Tennis News and Updates: Oct. 30, 2012

So Serena has walked away from the WTA Championships as the year-end winner! She beat Sharapova in the finals 6-4 6-3. At 31 years old, it's a huge accomplishment for her winning this, Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open. Not many players over 30 can brag about such a fruitful year. Congratulations to her and hopefully she gets a good break before the Australian Open!
Other updates: Azarenka, despite not winning the WTA Championships, will still end up staying at #1. Federer has also pulled out of the Paris Masters' to be in good shape for the year-end ATP championships.


I read something interesting today about a school in California for the blind who are starting to teach its students to play tennis. It is hard to wrap your head around trying to hit the ball without seeing it, but they have found a way to help the students experience this sport. The net is shorter, the court is smaller, the racket head is bigger and the grip is shorter. The ball is made of foam and filled with metal beads that rattle so that the students will be able to locate and track the ball. These things are tailored to aid the blind in playing tennis. The instructors say the biggest problem is the timing in hitting the ball. That is even hard for non-blind people to do. I think this is a great way to expand the sport to everyone. 

Tennis Update and Tennis Trends: Oct. 27, 2012

The final four in the WTA Championships in Istanbul were Radwanska, Williams, Sharapova and Azarenka. Serena and Sharapova will meet in the finals, more or less as expected. Since it's such a high scale tournament, perhaps we should review their outfits? Shall we begin? 

Serena Williams' outfit looks pretty good this time. I like that she is keeping it simple and comfortable. After all, she is playing tennis in it; some of the tighter things she wears looks slightly painful to play in, especially for hours at a time. She's representing the US well in this red, white and blue outfit. If this is on purpose, I wouldn't know for sure, but it seems fitting. It's a really well coordinated outfit; I believe she designed it herself? She wears it well too because she's able to show off her athletic body without showing TOO much, so it's flattering on her. 8.5/10.

Sharapova's outfit is very young, but sophisticated at the same time. The color always looks good on her. I also really like those detailed lines on the skirt and shirt. It's less boring. Tennis outfits tend to look really similar, so small things like that stand out. The shoes aren't shown in this picture, but they also have those lines on them as well, keeping the whole outfit together. I'm also glad she got passed the headband phase. The headband really did not work on her. So yay Maria! 9/10. I would wear.

Anyway, hopefully the finals turns out to be good. Even if it's not, there will still be nice outfits to look at. So it's going to be a win either way for tennis fans. Right?

Tennis Tuesday: Oct. 23, 2012

I read an interesting article about the "stringent" doping regulations in tennis. According to Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, people have knocked on their doors in the middle of the night requesting an hour to test for any performance enhancing drugs. They both agree it is to the best interest of the game. I think it is just to test people, so I completely agree with this system. Among players who have been found using steroids are Wayne Odesnik, an American. Other drugs, like recreational ones, have been used by many players like Agassi, Hingis and Capriati. I think these types of drugs should be discouraged, but should not be considered as devastating to the sport as steroids. What is your stance on this issue? Should these tests be even more strict and frequent? And what do you think about recreational drug use? 
Anyway, the WTA championships have begun.  Among the 8 competitors are Azarenka, Sharapova, Williams, Radwanska and Errani. Hopefully they'll be showing us some good tennis in this upcoming week. Serena has already advanced to the next round, defeating Kerber in straight sets. Radwanska also defeated Kvitova to move on. Anyway, this will be a very interesting end to the WTA season!

Tennis Update: Oct. 21, 2012

Wozniacki won the Kremlin Cup in Stockholm today beating Stosur in the final. That's a good win for her; I haven't seen her win much this year. With her mediocre results (in her terms) she has fallen to world #11. She really needs to up her game a little more with more power instead of just pushing and grinding. It's not going to work against big hitters like Sharapova and Serena Williams. Anyways, I'm going to look at her outfit, just because there isn't really much news circulating in the tennis world. 

Please ignore the face. So here she is wearing an adidas outfit by Stella McCartney. It's better than the other one for some reason even though it had the same design. I think I like the monotone better. Still, but pink is too contrasting for me. I don't know why she always is told to wear the weirdest outfits; why can't she wear something without huge contrasts, frills or ribbons? She's just an athlete, not a clown or a model or anything else. Still, this is one of her more normal outfits, so I approve. 7/10.

In other news, Berdych won the Stockholm tournament as well. And Venus Williams won the one in Luxembourg; yay for her! That hasn't happened in a while! Monfils is forced to end his season early because of a knee injury, mon dieu, and Tommy Haas has won his 500th career match. Wow. That is unbelievable. Also James Blake is insisting that performance enhancing drugs are still a problem in tennis. Hmmmm...is this a passive insult at some of his fellow players? Interesting.

