of years we might see back to back wins from him as well. We have to wait and see.

I did it!
I can make smily faces!

Jane,
this is me after reading that article:

Von:

I didn’t realise Andy dropped from 03-06 over his strong part of the season. That only means he can make up a lot of ground at the end of this season. I feel Andy is the best bet after you-know-who to beat djokovic on a hard-court. The other day, I was thinking that with all the courts slowing down and the racquets and balls being modified to suit a more rally oriented game, we have players like nadal and djokovic who have awesome ground game but their returns are nothing to crow about ( like say fed, hewitt, safin and nalbandian) That fed-generation along with the slow-down of courts obliterated the big serving giants and reduced them to the calibre of ljubicic, karlovic and actually I cant think of any-other big servers. Actually, a lot of safin’s problems might easily because of the increased pressure on him to get more of his game together. I mean in the 90s, safin would have had to make sure he was serving well and even with a small percent of his groun game he would have been a force to reckon with. The same reason is why a-rod has had a tough time with his game which would have easily netted him multiple uso and wimbledon titles in the 90s.

So the atp needs to make sure some courts stay quick to make things interesting like in dubai, where a-rod was just monstrous. Or as in shanghai, where fed was able to SnV. As of now they have got the right ratio of fast-courts to slow courts mix. Though I feel wimbledon needs a little quickening up (not as much as the 90s but it should have a court speed atleast a little more than USopen) As of now, ausopen and fo are in favor of djokovic/nadal’s sub-par-return game. USopen is the fair surface and wimby needs a little quickness to keep the big servers interested before else players might soon forget to serve big!

Bottomline: a-rod is not beating fed at miami I wouldnt have had a problem with him doing that if fed won the IW, but with the present uncertainty fed needs a shot in the arm (maybe even literally if the post-miami check-up gets nasty!) before the battle for the red/green (will there be any this time around? or will it be chaotic like the year thus far has been?)

Jane:

I absolutely detest j-mac the player. I am a huge fan of his as a commentator. This dichotomy is so prominent that I would give up a lot of things to just listen to him on-air, while I refuse, even to this day to watch any of the matches he plays or has played. (I guess I could throw him a bone because of the commentary and watch his matches on the senior tour). I am just that kind of person who refuses to watch any matches of the player if he behaves like a jackass in the most-obvious manner. I never liked agassi till about 2000, when he was a different person. I am a huge fan of sampras because of similar criteria. Never liked hewitt till he sobered a few years back. I like both Fed and nadal.I mean the occasional rant is fine like fed at wimby 07 or rafa in the IW semifinal, but that is exception more than the norm. Djokovic is too loud more often than not, but I like his game, so in the next year or so I guess I will know whether his voice gets louder at a faster rate than his game. he is only 20, so i guess time will make him a more tolerable person.
I would really like gasquet to get his act. He seems more of a fed/sampras kind of guy. Or has he exhibited on-court obnoxiousness or fire or whichever you want to spin that. I will also add that Djokovic is a zillion times more tolerable than j-mac. Players these days are more behaved and I am glad it is so even if people think it is boring. I for one, think it is the “game” that should have the personality. Human personality is a function of the person under view as well as the person who is viewing. I mean some of the shots that fed/sampras hit, there is absolutely no need for any kind of chest-thumping. Von dont read this: One of the reasons I dont like a-rod is also because he has the habit of going off like crazy on the umpire which always happens only when he is losing. He is still funny, but definitely not fair! I would rather, he be just funny!

Bottomline: Nadal gets the balance of emotion/stoicism right, according to me. I guess, from your posts and mine thus far, that is where we meet! You prefer the emotion, I prefer the stoicism

Zola:

Thanks for the ladder. I get to see both FSN and Tennis channel.

Jane,
this is me after reading that article:

You didn’t make the smiley faces. Here’s how it goes. First you type the sentence and then end it with a period. Then you hit the space bar once, then type and then hit the space bar one more time. Like this.

