ATP Tennis and Travel Blog

USTA 2011 Season

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:08:00 +0000

#1 Ranking for 4.0 NTRP Singles Mid-Atlantic (800 points)

Tournament Results for 2011 (13-3 record)

Tennis and Russians

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 01:08:00 +0000

Marat Safin (former World No. 1 and US Open / Australian Open Winner), has now been elected as a politician in Russia!

I guess pretty soon they will want to update his profile picture on Wikipedia. It's actually a cropped shot of one I shot for a friend of mine Nick and him were at Legg Mason a few years ago after practice but I still don't know how it made it up there as his official mug shot =)

My Flickr Photo from Legg Mason

If you're reading this Marat, I wish you all the best and hope you still like that "Welcome to Miami" t-shirt!

Capitals star Alex Ovechkin
with Maria Kirilenko
(photo via Twitter)

In other news, our Washington Capitals hockey team captain, Alex Ovechkin is now dating a Russian Tennis Star and spotted in the Washington DC area.

Maria Kirilenko with GWU tennis team

According to Arlnow.com, Maria Kirilenko has been practicing with the George Washington University tennis team and seen at Kettler Captials Iceplex at the Ballston mall.

WTA Citi Open 250

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:27:00 +0000

Zheng Jie with JC at WTA Citi Open

Again back at TCCP, but this time to watch the first annual WTA Citi Open 250 event

Zheng Jie was there to practice and I was lucky that someone was nice enough to take a picture for me. It was easily 100+ degrees heat index out there that weekend, but was definitely worth it for $5 tickets to see those top players so close by.

Update: Zheng Jie won the 2012 Auckland Open and went on a great run at the Australian Open! Congrats!

Unfortunately, it was at the same time as the ATP Legg Mason 500 event, so not as many fans made it out there. We were out during the opening Saturday to catch a peek at some of the top women players visiting the area. Other players there included: Nadia Petrova, Melanie Oudin, Sania Mirza and Shahar Peer.

More Flickr pictures from the Citi Open

Tennis Center at College Park (TCCP)

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:00:00 +0000

TCCP
A training ground for up and coming tennis juniors, TCCP is nestled near the University of Maryland Campus at College Park. Such greats as Denis Kudla and Mitchell Frank have been past alumni in this unique institution. It is not your typical Bollettieri-styled boot camp - rather it has a much more family and education oriented structure to its program. Tennis Channel had featured some of the coaches on its special called "Who's Next?"

It houses 12 indoor and 15 outdoor courts, including Deco-Turf 2, Har-Tru green clay and the only 2 French Open-style red clay courts in the Mid-Atlantic. Here is a Washington Post article with pictures of the facilities.

USTA Tournament
During the July 4th weekend, I entered the USTA Mid-Atlantic Championship Tournament. Played across 4 days with heat indices reaching over 100 degrees, some competitors who entered multiple events had to retire. I was blessed with a favorable draw and received a 1st round bye during Friday night. Some of the 1st round matches lasted so long that they had to be moved indoors that night.

The tennis gods must have taken pity on me, as I was able to play 3 consecutive rounds indoors. The bubble, etched with red Terrapin logos, was much more humid but at least it was shelter from the relentless sun outside. My semi-finals victory could partially be attributed to this fact that I was the fresher man the day before.

Indoor Tennis Bubble
One characteristic of the tennis bubble I had to become accustomed was the concave sides caused out balls and most errant serves to rebound back on court. Acoustically, there is a hollow echo that reverberates the grunts and yells inside like a giant cave. The lighting was a bit dimmer than I expected, but I liked the surface and bounce height. I never lost a set indoors the entire tournament.

I had a good sense of what I was up against, as my fellow USTA teammate had fought valiantly the day before to my opponent. I watch how consistently well his slice backhand seemed to frustrate my friend even in the great condition he was in.

Reaching the 5th Round - Finals
The final was just as tough as I had imagined. We were assigned outdoor court #21 - blackjack, the farthest court at the end. I had watched another friend's doubles match here just a day earlier. What I did not realize was that the court surface was slick and smoothed out near the back of the baseline - almost as if there was a fine film of dirt. Traction was a problem on a few occasions but more frustrating was my inability to attack the 2nd serve, which was plainly vulnerable but I would over-hit or mis-time too many times that day.

