Photo by Christian Mesiano

For the number four ranked tennis player in the world, 2010 is about the majors. It’s been 74 years since a British tennis player has won a grand slam tournament and the Brits made it clear during Wimbledon last season that they’re ready for that drought to end. Murray, who is currently playing as a member of the British Hopman Cup team, told reporters that he has tweaked his schedule in order to best prepare himself for the majors. For example, Murray will be arriving in Australia sooner than he typically does in order to combat jet lag and he is even considering playing in the Kooyong Classic, which takes place next week.

Eurosport reported that Murray said “Last year I thought did well, but a few things I could have done a bit better. This year is all about getting prepared for the slams, and making sure I am in the best shape going into them. If I feel good going into the tournaments, especially on the hard courts and the grass, I have got a pretty good chance of beating any of the guys and winning the tournament, so I believe I can do well this year.”

Murray pulled out of Britain’s first Davis Cup tie of the season, which has sparked controversy throughout Britain. Britain is currently placed in the third tier of Davis Cup and they will face Lithuania in March. Murray, however, defended him decision to reporters.

“I’ve played a lot of Davis Cup matches the last few years and enjoyed playing in them, but when I play and we lose I don’t feel like it benefits the other (British) players that much,” said the Scot. “I think it is a bit unfair to single me out for that (missing the tie), (Roger) Federer has missed Davis Cup matches, Rafael (Nadal) has missed Davis Cup matches, (Novak) Djokovic has missed Davis Cup matches, (Pete) Sampras, (Andre) Agassi. A lot better players than me have missed Davis Cup matches. I am not abandoning Great Britain, I am representing them here as well.”

Read the arguments from Bleacher Fan and Babe Ruthless about which athlete they believe was the best in 2009.

I know tennis is not the sexy pick as a popular sport, and it can be argued that tennis is not what it was during its prime when American stars like John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors were in action, and then later when Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi (pre-meth and post-meth) were duking it out. But, it is irresponsible as sports fans to ignore greatness, and Roger Federer is, simply, “greatness.”

Tennis stars, much like golf stars, are measured by what they do in the grand slam tournaments, or in golf’s case, the major tournaments. As I wrote earlier, Tiger Woods gets no consideration from me because he took a goose egg at the major tournaments, and he actually choked at the PGA Championship. Yet, he still won the PGA Tour Player of the Year award for the tenth time due to the fact that he won six times in 2009 and has the led the tour in earnings (good thing, huh?). Federer, on the other hand, won Wimbledon (as highlighted on The Sports Debates yesterday) and that elusive French Open title, giving him 15 grand slams titles for his career.

Now, admittedly, he lost in the finals at the two other grand slams (the Australian Open and the U.S Open.) But it’s not like he was knocked out early in those tournaments. He lost in the finals, both times to a player who was just a better player that day. Also, it’s not like the rest of his year was terrible. He actually had a great year. He won two other tournaments, won almost $9M in prize earnings, and had an overall record of 61-12. Not too bad huh?

He also continues to have a thriving and lucrative relationship with Nike, though you might not have known that due to Nike’s relationship with other athletes. He even has his own product line with Nike.

You can make a solid argument for other athletes like Usain Bolt and Jimmie Johnson, but Roger Federer stands out in 2009. He dominated the sport of tennis, and perhaps he will begin to get the recognition and respect he deserves from casual fans. Respect that I still do not think he is getting. He has my respect, though. For today, and 2009, that’s all that counts!

My wife did great on this one!!!

I followed the careers of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras during their playing days.  They were my generations version of Connors and McEnroe and they made men’s tennis relevant in the United states during the 1990’s.

I knew that this book was published and released in the Fall of 2009, I just hadn’t made it a priority to get.  My wife took care of that for me and I am suddenly eager and energized to learn more about Agassi and what fueled his well-publicized career.  From being a child prodigy to marriage to Brooke Shields to drug use to marriage to Steffi Graf to retirement from the sport, I hope ‘Open’ lives up to its title and provides an unseen look into the life of one of the most iconic sports figures of my generation.

And here’s the autograph!!!

 SWEET!!!!

Sandwiched between a Summer Olympic year and a Football World Cup year, 2009 could have turned out to be rather flat for English sport.

There was never going to be a repeat of Chris Hoy’s gold trilogy, of Michael Phelps inhuman swimming and there was no chance of John Terry et al in lifting the Jules Rimet trophy.

But thanks to some incredible individual and team achievements we have once again had a fantastic year of emotional and exciting entertainment.

In no particular order these are my top five sporting moments of 2009.

• Jenson Button becomes the second Briton in a row (following Lewis Hamilton) in winning the F1 World Drivers Champion after winning six of the first seven races.
• Jessica Ennis claims the world heptathlon title in Berlin having missed out on the 2008 Beijing games because of a potentially career-threatening ankle injury.
• The England Cricket team win back the Ashes from Australia despite having only Andrew Strauss capable of scoring runs. 
• Lee Westwood finds the form of old to win the Race to Dubai and finish the season as European number one for the second time.
• And finally, even though he is not English, Roger Federer’s career Grand Slam heroics as he finally won the French Open by defeating Robin Soderling in the final. Fed has to be included as he then went on to break Pete Sampras’ Grand Slam record by winning his 15th title (Wimbledon) a month later.

While these were my favourite moments of the year other athletes deserve a mention too for brightening up the sporting world. These are: Mark Cavendish, Tom Daley, David Haye, Phillips Idowu, Beth Tweddle and Heather Watson.

With the end of the year upon us, it is always a good time to look back on the year that was 2009.

Over the final weeks of the year, I will be trying to post a couple top five lists, starting with the top five games I saw from 2009.

Now there are a few criteria I have. First, I had to have seen the event in its entirety. It doesn’t count if I saw the highlights the next day or heard about it later on.

Second, when I refer to ‘games,’ I mean any sporting event that took place, which also involves races, Olympics, and much much more.

Here is my Top 5 Games from 2009:

#5 – Clemson vs. South Carolina, Baseball, Carolina Stadium, April 7th, 2009

The Gamecocks were trailing hated rival Clemson by a run entering the bottom of the 9th after leading 4-2 at the end of the 1st. An Adam Matthews lead-off single, a Casey Rihn walk, a sacrifice bunt by Jackie Bradley Jr. and a intentional walk to Whit Merrifield set it all up for DeAngelo Mack. Mack pulls a single to right field, under the glove of Clemson Right Fielder Kyle Parker (name sounds familiar, doesn’t it?) to win the game 7-6. Definitely one of the most memorable games in the young history of the new Carolina Stadium.

#4 – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway; April 26, 2009

Everybody loves the restrictor-plate racing which brings clusters of cars together and drivers bumping each other to advance their position. Drafting is the name of the game, but when racecars are allowed to touch each other, it could mean disaster. The idea was that you wanted to great timing and the right drafting partner on the last lap to win the race. Coming to the checkered flag, it was down to four cars, #09-Brad Keselowski, #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr., #39-Ryan Newman, and #99-Carl Edwards. However, unlike most race tracks, the start-finish line is located heading down a short straightaway into turn 1, not in the middle of the tri-oval. It was down to two cars after the final corner, when Edwards pulled down over Keselowski, who was holding his position at the bottom of the race track. Edwards was spun around, flew up into the air, landing on top of Newman’s car before flying into the catch fence. Keselowski won his first career Sprint Cup Race, and the actions of this race would change how the fall race at the track would be run. (Eight people were injured, the worst being a broken jaw.)

