Redefining Rivalry

With under a week to go before the start of the French Open, the to players appear to be rounding into form. Aside from a bizarre inability to close out from Novak, Rome went pretty much as expected this past weekend. Serena did what she usually does when focused and playing cleanly and Nadal took ol' Fed to the woodshed again on clay. The thing I found most interesting in both matches was the commentators discussions of rivalries involving each player. Here's my thoughts on rivalry with both of Rome's Champions:

Serena: It was comical to me when the commentators made the effort to say that Serena had current rivalries with Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka. I'm not entirely sure what dictionary they are using, but my definition of rivalry has something to do with it being a two sided affair. With Sharapova, Serena has only a nail biting 13-2 advantage in the head to head stats. The last time Maria beat Serena was in 2004! In the last 6 years, Serena has dropped a whopping 2 sets in their matches. This smells of something, but I don't think it's rivalry...... Now let's look and Serena and Vika. Serena leads their head to head 12-2. Again, what a neck and neck match up! I will note that Azarenka does have a recent win over Serena this year in Doha. However, that merely seems to have angered Serena who is now on a career long winning streak. Here's the bottom line: Is Serena beatable by either of these two? Yes. Will take a fair amount of help from Serena herself? Yes. Let's face it, when Serena loses, it has more to do with sloppy play and a lack of focus than getting outplayed. If she stays as determined as she has been, it will take a breakdown from her or a flawless performance form someone to take her out.

Nadal: Now this one is a little bit muddier when you compare him and Roger. After all Roger does have more Grand Slams and more overall titles than Rafa. Again though, let's look at the head to head. After that beat down he delivered in Rome, Nadal now has a 20-10 lead head to head. Nadal also has a massive lead in their match ups that have occurred in finals. Hard courts have definitely been more back and forth than clay (shocking I know.) I think the real question here is if Roger can really be called the GOAT when he has such a dismal record against one of his contemporaries. I'm not saying he can't but I do think there's a debate there. Nadal fans will point to the head to head stats while Fed fans will go to his better ability to win consistently on all surfaces. Overall, it's probably an issue that will be debated for long past the time when they both hang their racquets up.

How do you define rivalry? Does it have to be two sided or is it just about the frequency of match ups?

Arrested Development

Ahhh John  Tomic. You are such a classy individual. Not only have you raised a son who has been a complete embarrassment success so far in Bernard, but now we can add your recent assault arrest to your sparkling resume. For those who haven't heard, Mr. Tomic was arrested prior to the tournament in Madrid for allegedly head butting and assaulting Bernard's hitting partner Thomas Drouet. Apparently, as the story goes, the assault was in response to Thomas disagreeing with John previously striking Bernard in Monte Carlo and stepping in between them again in Madrid. Up until this point, I had been content to lump John Tomic in the group of overbearing tennis parents that includes Melanie Molitor, Stefano Capriati and Richard Williams. However, now that he has graduated to assault, he gets to join an even loftier club. John Tomic, I would like to welcome you the the Insane Tennis Parent Club (ITPC)! Fellow members include Marinko Lucic (reported in 1998 as beating daughter Mirjana to help her focus), Jim Pierce (assaulted fans, beat daughter Mary and threatened her) and Damir Dokic (called officials "Nazis", ejected for fighting over cost of a plate of fish at US Open). Congratulations John for this tremendous achievement! Not only are you apparently a man who has no boundaries, but you are also well on your way to instilling your attitude and behavior into Bernard (see his recent run of great choices.) I applaud the ATP suspending John's tournament credentials and I hope it becomes more than temporary.

Parents, there is a lesson to be learned here. Tennis has a long history (just like any sport) of parents living out their own dreams and desires vicariously through their children. The results have ranged from the burnout and loathing of the sport experienced by Jennifer Capriati and Andre Agassi as a result of their parents to the actual outbursts of violence listed above. I think it is time for these parents to truly see the ripple effect their actions have on their own kids. I  for one hope that Tennis Australia suspends their funding of Bernard if he continues to use his father as his coach after this string of incidents. These people need to be directly shown that their actions not only negatively impact themselves but their children as well. For now, I encourage parents to encourage balance in their players lives. Make sure that when your child steps onto the court, it is their dream their are living and not yours. I'd prefer to limit the Insane Tennis Parent Club to the current members only.

Happy Tuesday!