I lost the first set too easily, and hunkered down in the second. The cross court rallies seemed to last forever, especially on the backhand side. When I pressed, he would defend stubbornly - no free points. If I had any chance, it would be to wear him down and take out his legs. I was successful to a degree, but the cost was that I also was expending a lot of energy to keep him moving. In my final service game, my energy level was a bit lower than I had anticipated and ended up dropping it along with the match 6-2, 6-4.

He came up to the net during a few key plays but for whatever reason, my lob was not calibrated...sailing just a few inches long each time, whereas the day before it was making its mark almost like clockwork. In retrospect, I have to fault myself for leaving my rackets in the car the day before...going out to lunch for a couple hours just to wind down. It is possible this would have loosen the strings just enough, given that it was probably 120+ degrees in my trunk - dumb mistake.

Tournament Summary
In the end, I was happy with my performance for the tournament overall. It was a fun event because of all the company I had there, plenty of nice amenities at the club, and the familiar faces at the event made it all much less stressful.

Of course there were the usual "competitive" line calls and players that seem to have their lives riding on the results, but that's to be expected. It was nice to be able to sneak a peek between rounds to watch the Wimbledon championship weekend playing on the large HDTV out front, showcasing the finals for both the men and women players.

It is always nice to bring some hardware back home in any case too. I'm looking forward to being back there again next year.

Congrats to Li Na - Women's French Open winner!

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:12:00 +0000

Li Na - First tennis player from Asia to win a Grand Slam title in singles
This is sure to be very big news in China and the continent, as well as the growth of tennis worldwide.

Training on Clay

I think it was a smart move to hire a coach to help her move and play better on clay. You can see from this video the detailed analysis and training that went into her preparation ever since Madrid.

Li's Power Game
Her power game had a lot of similarities to Sam Stosur's (last year's FO finalist). I think Li Na's footwork and court position was a major difference, which took away time from Schiavone.

More Li Na Pictures

Below are some more (previously unpublished) pictures of Li Na from one of her earlier training sessions. They were taken at the 2010 US Open on the Grandstand court next to Armstrong.

JCtennis.com's photostream (2,667)

Newest photo →

Federer beats Djokovic! Perfect prediction...

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:03:00 +0000

Check out my prediction I made 2 days ago...Fed in 4 sets, with 2 tie-breaks:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110601151859AAyRcvV

I'm going to go with Federer for the win:

1) Federer was the last man to beat Djokovic
2) Djokovic has not played a match for 4 days because of the walkover, and might be over-confident and under-prepared
3) Federer has much less pressure to win than Djokovic, who needs this win to keep his streak alive and Fed has nothing to lose really.

I'm going to say Federer in 4 sets with 2 close tie-breaks...
Source(s):
www.JCtennis.com (from Rolland Garros)
2 days ago

The Road to Rafa Part 3 - Paris: French Open

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Sat, 28 May 2011 12:08:00 +0000

Early morning at the French Open
on Philippe Chatrier Center Court

Q:
How do you get into the French Open, sit in the reserved box seats just behind the Tennis Magazine team, and then watch Nadal play live just a few feet away on center court (Court Philipe Chatrier) - all for just 19 Euros?

A:
Benny-Berthet Day

Benny Berthet's Day is tradition at Roland Garros.
This exhibition day is held each year on the eve of the tournament; the profits are donated to various charities. This is similar to the Arthur-Ashe day event held at the US Open annually.

What is special is that throughout the whole day, the public can attend 1-set matches with most of the top players spread out across the top 3 courts. Many of the French tennis starts come out for kids to get autographs and pictures.

Almost all the players also have a practice session on the side courts as well.

Order of Play Sheet

Arrive at Roland Garros for the first time...
8:30AM - Hop on the Paris Subway
9:00 - Stop for some breakfast at a nearby Cafe with some scrambled eggs and French baguettes
9:30 - Bump into some local tennis coaches while asking for directions and walking to Roland Garros
10:00 - Waiting in the ticket queue about a few rows deep, I have an hour to kill. A few other fans are speaking French and one asks me where I'm from (holding a Tennis Magazine from the US).

Apparently, they immediately judge you by your country's best players (Roddick, Blake, Fish, Bryans, etc). This was the year that Tsonga was their top guy with Gasquet still serving his drug suspension.

By around 10:45, the line finally starts to move and by then the queue has wrapped all the way around.

