Craig Hickman's Tennis Blog

INDIAN WELLS: ISMS AND SCHISMS

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 14:33:00 +0000

What exactly is sexism? Is it like art, where you know it when you see it, or does it require a fixed definition? I'm a firm believer in the idea that words matter and definitions matter, the one without the other creates a murky waterway of innuendo and obligations, driving people to their battle stations, without any sense at all of what it is they're fighting for. Political polarization has never been greater in this country: whether your red, blue, purple or green, the telltale sign of your political orientation is the camp to which you report any time an issue comes up that brings it into relief. The same could be said of the blogosphere when it comes to tennis. The minute somebody says the word, "women", one is required to declare their position on their place in the game, as if that is something to be determined thereby.

But what happens when definitions are ill-defined?

Read the rest at The Tennis Column...

MARIA SHARAPOVA'S DOPING GAFFE: THE LOW HANGING FRUIT?

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 03:47:00 +0000

The timing of Maria Sharapova's positive drug test couldn't be worse. In the midst of a maelstorm concerning match fixing allegations (which as yet have not been bolstered by any evidence) the authorities in the game are now faced with another challenge not only to the integrity of the sport, but more specifically their commitment to administer it in the best sporting interests...

I think it's important to start with the purpose of anti-doping controls: is it to catch people who don’t follow the rules, or people who are trying to cheat?

I've never been convinced that tennis is serious about anti-doping, and based on this case, I think it should continue to be maligned. It is extraordinarily inefficient at catching cheaters, but fantastically adept at catching people who simply fall-foul of the regulations....

...I've never been convinced that tennis is serious about anti-doping, and based on this case, I think it should continue to be maligned. It is extraordinarily inefficient at catching cheaters, but fantastically adept at catching people who simply fall-foul of the regulations.....

Read the rest at The Tennis Column...

BUD COLLINS - ONE OF A KIND

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 03:43:00 +0000

They don't make 'em like Bud Collins anymore...they really don't. I like to say, and often tell myself, that I love the game. And then I think about Collins and the integral role he played in brining the US Open to television, the multiple and essential books on tennis history that he penned, and the thousands of hours he spent on television, over the last 50 years, putting the "color" in color commentary.

And he kind of makes me feel like I don't know what the meaning of love is...

Read the rest at the Tennis Column...

SUDDENLY SERENA...

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 03:41:00 +0000

...doesn't seem so invincible anymore. I mean, that's twice now that she's choked away her shot at #22 - no matter what she says, that number, daunting and simultaneously inviting as it is, is making her nuts when it counts. That's not something we're used to seeing from Serena...well, we're used to seeing her go nuts when she's down, but usually the result is more power, particularly on the return of serve, accompanied by a crumbling opponent who wilts under the pressure of her game....

Read the rest at The Tennis Column...

MATCH-FIXING: THIS WILL GET MESSY

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 03:38:00 +0000

With so much of the tennis world's attention on the joint report on match fixing from BuzzFeed and the BBC, the game that we love and enjoy so much has a golden opportunity to turn the corner on an ugly chapter in its recent history. There's nothing like a scandal to make people think twice about whether they're doing enough to ensure the integrity of the game isn't brought into disrepute by a few bad apples - just how many remains to be seen...

Read the rest at The Tennis Column...

HEY JO: WHERE YOU GONNA RUN TO NOW?

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 03:25:00 +0000

Wasn't there a time when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had Djokovic's number? Does anybody remember that? I sure as hell do. In fact, because he appeared to freeze in the headlights in Australia in 2008, the subsequent ease with which he dispensed with his two years' junior rival in 5 of the next 6 encounters over the next two years, left me with the sneaking suspicion that the result in Melbourne had in fact been a fluke...

...And ultimately, Tsonga's biggest problem is that he's just too damn...well, how can I say this...French! Not that there's anything inherently wrong with being French - my new favorite player is french, my old favorite player (the aforementioned Henri Leconte) is French, my favorite female player was French Belgian, and my favorite backhand in tennis is Swiss French, my inspiration in tennis was French.

