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Tuesday, November 21, 2006
State of the rivalry: Federer vs Nadal!
 Tennis is a great sport for so many reasons but most fans would agree on one major one. Rare are the sports where two opponents come up to a field for such an intense one on one battle. Once you arrive on that court, all those hours of training, those extra pounds you lifted, those extra shots you hit when you were beyond exhausted, all of that and more comes down to a battle between two players. It's a strategic battle of course, but probably more than anything else it's a battle of the wills as well as a mind war.
No doubt about it, it is difficult to wish for a better rivalry than the current one between Nadal and Federer. Sure a few years ago we had Pete Sampras vs Andre Agassi and by no means am I trying to compare the two. They are both unmatched in so many ways. But the Nadal-Federer one has been growing for years now and it's not hype or biult by the media, it truly is a great battle every time they play on the court.
How can Roger Federer, who many predict will be the best player in history when all is said and done have so many problems with the Spaniard? The usually unflappable Federer often looks lost in such matches. If this was an oral debate, you could imagine William Shakespeare looking for his words.. impossible? Try again. There's something about Nadal, about the way he plays this game, his never give up attitude. The fact that when looking at him, you will never tell if he's up or down match point, it's the same intensity every single time, every single match, every single point.
Roger knows his regular shots, his regular game is just not good enough against Nadal. No problem, he has a few extra gears he can go to. But then, there's also this other "aspect". Upon stepping on the court anywhere in the world, Roger has this "aura", this bubble around him, this idea that unless a miracle happens, Roger will come up on top. Everyone sees this bubble, the fans, the commentators and probably more than anyone else the players themselves. When Agassi says Roger is the best he's ever played, when Roddick dismisses the rivalry idea because he's not winning, etc. Everyone sees this huge bubble, everyone except Nadal. Rafa just steps on the court and does not seem to mind that it's Roger.... and to Roger, that's just not something he's used to and he's not getting any more used to it with time...
Some have said Rafael is now in Roger's head and it's getting harder and harder to argue that fact. When Roger says Rafael plays a "unidimensional game" (as he did last week in Shanghai), it is certainly no mistake. Roger has many qualities and the way he speaks so elequently certainly is one. He said that because he believed it. But then how could he really say Nadal has a one dimensional game? Sure Nadal basically just tries to get the ball back to Roger, but it works. Why would anyone in their right mind switch tactics when you are able to knock out the world #1 player by just hitting the ball back (granted, doing it better than anyone else)?
2007 will certainly be an increasingly interesting year for this rivalry is Rafael can continue to improve on other surfaces in order to reach those finals against Federer. We know Federer won't lose often to anyone else so the state of this rivalry is in the Spaniard's hands... Vamos Rafa..
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Federer takes out Nadal
 Many of you know that over the years, I have been a big critic of Rafael Nadal. That was mainly because in my opinion it was unfair to compare Nadal and Federer since the Spaniard was a one surface guy. But then this year, I was truly impressed by Nadal's run in Wimbledon. Sure, I did think he had a fairly easy draw and was not truly tested before the final. But then when he faced off with Roger Federer, on grass of all surfaces, he was able to put up quite a fight, very impressive. And then I doubted... could Rafael truly be an all-around player? I guess the hard court season would be the perfect way to find out.
While the debate is certainly not on, I think Rafael has certainly improved on other surfaces and has actually created a challenge for Federer. I and many others have beleived that Roger was not even playing his best yet. Remember that Wimbledon final against Andy Roddick? After having a tough time early on, he changed match plans and eventually came back and won. In almost all of his matches, Roger does not even need to push himself, he can just play a safe match and not really push himself. That all changes when he faces Rafael Nadal. COnfidence is no more and he needs to push his usually "safe" tactics. That is certainly what can explain the uncharacteristic mistakes we him make when playing Nadal, he's just not used to playing with much risk. But a big problem is now arising for Rafael Nadal because ROger is becomming more and more used to playing like this which means it will only be harder in my opinion for him to pull off these wins and even clay could prove another story in 2007.
So anyway, I did not get to see the latest Nadal-Federer showdown today in Shanghai but I'm certainly happy to see Roger won in straight sets, and actually not that surprised either.
Should make for an interesting rivalry in 2007!
Monday, November 13, 2006
It's time to vote!!
 Good evening! As the main webmaster of Tennisrulz, there are so many enjoyable moments that come with running the network, but the voting of the Tennisrulz Awards is always one of those I look forward to. You kind of lose perspective of how many thousands of fans are reading what is happening on the network until you ask for the fans to become active. And what better way than to ask fans to vote for the yearly awards.
Depending on much time I have, I usually discuss categories with Todd Spiker, and while most categories are the same from year to year, a few are added or taken off that add to the curiosity we have when awaiting results. Then usually, a few weeks in, I email Todd preliminary results to let him know what is coming up so far, I guess we do it mostly for curiosity but it's also about Todd getting his article ready.
Over the years, we have been getting more and more votes (over 2000 last year) that have helped us make the Tennisrulz awards a pretty big thing!
So please be sure to go post your votes here.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Justine comes up with another miracle
 Hello to everyone. I know, I know, it's been a long time since I posted an update for my blog, not being very regular. I guess many things could be talked about and there are some pretty good chances that I'll write about the Kremlin Cup soon as that in itself was quite an experience (good and bad!). For those who didn't know, I made a nice little trip in Russia and China and like most trips I make, I had included some tennis, this time, a visit to the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. Anyway, all for now, I will move on to the subject of this post, Justine's performance this year.
2006 has been a year filled with great and bad things for Justine. After a tough start in Australia (amid all the controversy when she withdrew during the singles final).
But this week was pretty unique. After having a huge letdown during the Fed Cup final, Justine was out of action for several weeks. Now, we all know that coming back is hard on any occasion. Think of Serena Williams coming back in Australia a few years ago and winning the Australian Open in her first event back. Or even earlier, Kim came back a couple weeks ago and won her first event back in Hasselt.
There is however one major difference. In those instances and pretty much all similar ones, these players had the time to adjust by playing some weaker players to start their runs. They would play 3 set matches against players they would normally crush. Justine did not have that luxury. She was playing in Madrid with the other 7 top players in the world, no easy task. To see her come out of the event with the singles title, only one loss (coming in her last round robbin match when she was sure to move on anyway) is quite an accomplishment.
"(This week) was a tough challenge for me and I really didn't know what to expect, and then I come, I win. I finish the year No.1. So what can I ask more? I'm just so happy right now. It's (an) unbelievable feeling."
Indeed, it is an amazing accomplishment. It has been discussed many times in the past how different Kim Clijsters and Justine are (see Todd Spiker's comments here) and while I prefer watching Kim play, there is no doubt that this week is another incredible example of Justine Henin-Hardenne's unique determination and resolve to get things done.
Thanks to this win, she will finish 2006 as the #1 player in the world. And honestly, who could argue? She made the final of all 4 slam tournaments (winning in Paris), won the year end Sony Ericsson Championships and came within one set of leading her team to a Fed Cup win... truly amazing, Bravo Justine.
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