By around 11:00, the gates and ticket booths open and there is a mad dash toward the center court. There are no reserved seats, so basically it is first-come, first-serve.

I'm lucky enough to get around to the East side of the stadium with the sun at my back quickly, and grab a 3rd row seat just behind the reserved seats for Tennis Magazine.

Seeing Rafael Nadal up close on clay in Paris was definitely the highlight.

However, even at this early exhibition match you could tell he wasn't himself. Because of knee injury and some family issues, he had lost to Federer in the Madrid Final just a few weeks back. On this day he faced a qualifier named Dabul - a light, steady rain came down shortly after the warm-up.

Eventually Nadal would lose 6-4 with a less than positive expression on his face. You could tell he was troubled...either emotionally or physically, or maybe both. Many fans were a bit shocked about the early loss. It was a foreshadowing of things to come later in the 4th round...

To travel half-way around the world to witness tennis greatness unfulfilled is a bit like arriving at the site of a great monument only to see its footprint absent. It is shocking and unbelievable to fathom.

Champions prevail and rise again even after an avalanche of misery fails to destroy them. As we all know, Rafa wasn't done yet...

Map of Roland Garros

Official 2011 French Open Balls - $5 on Amazon

Gasquet falls to Nadal at Rome's SF

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Sat, 14 May 2011 17:25:00 +0000

Richard Gasquet put on an amazing run this week on clay in Rome. He put together a couple back-to-back wins against two top 10 players, Federer and Berdych in tight 3 sets both times.

Playing with confidence
Gasquet is playing with a lot more confidence lately and has been really whipping that one-handed backhand well around the court. At times, it seemed like his shots were even more spectacular than those of Nadal. A lot of concentration was required for Rafa to win the first set and seal his seat in the finals today.

Cross-court battle: Lefty Forehand vs Righty Backhand
The contrast of Nadal's lefty forehand going against Gasquet's one-handed (sometimes jumping) righty backhand was really a sight to see. Not since Rios, has the jumping backhand seemed so deadly. Even though I do not hit one-handed...if I did, Gasquet's technique would be a good one to emulate.

Gasquet's Autographed Card
Gasquet seems to be playing much better than when I last saw him at the Legg Mason ATP 500 in DC. He had just flew back from his the clay finals in a Gstaad, Switzerland and was watching his fellow countryman play a match on a side court.

I got his autograph on a player card during one of the changeovers. He seemed amused that I had a small collection of ATP player cards with the Legg Mason draw.

Nadal vs Ferrer: Barcelona Final - Spanish Gladiators meet on the Sands

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 17:15:00 +0000

ATP 500 Final (the Rematch) - Barcelona Open 2011
Ferrer and Nadal are set to duel in the 2nd consecutive clay court final for the second Sundays in a row. Both are well known in their country, as the #1 and #2 Spanish players currently. Nadal won 5 years in a row 2005-2009, only to have skipped last year in order to rest up and prepare for the ATP 1000's. The good news is that he'll have 500 extra points to earn if he wins to increase his lead over Djokovic.

Ferrer, also known as "The Warrior", will need to square off against Nadal - nicknamed "The Gladitor" by ATP commentators. Perhaps aptly so - as Rafa has spent so much of his career dominating the Clay; as Spaticus would have in the Roman Colosseum. Tennis players have swapped swords for rackets, helmets for hats, headbands...the fans' applaud and roar of the crowds echo their encouragement on their heroes in the tennis center arena, as they would in the gladiatorial games in ancient Rome.

Recording his 500th Career Win today, Nadal seems to be on his way to another clay court sweep. He is sure to be remembered in history for a long, long time.

There is a saying that "in order to be able to be successful on clay is to be able to endure suffering"...

As Ivan Dodig can tell you, playing on clay can make for a very dirty day for laundry. Of course it can also leave you bruised and battered simply because you were paired opposite against a man named Nadal.

Tennis Training in the City of Barcelona

For those who are interested in learning some of the Spanish tennis taught to the likes of Nadal and Ferrer when they were young, I would recommend visiting the Sanchez-Casal academy in Barcelona.

They have special programs for both Coaches and Adult Players, year round that include transportation to and from the city of Barcelona. Makes for a great vacation for any tennis fan/player out there. I'm no stranger to the Barcelona clay, having spent nearly a week training at Sanchez-Casal in 2009. The weather is generally perfect in late April-June in Europe.