#3 – Super Bowl XLIII; Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals; Raymond James Stadium; February 1, 2009

Keeping with the past NFL championship deciding games, it was a matchup of David versus Goliath in Tampa, Florida. After Steelers LB James Harrison’s long return at the end of the first half, the Cardinals hopes were all but dashed, as the Steelers led 17-7. The Steelers extended their lead to 20-7 with a Jeff Reed field goal in the third quarter. Going into the 4th quarter, the Cardinals shifted to a no-huddle offense led by veteran QB Kurt Warner. Warner led the team on two scoring drives, and with a defensive safety, the Cardinals led 23-20 with only 2:37 to go. However, Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger led a scoring drive ending with a spectacular catch in the end zone by WR Santonio Holmes. It was the first time that back-to-back Super Bowls had game winning touchdowns in the final 1:30. The Steelers would hold onto win 27-23 for the team’s 6th Super Bowl victory.

#2 – 2009 Men’s Final at Wimbledon; Roger Federer vs. Andy Roddick; July 5, 2009

For me, tennis is a sport I only watch during the majors, of which most are overseas, meaning they air early on a Sunday morning. Defending champion Rafael Nadal withdrew from the tournament with knee problems, opening the door for Roger Federer to become the record holder in the number of major titles won in tennis. However, it would first mean he would have to get by a tough foe in American Andy Roddick. What happened was a back and forth affair last for over four hours. In the fifth set, Roddick and Federer were tied, sending the match into a tiebreaker situation. With the final set being 16-14, it cemented Federer place in history of the best men’s singles tennis player in history, surpassing Pete Sampras’ record with 15 grand slam titles.

#1 – #24 Florida vs. South Carolina; Men’s Basketball; Colonial Life Arena; January 21, 2009

The night started off with the unveiling of The Garnet Army, the newly formed student section for basketball. (Click Here for an earlier story on the creation of The Garnet Army.) First-year coach Darrin Horn had just lead the Gamecocks through the non-conference schedule and just getting into the heart of SEC play. On this night, the mighty Gators were supposed to show the Gamecocks where they really belong in the SEC race, but it was not meant to be. Trailing 67-60 with less than three minutes to go, it looked like the Gamecocks would be denied on their special night. With 4.7 seconds, Zam Frederick missed a game tying free throw. Florida’s Chandler Parsons quickly got the rebound and was fouled quickly and with 3.3 seconds, two free throws would certainly seal the deal. Parsons missed the first half of the one-and-one, with the shot rebounded by the Gamecocks’ Mike Holmes. Holmes threw a pass the length of the court to Zam Frederick whose lay-up won the game as time expired. It was pandemonium in the Colonial Life Arena. On a personal note, I was standing in the second row as a member of the Garnet Army as this unfolded, and the sights and sounds that occurred at the shot and afterward is something I will never forget.

Well there you have it, my top 5 games from 2009. Instead of choosing the ones that have sentimental value (South Carolina’s win over Clemson in football), I chose the ones that I saw and legitimately remember what happened in the moments leading up to the ending.

I’m sure some of you will disagree and wonder why I didn’t choose the 6 overtime game during the Big East Championship. The reason is I did not watch it all the way through and can not make that type of judgment.

I went to see a legend, a tennis star whom I idolize. I came back meeting a not-so-perfect man who confessed that he is a liar.  And yet I adore him, even more now.

Copyright Rabea Khan 2009

It was a Q&A session organized by Sunday Times.  Andre Agassi was in conversation with David Walsh (chief sports writer, Sunday Times.) about his autobiography ‘Open’.

I expected it to be interesting since the book has already created so much controversy. But it surpassed all my expectations and how.

Agassi spoke without any inhibitions. He was a storyteller on the stage captivating his audience with his honesty and sense of humour.  He got up from his chair time-to-time and impersonated other tennis players to illustrate his stories. Agassi spellbound the audience with his anecdotes and everyone loved him for been so candid.

But more importantly, the session reinstated the fact that it’s not a perfect world. Not even for Agassi who has got money, fame and everything else. Look closely, and you’ll find nothing extraordinary about his life story.

It’s about a man whose father chose his life for him. A man who hates his job…who gets jealous when he sees his girlfriend getting intimate with someone else, even if she is an actor doing her job.

What makes the story astonishing is the impossibility of it. We never expect a celebrity to be burdened by these mundane issues.  Agassi broke those myths of a perfect life of a celebrity. Grass is that green on the other side, in this case, a tennis court.

Sampras Vs Agassi Senior

Agassi shared one very interesting incident that didn’t make it to the book, which involves his father Mike Agassi and his archrival Pete Sampras.

Mike never use to come for any of his son’s matches. He thought that would make him nervous and affect his performance. One time he broke the tradition and went to see the match between Agassi and Sampras. At that stage, Agassi had an upper hand and Sampras was under pressure.

It was Sampras’ serve and suddenly a phone rings breaking his concentration. He tried to re-focus and serve again. Phone is still ringing. He then loses it and shouts at the stands behind him.  “ Will you answer your phone?”. Turns out it was Agassi senior who was trying to dig out the phone from his bag. A boxing champion, it would have been out of his character if he hadn’t retort. He yells back,

“ It is my phone, I will answer it as and when I please, kiss my a**”.

The book is full of such amusing incidents that will brings you closer to the person, Agassi.  And if this session was a trailer, I bet the book will a blockbuster.

In June 1999, on the eve of the Roland Garros final, Andre Agassi cowered in bed, sequestered in a Paris hotel. Two years earlier, he had been battling for scraps in public parks on the Challenger circuit, the pro tennis minor leagues. In his dark moments, he dabbled in meth. Now he was preparing to face Andrei Medvedev, one of the hottest players on tour, for the Roland Garros title. The moment was too much for him.

“They stand just inside the door and watch me open the minibar,” Agassi writes in his autobiography Open, referring to coach Brad Gilbert and trainer Gil Reyes. “I pour myself a huge vodka. Brad’s mouth falls open as I down the drink in one gulp . . . I’m sick nervous, Brad. I haven’t been able to eat a bite all day. I need to eat, and the only way I can eat is if I take the edge off . . . After dinner, when I get back to my room, I take a sleeping pill and slide into bed.”

Less than 24 hours later, Agassi beat Medvedv in five grueling sets, joining Rod Laver as just the second man in the Open era to complete the career Grand Slam. (In 2009, Roger Federer became the third.)

Booze and pills, turkey and wheat bread

While Agassi tossed back booze and sleeping pills before his biggest matches, Agassi’s dominant rival, Pete Sampras, prepared for these occasions with monkish discipline. His willingness to dedicate himself completely to “the gift,” as he calls his preternatural tennis talent in his autobiography A Champion’s Mind, helped him win 14 Grand Slams, second on the all time list behind Roger Federer’s 15 (and counting). But this same self-control may have cost him the French, and thus the career Grand Slam.

Sampras’ best result at Roland Garros was a 1996 semifinal loss to Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Although he’ll be forever immortalized as a fast-court player, Sampras could hold his own on dirt. He won the Italian Open in 1994. And in 1995, on muddy clay in Moscow,  Sampras almost single-handedly beat the Russian squad to win the Davis Cup for the United States.

