Tennis Update: January 31, 2013

Ok, so Rafael Nadal might actually be returning to tennis for real in Chile next week at a clay court tournament. He MIGHT. So let's not get our hopes up too much. He admits that his knee is still a source of pain for him, but he should be able to win this tournament because he's the top seed there. The next best player is Juan Monaco, someone Nadal has a 4-1 winning record against. I'm expecting to see him play well, but he won't be at top form. It's almost impossible to stop for 7 months and return playing exactly the way you left off.
And since some of you probably miss watching and talking about the Australian Open, here are some wrap-up facts about the tournament. A total of 684,457 fans attended the event; the most on one day was 80,735 on the Saturday in the middle of the tournament. 720 journalists, photographers and commentators attended, with around 315 international media from 40 different countries. The tournament was broadcasted in over 200 countries on over 27 networks and 1000 broadcast medias. There have been over 14.1 million pageviews to the official website, 887,158 likes on Facebook and 155,738 followers on Twitter. The Australian Open Android App is even more popular, with over 47 million pageviews. AOTV received around 7,000,000 views, while Australian Open Youtube got around 8,865,829. About 45,000 Wilson tennis balls and 2,500 Australian open towels were used throughout the course of the tournament. Impressive!

Tennis Update: January 28, 2013

Well, Azarenka and Djokovic ended up being repeat champions of the 2013 Australian Open. They both did not live up to some of the matches played in the earlier rounds. Li Na admitted not playing her best and falling halfway during the match may have thrown her off a little. I was almost certain Andy Murray would not win against Djokovic because I don't think he has that much belief yet. I feel like he was just wishing to beat Federer (wish he did), so he had already accomplished what he wanted and didn't feel a desire to win anymore. In my honest opinion, he's happy with 2nd place whereas Novak is not. He wants to be the best every time. Trying your "best" is not an option with Novak.
I want to reflect on some of the key things that happened in this year's Australian Open. First off, American women's tennis has hope after Serena and Venus retire. The French men are good, but not good enough. Djokovic is no joke when it comes to winning slams like this. Wawrinka has what it takes to compete, he just has to have the mental side now. Serena is not unbeatable. Andy Murray needs to work on strengthening his nerve. Federer is in good shape for the rest of the year. Li Na will be a big contender this year. Azarenka may not be a fan favorite anymore. And yellow is a big deal this year.

Tennis Update: January 24, 2013

Li Na and Victoria Azarenka will meet in the Australian Open final on Saturday. Li Na shocked Sharapova 6-2 6-2, but that's not the real story. Victoria Azarenka is being criticized for her 10-minute medical timeout for being nervous. After the match she answered the question of medical timeout that she was nervous, but in the press conference, she said her back and rib was hurting. It is very sketchy. Almost no one believes that she has a legitimate injury. Stories can't seem to get anything right. Some say she had one injury; others say she had two. This is why the tennis officials should think of changing that rule because many players take advantage of it. They use it to take breaks and to gather themselves. It's not right.

Anyway, stepping away from this controversy. Federer defeated Tsonga yesterday and is into the semifinals. He is scheduled to face Murray. Djokovic, on the other side, has steamrolled through Ferrer and has already booked his spot in the finals. Fortunately he won fairly. The lack of controversy and abundance of great tennis on the men's side is really refreshing in comparison to the WTA.

Tennis Trends and Updates: January 22, 2013

I didn't do a blog for the second half of last week, so I'm going to answer discussion question 17.2.

Well I should probably talk about the amazing match Djokovic and Wawrinka played. It was 5 hours of  big hitting, long rallies and defying physical limits. I think the real winner that day was tennis and the huge crowd that stayed there till 2 in the morning supporting their favorite players. It was just disappointing that the match had to end since it was one of the best matches I've ever watched (no joke).
On the women's side, Sharapova and Li Na have reached the semis. The other semi final match is still up for grabs between Serena, Kuznetsova, Azarenka and Stephens. Sloane Stephens is an up and coming American player making a huge breakthrough in this tournament, reaching her first major quarterfinals. Unfortunately she will be up against another American player, but one who is far more experienced. It is good to know American tennis has someone to step up after Serena retires. Anyway, I wanted to review Federer's outfit. It's been a buzz because (ohmygosh!) he's wearing pink.

It's not really "normal" for a guy to wear pink, especially in sports, you know? They always try to be really masculine with simple "manly" colors, but I think it's especially challenging to wear a powder pink. Usually pink is reserved for Nadal, but with him out of the tournament, Federer took the challenge and pulls it off quite well. I don't really like the weird color of his shirt though. It looks a little dirty and the color scheme is not working for me. High contrasts such as this does not work for me. His shoes look nice by themselves. I think everything but his shirt works for me. It's just such an odd color. i can't think of what they could replace it with (pink perhaps?) but just not this weird blue-gray ugly color. 7/10.