The city is vibrant in its culture and architecture with beautiful beaches and friendly, photogenic people all around. The fans here love celebrating Sport, whether they be the victories of great champions of soccer or tennis. Their appreciate victory after a hard fight with spirited passion under the day's sun and celebrate long and late into the night, while enjoying their wine.

Nadal and Federer in Miami SF's (First Rematch in the USA after 6 years!)

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 12:08:00 +0000

Update:
The match-up looked very much one-sided, unfortunately. Commentators compared it to a heavy-weight title fight with a 2nd round KO. The court surfaces that Federer has the edge on may now be limited to indoors and perhaps grass (for lower bounces). Nadal's high kicking groundstrokes to his backhand seem to be too much for Fed to handle.

His forehands were not bad, but also did not do enough damage to Nadal's defenses. In the end, Roger made around 40 unforced errors the whole match, perhaps going for too much when he was behind in the score.

Let's look and see how the Nadal v. Djokovic rematch final plays out this Sunday. If anyone knows how to end a champion's epic winning streak, it's Nadal...just ask Roger =)

Friday 4/1/11 - Prime time (7pm EST) Federer V. Nadal
Rafael Nadal secures a spot in the semi-finals after playing a long hard 3 set match against Tomas Berdych. Federer made it through with a walk-over against Gilles Simon with only 3 games played.

Will the extra rest help Federer? Last time the two met on a hard court in the USA, was also in Miami but in the 5 set finals where Fed came back from a 2 sets and 1-4 deficit in the 3rd. Fatigue was definitely a factor that time.

Hopefully with a fully motivated and healed Nadal, this should be the match that all tennis fans in the USA have been waiting for. Get your popcorn ready, this is going to be a good one =)

Tennis Night in America - Luke Jensen & Brenda Schultz-McCarthy

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:40:00 +0000

"Tennis For Everyone"

Thanks to everyone that made it out there for this charity event. It was good to give back and share the sport with so many eager young stars on the court.

Luke and Brenda

The stars were great with the kids and even taught them all a few trick shots at the end too. Fans young and old went home with tennis prizes and gifts, plus got a great workout indoors. Good fun! =)

Thanks to USTA Community Tennis

Alex Chan (USTA) and www.VirginiaTennis.com for coordinating these "Tennis Night in America" community events - over 26 Million people are playing the game now and we hope the number keeps growing...from public courts to the US Open - get in the game!

BNP Pairbas at Indian Wells behind the scenes

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 23:38:00 +0000

See HD video of Will at BNP's Paribas Open with behind the scene access to the top players. Includes Del Potro and Raonic in the background with an inside look at what the players play for fun - Soccer! Starts with a close up of Roger practicing.

There is now a new course available called "Tennis Ninja" which goes over how to:

Think Strategy like a Pro player
Understand the DNO (Defense Neutral Offense) concepts
Prevent Choking at critical moments
*Bonus* Get a video course specifically for serving...stay tuned for more details!

Here's a 4 Part Free Preview of the tennis ninja course

Now Powered by Microsoft BizSpark

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 13:08:00 +0000

Get free training, software and tools to grow your own startup today!

http://www.microsoft.com/BizSpark/

Letsmove Tennis: Agassi, Graf, and Michelle Obama

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 03:32:00 +0000

Michelle Obama
Along with a few cameos by Agassi and Steffi Graf, are promoting the "Let's Move!" program here in Washington DC. I recognized these indoor courts as I've played on them quite a few times this winter as well in Georgetown.

Also at the White House south lawn last summer...
During the Legg Mason tournament in DC, kids and pro players were invited to the White House to play some mini tennis. For more info, check out the letsmove.gov initative to fight childhood obesity.

MS Charity Event: June 18, 2011

With support from USTA tennis and KB-Tennis.com, a charity tennis event and fundraiser has been announced. Proceeds will go toward to helping find a cure for MS (Multiple Sclerosis) in the Washington DC area.

The National MS Society has offered a lot of volunteers and little tennis players to join the event. Over 200 kids and adults are expected for this large tennis event.

Needed: Large Tennis Venue/Facilities

We are still looking to formalize a location and want to get additional sponsors who would like to contribute to this cause.

If you have suggestions or ideas, please email us at info@tennis-8.com or post a comment below.

USTA Community Tennis Development Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 03:56:00 +0000

It's not often that the USTA comes to the DC area, much less Arlington County. So today I had a peek over at the conference. They offered a lot of different programs and speakers, including an all-day Recreational Coaches Workshop at the Crystal City Sport and Health.