In his run to the Roland Garros semifinals in 1996, Sampras took out two former champions, Sergi Bruguera and Jim Courier. “Beating Jim gave me a semifinal berth opposite Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and I liked my chances in that one. I liked them a lot,” Sampras writes in A Champion’s Mind. A shot at the title seemed to be within his grasp. “Down deep, I’d felt that it was my time at the French Open.”

In the 48 hours before the semifinal, Sampras was overcome by a craving for grease. “Looking back, I know I should have found a Pizza Hut in Paris and feasted on a greasy pie. But, disciplined guy that I am, I held out.” Sampras grazed on light pasta, broiled chicken, turkey on wheat bread . . . meals calibrated by a nutritionist not to satisfy a craving, but to deliver the precise combination of calories and nutrients to keep Sampras’ physical plant in good order.

Big mistake. Come the semifinal, Sampras had nothing. “I just hit an unexpected physical and mental wall. I was powerless to play better. I believe it had something to do with diet, which would help explain those bizarre cravings I’d had–and supressed.”

His last, best chance at the French Open had slipped through his fingers.

–Andy Clarke

]]> http://parvisradji.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/the-10-best-mens-tennis-players-of-the-decade/ Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:34:25 +0000 Parvis Radji http://parvisradji.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/the-10-best-mens-tennis-players-of-the-decade/ http://michaeljlewis.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/agassis-book-blows-me-away-si-again-snubs-federer-and-a-holiday-gift-you-must-own/ Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:50:14 +0000 michaeljlewis http://michaeljlewis.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/agassis-book-blows-me-away-si-again-snubs-federer-and-a-holiday-gift-you-must-own/

When I read Lance Allred’s brilliant autobiography a few months ago, I thought that would be the sports book I measured all others against for a while.

Lance, I love ya. But move over. The Andre Agassi book I’ve just finished, “Open” blows you and everything else out of the water.

Let me state right off that I was never an Andre Agassi fan as a tennis player. I thought he was cocky, obnoxious, and didn’t respect the game. I thought he floated by on natural talent, never worked that hard, until the middle of his career, and didn’t really love the game that much.

In this brutally honest memoir (ghost-written, it should be said, with Pulitzer Prize winner J.R. Moehringer), Agassi revealed that, well, he hated tennis his whole life.  Reading the book, I can understand why. He was basically a tennis slave for his father, Mike, for most of his childhood, and never had the chance to do anything else he might like.

I was pretty pumped up a few weeks ago when I wrote about reading the excerpts from the book, but let me tell you, the crystal meth admission, which got so much attention early on, is about the 28th most interesting thing in this book.

We learn about Mike Agassi’s dreaded ball machine that tortured Andre, and the great match with NFL legend Jim Brown when Andre was 8. We learn how shy Agassi was around girls, and about how lonely and tortured he felt at the boot-camp style Nick Bollettieri tennis academy, where he was shipped once hit double-digits in age.

There’s plenty of “inside tennis” stuff for fans like me: Agassi tells a great story about notorious player Jeff Tarango cheating when both were in a junior tournament and both were under 10. There’s an “in hindsight” hilarious dismissal of Pete Sampras’ career prospects, and some serious anger Agassi felt toward Sampras (a bad tipper, we learn), Boris Becker, Jimmy Connors (a jerk to Agassi several times in his life) and Michael Chang. The book opens with an incredible passage describing Agassi’s last U.S. Open win, a 5-set thriller against Marcos Baghdatis (a match yours truly has on tape, it was so good).

But this is so much more than a tennis book. There are fabulous stories about Agassi basically stalking Steffi Graf to go out with him; about Brooke Shields’ odd behavior, and about Agassi’s remarkably devoted friend/mentor/trainer, Gil Reyes (How dedicated is Reyes? He doesn’t ever get up to go the bathroom during Agassi’s matches, lest Andre look for him in the stands and not see him).

Most of all, it’s about the maturation of a spoiled kid who hated life into a remarkable man who now runs a school that helps poor kids get to college.

I urge you, for any person in your life who likes to read, to buy the Agassi book for them. It will stay with me for a long, long time.

***So Sports Illustrated named its Sportsman of the Year Monday, and as I sadly expected, it wasn’t Roger Federer.

They went with a nice, safe, American choice, the Yankees’ Derek Jeter. Can’t say No. 2 doesn’t deserve it; he’s been a classy Yankee for 14 years, doesn’t get caught doing drugs or steroids, or beating his wife. He’s a class act and a pretty humble guy considering he’s a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame. Like with so many things in life, it all goes back to good parenting.

Still, I wish SI had given Fed the nod. It is a pretty cool cover, though.

**Finally, I know most of you have probably started your holiday shopping, but look no further for the person in your life who loves pajamas, and presidential politics.

Presenting … the Ojamas! PJ’s with the president’s face all over them. Who doesn’t want this as a holiday gift, anybody???

One of the most effective tennis serves you can hit is what is sometimes known as the “can opener”.

You see Federer and Nadal hit this serve a lot of the time.

This is when you slice the serve out wide and drag your opponent out of the tennis court.

It can often result in an ace or error but can also leave your opponent so far out of court that even if they do return the ball you have the whole court at your mercy to take advantage of.

But, so many people still struggle to hit it well.

Well, try this.

If you are a right hander hitting it from the deuce (right) court then just move your right foot to the right a touch (towards the right tramline) when you are setting up (I am obviously assuming your right foot is normally further from the right tramline than your left foot in your normal service stance).

This will line your body up more towards your target and make hitting that area by the opposite tramline sooooo much easier.

Note for all you leftys, just reverse the above instruction i.e. serve from the left etc.

For those of you worried about telegraphing the serve to the opponent – don’t worry.

If you are unable to hit the wide serve from the “normal” stance, you AND your opponent are unlikely to be at the level where reading and taking advantage of serves are a natural part of the game.

PLUS!!!

If you hit it well enough, it is still a difficult serve to deal with.

I saw Pete Sampras (who Federer copied) serve every ad serve (from the left) at the French Open, Roland Garros from wide out towards the tramline with kick.

Everybody knew where most of the serves were going but like I said earlier if you hit these wide serves well the worst that can happen is that you end up with an empty court to play into on the next shot.

He lost in the Semi-Finals!!

I also saw him serve nearly every serve in the Australian Open final against Thomas Muster (a lefty) as a can opener from the right (deuce) court.

He Won!!

Listen, it’s really important for right handers to have this serve against a lefty.

I say this because it seems that all leftys have this serve when they play us right handers……dammned leftys

Start working on it today!!

P.S. if you are a lefty and don’t have it as part of your service arsenal…………get it going

Marat Safin heeft zijn laatste wedstrijd gespeeld

Eigenlijk wilde hij na vorig seizoen al stoppen. Maar toen kwam zijn manager met ‘een goed aanbod’ om nog een jaartje er aan vast te plakken. De motivatie bij Marat Safin om er het beste van te maken was echter ver te zoeken. Zijn afscheidstoernee werd een aaneenrijging van pijnlijke nederlagen. Deze week zegde hij de sport écht vaarwel, met een respectabele verliespartij tegen US Open-kampioen Juan Martin del Potro in Parijs. En zo kreeg de bewogen loopbaan van de wispelturige Rus dus toch een waardig einde.