Tennis Trends and Updates: January 15th, 2013

Yellow seems to be the color of choice for players at the Australian Open. Sharapova, Azarenka, Wozniacki, Monfils and Dolgopolov are among the top players sporting the bright color. It contrasts well with the blue courts of Melbourne. Maybe when the season starts for other players, we will be seeing lots of yellow popping up.
Another outfit spotting was Andy Murray's shirt. He was questioned if he had gained some muscle, but he said he had actually just worn a tighter shirt. His shirt does wonders.

In addition to this fashion buzz, Serena Williams had a scary fall yesterday, but still won 6-0 6-0 (anyone else not surprised? She could beat anyone left handed). Federer, Monfils, del Potro and most of the top seeds have cruised through their first matches. In the women's circuit, there aren't any upsets to report. The top seeds have been living up to their "name." Also, a very surprising win by a 42-year old Kimiko Date-Krumm puts her as the oldest person to ever win a first round at the Australian Open. Wow! So old!

Tennis Update: January 9th, 2013

I read an interesting article today about anti-doping investigations in tennis. This was rumored to have been intensified by the Lance Armstrong deal and the doping in cycling. According to Christiane Ayotte, a highly respected figure in the world of anti-doping, tennis is definitely not suspected to be as bad as cycling. The limitations of tennis versus what the limitations are in cycling are much different. It allows for less sketchy stuff happening behind the scenes. In cycling some who tested positive were found with multiple substances in their bodies. Ayotte states that in tennis that is almost never the case, so the concern is definitely not as great. The tennis federation also keep track of the health profiles of the top 25 players to make sure everything looks normal; this is not usually done in major sports, so that is helping in keeping doping at a minimum in the game. This translates into the amount of money spent in anti-doping. ATP only spends around $1.3 million annually whereas the cycling circuit spends around three times that amount. Still they are thinking of putting a stronger grip around the anti-doping services in the circuit. The problems now surrounding the anti-doping is the predictability of the tests. They usually happen at grandslams after losses. Also there blood-tests have decreased while urine tests are just remaining at a steady amount. This means that substances only detected through the bloodstream may be safer from the tests and used more often in the game. Some substances, like testosterone, can only be detected 15-20 hours after ingestion, so the timing for tests has to be more frequent and random. Although there is no reason to suspect too much of this going on, it is very important they do more tests to ensure that everyone is competing as fairly as possible. 

Tennis Update: January 7th, 2013

Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka are the top seeds for the Aussie Open 2013. Just so you know. I'm sure that is no surprise to most people who have been following tennis for the last year. These two have done well the most consistently in 2012, so they definitely deserve this. It is not always a blessing to be the top seed in a tournament though. There are little advantages, besides the fact that you won't face the 2nd seed until the finals. There are more disadvantages, such as added pressure and expectations. Every match you go into, the pressure is on your shoulders to win. You are supposed to have the edge just because the number 1 is next to your name. Every opponent you play is "the underdog" so they can play loosely, unafraid to lose. 

As for more gossip-y tennis news, Sharapova and Dimitrov have been linked and there are rumors they may be in a relationship. Exciting. They could be the next tennis "power couple." I think the last power couple was Hewitt and Clijsters some time ago. Now they are in happy (different) marriages, so props to both of them for breaking up and getting over it. Not all relationships end that way, especially high-profile ones like those. 

Tennis Update: January 3rd, 2013

Sorry for the delay. I was on vacation and didn't think about blogging too much. And Happy New Year! 2013!

Anyway, tennis has awoken from its deep slumber and things are heating up Down Under in Australia. Many of the top players are competing in the warmup tournaments in preparation for the year's first slam, the Aussie Open. Still, one of the tours favorite top players, Nadal, will be out for a while due to a stomach bug and (probably) bad knees. It's unfortunate, but perhaps the extra time will give him what he needs for a full recovery. He's had such a rough year.
Anyway, Djokovic has been upset by Tomic at the Hopman Cup. This young Australian player is going to be Australia's next hope. He's one to watch in the Australian Open, which starts January 14th.
For those of you who haven't heard of the Hopman Cup, it is a great tournament where countries send their top female and male to compete against the other countries. The US lost in the semis to Spain in the semis, sending Fernando Verdasco and Anabel Medina Garrigues into the finals. Heading into the Australian Open, Venus played in good style beating Garrigues 6-3 6-4. Yay! Go US!