Zola: It’s like you did it above, but a space before the :), and then a space after. Try it out. Good luck. One hour and 8 minutes more to go for ATP tennis.

I am actually not too happy for nadal with the borg comments! I remember he tipped federer to win the french! Guess borg got burnt by the federer bet and is placing all his money on nadal now.

I will safely advice my friends to bet on djokovic getting to no.1 before nadal does and nadal not winning the french this year! To be honest, my jinxing ability is far scarier than borg’s. An example would be that I just happened to consider the possibility of fed making the GGS this year and he is yet to reach a final in a tournament this year To be fair, I am sure no one made money on fed’s poor form thus far.

Maybe someone experienced with betting can let us know how much money one could have made if they bet at the end of 07 on federer not reaching a final in the 1st 3 months of 2008.

That same person will hopefully be kind enough to inform Von about an easier way to make a living

“I remember he tipped federer to win the french! ”

Last year that is!

Kash -

“Bottomline: Nadal gets the balance of emotion/stoicism right, according to me.”

Yes, Rafa’s got a nice balance going on doesn’t he? I like him a lot too.

“I guess, from your posts and mine thus far, that is where we meet! You prefer the emotion, I prefer the stoicism”

Perhaps. But I do like all sorts of players. I think for me it’s a mixture of liking their games AND liking their personalities. For instance, I like Blake’s personality better, most times, than his game. But I like Nalby’s game better than his personality.

Anyhow. Meeting of the minds/preferences is cool with me Kash.

“Maybe someone experienced with betting can let us know how much money one could have made if they bet at the end of 07 on federer not reaching a final in the 1st 3 months of 2008.”

Lots.

But I’d say hold onto your cash in 2008.

Tsonga just lost the first set to Melzer - maybe Roddick, assuming he gets through (which he will) won’t even have to play him Von!

Von,

“I didn’t post that article as a negative thing, I just did so to give you some info since you had mentioned some of it to TD yesterday, and when I came across it, I thought you probably would have liked to see it.”

I know - just can’t help “defending” the Djoker!

Kash:

“Von don’t read this: One of the reasons I dont like a-rod is also because he has the habit of going off like crazy on the umpire which always happens only when he is losing.”

I did read that statement and believe it or not I agree with you. It’s one part of Andy’s personality I don’t really like. However, I think he has stopped that, after the bad press from his San Jose tournament. Hopefully, he can keep it up.

“Bottomline: a-rod is not beating fed at miami. I wouldnt have had a problem with him doing that if fed won the IW, but with the present uncertainty fed needs a shot in the arm (maybe even literally if the post-miami check-up gets nasty!) before the battle for the red/green (will there be any this time around? or will it be chaotic like the year thus far has been?)”

So you’re saying A-Rod should be the proverbial ’sacrificial’ lamb so that Fed could win a title? I don’t know if I can be that charitable, and say I don’t mind. Avarice has raised its ugly head, but The Lord will decide.

“Maybe someone experienced with betting can let us know how much money one could have made if they bet at the end of 07 on federer not reaching a final in the 1st 3 months of 2008.

That same person will hopefully be kind enough to inform Von about an easier way to make a living.”

I’m going to hold onto my few dollars and let someone else do the betting for me. At the same time they can show me an easier way to make a living. So who’s your choice to win the Fed/Monfils match? I’ll have to go with Fed. I know that you’ll be happy to hear that.

Von,
thanks for the tip. and I am glad you liked the ladder. I need to fix one of the legs though!.
( I made another one, lets’s see if it works!)

Kash
***To be honest, my jinxing ability is far scarier than borg’s. ***

I am sorry, but no one jinx’s like Sean! His predictions might have costed Federer the GGS and Djoko the Miami!

Verdasco and Roredo are in trouble in Miami.Tsonga lost the first set, but he is going head to head with Melzer, who I think had complaints about his back. I hope he can win this match. ( Kash I might be competeing with your jinxing abilities here!)