Het past eigenlijk perfect in het beeld dat bestaat rondom Safin. Heel zijn carrière lang werd hij gezien als een ‘underachiever’, een speler die veel meer dan twee Grand Slams had moet winnen in zijn loopbaan (US Open 2000 en Australian Open 2005). Het had dus haast oneerlijk geweest als Safin in zijn afscheidsjaar plots een jaar lang constant zou presteren op een hoog niveau. Zo hebben we hem nooit gekend. Maar nee, met slechts één halve finaleplaats in een ATP-toernooi (bij zijn voorlaatste evenement in Sint-Petersburg) en een winstpercentage van onder de 50, stelde Safin weer ouderwets teleur in 2009.

Dat neemt niet weg dat heel de tenniswereld een traantje laat om zijn afscheid. Want hoe vaak hij niet werd vervloekt door liefhebbers wereldwijd omdat hij ogenschijnlijk zijn talent verkwanselde, zo werd hij ook door vrijwel elke fan gekoesterd vanwege zijn temperament, zijn openheid en zijn bij vlagen briljante partijen. Waar hij ook speelde, Safin was een grote publiekstrekker en een uithangbord voor de sport in zijn geheel.

Op de Baseline kijkt, met dank aan YouTube, terug op de vele aspecten van de carrière van de voormalig nummer één van de wereld.

Het succes
Het leven van Marat Safin veranderde voorgoed na de US Open van 2000. Als onervaren 20-jarige jongen stond hij in New York in de eindstrijd tegenover de legendarische Pete Sampras, die voor eigen publiek opging voor zijn vijfde titel op Flushing Meadows.

Maar het talent met de mokerslagen vanuit het achterveld liet zich niet van de wijs brengen door de druk. Niet alleen versloeg hij Sampras in zijn allereerste Grand Slam-finale, hij vernederde de Amerikaan bijna met een verpletterende 3-0 overwinning in sets. Safin was plotsklaps een ster. Terugkijkend op dat succes zei Safin eerder dit jaar dat hij op dat moment ’misschien nog niet klaar was’ voor die nieuwe status.

Het duurde meer dan vier jaar voordat Safin zijn tweede, en tevens laatste, major wist te winnen. Op de Australian Open van 2005 versloeg hij Lleyton Hewitt in de finale, nadat hij in 2002 en 2004 al twee keer in de eindstrijd had verloren in Melbourne. Het waren de twee enige andere Grand Slam-finales die Safin speelde in zijn loopbaan.

Meer nog dan zijn vier sets overwinning op Hewitt in de finale, wordt vooral de halve eindstrijd van Safin tegen Roger Federer herinnerd van dat toernooi. In wat waarschijnlijk de meest gedenkwaardige wedstrijd zal blijken uit zijn loopbaan, overleefde Safin een matchpoint in de vierde set tegen de Zwitser, voor hij met 9-7 in de vijfde set zegevierde. Een zenuwslopend gevecht met fabelachtig tennis van beide spelers.

De frustraties
Onderstaand filmpje heet doodeenvoudig ‘Safin’s rackets’. Iedereen die ook ooit maar iets over Marat Safin heeft gehoord, zal begrijpen dat dit filmpje niet draait om de technische specificaties van diens materiaal. Het NOS Sportjournaal meldde deze week dat Safin in zijn carrière meer dan 300 rackets zou hebben gesloopt. Op de Baseline vindt dat nog een voorzichtige schatting…

Ook fameus zijn de woede-uitbarstingen van Safin, vaak gericht op de scheidsrechters. Onderstaand een voorbeeld tijdens het Masters Series-toernooi van Cincinnati in 2008. Safin speelde tegen zijn landgenoot Dmitry Tursunov, en werd bij een 4-4, 30-30 stand in de tweede set gecalled voor een voetfout op zijn tweede service. Nee, hij dreigde niet de lijnrechter ‘een f*cking bal door diens f*cking keel te duwen’, maar maakte wel zijn frustraties kenbaar.

Uiteraard verloor Safin uiteindelijk vanwege alle irritaties zijn servicegame, en de aansluitende opslagbeurt van Tursunov liet hij ook min of meer lopen. Bij het laatste punt is te zien hoe Safin weigert om op matchpoint een challenge aan te vragen (hoewel de umpire hem daar zelf nog toe motiveert) en gedesillusioneerd naar de kant loopt. Marat op z’n best.

De humor
Wie goed heeft opgelet bij het filmpje over Safin en zijn rackets zal na ongeveer 6 minuten kort het fragment tegenkomen waarbij Safin op Roland Garros zijn broek laat zakken in een wedstrijd tegen Felix Mantilla. “Ik had zin om mijn broek naar beneden te trekken. Wat is daar mis mee?”, verklaarde hij gortdroog na de wedstrijd.

Het zal u niet verbazen: persconferenties met Marat Safin werden altijd vol verwachting naar toe geleefd door journalisten. Zelden liepen verslaggevers de interviewruimte uit zonder even goed te hebben gelachen. Daarnaast was Safin altijd goudeerlijk ten opzichte van de media, zelfs als het negatieve consequenties had voor hemzelf.

Tijdens Wimbledon creëerde hij ooit een rel, door te klagen over de prijs van de pasta in het spelersrestaurant. “Spelers klagen in de kleedkamers altijd over van alles en nog wat, maar tegen de pers zeggen ze altijd dat alles fantastisch is. Maar hoe kan een toernooi fantastisch zijn, als je er niet eens voor een normale prijs eten kunt kopen? Een bord spaghetti kost hier 13 pond. Waar zie je nog meer zulke belachelijke prijzen?” Uiteraard smulden (haha) de Engelse tabloids van de uitlatingen van Safin.

Ook tegen officials was Safin dus nooit bang om de waarheid te vertellen. Soms zette hij zijn beklag kracht bij met een scherpe vergelijking, zoals bij het onderstaande filmpje.

De woorden van Marat tegen het einde van de clip? ‘The guy is sitting with a tie, smoking a cigar – he can be also with two chicks -, and he has no clue about tennis. He doesn’t give a f*ck.’

Marat Safin. We zullen hem missen.

Foto © Niels de Water

El ex número uno del mundo Marat Safin puso fin a su carrera como tenista profesional el miércoles luego de perder en un emocionante partido ante el argentino Juan Martín Del Potro, por la segunda ronda del Masters 1000 de París.

El luchado encuentro disputado en superficie dura en la cancha techada de la capital francesa finalizó con parciales de 6-4, 5-7 y 6-4 en favor de Del Potro, último campeón del Abierto de Estados Unidos.

Safin, de 29 años, salvó tres puntos para partido para superar al local Thierry Ascione en la primera ronda del último torneo de su carrera el pasado lunes y el miércoles debió pelear duro ante un rival que ocupa el puesto cinco del ranking mundial.

“Sabía que no había muchas posibilidades de ganarle, pero jugué bastante bien, tuve algunas buenas pelotas”, dijo Safin, quien fue enteramente ovacionado por el público en el estadio Bercy antes de que organizadores del Masters 1000 le rindieran una ceremonia de despedida.