Midweek Update: Oct. 17, 2012

I was reading a really interesting article this morning on ESPN about the top 8 men on the ATP tour and basically a review of their year and what would make the best sense for them to do before the Australian Open. It's actually a lot more interesting that I'm making it sound; I would go check it out. There's a video as well.
Also, David Ferrer, the world #5, will be joining Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in the year end 2012 ATP Championship Finals. I believe Ferrer is one of the most underachieving men's tennis player currently on tour, maybe him and Davydenko. They both work so hard, but lack in the physical advantage. Davydenko is too physically slight, but he has the greatest defense and shot making skills you will see. It's also the same for Ferrer. They're playing in an era of the most physically demanding tennis and couldn't win the physical battle. I always root for them to win a grandslam sometime because they deserve it. They just can't seem to break through!
In other news, there is a WTA event in Luxembourg and Moscow and ATP events in Moscow, Stockholm and Vienna. Plenty of tennis to watch! Sorry about not updating any tennis trends, I haven't really been seeing any new outfits, but I'm sure they'll bring out the big guns during the year end championships. Can't wait!

Tennis Updates: Oct. 13, 2012

It's mandatory we give a big congratulations to Robin Soderling and his wife on the birth of their first baby. The only report I've heard is that it's a girl! Even if you're not a fan of his, ignore all sour feelings for the moment and be happy for the couple. He's taking a unknown amount of time off from tennis to spend with his family; hopefully he'll be back sooner rather than later! 
In other news, Murray and Djokovic are set for a final in Shanghai after Murray defeated King Federer and Djokovic beat Berdych. I'm forecasting a very competitive match with loads of fist pumping, ball retrieving and loud families. Can't wait! Federer shouldn't be too disappointed though. He's reached his 300th week at number one. 300 weeks is equivalent to about 3,024,000 minutes. That's just insane. The scary thing is he's still not done with his career. 
Also, Sam Stosur, at the Osaka tournament, lost to Chang in the semifinals in a big upset. The Taiwan native was a big underdog in this match, but she managed to silence her critics. Me thinks tennis players from East Asia are going to have a big year in 2013. 

Midweek Tennis News: Oct. 10, 2012

Someone has been sending death threats to Federer!? What!!! It was sent to him right before the Shanghai Rolex Masters; obviously an anti-fan who doesn't want him ending the season as #1 for the 6th time. Jealous people make me sick. Hopefully security will be on the lookout to keep him safe. 

Also, good news for the Chinese nation, an star is emerging. Zhang Ze, a 22-year old, broke into the top 50 for the first time and also got into the quarters of Beijing, beating Gasquet en route. That's will be a huge deal since there has not been a very successful Chinese tennis player in a long while. Hope he doesn't disappoint. 
Also in the finals of Beijing for the WTA, Azarenka defeated Sharapova 6-3 6-1. I feel like Vika really gets into Sharapova's head with her intensity and her cocky-ish attitude on court. Also her retrieving skills annoys Sharapova, who likes to finish points quickly. The long grinding points Vika plays are a little too physically demanding. That's almost always why the matches go Vika's way. Maybe Sharapova will work on her speed a little more and be able to more closely battle Vika. For now, Azarenka will win most of the matches purely because of speed and endurance. 

Reflective Friday: Oct. 5, 2012

I recently read an article in Tennis Magazine that tried to determine the best out of Nadal, Djokovic and Federer. It really encouraged me to think about who was truly the better player. I tried to set aside my bias for Federer and just focus on accomplishments. Federer has won the most grandslams, Nadal has a winning record against Federer and Djokovic had a 41 match win streak in the beginning of last year. So who is the best when they are playing at their best? That's such a tough questions to answer. It's almost impossible to answer since there can almost never be any concrete for any claim.
If I had to choose who is the best, I would say Federer. His game is the sleekest and smoothest. And I would argue he has shots that the other two don't have. He combines power with spin and positioning. His game seems like the least physically draining as well, so he could play for longer. The difference that separates them is like a centimeter. I loved what Tennis Magazine called it, a "trivalry". Maybe by the year end championships, we'll see who really reigns as the king.

In other news, Nishikori is the first native Japanese person to make it into the semis of the Tokyo tournament. Hopefully he can pull out a win; his country would be proud. 

Tennis Tattle Tuesday: Oct. 2, 2012

Here's the WTA schedule for the rest of the year. Promised it. 
And remember last week when I said I didn't know when Nadal would be back to tennis? He says he's planning on a December return! Woohoo! His fans will be so happy, I'm sure. 
Also there is a tennis grunting ban no enacted in the WTA. Some people may not really think grunting is a big deal, but watch this. You should be glad they can't do it anymore. Ironically Sharapova says the rule will be good for tennis. Hopefully nothing will happen to her because of it. 
Alsooo, the Australian Open will be increasing it's prize money this year. It will be about $31.5 million, a 15% increase. Will that make the players try harder? The Australian tennis committee is doing this to encourage more tennis players "Down Under" to compete at the professional level. I think that's interesting. Bernard Tomic seems to be an upcoming star though. He's racked up some big wins this year. He is Australia's next big star. Maybe next week I'll come up with a list of the upcoming champions, the ones after Federer, Djokovic, Nadal and Murray retire. But I'll have to see about that. It might take a while to make a good list. Look forward to it.