August 12th, 2009 was a beautiful, sunny Wednesday morning in Montreal. Because I was working at the Rogers Cup, I got admission to the grounds and ...
August 12th, 2009 was a beautiful, sunny Wednesday morning in Montreal. Because I was working at the Rogers Cup, I got admission to the grounds and had specifically asked for Wednesday off so I would be able to go check out all the players’ practices. It was really a loaded draw with the most talented ten competing during the day.
At 11 that day, a friend and I walked over to Court four where the world’s No.1, Roger Federer, was expected to get there at 11:30am. Already jam packed with about a few hundred people, there was barely any room to move.
As the time neared, the place was packed with fans who enthusiastically waited to get a glimpse of the Swiss Maestro. With the sun soaring at 95 degrees fahrenheit, we watched him warm up and start hitting balls. To be frank, it was quite uneventful and was supposed to last 2 hours.
So, slowly, we squeeze out of the crowd and come to an open space. I look up at Court four on the other side to see a tall, lanky player dressed in a pink Nike T-shirt and white shorts hitting a few balls. I try to look closer and indeed came to see it was Juan Martin Del Potro.
As he came to the exit gate, there were 6 fans waiting for him to earn his signature and he did sign. As he signed my picture and proceeded to my pal, I told him “I wish you the best of luck in your competition today.”
He turned around and had a huge grin on his face and claimed “Thank you so much for your support.” He seemed like he was extremely pleased about what I had said to him.
As he won yesterday, the irony of this situation just came to my thoughts. The fact that essentially nobody was at hand to root for him and Federer had a ton of fans. Sometimes, it is better to be let alone than to be constantly followed.
Del Potro played a fabulous match this week and is totally worthy of his championship. Vamos!
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Anybody that watches women’s tennis can not fail to notice the advances in game over the last 30 years or so.
Women seem to be a lot stronger and faster in the sport lately. Here is my opinion of who I think are the top 7 players since 1980 in women’s tennis, in reverse order.
7. Venus Williams, her achievements in her Grand Slams and her Wimbledon wins just go to show what an immense talent this woman is, and with her rivalry with her sister Serena this woman just seems to grow each year.
6. Justine Henin, still only 27 years of age, Justine at her peak was a match for both of the Williams sisters, but she retired at the peak of her career, and only now has started to make a comeback. Let’s just hope she can recreate her previous form.
5. Monica Seles, Monica was an awesome prospect, and after winning 9 Grand slams at an early age she was tipped to become one of the all time great women players; but after she was stabbed in an incident, Monica failed to reproduce her best Tennis, and subsequently seems to have faded from the spotlight.
4. Chris Evert. Chris was an icon of both the Seventies and Eighties and managed to win 18 grand slams in her glittering career.
3. Serena Williams: another powerhouse Tennis player, Serena can go toe to toe with any women’s player around today, a real force to be reckoned with in today’s tennis.
2. Martina Navratilova. This lady was a dominant force in women’s Tennis for over a decade and her 18 Grand slam victories plus numerous other titles in her career says it all.
1. Steffi Graf, I think that the fact that Steffi had won an amazing 22 career Grand slams just gave her the edge over Martina for the top spot. This girl would be a match for anybody on her day, but as I said earlier this is just my opinion.
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If you are a follower of Tennis, you will realize that a lot of changes have occurred since the great days of 30 years ago. The racquets are a lot different for starters, and the style of playing has altered dramatically.
Why don’t we just go back to the Eighties for a moment and try to remember some of the great Tennis players that showed us their talents back then.
The 1980’s has to be synonymous with undoubtedly the greatest ever player to have graced the Tennis courts, that is until his retirement at an early age. This could only be the one and only Bjorn Borg.
Another great Swede to entertain us all on the Tennis courts had to be none other that Stefan Edberg. This man could serve and volley for fun, and it was this talent that eventually got him to the number one spot in Tennis, but that was more to the end of the Eighties.
Another excellent player of the Decade had to be the German Maestro, none other than Boris Becker. Another great talent who is probably best remembered for his Wimbledon win when he was only a teenager.
Then there was the Great Czech, Ivan Lendl. Lendl won a few grand slams and quite a few more tournaments in his time, but his baseline play was probably his greatest feature.
I suppose the most memorable player of the Eighties had to be the American bad boy, John McEnroe. Not only was he a brilliant player at singles but he was a mean doubles player as well, and when things did not go all his own way, he always used to shout at the line judges “you cannot be serious, the ball was in!” – unforgettable and fun.
All of these played a major contribution to Tennis in the Eighties, along with many others, but when I think of Eighties Tennis, these are the ones I remember the most.
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