Mostrando destellos de su mejor tenis, Safin, quien no ganaba un título desde el Abierto de Australia del 2005, planteó un gran desafío a Del Potro al ganarle un ajustado segundo set.

El ruso, quien fue dueño del número uno del mundo durante varias semanas entre el 2000 y el 2001, sufrió un quiebre en el tercer juego del set decisivo y a partir de allí su adversario tomó el control.

Safin, quien fue campeón del certamen parisino en tres oportunidades, salvó un punto para partido con una derecha ganadora cuando perdía 5-3, pero finalmente Del Potro selló el triunfo con su servicio.

“Auquí es donde comencé y aquí es donde termina”, señaló Safin, quien saltó a la escena principal del tenis cuando era un adolescente en Roland Garros, donde derrotó a Andre Agassi y Gustavo Kuerten. “No había mejor lugar para hacerlo”, agregó.

El talentoso pero irregular ruso, quien también ganó el Abierto de Estados Unidos en el 2000 venciendo a Pete Sampras en una final memorable, fue alguna vez considerado como uno de los tenistas más espectaculares del mundo y será también recordado por su espíritu rebelde y su humor irónico.

El crecimiento del suizo Roger Federer -actual número uno del ranking ATP- y el surgimiento del español Rafael Nadal -número dos- opacó el buen momento de Safin e impidió que el ruso cumpliera con las altas expectativas que había sobre él.

“Fui un jugador decente. En general, fui bueno con todos, incluso aunque haya tenido algunas peleas con los jueces de silla”, manifestó el nacido en Moscú.

Safin dijo además que no estaba seguro qué haría a continuación, pero se mostró encantado con quedar liberado de la agotadora rutina que implica el tenis competitivo.

“Ahora no tengo calendario, no hay entrenamientos, no hay nada”, destacó el ruso. “Me pertenezco a mí mismo. Mañana me voy a levantar y veré qué quiero hacer”, continuó.

Ante la pregunta sobre si existía la posibilidad de que emulara al estadounidense Agassi publicando revelaciones en un libro, Safin expresó: “No estoy escribiendo un libro, no hay posibilidades. Todos mis recuerdos, todos mis secretos, se quedan conmigo”.

Post hecho con información de:

Marat’s moment

Tennis star Marat Safin played the last match of his professional career today, losing 6-4 5-7 6-4 to Juan Martin Del Potro in the second round of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. It was the former two-time major winner’s final appearance in a tournament after announcing his plans to retire at the end of the of season earlier this year.

Safin’s presence on the ATP tour will be sorely missed. The Russian soon became a dominant force when he burst onto the scene at the turn of the century, pulverising shots past his opponents whilst commanding the court with an intimidating wealth of charisma. However despite his immense power he still retained an exciting and unpredictable edge. Fans of Safin would soon learn to expected the unexpected. Whether it be a tirade at an official or even displays of anger towards himself, Marat left everything out on court and did so with an endearing quality that was difficult to dislike.

Therefore it was fitting that his final match was to be filled with many of the infamous ‘Safinisms’ that fans have grown to know and love over his 12 year career. As BBC Radio 5 live’s Jonathan Overend explains: “It took 2 minutes for Safin to have his first argument with Umpire Bernades, 15 minutes for the racket to fly for the first time…classic”.

Despite such antics, Safin’s career was an illustrious one. Perhaps his greatest moment was winning his first Grand Slam title at the US Open against Pete Sampras in 2000 (see left), in doing so he became the first Russian to win at Flushing Meadows and did so as the tallest world number one in history at 6ft 4 inches.  Marat had to wait five years for his second and final major triumph at the Australian Open against Lleyton Hewitt in 2005.  After a succession of injuries and near misses at the tournament (a losing finalist both in 2002 and 2004) the Russian defeated the home town favourite in four sets, just days after putting out world number one Roger Federer in an epic 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 9-7 semi-final encounter. Four years on it remains his last tournament victory in singles competition.

However Safin’s actions off the court would hit the headlines as often as his achievements on it. A brutally honest and outspoken figure on tour, Safin has been quick to share his views on hawk-eye: “I am totally against it. I think it will destroy the game.” Wimbledon: “I don’t like how they treat the players.” and recently on Andre Agassi’s drug-use: “He is completely stupid…There are times you need to be able to shut up.” No, Safin was never going to be the shy retiring type.

Despite his unreserved nature, the 29-year-old was well liked on tour and often carried himself with a jovial and sincere warmth off court. The affection for Safin within the dressing room became clear earlier today when the likes of Novak Djokovic, Gilles Simon and Ivo Karlovic joined a post match ceremony to celebrate Safin’s career. Several other leading players expressed their sadness at his retirement in a video package shown soon after the match.

It was Safin’s philosophy on tennis that helped win him so many admirers, he felt passionately about entertaining the audience and ensuring that fans were satisfied. “You have to make the people happy and hopefully they go home happy. You have to do everything that is possible to satisfy them. This is my job.” he said. “It’s part of the show. The people that come to tennis know what they want. They want tennis. Of course they don’t want to see robots, but they want to see some emotion, some nice matches, some nice points.”

His views always offered fans and reporters alike a fascinating insight into the psyche one of tennis’s most intriguing stars. Safin will be remembered as a great player, a great character and now sadly a great loss to the game.

Yuki Bhambri training at the IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy

IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy student Yuki Bhambri was one of the winners at the prestigious Sahara Indian Sports Awards yesterday.  The Sahara Indian Sports Awards are the biggest awards of its kind given to athletes in India during a yearly show that will be aired nationally in the next two weeks.  Some of India’s biggest athletes (Sachin Tendulkar, Abhinav Bindra, Viswanathan Anand, Baichung Bhutia, Vijender Singn, etc) were present at the awards.

Yuki was awarded with the ”Best young male achiever of the year” for his tennis. Yuki also recently participated in the Ventian Macao Tennis Showndown with fellow Bollettieri student Ryan Harrison and a couple of tennis legends in Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras.

Congrats to Yuki and good luck in the future!

McEnroe – Borg. Het was misschien wel de grootste rivaliteit in de geschiedenis van de tennissport. Niet alleen qua persoonlijkheden waren de brutale Mac en de koele Zweed elkaars tegenpolen, ook in hun speelstijlen botsten zij met elkaar. De aanvaller McEnroe versus de verdediger Borg. Servicevolley tegen baselinespel. Maar waar aanvallende spelers in de jaren van McEnroe en Borg eerder regel dan uitzondering waren, is het servicevolley-spel anno 2009 vrijwel uitgestorven. Is er nog een toekomst voor de netspecialist?

Zelfs Andy Roddick speelt met zijn verwoestende opslag nauwelijks servicevolley

Als we kijken naar de huidige ranglijsten, dan komen we bij de mannen in de Top-30 één servicevolleyspeler tegen, te weten Radek Stepanek op plaats 12. In de Top-50 staan verder Ivo Karlovic (38e), John Isner (40e) en Feliciano Lopez (46e). 

Hiermee komen we op een schamel totaal van 4 spelers, waarbij ook nog aangetekend moet worden dat geen van hen over een natuurlijk talent aan het net beschikt als bijvoorbeeld een Pat Rafter of Pete Sampras vroeger.