Zola,
Robredo’s year has been abysmal thus far; I can’t believe he’s still in the top 20. The clay might help him though.

jane:

“Tsonga just lost the first set to Melzer - maybe Roddick, assuming he gets through (which he will) won’t even have to play him Von!”

Well, it seems as though Melzer is giving Tsonga a good workout. He is a good serve and volley guy, and a drop shot expert. Soft hands at the net. Btw, Andy is 6-0 against Melzer. I just hope Andy gets far in this tournament - he has semi-final points to defend. Where are you watching the match?

Well guys, 10 more minutes to FSN TV broadcast, and then I’ll have to leave you. Hope you can manage without me. The match after Tsonga/Melzer, is Roddick’s. My stomach is already churning.

Zola:

“I made another one, lets’s see if it works!) It worked, congratulations.!

Von,

I’ll probably follow Andy on the scoreboard. There is no coverage here until next week’s matches. Maybe I’ll try to find it online.

I see Karlovic and Khol are now out too, not to mention Robredo, Gasquet, Nalby and Djoko.

But Tsonga is up a break in the third so he’ll likely survive, and Tipsy knocked out Verdasco.

Malisse beating Nalbandian is not really a surprise, in this sense. Nalbandian, as everyone keeps saying, is utterly unpredictable. That used to be true of Malisse, too. But then he started losing all the time. So you shrugged your shoulders resignedly as you registered yet another dismal negation of an exceptional talent. But you always knew that Malisse being Malisse, at some point he would surprise you. You would be surprised if he never surprised you again. Malisse can beat anyone, if he’s firing. About a couple of years ago, ‘fraid I can’t remember where or even when really, he pushed an in form Federer really hard. You had the feeling it was just confidence saved Fed. Confidence, as Roddick and Federer both said just recently, is well, not quite everything, but you know, and can only be gained by wins under pressure, rather than hours on the practice court. Be interesting to see where Malisse goes from here. Nowhere, probably. But, on the other hand, maybe everywhere. Behold: Nalbandian, Mark2.

Kash says:” I absolutely detest j-mac the player. I am a huge fan of his as a commentator”. Yes, that’s always been my position, although with qualifications. It’s not particularly a moral position I’m taking. It’s just something about people getting into a major aggressive rant which I find disturbing – frankly, I think it awakes anxieties of my own, but I won’t take it further than that, could be embarrassing. But it is a telling thing that I never mind players who engage in major rants with themselves – one thinks of Safin, Haas, Kiefer, on the contrary I am laughing furiously, but always with sympathy and affection. Extreme aggression on the court I also dislike, even if it’s not accompanied by rant – so it’s easy to guess which players I have steered away from. That of course is entirely my problem. Obviously aggression of some kind is essential. One other thing about McEnroe. I was always conscious that he had unique skills. Really unique, that is. Has there ever been anyone quite like him at his very best? It seemed appalling folly not to just enjoy the skills objectively, leaving aside the other stuff. Apparently not possible. And there is a certain resonance with this today, isn’t there, with a certain player. Is there not? Fortunately, I like him. It would be tough, wouldn’t it, to have to miss out twice?

A weird poll from Eurosport. Out of about 12,000, 25% think Federer will win the French, 34% think Nadal will win - and 34% think Djokovic will win!
Do they know summat we don’t?

grendle, maybe lots of Serbs in that poll?

Don’t know why but I think this year Federer has a better shot at the French than in previous ones. Maybe because this is the year when all predictions have seemingly gone out the window. So to pick Rafa to win it, well, seems to go against grain.

Seeds continue to fall today - the only one who’s prevailed on the men’s side thus far is Tsonga. I’d like to see how he and Roger match up; they’ve never played.

Tejuz,
We missed you here. Where have you been all this time? Grendel and I talked about you a couple of days ago. He especially recalled your “knowledgeable presence” and “insightful comments” in those old days. I hope your reappearance will bring back some of those.
Good to see you back.