The conference goes on all-weekend, so I'll report back on any new developments and recap. Lots of great grass-root organizations including "Tennis in the Parks" with Arlington's own Eric Legg making an appearance.

My most notable meeting was with Joe Dinoffer, CEO of OnCourtOffCourt.com and was at the ballroom level to display his quick start tennis products and teaching aids for children. He's been on many great tennis programs on the Tennis Channel and provides very innovative and clever tools to get kids into the game.

Also there was Patricia Egart, the author of a wonderful children's book to teach parents and kids about tennis. It is written from the perspective of a 12 year old boy, Andy Ace. It also very well illustrated to guide young players gently into the basics of tennis. You can also find the book and its other reviews for "Let's Play Tennis" at Amazon.

A new look? Audi R8 for Tennis8?

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 18:16:00 +0000

JC_Audi R8 Spyder
Originally uploaded by JCtennis.com

How would "Tennis8" look on the new "Audi R8"?

DC Auto Show 2011 pictures
Top Gear Video review of the Audi R8

Maybe it's just me...but I'm a sucker for the tear-drop LED headlights. Apparently inspired by the Sydney Opera House design.
I really think it's a very beautiful and practical car =)

Spin Ball: The Physics of Polyester String

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 03:36:00 +0000

Spin Ball: The Physics of Polyester String

TENNIS.COM article published today highlights the "Pros of Poly" and why using Polyester strings is now almost mandatory for the top players of the game.

The modern game of tennis has become so powerful with the advent of racket technology that we are seeing men's forehands regularly approaching and even exceeding 100 MPH! At such high velocities, the forces of gravity are not strong enough to pull a normal groundstroke down into the court fast enough...

Enter Topspin and the Secret of Polyester

With Polyester and Co-Polyester strings, the strings will actually stretch for a few milliseconds with the ball, stop and then quickly snap back like taut bow. This action helps whip the ball and rotate it sideways as it comes off the strings, creating the top spin effect. Normal topspin generated from nylon or multi-filament strings "brush" against the ball but do not have the same recoiling effect.

TENNIS.com: Racquet experts generally say that string technology has impacted the game more than the racquet technology in recent years. Do you have any thoughts on the next wave of string technology and what it would mean to tennis?

Dr. Cross: The next best thing will be strings that don't break and strings that don't lose tension, but that would put string makers out of business.

Important: "Durability" is a commercial factor with tennis strings, as it is with all other disposable goods such as batteries or even chewing gum - like the commercial goes, if you don't need to ever chew another piece of gum, companies would go out of business. I have a theory that the RPM Blast string has a short shelf life and loses tension fairly quickly because the Babolat string manufacturers were willing to develop a high performance string that would keep customers coming back for more all the time.

Do not fall for TV marketing, instead do your research and look at reviews on reputable sites such as stringforum.net. The key is finding a value Poly String that will last just as long as the most expensive Polys (Luxilons) because you break them or they lose tension...yet over the course of a year of playing, you are saving $7-10 each time or over $100 a year...enough to buy a whole Jumbo Reel (985 feet) of the highly acclaimed, Topspin Cyber Flash 17g.

But you must play test a few types of polys to know which one is the best for you. It should enhance your spin, power and durability without sacrificing too much control. In my case, I had slightly more control/feel with Luxilon Ace 18 - but when you look at match results...I was winning a lot more matches because I was able to keep short balls to a minimum AND keep my opponents honest because of the threat of being able to hit a sharp side-angle or looper to the deep corners - it gave my game a more dimensions and weapons.

"One American racquet manufacturing exec estimates that polyester string accounts for more than 70 percent of string sold in Europe, and the majority of the world’s top juniors are polyester or co-poly string players."

Li Na - 1st Asian woman ever to reach the Australian Final

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:17:00 +0000

Li Na and Daniela Hantuchova after practice
Originally uploaded by JCtennis.com

Congrats to Li Na! Just made Tennis History as the first ever Asian Female to reach the Singles Final of any Grand Slam!

She came back from match point down against Caroline Wozniacki to win in a tough 3 setter. Amazing match and comeback!

Will she be the first ever Chinese athlete to win a Grand Slam too??

