Foro Italico: The circus is coming to town...

[GeoffWilliams]

Not if no one pays to watch the matches, and look at the crowds. Political correctness: pay the women as much, and see how many are in the crowds,like doubles. Not even coming to watch the best unless they are top 4. Easier to make a living writing, being an actor, or a musician, or any other athlete, golf even, than tennis. Why is that? The powers that be, have eliminated any personalities, any stalling, any acting out, that made the game entertaining, so now no one cares/pays/watches/comes. The top 100 businessman is a billionaire, and the top 100 tennis player can't pay for a house.

Hey, morons, you killed the game, by getting rid of all psyche combat, all entertainment, all fast courts, and homogenized it to the point where even I cannot watch matches anymore, and that says something. Who cares about Simon/Lacko? Robredo/lopez? Ferrer/anyone/else grinder boring baseline coward?

[DougEng]

Tour Money

I think the tour should split or even go 3-ways.
They were considering a split.

It would have less major events but imagine running 2-3 good events
each week. Instead of the winner getting US$900K, 2 winners get US$500K
and instead of 64 players getting nice checks, 128 players get paid.

The tour can support 400-450 players. If the game will grow and young players do well, it needs this set up. One reason everyone is getting older is because they are the ones established with rankings and a bank account. If you are 19-20 years old, you won't get a solid account until you are 23-25. That's 3-6 years of losing money. Either you go bankrupt or quit.

Best,
Doug

[gzhpcu]

And now Murray has suggested a better distribution of prize money down the ranks to enable players around the top 100 and below not only to cover expenses but make some money as well. Agree absolutely, this applies not only to corporations dishing out multi-million bonuses to a handful of executives, but for the tennis world as well. The tennis world has started to reflect the negative aspects of the business community.

[gzhpcu]

My respect to Djokovic...

[klacr]

Credit to Djokovic for also donating his prize money from Rome All 549,000 euros of it to the flood victims in Serbia.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Novak Djokovic...and The Game

I missed the first set of the final but set's 2 and 3 were an emphatic display. Djokovic hit heights I'm not sure anyone else has. He stood head and shoulders above Nadal for spells. His returning was exceptional in the third set. And how clean does he hit that ball?

It's the result I wanted going in to Roland Garros. It will make things interesting now. I think the wrist injury was a ruse to allow Djokovic to tune up perfectly for the Big One.

I'll say one thing about Novak Djokovic...he sure has game. In this sense he is like the Roger Federer of old and somewhat different from Fafa Nadal. There's a great old movie called "Deliverance" starring Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight. In my favorite scene in the movie about a group of city slicker's with Reynolds the lone survivalist and leader...Reynolds character is pinned on a rock ledge on the side of a roaring river with a compound fracture to his thigh after an accident. The quintessential "rock and a hard place". Voight's character is pleading with Reynolds..."what are we going to do?" Burt grimaces at him and growls..."play the game!"

Djokovic has this uncanny ability of letting the game come to him. He can lose a set and just sort of ride out the storm and then all of a sudden he is a solid as a rock again and impenetrable. A sheet of rock on defense and then he is able to turn on the offense once again...methodically pounding his opponent into paydirt. It is his defense that allows him to stay in the game until he can find the timing and the rhythm to take it to his opponent.

Once again in Rome he showed this sort of trait as he took the best shots that Nadal could give and he just shrugged it off in the second set and began to lay down the law. In any sport they will tell you that championship teams foundation's are laid out on sound defense. I think that tennis is like this too.

But of course defense alone won't get the job done as in boxing...sooner or later you are going to have score the knockout as well so you need to have the right combination. With Djokovic you get the feeling that it is never over until the last nail is in place...he can turn around and reverse the tide seemingly at will. Realistically though...it is always part of his game plan and his almost unrealistic belief in himself. His mental game is as tough or tougher than Nadal's.

Confidence is a funny trait and it can come and go even in great champions...even in the course of a match. But if the defensive capability is there one can weather the onslaught and get the old feet back under you and then you are back in the mix.

Oddly enough...if you are playing competitive golf you need the same sort of steely intestinal fortitude. You have to let the game come to you and you cannot force it. If you try to force it chances are you shoot yourself in the foot and out of the tournament. You have to ride it out and be content with pars and have the belief that you are going to get the hot hand at some point...the ball will start falling in the cup for birdies. It is an odd concept...letting the game come to you. It defines the word patience in tennis and golf. Patience and belief. Once you learn this you may be on your way to being a winner. It certainly is a major lesson...in life as well. Think about that.

Let the game come to you.

[stotty]

Have you watched Nishikori play? What I saw in Madrid was even more impressive than what Djokovic played today IMHO. Only hope we can play uninjured in RG...

Yes I did. He's becoming impressive, but he's not in the same hemisphere as Djokovic just yet. It will be interesting to see how Nishkori gets on at Roland Garros. Let's see if he can get to the last eight...maybe even the semi's with a good draw.

[gzhpcu]

Have you watched Nishikori play? What I saw in Madrid was even more impressive than what Djokovic played today IMHO. Only hope we can play uninjured in RG...

