I don’t normally get too excited about the clay court season but lately all I’ve been hearing is how unbeatable Djokovic is and how folks like Rafael Nadal should quit playing tennis because he can’t win anymore….so Bravo Rafa!
Can’t wait to hear all the excuses that will be brought forth….
My condolences go out to the entire Djokovic family upon the passing of their Father/Grandfather.
So what’s there to do?
The kid wants to learn how to play tennis so he can get to the finals of the US Open. The athleticism of his mother and father has made him a top soccer and basketball player and he has gotten to the top 200 in world class tennis. He is big on fruits and vegetables. He doesn’t have an ounce of fat. Although not allergic to gluten like Novak Djokovic, he avoids gluten since most gluten is found in junk food. So what can be done to bump him up into the top-ten of world-class tennis? Here comes the coach.
Coach: The first thing to do is put your hand on the handle of a tennis racket like one of the top ten players in the world.
The Kid: Why?
Coach: You’re stuck with a ranking of 200. What else are you going to do? Eat more fruits and vegetables? Most if not all grips of the top ten are lucky mistakes. They are mistakes because they are simply happenstance. They are lucky because they work better than most. They are in the top ten in the world because they are better stick handlers than most. Their stick-handling is centered in their grips. The United States Tennis Association (USTA) said that stroke production evolves to accommodate the grip. And Rod Laver said that the grip is everything. Your grip has you locked in a number 200 ranking. Read the rest of this entry »
Just how important are Masters 1000 and WTA Premier events? Are they more important than Grand Slams? This week Ben and I attempt to answer those questions and more on This Week in Tennis.
To listen to the program from the site please click the link provided below. To save this program to your portable listening device please right click the link below and select “save as”.
https://phillyflash.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/the-importance-of-masters-series-tournaments.mp3
Subscribe on itunes at the link below;
http://itunes.apple.com/gr/podcast/this-week-in-tennis-podcast/id495111786
I’m always looking for guests to appear on my sports show so when I discovered that sports journalist/author Scoop Malinowski had written a book about former ATP World Number One Marcelo Rios I contacted him about appearing on the program to talk all about the book….he said yes and you can listen to the show here.
Scoop was also kind enough to send me a digital copy of Marcelo Rios: The Man We Barely Knew and even though I don’t have all that much time for extra reading I decided to give this book a whirl.
I’m glad I did and so will you!
Anyone remembering the extremely talented southpaw from Chile will usually recall two things about him; he was widely respected and admired for his on court brilliance and for the most part abhorred for his aloof and erratic behavior off the court. Both the on court as well as the off court personalities play a dominant role in Malinowski’s book.
Malinowski examines Rios’ entire professional tennis career through the lens of those who seem to have known Rios best: competitors, fans, ball persons, photographers, former coaches, tennis insiders and legends of the game shared their personal firsthand stories and experiences of this much misunderstood man.
One of the interesting aspects of this book was the section of matches being analyzed by Eurosport commentators. I remember many of those matches Rios played and at times while reading the commentary I could visualize the brilliance of Rios. That made the book come alive for me which made me enjoy it all the more.
I was very disappointed that Rios’ former coach Larry Stefanki refused to discuss Rios with Malinowski. While I do understand the sensitive nature in a relationship with a former student he could have at least said something about someone he at one time was very close with and who arguably had the most impact on Rios career. This wasn’t Malinowski’s fault and the book is still a keeper without Stefanki’s imput.
Malinowski spent five years putting this book together and I think it was time well spent. While my opinion of Rios hasn’t changed at least this book showed that there is a human side to Rios that rarely, or barely was known.
Until now that is.
You can buy the book here.
This week Ben and I attempt to answer the question “Has Andy Murray Improved”…..you might be surprised at our answer on This Week in Tennis….
To listen to the program from the site please click the link provided below. To save this program to your portable listening device please right click the link below and select “save as”.
http://phillyflash.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/andy-murray.mp3
Check out Australia’s Bernard Tomic hit a down the line backhand slice winner….I wish more players would use this underrated and underestimated stroke….
The videos below aren’t the greatest quality out there but their respective games are still there. What you are seeing below is the foundations of what would turn out to be a Hall of Fame career for Nadal and a less than stellar career for Gasquet…..enjoy the videos folks;
Hat Tip to Dan Moses….
For those of you who might have missed it, some very kind soul has uploaded this fantastic match between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer from the 2012 Australian Open….enjoy!
Sometimes tennis players get a bit silly and nothing could be more sillier than watching Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis from this years Australian Open. During a changeover Baghdatis completely destroyed four, count em FOUR tennis racquets. Two racquets were destroyed without even being removed from the little plastic bag the stringers provided him.
Now what did those racquets ever do to him?
Don’t believe me? Here it is….
Much has been made and discussed regarding Caroline Wozniacki and her time as WTA #1. Please listen Ben Parker and myself for a lively discussion including; should the ranking system be changed, how Caroline Wozniacki reached #1 despite never having won a Grand Slam and why she may never win a Grand Slam as well as our hopes that someone on the WTA tour displays some consistency by winning multiple Grand Slams.
To listen to the program from the site please click the link provided below. To save this program to your portable listening device please right click the link below and select “save as”.
http://phillyflash.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/how-wozniacki-reached-number-one.mp3
The Phil Naessens Show