Sombere toekomst
De situatie bij de dames is nog een stuk schrijnender. Venus Williams is de enige speelster van naam die met enige regelmaat servicevolley speelt, maar ook zij brengt toch de meeste tijd door op de baseline, net als de jonge generatie hardhitters onder leiding van Maria Sharapova.

Amelie Mauresmo houdt ook wel van het netspel, maar het is nog maar de vraag of de Française volgend jaar überhaupt nog speelt op de tour. Misschien dat de technisch begaafde Justine Henin in haar comeback het servicevolley tennis weer wat meer aandacht zal geven.

Michael Llodra, toernooiwinnaar in Auckland en Rotterdam in 2008 met constant servicevolleytennis, ziet de toekomst somber in. “Toen ik jong was, was het mijn droom om servicevolley te spelen,” zegt de Fransman. “Maar tegenwoordig zijn de ballen niet meer zo snel en worden er nieuwe banen aangelegd om het baselinespel te bevorderen. Niemand wil tegenwoordig meer servicevolley spelen. Zelfs Tim Henman kwam in de laatste twee jaar dat hij speelde lang niet meer zo vaak naar het net.”

Betere tijden voor het servicevolleytennis: John McEnroe en Stefan Edberg in actie in de halve finale van Wimbledon 1989.

Opleving
Henman, wiens aanvallende spel hem vier halve finales op Wimbledon heeft opgeleverd, speelde aan het slot van zijn loopbaan inderdaad meer vanaf de baseline. Maar de nieuwe generatie spelers begint het volleren weer wat meer te waarderen.

Zo nam Novak Djokovic gedurende enkele maandan in 2007 voormalig dubbelspecialist Mark Woodforde in dienst, puur om aan zijn netspel te werken. De Serviër, wiens volleys voorheen een duidelijke zwakte waren, is zich inmiddels een stuk beter thuis gaan voelen aan het net.

“Kijk naar Federer,” zegt Djokovic. “Hij kan alles. Servicevolley, spelen vanuit het achterveld, aanvallen, verdedigen. Dat is het spel waarmee momenteel goede resultaten worden behaald en dat zal ook in de toekomst zo zijn.”

Maar zijn er nog mogelijkheden voor pure servicevolley-spelers om succesvol te zijn aan de absolute top?

“Ik denk zeker dat het mogelijk is,” zegt Federer, die ondanks het feit dat hij zelf een van de beste volleerders is in het circuit, alleen het net op zoekt als hij zijn tegenstander hiermee kan verrassen. “De omstandigheden zijn een stuk moeilijker nu de ballen en de banen veel langzamer zijn, maar ik denk dat als je erg goed volleert, zoals Edberg, Sampras, Rafter of Becker vroeger deden, je een enorme druk kunt zetten op de baselinespelers van tegenwoordig. Maar het is moeilijk, want we retourneren in deze tijd beter en slaan makkelijker passeerballen vanwege de tragere omstandigheden. Toch ben ik benieuwd op welke positie ik het jaar af zou sluiten op de ranglijst, als ik gewoon na elke eerste en tweede service zou oplopen naar het net.”

Pete Sampras en Pat Rafter zijn twee van de laatste succesvolle servicevolleyers.

Trage speelomstandigheden
Andy Roddick, de man met de hardste service uit de geschiedenis van de sport, heeft de laatste jaren veel getraind op zijn volleys. Maar hoewel de Amerikaan opslagen van boven de 230 km/h afvuurt, komt hij slechts zelden naar het net.

“Zelfs op Wimbledon is het niet meer te doen om servicevolley te spelen,” zegt Roddick. “En het probleem is niet dat we het niet willen, het is doorgaans gewoon geen optie met de zware ballen en langzame banen, en de manier waarop er tegenwoordig geretourneerd wordt. Als er op meer snelle indoorbanen gespeeld zou worden, zou je veel meer servicevolley zien, omdat het dan wel een goede tactiek is.”

Ook Mario Ancic – die in het begin van zijn loopbaan furore maakte met servicevolleytennis, maar tegenwoordig ook voornamelijk een baselinespeler is geworden – ziet weinig toekomst voor het servicevolley als er niets verandert aan de speelomstandigheden.

“Ik heb een paar keer met Stefan Edberg getraind en hij zei ook dat de banen tegenwoordig zó langzaam zijn, dat zelfs hij onder deze omstandigheden waarschijnlijk niet zoveel servicevolley zou hebben gespeeld”, aldus de Kroaat. ”De sport is op dit moment erg één-dimensionaal. Je hebt Federer, mijzelf en nog een aantal spelers die wat agressiever spelen, maar dat gaat dan nog steeds vanuit het achterveld.”

Bewijs
“Je ziet tegenwoordig meer baselinespelers winnen op Wimbledon,” zegt Djokovic. “De Spanjaarden, die altijd liever op andere ondergronden spelen, kunnen er nu ook goed presteren. Nadal is geen servicevolley-speler, hij speelt met enorm veel spin op zijn forehand, en toch bereikt hij drie jaar op rij de finale. Dat is het bewijs dat de banen een stuk langzamer zijn en dat de bal hoger opstuit.”

Met speelomstandigheden die op de diverse ondergronden steeds langzamer en gelijkwaardiger worden, lijkt er weinig plaats meer voor servicevolley-specialisten. De breed ontwikkelde tennisser is de toekomst van het proftennis. Vandaar de trend onder de jonge spelers om meer te trainen op de volleys, want het netspel is de laatste jaren altijd een ondergeschoven kindje geweest. Alleskunner Roger Federer was bij zijn opkomst een ongeëvenaard fenomeen, nu is hij de maatstaf voor de nieuwe generatie.

Een aangepaste versie van dit artikel verscheen eerder in Tennis Magazine.

Foto © Niels de Water

*Quick housekeeping note. In case you didn’t notice. Rustin and I combined blogs. We’re still working on getting this site to look cool, but hopefully we’ll have all the bugs out soon. On to the post…

The phone call from Pete Sampras was supposed to arrive at 12:10. Not noon.

“He’s very regimented, always right on time,” his PR guy said.

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this. Sampras was coming to Dallas for an exhibition match against Todd Martin. They play tonight.

As the de facto tennis writer for our paper, I got the assignment (ran in the paper on Thursday). Of course I crave writing these stories. Since about the 2005 U.S. Open, when James Blake had his coming out party, I’ve enjoyed tennis as much as any sport, perhaps except college basketball.

And it’s strange, I seem to levitate more toward tennis with each passing year, each passing Grand Slam. This September I watched at least one match every day during the U.S. Open. Maybe it was because I didn’t have to waste my time doing any homework, or because of the great storylines of Caroline Wozniacki, Melanie Oudin and of course, Roger Federer. I’m not sure. But I watched more tennis than I ever have and read every store there was to read on SI.com.

Anyways, Sampras’ reign ended long before I became a true follower. But I still knew about him. I want to say my first memory of watching tennis involved him. It’s quite fuzzy, but I remember seeing a guy with brown, curly hair playing on TV and then later saying he was my favorite player.

Because of this, because of his 14 Grand Slams and because well, I’m 22 and still new to this writing business, I fretted about the conversation I would be having with Sampras.

I sometimes get nervous before I interview high school cross country coaches. And a tennis legend was going to call my cell phone.