Hell, I even speak French.

But there's something our gallic cousins across the pond have that produces as many good players as it destroys:

Beauty.

Read the rest at The Tennis Column....

ABBOTT & COSTELLO, MARTIN & LEWIS...NOLE & ROG?

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 21:28:00 +0000

There was something unsettling about the interaction between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in 2015, but it's hard to put my finger on it. Every double act has a straight man and a comic: the straight man says, "Go and fetch me the morning paper," and the comic promptly slips on a banana peel on the way, and gets the big laugh...

...but the curious case of Nole and Rog in 2015 makes me wonder exactly which one of these two titans in the tennis kingdom of heaven is playing the stooge?

Read the rest at The Tennis Column...

"RAISE THE ROOF...PLEASE!"

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:49:00 +0000

I am of the opinion that roofs at majors are not a good thing - one of the things that make the majors what they are is the consistency of conditions - including the elements. Rain and wind have no idea what year it is, and if it was good enough for Jimmy Connors, and Rod Laver and Pancho Gonzales and Bill Tilden, it should be good enough for the modern supplicants to their thrones in tennis heaven. But the US Open could ill afford to fall behind all three majors in this regard, not to mention the atrocious run of luck that saw so many men's finals pushed to Monday over the last 10 years, so the structure of the roof will make its appearance for the first time in 2015, with the roof itself to follow possibly next year.

So whether it's opened or closed, I think this more than any other condition gives Federer that one fleeting shot at glory that has escaped him for 3 years, and in all likelihood would be the last time he lifts the French Flag on major soil in his storied career...

Read more at The Tennis Column...

A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE ON NICK KYRIGOS...PLEASE

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 23:37:00 +0000

Don't get me wrong - he's been a right pain in the arse for a while now, and deserves the derision he's on the wrong end of, but this idea that he should be punished for a stupid locker room dig at Wawrkina strikes me as being more than a bit over the top. And this got me thinking: what is the worst thing I've ever heard on a tennis court? Depends on your definition of "the worst", I suppose. I've been watching tennis for 30+ years, and I've seen a lot, but that may be one of the cattiest things I've heard from player to player - but is it the worst? I don't know. You be the judge...

Read more at The Tennis Column...

AN OPEN LETTER TO JAMIE HAMPTON

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 19:12:00 +0000

Dear Ms. Hampton:

...as we are certain you have surmised, since the predecessor of tennis was a game of the hands, good hands remain today, the hallmark of what true amateurs (in the Latin sense of the word) truly admire in tennis. Good hands that can as readily slice a backhand as come over it, flatly drive a forehand up the line, as roll it at an acute angle cross court, as cut it like a judo chop such that it teasingly lands inches from your opponents side of the net. It is the hands of Riggs, Laver, McEnroe, Federer, Tomic and yes you, Jamie Hampton, that can make game look as it should - like it's still played with the palm of the hand...

Read more at The Tennis Column...

CITI OPEN: LAST (BUT NOT LEAST) THOUGHTS

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 13:33:00 +0000

So what did we learn from the 2015 Citi Open? A hell of a lot. With one of the strongest fields in the history of the tournament, including two players ranked in the top 5 for the first time since 1987, and one of the best performance from the collective American entrants, there's much to ponder about the world of tennis in general, and specifically preparations for the US Open in September. Here are some of the thoughts that I came away with.

TOO BIG TO ~~FAIL~~ SUCCEED...

There were so many players standing taller than 6'3 in the tournament this year, Mr. Dell may need to consider raising the doorways...

