Tennis Update: November 26, 2012

Did everyone have a good Thanksgiving? 

Anyway, Robin Soderling, I just learned, has been battling mono for the last two years. It's an icky illness and really hard to get over. It's almost impossible to do any training with the disease. I hope he is able to get better and play more often for his fans. 

And to all Rafa fans, he will be playing in the ExxonMobile Open! Get excited! I almost don't remember the last time I saw him competing. Is that a bad thing? Another comeback is Mardy Fish. He will be returning after scary heart-problems he experienced on court. American tennis fans will be overjoyed to see a top competitor back in the international game. 

Also, one of WTA's top players, Gisela Dulko has retired from the game. I never watched her often, but when I did see her play, she was very impressive. I'm glad for her!

But there's no more news now, tennis news will be slow for these next few weeks. Sorry guys!

Tennis Updates: November 16, 2012

Rafael Nadal is beginning his training for the 2013 ATP year. Australian Open debut perhaps? Hopefully. The tennis world misses his charisma and fights on court.
Also, the Czech Republic Davis Cup team is psyched for the Davis Cup finals! They will be going against Spain in Prague. National pride is on the line for both teams. So you would be smart to bet that the players will be competing their hearts out. Ferrer and Stepanek will be opening up the finals. The Czechs mindset is clearly stated in this quote "Once the team got together, our goal was to bring this trophy back on our second attempt. We're playing for it at home, we don't need any extra motivation." Who will win?


Also for the older folks, apparently Bob Hewitt has been suspended from his induction into the Tennis Hall of Fame. After sexual allegations against the girls he coached, he was removed from the high honor. It is such a shame that he did such terrible things. At least they've caught a predator and justice will be served against those poor girls. 

Monday Update: November 12, 2012

A few hours ago, I witnessed a great match between Djokovic and Federer in the finals of the ATP yearend championships. Unfortunately (for me), Roger lost in a match that I thought should have been pushed to 3 sets, but Novak really fought back hard in the last 3 games of the 2nd set. Congratulations to him for winning! He will end up as #1 and validate his spot as one of the toughest competitors Federer will ever face. The match was everything it was said to be. It's difficult to explain the feel; you would have had to have watched it to know what I meant. Every point was tense between the players because they knew that any moment was a turning point in a match where centimeters decide the winner or loser. Novak ended the match fittingly with a backhand down the line as Roger approached the net. You could almost feel before he hit that ball that he was going to win the point using whatever it took. With tournaments, there's not very much tennis left to play this year. But worry not! You only have to wait one month until the Australian Open begins, perhaps with Rafa's comeback from his knee injuries. Tennis fans, be patient!

Tennis Thursday Update: November 8, 2012

Federer has reached the semifinals of the ATP Championship! He defeated Ferrer in the quarters, but after the match admitted he was a great fan of Ferrer. Ferrer has always been a hardworker in an era of talented all court players, so he hasn't had a great chance of winning major tournaments. But worry not, he will still be able to make it to the semis as long as he defeats Tipsarevic in the next match. That would move him up up the rankings, even above Nadal, his fellow countryman.
Murray and Djokovic will face each other in the other semis. Novak has been saying that every match he's played against Andy has been a classic. I must admit that their playing styles complement each others' game very well. They are both able to grind and both are good aggressors. All points are extended to the brink until someone is falling over trying to reach a shot. I doubt this match will be any different. It will be fun to watch. 
Speaking of entertaining players, I recently came across a list of very entertaining players due to their personalities and antics more than their skill. It went something like this (in no particular order):
1. Goran Ivanisevic
2. Marat Safin
3. Rafael Nadal
4. Andy Roddick
5. Novak Djokovic
6. Yannick Noah
7. Henri Leconte
8. Mansour Bahrami
And I would like to add Fabric Santoro for his tricks and magic shots. 
Who is your favorite player to watch? 

Tennis Tuesday: November 6, 2012

The Barclay ATP World Tour Finals is finally here! Federer, Murray, Djokovic and Ferrer have started strong with wins in their first rounds over Tipsarevic, Berdych, Tsonga and del Potro, respectively. Since this is a round robin, there is plenty of tennis to come. The players are divided into two "waterfall" groups. Group A consists of Djokovic, Murray, Berdych and Tsonga. Group B is Federer, Ferrer, del Potro and Tipsarevic. As much as I don't want to admit it, Group A seems much tougher. Hopefully Federer is able to keep conserve energy in his opening matches for the finals. 
I would like to review Federer's outfit. Just because I can. Swear I'm not being biased here.

Anyway, as we can see, Nike has chosen a very fitting color. Purple, the color of royalty. In this case, he's tennis royalty. The king. Duh. I have nothing bad to say about this. It's basically his usual classy look, but in a different color. I have never seen him wear purple before (I think), but it's nice considering the occasion. His whole outfit is tied together with his laces and the black neutrality of everything else. This is a very dashing kit. 10/10 would rate this 10/10. 
I'm sure if you haven't already seen him playing, you'll see him sometime, probably in the finals. Good luck to everyone else trying to beat him! Don't take that as a challenge!!

Tennis Updates: November 3, 2012

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!
Anyway, biggish news, Ferrero, former world, #1 has officially retired from the game. Everyone will miss him and remember him for ushering in the era of Spanish domination. I'm sure he won't be too far from the game though.
Do you remember my post about around a week ago regarding doping regulations in tennis? Well, Murray has reportedly gotten into the discussions and thinks they should be more severe. He wants to avoid the scandals and problems that surrounded doping in the cycling circuit. He believes the top is "mostly clean" (does that mean some of the top players are using drugs?), but he wants to make 100% sure that no one has an unfair advantage in today's game. One of the proposals he made was to increase the tests during off-season, when players are getting in shape. In his opinion, the ATP is too lenient about guys playing on the circuit who use steroids or human growth hormone. Hearing this, we can agree that most of the top players want there to be more tests done. WTA and ATP should start listening!
And in some weird news, Azarenka's boyfriend (a lesser known professional tennis player) fell off a 3 story balcony and was rushed to the hospital Thursday morning with major injuries. He's currently still there. I wonder what kinds of crazy were going on to have him fall off a balcony like that. I sincerely hope he gets better soon; that is something I would never wish upon anyone.