Then I heard that comment from his agent. This made it infinitesimally worse. Yeah, of course I knew Sampras was the silent assassin. He would rock his opponents to sleep before attacking when the match got too close and then say four words about it if he was in a talkative mood. He was great, but he was an enigma. He was either aloof or just quiet.

This scheduled 12:10 thing made it seem like he would call in a hurry, answer questions with short sentences and announce that he had to go after five minutes.

The night before the scheduled interview, I jotted down several questions – something I always do but not as strictly as I did for this. That morning, I arrived to work at about 9:30 and made a few phone calls for some other assignments.

At about 10:30, my phone rang, flashing a 310 area code on the screen. That’s Los Angeles.*

*Why do I know that area code by heart? It must be from this Ludacris song. I’m still upset he didn’t mention the 913, or at least the 816 or 785.

“Hey Mark,” the voice said. “This is Pete. Hope this isn’t too early for you.”

The most regimented man in tennis called me almost two hours before his schedule. He had just dropped off his oldest child at school.

For about 20 minutes, I asked questions. He answered them and went off on his own stories, laughing a few times while telling them.
In sports writing, you’re not supposed to admire or really, get anxious talking to anyone, but when it’s one of the all-time tennis greats, you get nervous that you’re talking to him, and you get nervous that he could come off as too big-time.

Sampras didn’t necessarily ever have a reputation of being hard to deal with, or even having a mean streak, like say, Michael Jordan. But he was never quite open to the public. He was kind of a mystery man.

Because of that and the 12:10 call and warning from his PR guy, I thought this Sampras interview could have gone either way. Any person, especially one as famous and busy as Sampras, could have cut short an interview or not taken it seriously with a small-time, rookie journalist.

He didn’t. He may not have genuinely cared, but it sure seemed like he did.

The fact that Sampras seems to be a great guy shouldn’t rock the world as great news. In the end, it probably doesn’t matter. He played sports well and still puts on shows at exhibitions.

But to know he does that and cares about the public, well, doesn’t that make the sports world shine a little brighter for everyone?

Andre Agassi, tennis playboy superstar of the 90’s, has recently written a tell all autobiography in which he admits to crystal meth use throughout the ‘97 season. As if this wasn’t shocking enough, Agassi also states that the substance was found in his system during a routine drug test conducted by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

What I don’t understand is how the ATP could justify throwing this case out and not looking into it further? Agassi went from being ranked number one in the world at the end of the ‘95 season to number 141 by the end of ‘97. Am I the only one that thinks this isn’t a red flag?

To digress a little, let me inform you of my tennis background. I started playing tennis at the ripe age of five, thanks to some gentle encouragement from my father, although I think it may have been in blood from the start considering my first word was “ball.” My dad acquired his teaching skills from the Jimmy Evert, tennis legend Chris Evert’s father, during his time in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and bestowed the love of the game onto me.

Long story short, my family has a great passion for the sport of tennis and one of the most epic matches I’ve ever watched was the 2001 U.S. Open quarterfinal between Agassi (he eventually lost the five-set match) and Pete Sampras.

I’m telling you this so that you understand not just how upset I am that the ATP didn’t see fit to investigate the reason for this positive drug test, but how saddened it makes me to hear that one of greatest male players to ever pick up a racquet and one of my personal childhood idols was in fact a bald face liar.

I use the term bald face liar because it is not only the truth as it pertains to the drug usage, but to another shocker for Agassi lovers around the world. According to his autobiography, his iconic long hair was actually just a wig to cover up the fact that he was prematurely balding at the age of 20! What are you going to admit to next Andre? Were you in cohorts with the Russian mafia to throw matches and make money on the side to support your drug habit (since you obviously couldn’t pay for it with your winnings at that time)? At this point, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised.

However, even I must give him credit for being so “Open” to the world and sharing these details about his dark past. He could have just taken this secrets with him to the grave and nobody would have been the wiser. The fact that he chose to share his story with everyone in the hopes that it would help someone who is venturing down a similar path is commendable.

Although the ATP makes the claim that regular player testing for substance abuse has been rigid since the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) took control in 1999; I am inclined to disagree.

This past July, ATP player and Frenchman Richard Gasquet came under fire for testing positive for cocaine. By WADA rules, this should have meant that Gasquet was suspended from the tour for two years. However, he was only banned for two and a half months after persuading a panel that he only tested positive for the substance because he “kissed a girl in a nightclub.”

This leads me to pose the following questions: do you think we go to easy on athletes when they are caught abusing banned substances? What should be done to improve the system?

Andre Agassi has admitted to using crystal meth during the 1997 ATP season in his new autobiography, which is set to hit book shelves on Nov. 9.

Are we surprised? C’mon, that photo screams, “I belong on COPS, with three cops on my back and a pipe in my hand.”

This might better explain why Brooke Shields divorced Agassi…what a minx she was in the 80s.

I think what this truly enlightens us of, is the skill level of golden boy Pete Sampras. How bad is he that he can only beat a meth addict on the court 50 per cent of the the time? I’m no longer surprised he keeled over once Federer was on the scene.

Pete Sampras and Ryan Harrison after our practice session the day before the big Venetian Macao Tennis Showdown 2009

IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy student and up-and-coming American talent, Ryan Harrison, is blogging live from Macao while he participates in the Venetian Macao Tennis Showdown with fellow Bollettieri student Yuki Bhambri and tennis legends Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Here is his first entry!

Hello everyone from Asia.

So, I had much better luck sleeping last night as I was able to sleep in until 6:00 am today.  I felt much more rested this morning and I started my day with another serving of pancakes, eggs, bacon and toast in my room.  It was just as good as yesterday.

After breakfast I headed down to the arena with Andre at 9:30 am for about a 45 minute hit.  He absolutely crushes the ball from the baseline still but we got a good groove and I got to spend some time talking with him after the practice.  He shared a lot about his fitness routine when he was playing and what seemed to work best for him.  It was really cool of him to spend some time with me and answer some of my questions.

Ben and I had a little time to kill after my practice so we walked around the Venetian resort for a bit.  We peaked in on the casino which was pretty busy even at 11:00 am and then went up stairs to the shopping area.  It was absolutely massive and a complete maze.  It was really cool though because they pretty much built the city of Venice with the Italian architecture, canals and gondolas.  We didn’t really feel like shopping much but we stopped by the Nike store and then ran across my picture on a big poster.  Still strange to see your own face and name plastered on a wall.

We then headed to St. Mark’s Square to meet up with Yuki and his mom for lunch at another Italian restaurant called Vergano, which was another stellar meal.  I had some shrimp pasta and we shared a small pizza among us all.  The setting was really cool since we were able to sit outside in the Square.

After the lunch, Ben and I headed up to one of the event staff member’s rooms where I sat and signed programs, tennis balls, posters and Babolat tennis racquets for about 20 minutes.  It was a well-oiled assembly line and the staff made it as quick and easy as possible since there was a lot of things to autograph.  From there I quickly went to my room before Yuki and I headed down to our locker room at the Arena and wait for our big match to start.  We had about 30 minutes in there to relax, eat a snack, stencil racquets, get settled and get ready for the event which started right at 2:30 pm.