To reflect on Djoko’s loss, he was simply overpowered by Anderson. I don’t think it had much to do with exhaustion from the last tournament. Djoko could not handle a combination of big serves and consistent baseline play that Anderson’s style brings. Like Djoko said, he was just unscrupulous about trying to go for too much and committing too many unforced errors. Had he been thoughtful to slow down a bit and played more conservatively in the 1st set, he would not have been dictated and swept by Anderson’s style. He will certainly learn something out of it.

jane,
Did you say you would completely disappear for a long (after when?)? How can you do that to us and yourself? Is there some big achievable goal in sight to take you completely away from us? Do you have to be gone, gone? That is not fair.

Sean,
If not Monfils, Soderling or Hewitt will do it.

Shital Green,

Thanks for even noticing my “aside”; I won’t completely disappear. But I teach at a college and have been on a non-teach term so have been posting rather obsessively (as many have likely noticed, she sheepishly grants); in the process I have been avoiding prep work, to which I need to get. So for purely personal reasons, maybe I’ll just force myself to “post less” during clay season until RG. Pathetic that I have to force myself, I know.

Maybe my lack of aggression is why I like the aggressive ones - who knows?

Jane:

I am utterly disgusted, after pulling that all-nighter, getting my case prepared, would you believe it, I fell asleep 5 minutes before Roddick’s match. Just woke up to see him lose the first set. Can this be a bad dream? Am I still sleeping/dreaming? Someone, please say it’s a nightmare. I can’t go through this again. I’ll crawl back to the TV and see what’s happening.

It was a tight first set - but Roddick’s first serve % hasn’t been at its usual high rate and he hasn’t been able to convert break point chances; that is until just now in the 2nd set. This break should give him some momentum.

So, he’ll have to play 3, so did Tsonga, and so will Hewitt have to if he wants to conintue here. (If he eeks out the 2nd set, that is; otherwise, another one bites the dust.)

This notion of confidence is an interesting one to think about, especially in a tournament where there has been so many upsets, Hewitt being the latest victim.

But I am interested in an egg Djokovic may’ve been guilty of laying prior to this tournament - it’s a similar notion as confidence, but not quite the same. BELIEF.

grendle brought up the idea of confidence today, via Federer and Roddick, and he points out that it “can only be gained by wins under pressure, rather than hours on the practice court.” And this makes sense.

But belief is different; it involves accepting something as “real” or “true” in some cases before it has happened. And Djokovic, with his incredible (!) self-belief has shown all the players that they can do it! They can beat the number one (or two or three) player in the world if they believe they can. Funny that it kind of came around and bit him on the you-know-where; Anderson cited belief as a motivator in his post-match interview yesterday.

Of course this isn’t always true; belief won’t do it on its own. But. I just watched /Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium/ last night with my 7-year-old son and it passes along a similar message - “Believe” - in this case in magical toys, but hey.

Is this corny or is there something to this? Maybe Anderson will win the whole thing? Maybe there is a Santa Claus and his name is Djokovic. Maybe he’s the Easter Bunny and he really did lay and egg. Maybe.

But you can’t choose to believe something, can you? Imagine all the things you might want to believe. Put them in one column. And then, instead, consider the (related) things you actually do believe. Stick ‘em in another. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just calmly extract items from either column and do some judicious swapping.

So, perhaps belief (in tennis ability) arises from confidence. In other words, you don’t have to inject it, and in any case, you can’t. But no doubt you can try do the sort of things which will lead to self-belief. For instance, win matches.

Er, wait a minute, seems to be something a bit circular going on here…..

Sure. For example, I can choose to believe that Djokovic is going to be the next number 1 male tennis player. I can still have doubts (lack of confidence after a bad loss, for instance) but I choose to have faith and believe nonetheless.

Or take religious convictions: people may have doubts (a la the doubting Thomas) but they believe anyhow.

I don’t think confidence and belief are mutually exclusive but must they be mutually dependent? Hmmm…

When I went back to school after having spent 13 years in one career, I definitely lacked confidence, but not belief. I knew that if I stuck to it I could do it. I believed in myself even though I wasn’t always confident in my abilities. Ultimately that belief brought success which brought confidence.