Agassi Agassi inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame 2011

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:46:00 +0000

Andre Agassi was inducted into this year's Tennis Hall of Fame. Winner of the all 4 Tennis Majors and the Olympic Gold medal for the USA, he is a living legend of the game.

As a New Year's resolution, I pledged to finish reading his book, Open: An Autobiography. It wasn't hard, as I just had less than 100 pages left. But the final chapters were so good and the book was so tough to put down, that I completed my resolution on Day 1.

I realized that I was right around the age when Agassi just completed his career Grand Slam, and divorced his first wife (actress) Brooke Shields. He took his personal life in a whole new direction and made a lot of noteworthy contributions - not only back to the game of tennis, but to Education and Life at his preparatory school and academy in Las Vegas.

It was interesting to hear his perspective and stories while he was in Washington DC at Legg Mason. I wonder what that homeless guy did with those tennis rackets he "donated" to him?

If you are a tennis fan - I would highly recommend this book. It changed my own perspective on my childhood...the pressures that a parent's pre-determined ambitions or a sport can weigh so heavily on a grown man's soul.

If you buy this book from my link, send me an email about what you thought about it or just post up a comment. I will personally send you an Amazon Gift Card to you. It is *that* good and I know you'll enjoy reading it (also available on the Kindle).

TennisWorld Magazine Interviews Roger Federer

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 15:45:00 +0000

TennisWorld Article by David Cox
http://www.tennisworldusa.org/An-interview-with-Roger-Federer-articolo163.html

"Roger Federer sweeps into the suitably grand settings of London's Marriott County Hall Hotel. ....striding through the elaborate dining hall he still exudes class and sophistication. The word suave was almost invented for Federer, he eases seamlessly through multiple languages at press conferences and possesses the kind of aura which reduces even the most experienced journalist to hushed whispers and reverence...."

Read the Full Article and Interview Q&A by David Cox

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/An-interview-with-Roger-Federer-articolo163.html

The Science of "Super Spin Strings" w/ slow-mo video analysis

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 01:08:00 +0000

IMAGE CREDIT: CLIVE BRUNSKILL/GETTY IMAGES

In this article by the Atlantic Magazine, author Josh Speckman explains the physics behind Rafael Nadal's incredible spin potential and how technology has taken modern tennis to a completely different dimension today.

There is also an excellent video that shows this "snap back" effect of polyester strings. "Co-polyester" strings such as the acclaimed Cyber Flash and Cyber Blue strings are merely poly strings coated with special lubricants that allow the string to slip and slide back into place after contact. They propel the ball with a recoiling snap effect while maintaining the durable characteristics of polyester.

In the video, skip forward to 5:30 for a super-slow mo clip: The New Physics of Tennis: Unlocking the mysteries of Rafael Nadal’s killer topspin (Thanks to Chris for forwarding this to me!)

Tennis Stars "Rally For Relief" in Australia

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:08:00 +0000

Tennis superstars including Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Clijsters, Stosur, and many other friends of the Aussies gathered together on Sunday afternoon in Melbourne for a special exhibition tennis event.

In one day alone, over $1.5 million was raised for the victims of Australia's flood disaster: WTA | News | Latest News | Stars Rally For Relief

JCTennis Review - USPTA 2010 Coaches Conference

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 04:51:00 +0000

Here's my first Video Blog Review:

USPTA Coaches Conference last month in Naples, FL.

Read the full article here

David Emery - Topspin Cyber Blue String Review

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 13:08:00 +0000

David Emery is now the WTA hitting partner for Liezel Huber (currently #3 in WTA Doubles). She recently won the 2010 US Open Mixed Doubles with Bob Bryan. Congrats Dave on the promotion! Check out some of David's other Tennis Tips.

Buy 4 get 1 Free at HolabirdSports.com
Package - Topspin Cyber Blue 1.25 17 - Tennis String Packages

Note: To avoid a stiff feel with poly strings, it is recommended that you string all poly's 10% lower in tension. David has had good results after lowering his racket tension from 63 lbs to 57 lbs. Cyber Blue offers great control and feel as a durable cross string.

Poly Reel

noreply@blogger.com (JC) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 02:31:00 +0000

Head Instinct (YouTek and LM), Cyber Flash 17g for mains, Ace 18 and Cyber Blue for crosses (respectively).

Agassi in his autobiography Open comments: "polyester string, which creates vicious topspin has turned average players into greats, and greats into legends. (Open, p.343)"