[stotty]

Emphatic display...

I missed the first set of the final but set's 2 and 3 were an emphatic display. Djokovic hit heights I'm not sure anyone else has. He stood head and shoulders above Nadal for spells. His returning was exceptional in the third set. And how clean does he hit that ball?

It's the result I wanted going in to Roland Garros. It will make things interesting now. I think the wrist injury was a ruse to allow Djokovic to tune up perfectly for the Big One.

[gzhpcu]

Nadal is full of ticks and rituals, like setting up his two bottles in front of his bench pulling the back of his shorts down prior to serving, touching his face, etc. His pre-serve ritual is just one of these, and am sure he does not mean any harm by it, even though it can be interpreted in a negative fashion by others. Some like Nadal, others dislike him. I, for one, like him: his fighting spirit, his family life, his low key personal life, his nice girlfriend.

[stotty]

Nadal is getting better...just in time.

Nadal has been a little odd recently, disconcertingly so. His physique has changed a little again. His upper body is noticeably more bulky than six months ago. I don't think he is as good when he bulks out too much. His physique was much better when he came out of the traps after his seven month lay off. He was leaner and more perfectly tuned physically.

The final should be a good showdown. Djokovic has less to lose in my book while Nadal will be ever wary he has never been able to harness Djokovic, not really. It will be important for Nadal to win tomorrow going in to Roland Garros.

[don_budge]

Grigor Dimitrov aka "Kid Galavant" vs. Fafa Nadal

Would I ever love to see Kid Gaiavant upset the primadonna. Is it possible the tour has found a weak link in the Nadal chain. Pounding the forehand to expose the backhand ala Novak Djokovic style.

Nadal may or may not savor the competition...he sure doesn't like to lose. But is he playing fair on all counts or is he bending the rules. He took a rather extended bathroom break after splitting sets with Murray last night and Andy looked none to pleased about it. Now he has decided to sit down after the warm up and make Grigor wait for him. It looked as if Grigor waited for the net ceremony until Nadal was ready to make his appearance. He savors the attention...that is for sure. A real HOT DOG in my book.

The preserve ritual is nauseating.

[klacr]

Nadal loves the battle. Win or lose, he savors the competition.

Djokovic just won the 2nd set against Raonic. Raonic is playing very impressive tennis. Even a few forays into the net. Not too shabby.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

Nadal is turning out to be the comeback kid. Another cliff hanger against Murray...

[don_budge]

Stanislas Wawrinka...The New Kid on the Block

Maybe Dominic Thiem loosened Wawrinka up.

As the most recent Grand Slam Event champion at the Australian Open Stanislas Wawrinka has inherited a large bull's eye target square in the middle of his back. Coupled with his win at Monte Carlo against his fellow countryman Roger Federer his value as a defeated opponent has increased exponentially which only serves the opposition with incentive. It will take a few more Slam victories on the part of Wawrinka to instill fear in those same hearts. Now instead of one of a handful of also rans he has marked himself as a bonafide contender at any given tournament.

Young guys like Dominic Theim, as an up and comer, now find Stan a great source of inspiration and when facing him they have the added incentive to play out of their minds. Older guys like Tommy Haas find redemption in facing the most recently crowned Grand Slam champion Wawrinka...beating him legitimately keeps his hopes alive career wise. Wawrinka...on the flip side of the coin may find it difficult to live up to the hype and keep his level of play at the "godlike" level. Now it seems that he has more to lose than his lower ranked opponents. There's a bit of psychological handicapping going on.

Any talk of Stan going out and dominating the French Open or defeating Rafael Nadal on his "home turf" is premature. He is going to still go out and earn it on a daily basis...point by point, game by bame, match by match and tournament after tournament. Nobody is going to hand him anything even though it may be somewhat natural for Wawrinka to expect some of the lesser players to merely make room for him and step aside based on his recent coronation. Everybody is shooting for him now and each round that he plays is a potential upset...that kind of pressure is tough to deal with and it takes a special kind of person to manage it. You gotta be pretty mean...because in the end...just like going to work these days...you are only as good as the last miracle you performed.

Guys like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have stayed on the top of the game long enough to adapt to the demands of being number one or close to it. A fellow like Stanislas Wawrinka will have a potentially rude awakening waiting for him each and every time he steps onto the court nowadays. Everybody wants to take him down as it will be a huge feather in their caps.

Just ask Dominic or Tommy. Grigor Dimitrov is another player who indirectly benefits from Stan's unlikely triumph down under as his confidence is surging already...Wawrinka's victory has only inspired him. That was a big win over Tomas Berdych yesterday for the Bulgarian playboy. Kid Galavant.

Roger may just have played Wawrinka just a bit soft in that Monte Carlo final last month...he having more to win with a hyped up Wawrinka than from another trophy in his collection. God knows he doesn't need the money...but he may need Wawrinka to watch his back over the next couple of years. The more Slams that a Wawrinka can steal from Nadal or Djokovic the more the "real" Swiss Maestro's legacy is insured.