I am merely suggesting that with all the surprise winners and upsets (in which case confidence may not apply) it may have something to do with belief. Players going onto the court saying to themselves “I can win this; why not?” even if they’ve had a losing record or have self-doubts. Can’t belief overcome lack of confidence?

But okay grendle; I agree with what I think you’re hinting at near the end of your post. It is a little of the ole “which came first, the chicken or the egg” argument.

I think it was Woody Allen who said “I guess I just need the eggs.” Me too.

Belief = win = confidence and so on.

Djokovic believed long before he won - like when he was losing against Nadal at RG in 06? and retired yet said he was “in control” or when he said “Fed’s going down” at the AO in 06 - was that confidence or belief (maybe delusion!)? I’d say belief.. Clearly he believed in himself and his abilities and finally he began winning. Now of course he’s brimming with confidence (seemingly - we never know for sure about confidence do we? It’s a tricky thing and arrogance can sometimes be insecurity right?).

jane:

I made it through that match. Watching Roddick serve, and listening to the commentators, gave me the impression that there’s something problematic with the court. Due to the heat the ball is sticking to the surface and is not moving freely through it. Could this have been Djoko’s problem, as well as Karlovic, Isner, Tsonga, et al., All huge servers, and playing in the daytime heat? I’m just wondering. If this is really so, then it would be logical to assume that the winner of the tournament won’t be a huge server, but maybe someone with Rafa’s style of play.

Tonight’s match is the piece de resistance, the Federer v. Monfils match. Serving shouldn’t be a problem at night, it’s only during the day with the hot sun. I’m looking forward to it as I have not seen Monfils play for over 9 months. If he’s in form, it should be a rather action packed match.

So you’re a college teacher, huh? Do your students bribe you with apples? What’s the criteria for being the teacher’s pet?

“Maybe my lack of aggression is why I like the aggressive ones - who knows?” *** Or maybe, you’re just a procrastintor like I am and work better by the light of your burning bridges.

You stated about Djoko: Maybe he’s the Easter Bunny and he really did lay an{d} egg.” Or maybe, he’s the goose that laid the golden egg.

Von,
congratulations for Roddick’s win. I am watching Murray-Ancic and Ancic is ahead in the first set.I like them both. I like the way Ancic plays. Like his shots. Andy is not as effective . He is just broken for the second time…Ah…and Ancic is very handsome in red!

Zola:

Thanks for the congrats on Roddick’s win. I’ve never seen such bad serving from Andy. He said the court was sort of sticky and slow. I don’t think I can handle the tension.

When my kids played competitive soccer, I used to get so nervous, that after a year of my nervousness, they asked me to sit at the back of the spectators so that I won’t make them nervous if they looked up and saw me.

“Ah…and Ancic is very handsome in red!”

Watch it girl, you can’t have a roving eye. Your heart belongs to RAfa, and ONLY RAfa. But yes, Ancic is a handsome young man. I like his hair.

Oh, no, I don’t think you can choose to believe that Djokovic is going to be next #1. You just do. Or not of course. Or again, you may desperately want Djoko to be next#1, and browbeat yourself into a state of belief - which is not so difficult in this case, since there are excellent grounds for supposing it may be so. I believe Djoko will one day be #1, but whether it will be before or after Nadal, I just couldn’t say. Since I don’t care much, I have no investment in pumping myself up into a state of “belief” - don’t misunderstand me, I certainly do this sort of thing, just not in this instance.

As for religious convictions, they very rarely spring from belief. A person tends (i.e. usually -not always of course) to have Christian, Hindu,Muslim etc “beliefs” according to the pure accident of geography. Most of them have never actually thought about their “beliefs”. Those that have are prompted generally by desire, fear, anguish,or sometimes just a pleasant feeling that this is right for them. They are not usually motivated by a search for knowledge. If this is belief, then my belief (not knowledge) that the sun will rise tomorrow constitutes such a different order of thought that it is confusing to use the same word to cover both mental activities.. Meanwhile, imagine trying to believe something which is highly desireable to you, but which you know is not true. It cannot be done, if you are honest about it.

If you really believe you are going to succeed in a difficult task (such as embarking upon a new career in a school - God help you, by the way!) despite doubts and fears, and you are not just trying to hypnotise yourself, then no doubt you have adequate grounds to do so. For instant, you are confident (that word again) of possessing sufficient inner strength, and of perhaps having the right experience, to overcome your difficulties. That is a rational belief.

I wouldn’t equate belief (in tennis ability) with winning. The two tend to go together, to put it no stronger. So where does Djoko’s self-belief stem from? It must be good experiences of some sort, musn’t it, including plenty of winning, no doubt, as a junior and so on. But is this “belief” in the same sense that I believe Tony Blair to be an opportunistic and clever scoundrel? Note that I may be quite wrong. I may have misinterpreted the facts, for instance, so that my belief, although rational, is nevertheless mistaken. How can Djokovic be mistaken about his self-belief? (Obviously there are delusional feelings, but their possessors tend to be mental patients, not aspirant world number ones.)It is a feeling, really, isn’t it, and can you be mistaken about a feeling? You might misinterpret it (for example imagine lust to be love or something), but very basic feelings like confidence, terror, rage, bliss , can you really be wrong about experiencing these things? Hard to see how. But a belief can always be wrong

Of course, all this must be incredibly tedious to most people (but there is the scroll button)- and are we, at the end of the day, just playing with words, until the next match comes up? Because I suspect we’re not really so far apart on this one. Hope I have not been too much of a “behmoth”. Words interest me though, and it’s not as if they are irrelevant to tennis, since tennis is a human activity.

grendle,

I believe I like your words.

Poor Murray though - not enough of…something…apparently.

But what about people who convert, who find God, or Waco, or something - don’t they choose to believe? Maybe they see the light? Maybe they’re delusional.

Djokovic is confident and has loads of self-belief; I don’t know which came first.

Anyhow, I have to cut the power soon for an hour - it’s earth hour here in Canada; is it earth hour elsewhere?

Von,

Kids in college offer cash not apples; but since I teach film and literature, not many students have to bribe me. haha.

Von,
of course Rafa is My No 1. But I like supermario too. Actually his concentration reminds me of Rafa. I like Andy Murray too, but today Ancic played better.
Btw, his service motion is excatly like Ljubicic’s.

grendel/jane

I just want to jump in this discussion very briefly. I don’t think belief in tennis has a ny relegious meaning or can be compared with that. I guess you are talking about confidence. What confidence does to the players, is to reduce anxiety. That’s how it helps them.When they are sure about a shot, they don’t think about it that much and their mind does not need to make decisions while playing. So they can act faster. That’s my theory on confidence!

Grendel, SG, Von, Jane, Zola.. glad to be back here and reading your posts. Yeah.. i was on hibernation.. had been on a long vacation actually. So i have missed watching the indian wells tournament.

But yeah.. it seems like none of the Top 3 are able to defend their own titles this year. Fed failing at Au Open and Dubai, Nadal at Indian wells and Djoker now at Miami. Going by this, guess Fed will be happy to take the French Open and in turn losing the other 2 slams. Who knowz Tsoga might win Wimbledon.

The Murray-Ancic match was great, lot of good rallies… but the last set, especially the last tie-break.. everytime a player was up, he was making errors and giving away the initiative. Ancic finally won with Murray making an UFE on his own serve.

Fed had a great match against Monfils.. but faltered a bit in the second set shanking quite a few forehands. but he seems to moving smoothly like before and covering the court well.

grendle,

maybe chaos theory is the answer - I came across this opinion piece this morning and thought it spoke to our discussion on confidence and belief since, speaking for me at least, what I was looking for was some kind of explanation for the madness of this tennis season thus far:

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