Read more at The Tennis Column

2015 CITI OPEN FINAL: NISHIKORI V ISNER - BLOW BY BLOW

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 13:31:00 +0000

...Isner is introduced first to an enormous ovation, as "Bad to the Bone" plays on the stadium speakers. Nishikori also receives a good ovation. Isner comes out of his chair first, all smiles, bouncing up and down, and shaking hands. Nishikori saunters onto the court in no particular hurry, as is his wont. Although Nishikori has the better pedigree, this being his 3rd final in DC, Isner appears to be the more relaxed player. I noticed that he humbly moved into the court to retrieve a ball during the warm up, while Nishikori calmly waited for it to be retrieved for him, though the ball was at least 5 feet closer to him than Isner's.

Nerves? Tension? Habit?...

Read more at The Tennis Column

CITI OPEN: CILIC vs NISHIKORI - BLOW BY BLOW

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 13:29:00 +0000

Cilic starts well, with deep penetrating cross court shots off of both wings, pushing Nishikori back and rushing the fastest hands in tennis. After holding, the break comes off of two forced errors on the backhand wing - a rarity for Nishikori, who is yet to impose himself on any point in the match. The Cilic serve is as good as it had been this entire tournament, whereas Nishikori's as inconsistent as it's been throughout the week...

Read more at The Tennis Column

CITI OPEN: READY OR NOT, STEVE JOHNSON'S COMING FOR YOU

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 16:08:00 +0000

....And competing is what the man does best. Just ask Bernard Tomic, Grigor Dimitrov and Jack Sock - three celebrated and talented opponents this week at the Citi Open whose heads rolled off the block of his guillotine...

Read more at The Tennis Column...

CITI OPEN: KING KEI vs GOLIATH...THE GIANT (KILLING GIANT) IS SLAIN

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 18:58:00 +0000

King Kei slew the Australian Goliath today, in the first quarterfinal of the Citi Open at Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC. The match pitted the one of the ~~best~~ biggest serves in the game, against one of the best returns in the game. And like the deciding factor in most matches on grass, where the serve is universally assumed to be the deciding factor, it was the player (ostensibly) bringing the least to the table in this regard, that prevailed...

Read more at The Tennis Column...

CITI OPEN: RETURN OF THE MESOMORPH - SAM GROTH

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 15:18:00 +0000

by MMT

But it seems that we have, in the broad-shouldered, tatoo-sporting, super-serving, Australian behemoth Sam Groth, an answer to the question of whether tennis players could play other sports professionally, and through him, we could start to have an appreciation for the raw athleticism of tennis players...

Read more at The Tennis Column...

CITI OPEN: DAY 5 SUMMARY

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 15:16:00 +0000

Who the hell is Louisa Chirico? Well, for starters she's a woman who's had two victories over top 50 players in the first two rounds of the Citi Open...

Lleyton Hewitt said good-bye to the tournament he won in 2004...

Speaking of going, Bernard Tomic is going just as he came - shrouded in cynicism...

Speaking of a match that took longer than it should have, Grigor Dimitrov won his 2nd round encounter with Guido Pella ~~6-4, 6-1~~ 7-6, 6-4. He should have won the match in less than an hour...

Speaking of right quick, boy was that a quick and terrible journey for Andy Murray, who was eliminated from both the doubles and singles in the first round from the home tournament of his clothing sponsor, Under Armour...

To read more go to The Tennis Column...

CITI OPEN: SUDDENLY SAMANTHA

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 19:44:00 +0000

I'm not going to lie - I love almost everything about Sam Stosur, and I have for years. One look at the second most famous pair of guns in women's tennis, and knowing what she came through 8 years ago to recover from Lyme disease and to come back, like the bionic woman, better-stronger-faster, only the most cynical of cynics would suggest that she is anything but 100% committed to being the best player than she can be. That may not seem like much if you assume that such commitment is universal, but from the mouths of (big tennis) babes in this piece, in fact, it is as refreshing as it is rare. On the basis of this commitment alone, the level of admiration for her, from all corners of the sports world, ought to be very high indeed....

To read the rest, go to The Tennis Column...

CITI OPEN: RYAN HARRISON TEMP'RING EXPECTATIONS WITH EXTREME COMMITMENT

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 15:08:00 +0000

At The Tennis Column: RYAN HARRISON TEMP'RING HIS EXPECTATIONS WITH EXTREME COMMITMENT (http://t.co/wjysqydjEz)
— MMT (@MMT_1974) August 3, 2015

CITI OPEN: A COLLEGE EDUCATION...FOR TENNIS PLAYERS?

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 15:04:00 +0000

At The Tennis Column: CITI OPEN: A COLLEGE EDUCATION...FOR TENNIS PLAYERS? (http://t.co/DjpYeNNbSf) @CitiOpen @NoShameShane5
— MMT (@MMT_1974) August 3, 2015

CITI OPEN: NO REST FOR THE WEARY

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 14:47:00 +0000

http://t.co/kpgCTQTlfV: Donald Young and @ryanharrison92 overcome by fatigue have some time 2 improve on progress they made @CitiOpen
— MMT (@MMT_1974) August 5, 2015

CITI OPEN PRESSER IMPRESSIONS

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 14:46:00 +0000

My impressions of the press conferences @CitiOpen @andy_murray @keinishikori http://t.co/YwBEELxUur
— MMT (@MMT_1974) August 5, 2015

THANK YOU CITI OPEN - THE REAL BERNARD TOMIC 2015

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 14:49:00 +0000

If you google him, you'll read about a couple of school boy stunts that, if he'd never picked up a tennis racquet, you'd think little of it. And if you search him on YouTube, the first clip you'll see is the now infamous one where he asks the umpire to ask his father to leave the court, and then thanks the umpire when he gives him a code violation for coaching. Now there are about 1,000 reasons why that may be of interest to you, but if you've bothered to search clips of him I would implore you to go to the second clip - the one of his best points. In it you'll see an array of shots, point constructions and a display of some of the best hands in tennis, against some of the best players in the world, over and over again.

This is the real Bernard Tomic - the player who won the Australian Open Juniors when he was 15 years old (yes 15 years old) and the US Open Juniors when he was 16 years old. The Bernard Tomic that won Sydney in 2013, Bogota in 2014 and again in 2015...

To read the rest, go to The Tennis Column...

THANK YOU CITI OPEN - WINNING (WITH BEAUTIFUL) UGLINESS

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 19:49:00 +0000

...In truth, tactically Gilbert was the Chris Evert of the men's tour, with less talent, and worse results of course - but strategically and tactically, they were mirror images. Evert never appeared to have physical superiority, or even technical superiority - most of her opponents had more tools in the kit - but Evert's true special talent was the depth of the skills she did possess and her ability to make shallow the skills of her opponents. The modern game suffers from a kind of fatal narcissism, where players all think their key to their success on the court is their own game. They assume that because tennis is an individual sport, the last thing they have to worry about is the other guy on the court. Fed by the paucity of quality coaching, where the "mental game", and it's ugly sister "belief", seem to be the focus, lost from the modern game is the art of strategy and tactical execution - in short, there are no more Brad Gilbert's in the men's game, and very few in the women's game....

To read the rest, go to The Tennis Column...

THANK YOU CITI OPEN - RICHARD GASQUET v MICHAEL LLODRA

noreply@blogger.com (MMT Sr) — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 16:08:00 +0000

...The best set of tennis I saw last year won't show up on the AT P's head to head records. That's because it was a practice set at, hideaway on practice court 2, between Richard Gasquet and Michael Llodra. And after the initial pleasure of watching an extended 30 minute warmup, I then witnessed one of the best sets of tennis I've ever seen. Not only because Gasquet has one of the most beautiful backhands in tennis, and Llodra is one of the last bona fide serve and volleyers left in the game. The set was extraordinary because the spirit of these two players, their trades plied at opposite ends of the tactical spectrum, is exactly the same - swashbucklers. Not that the term isn't overly used...

...to read more go to The Tennis Column