I was the first one to make my entrance onto the court and it was amazing!  They turned off all of the lights and there was just a spotlight on me as I came out of the tunnel in a cloud of smoke.  I made my way to my chair as they announced my name and played the song I picked for entrance, which was “Stronger” by Kanye West.  It was pretty cool.  Yuki came onto the court after me to the theme song from the movie Slum Dog Millionaire and then we each hit three autographed tennis balls into the crowd.  After the coin toss and a quick photo at the net we began our 45 minute match before Pete and Andre took the court.

Our match was pretty back and forth and we were both having trouble holding serve.  I was up 5-4 serving for the match with about four minutes left on the clock but I wasn’t able to close it out.  At 5-5 Yuki was given one service point to decide the match and he came up with a big out wide serve I wasn’t able to get back.  I didn’t want to lose but it was a good match with some solid points.  I think the highlight for me was hitting a between the legs shot to win a point in the third or fourth game.  I have never played in front of a crowd like that and heard them erupt with so much excitement.  It was really cool and I hope to play in many more stadiums like this in the future.

After Andre and Pete played their singles, which Pete won in a deciding 10-point tie-breaker, we all took the court for our doubles match following an on-court performance by the entire cast of Zaia, the Cirque du Soleil show that is held here at the Venetian.  Yuki and I snuck out on the court to see the performance and these people were so talented.  They were doing all kinds of flips and jumps on trampolines and from bands hanging from the ceiling.  Some of the acts looked really dangerous but they all got through it in one piece.  We actually got our photo with the entire cast before the start of our doubles.

In the doubles match, we were all wearing small microphones so the crowd could hear what we were saying.  Pete and Andre were really funny and imitating each other while Yuki and I just tried to stay composed and keep the ball going.  It isn’t easy playing with and against two of your childhood idols but Andre and Pete both made it a good, fun match even though we lost 7-5 in the end.

The tennis went a bit longer than anticipated so they rushed us through the on-court trophy presentations and photos as well as post-match press conference.  Pete and Andre both had to catch flights tonight while Ben, Yuki, Yuki’s mother and me had to catch the ferry back to Hong Kong where we are staying tonight.  I was exhausted after another full day of activities and slept through the entire ferry ride.  Apparently some people even came up and asked for autographs but I slept right through it all.  We just got to our hotel by the airport and we will stay here tonight before flying back to Tampa tomorrow morning.

Overall it was a long journey for two days in Macao but it was so worth it.  I got to play with two of the best tennis players in the history of our sport and pick their brains some as well.  They were both class acts and very friendly even to two young players like Yuki and me.  It was awesome and I hope to be back again.

So good bye from Hong Kong and check out my photos from today.

IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy student Ryan Harrison

IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy student and up-and-coming American talent, Ryan Harrison, is blogging live from Macao while he participates in the Venetian Macao Tennis Showdown with fellow Bollettieri student Yuki Bhambri and tennis legends Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Here is his first entry!

Today was my first day in Macao for the Venetian Macao Tennis Showdown 2009.  I am here doing an exhibition with Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and another 17-year-old player from the IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy, Yuki Bhambri.  Anyway, I thought I would share with everyone a little bit about what I am doing over here on the other side of the world.  I hope you enjoy it and check out my photos as well.

I made the trip here with my agent, Ben Crandell and we arrived last night after a very long flight from Newark and about an hour ferry ride from Hong Kong to Macao.  As soon as we arrived in Hong Kong we had someone escorting us all the way to our rooms.  The amazing event staff picked us up at our gate in a golf cart at the Hong Kong airport, drove us to customs, put us in a sweet new Mercedes to take us to the ferry station, booked our first class tickets on the ferry, picked us up in Macao and then took us directly to our rooms.  We didn’t have to do anything and my room is amazing by the way.  My bathroom alone is about as big as most bedrooms!

Anyway, after attempting to sleep a few hours I started my day way too early (around 5:00 am) and chowed down on pancakes, eggs, bacon and toast.  It was just what I needed after the long trip and I was very full.  After my food settled a bit, Ben and I went to the gym at 8:30am for a short work out to try to loosen the legs up after such a long trip.  This hotel is so big and we got a little lost on the way back.

After that, Yuki and I headed to the court at 10:00 am for a short hit before Andre arrived to hit with Yuki at 11:00.  The Cotai Arena, which holds around 12,000 people, is part of the Venetian Resort which includes our hotel and a casino.  The court is a temporary court but it I liked how it played.  It isn’t too fast and the bounce is consistent.  This is actually the same arena where Pete played Federer two years ago and Federer, Blake, McEnroe and Borg played last year.

I watched Andre and Yuki practice for about an hour, which was cool to see because Andre still hits the ball so well.  He also took some time to chat with Yuki and I after their practice, which was really cool.  As I waited for Pete to arrive to hit with me, I did a short camera interview with NOW Sports.  It is kind of strange answering questions in English and then standing there on camera in complete silence as the reporter translates your answers to Mandarin.  Something I will have to get used to I think.

Pete arrived at 12:45 and he and I hit for about 45 minutes.  We went through a long warm up and then played out some points, which was all very surreal because I always looked up to him and grew up watching him play on TV.  He was very cool and laid back and he hit the ball so cleanly.  His volleys in particular were hit with so much ease and were so solid.  Maybe he will share some insights.

After a quick shower and some lunch at an Italian place called Portofino, the four of us (Pete, Andre, Yuki and I) made the trip to the on-site golf course (which is on one of the roofs by the way!) where the event had set up a miniature tennis court.  There waiting was a very large crowd of photographers to take our picture.  It was a really cool set up but during the course of the shoot with the hotel in the background, I had one really embarrassing moment.  They wanted us to twirl our racquets on our finger for one of the shots and I just couldn’t do it.  It was pretty comical because Pete and Andre were trying to teach me on the spot but it was very clear this is still one skill that I will need to practice a lot.

After that this slightly awkward moment, we all headed back indoors for an official press conference and a VIP Meet & Greet.  The press conference was in a big room with a stage where we were seated in front of a big backdrop with our photos on it.  They asked us each to speak a little bit about our expectations of being in Macao and then we took some questions from the journalists.  I have to admit I was really nervous being up there with two of the best players in history but I think it went pretty smoothly.  The press conference ended with the drawing of the doubles teams by Andre and Pete.  They each drew a large tennis ball out of a gondola with mine or Yuki’s name on them.  Andre drew my name first so he and I will be taking on Pete and Yuki tomorrow afternoon.  Should be a good match and I am really excited to be partnering up with Andre.

All four of us went through a quick Meet & Greet with autographs and photos in a separate room and then Yuki and I went back to the arena where we did an hour kids clinic and signed autographs for the local kids of Macao.  Yuki and I had a good time with it and the kids were pretty cute and loved getting my autograph even though I don’t think they knew who I was. Ha.

By this time it was 5:30 pm but it felt like midnight to me.  I was exhausted after only sleeping a few hours last night so I headed back to my room to crash for three hours before dinner.  As it turns out, I think I could have slept until tomorrow because it took three calls to my room from Ben to wake me up.  I didn’t even hear the phone ring the first two times!  We finished the night with a delicious dinner with Nick Freyer from IMG Asia, his wife and Yuki’s mother at Morton’s Steakhouse.  The ribeye steak was amazing and the perfect way to finish a long day.  I am off to sleep now for hopefully longer than just a few hours like last night.

I will let you know how it goes tomorrow and send through some more photos! Here are some photos from today: