Race to the Top

With the US Open firmly in the rear view now, both tours have moved on to the Asian swing of their schedule. This is a crucial leg for both men's and women's tours as it is the last run of opportunities for players to crack the top of rankings and punch their tickets to the season ending tour championships (my favorite of which is the men's, which boasts the shorthand title WTF). For me, the true drama to watch unfold is the battle for the number one ranking on the men's side. Novak and Rafa both have shots at it and it could very well be determined by this swing of events. Let's take a look at why each of them should have the year end #1 firmly on their to do list:

Djokovic: Could anybody other than Novak have the kind of year he has had and still have it be viewed by many as sub-par? To me, he has become the victim of high performance and expectations to some degree. He had such a massive 2011 and had a very solid 2012 as well. Now everyone expects him to continue to dominate, which just isn't realistic. Even Nadal, when asked how to beat him at the end of 2011, has said that he simply had to wait for Djokovic's playing level to drop back down to Earth a bit. That being said, Novak does have some work to do. He did not get it done in hard court Master's 1000 events this year, lost his bid for a career grand slam in a 5 set epic at the French, got rolled up in the Wimbledon final and took a 4th set beating in the U.S. Open final. Djokovic did manage to win the Aussie and snap Nadal's streak at Monte Carlo but he seemed to falter in a fair amount of the big moments this year. He just hit the 100 week mark at number 1 and keeping it would allow him to build back some confidence going into 2014. For me, I saw a little too much of the Djoker of the past this season. He had more moments of going away mentally, yelling and gesturing to his box and just pulling a "Mopey Murray" routine more so than in 2011-2012. He could use a hard court win over Nadal in one of the Asian events or at the WTF to remind himself that he completely owned Rafa in 2011 and part of 2012 and could do so again. Tennis at the pro level is a game of adjustments. Nadal seems to have made the necessary adjustments to how he plays Djokovic, so now it is Novak's move in their chess game. If he can make the right moves, he could lock up #1 again and set up for a big 2014.

Nadal: Not real sure what else Rafa getting back to #1 could be other than the exclamation point on an absolutely ridiculous season. In my mind, Nadal is an absolute lock for two awards at the end of the year. He will win Comeback Player of the Year & Player of the Year by a mile when this season is over. The guy spent 7 months out of the game and tempered expectations when he came back by just talking about being happy to back on the court. He might be happy, but everyone else not named Steve Darcis (who I will probably never have reason to mention again, ever) that has had to play him is probably pissed. All he has done is amass a 63-3 record, winning 10 titles in 12 finals appearances. He won his 8th French Open, setting the record for most titles at any single Grand Slam, blitzed the summer hard courts by winning in Montreal and Cincinnati and then capped it by taking home the title in New York. He also exorcised the demon named Djokovic by dispatching him in France, Montreal and New York. He made adjustments to how he plays Novak and changed his hard court game overall. He is playing much more offensively, using his serve as a weapon and maintaining court position better than in the last couple years on the surface. Nadal's passion for the game is always firmly evident. He flat out loves the grind and pain it takes to be great and has openly admitted it. For him, getting back to #1 this year would reinforce the work and time he has put in since his injury last year. It would send notice to the rest of the tour there is no safe space on any surface when he is in the draw. Rafa plays a style of game that is tailor made for statement making. If he gets to #1 by year end, that will be a serious statement for Novak and the rest of the gang to think about for 2014.

What do you think? Will Djokovic keep his hold on the top spot or will Nadal reclaim it?

Ps. Congrats to Novak and Jelena on their engagement! Looks like the current top player has found his own #1!  

I'd Fire the Court Designer

image by Laurent Raymond via www.atpworldtour.com

Okay, no earth shattering topic this week. Simply something that I think is just wrong. The above image is from this week's Moselle Open in France. In case you can't tell, the court at the tournament is gray on gray. This has to be one of the ugliest tennis courts I have ever seen. I watched a little bit of a match between Paire and Becker last night and trust me, this picture does not do justice to how hideous this court surface looks. I actually thought for awhile that there was something wrong with the TV and the colors had been knocked out. To my horror, I slowly realized, "Dear God, that is the actual color of the court!" Look, I am all for experimental court colors. I actually thought the blue clay in Madrid last year was cool and made it easy to locate the ball. It was too bad they couldn't figure out how to keep the surface stable once they added the color.

The Moselle court is a case where the saying "There's what is and what should never be." is an apt description. The color combo of 2 grays does nothing but make it look drab and absolutely mind numbing to watch. It's like the court is broadcast in black & white while everything else is in color. The fans must agree with me as there was nobody there whatsoever, even with a French player playing. I'd say some things are better left to the professionals but after seeing this, maybe next year Moselle should let a toddler pick the court colors.

Why I Love Final Set Tiebreaks!

After some technical difficulties, I'm back!

With the U.S. Open in full swing, I thought I'd share my thoughts on one of the aspects that makes the Open unique among the Grand Slams. The U.S. Open is the only Slam that utilizes the final set tiebreak instead of the win by 2 format of the others. In a nutshell, no 70-68 score is coming to come out of New York in the month of September.

I for one, love the tiebreak format for this event. I know it has its detractors but I think it adds a great deal to the game. For one, I think it creates a sense of urgency with the players. No offense to Isner or Mahut, but that epic Wimbledon match was largely 2+ days of neither doing anything on the other player's serve. The tiebreak rewards players willing to stay aggressive on their return games and go for shots. It limits the ability to focus on just your serve and brings a focus on balancing serve and return games. I also think it ups the ante on the end of the match being a battle of mental toughness. Knowing you are mere points away, rather than games I think really lays bare who has the mental fortitude to find a way to win and who is going to crumble under pressure. You also can't discount the crowd factor as well. A tiebreak can provide for a very exciting finish and the crowd can get fired up knowing every single point counts.

What do you think? Is the final set tiebreak a great way to keep the only American slam unique or should we let the players grind it out as in the other majors?

Ps. As a friend pointed out today, I find it very bizarre for Grand Slam mixed doubles to use no-ad scoring w/ gender specific serving (as seen in the final today). It's not local league, they are all professionals on that court!