If you could have any two players from any time period play each other 1 match, who would it be and why? It's a tough question for me. There are so many fun match ups: Nadal vs Sampras, Federer vs Laver, Edberg vs Borg, Roddick vs Tilden, Federer vs Budge etc. It's hard to pick just one. I guess if I had to I might go with Nadal vs Borg, two of the greatest clay court players of all time. Nadal and Borg have similar birthdays, and playing styles. They even look similar because of the long hair with the bandana/headband. If they were able to play each other on the European red clay it would be hard to say who would win (assuming that Borg was using and adept with a graphite racquet.)
Bjorn Borg, stopped playing the majors in 1981 and later completely retired from tennis in January of 1983 (with the exception of an unsuccessful return to the tour, in the early 90s.)
Years before I was born and about 22 years before I saw my first tennis match. I had actually never seen a Borg match until last year when I found one of his Wimbledon finals on You Tube. I had read about him and had heard that he was one of the greatest clay court players of all time (maybe more so than Nadal.) So, I was very curious to see how good he really was. I was impressed with what I saw. Borg was able to generate tremendous topspin with a wood racquet (very difficult to do because of the small head size.) Borg, lacked some of the power that Nadal has and looked less intimidating because of his smaller size but he was still extremely fast. My opinion is that Bjorn Borg deserves most of the praise that he gets. I wouldn't say he was the greatest player of all time but his French Open and Wimbledon achievements were amazing.
Despite having similar styles, there are noticeable differences between Borg and Nadal. Borg came to net a little bit more than Nadal and was probably more reliant on his serve than Nadal is. Nadal plays almost all of his points from way behind the base-line, where as Borg was more willing to step into the court and put more aggression into his ground strokes. Actually, Borg reminds me more of Federer on clay than Nadal. Both Nadal and Borg were incredibly fast runners.
If they were to play a match, in their primes, with the technology staying the same (both with a graphite) and Borg was able to master the newer technology, I think it would be an extremely close match. Nadal, would probably would have a strength advantage over Borg. I would probably go with Nadal in a very close 4 or 5 set match.
Who do you think would be the winner?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Will Nadal's knees cause his downfall?
I recently read that Nadal, is now going to skip Dubai, because of an injury that he suffered to his knee during his match against Murray in Rotterdam. This is the second time in the last two and a half months that he's had to skip an event because of knees pains and it may not be the last time that he's sidelined this season. Nadal's, knees aren't going to get any better, in fact his Uncle has been talking about seriously cutting back on the tournaments during the hard court months.
It's really too bad that he has these kinds of problems at 22. Nadal's, knees will most likely force him into retirement at some point. It's impossible to know when but it's not a good sign if he's already re-injured them only a month into the tennis season.
What are your thoughts on Nadal's knees?
It's really too bad that he has these kinds of problems at 22. Nadal's, knees will most likely force him into retirement at some point. It's impossible to know when but it's not a good sign if he's already re-injured them only a month into the tennis season.
What are your thoughts on Nadal's knees?
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Nadal vs Federer Australian Open Finals
It's only February and I think this may already be the match of the year. I woke up at 4:00 AM to see this one. Since it was between Nadal and Federer I knew that it had to be good.
Once the match began Federer, played a horrible first game and was easily broken by Nadal. Fed got the break back the next game and from that point on the first set was very close. Both players were playing amazing points, they struck winners that would blow your mind. Nadal, eventually got a break late in the first set to win it 7-5.
In the second set Nadal got an early break to go up 3-2 but Federer managed to dig deep and win four straight games to win the second set 6-3.
The third was extremely intense and produced some of the best points in the match. I had a feeling that whoever won the third set would win the match. Neither player was able to break serve so it eventually went to a tie-break. Nadal and Federer traded mini-breaks in the tie- break before Nadal began to pull away. Rafa won the tie-break 7-3.
With Nadal, now up two sets to one and Federer's chances looking worse than ever, I thought that Nadal might run away with the match. It didn't happen. After having several chances to break serve during one of the early games in the fourth set, Nadal, let down a bit and Federer was able to keep his hopes of a 14th grand slam alive by winning the fourth set 6-3.
Nadal, broke Federer's serve in the fourth game of the fifth set and ran ahead to a 4-1 lead. Federer tried his best to fight back but was broken when he was serving to stay in the match at 2-5.
This was a classic match. Fun from the very first serve. The trophy celebration at the end was somewhat awkward. Federer, wasn't able to hold in his feelings and he started crying when he went up to address the crowd after the match. I felt badly for him but it did detract from the ceremony. Nadal, was nice about it and reminded Fed that he was one of the greatest players of all time and would no doubt break Sampras's record by the end of his career.
Some people think that Federer's reaction during the ceremony was inappropriate. I'm not sure, what do you think?
Once the match began Federer, played a horrible first game and was easily broken by Nadal. Fed got the break back the next game and from that point on the first set was very close. Both players were playing amazing points, they struck winners that would blow your mind. Nadal, eventually got a break late in the first set to win it 7-5.
In the second set Nadal got an early break to go up 3-2 but Federer managed to dig deep and win four straight games to win the second set 6-3.
The third was extremely intense and produced some of the best points in the match. I had a feeling that whoever won the third set would win the match. Neither player was able to break serve so it eventually went to a tie-break. Nadal and Federer traded mini-breaks in the tie- break before Nadal began to pull away. Rafa won the tie-break 7-3.
With Nadal, now up two sets to one and Federer's chances looking worse than ever, I thought that Nadal might run away with the match. It didn't happen. After having several chances to break serve during one of the early games in the fourth set, Nadal, let down a bit and Federer was able to keep his hopes of a 14th grand slam alive by winning the fourth set 6-3.
Nadal, broke Federer's serve in the fourth game of the fifth set and ran ahead to a 4-1 lead. Federer tried his best to fight back but was broken when he was serving to stay in the match at 2-5.
This was a classic match. Fun from the very first serve. The trophy celebration at the end was somewhat awkward. Federer, wasn't able to hold in his feelings and he started crying when he went up to address the crowd after the match. I felt badly for him but it did detract from the ceremony. Nadal, was nice about it and reminded Fed that he was one of the greatest players of all time and would no doubt break Sampras's record by the end of his career.
Some people think that Federer's reaction during the ceremony was inappropriate. I'm not sure, what do you think?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Autralian Open Quarter-finals
Fernando Verdasco, has upset another top-seeded player. Jo Wilfried Tsonga, the #5 seed and the runner up at last years Australian Open became Verdasco's, latest victim, falling in an intense four set match.
Verdasco's, performance at the Open, has been nothing shy of incredible. Although he's probably tired from the grueling match with Murray, Verdasco, does stand a good chance of making the finals, despite having an 0-6 head to head vs Nadal. I think it's going to take everything Rafa's, got to put an end to Verdaso's amazing run.
Roger Federer, more than made up for his sub-par fourth round match by demolishing Del-Potro in... get this 6-3, 6-0, 6-0. I'm not surprised that Federer beat Del Potro but a double bagel?! It really doesn't say much for the sixth best player in the world. Still, I'm glad that Federer is taking the Open seriously. With a blow-out like this I would have to favor Federer to make the finals.
Andy Roddick, has made it to another major semi-final, his opponent, Novak Djokovic, apparently knew that Roddick wanted to make the semi-finals and was willing to retire from the match in the fourth set, so that Roddick could move on to face Federer in a match that he will most likely lose. Seriously, why does Djokovic retire from so many of his matches? Is it because he doesn't want to lose and feels that he's getting out of it this way? I don't know but I don't buy all of his injuries.
Maybe it's just me but I thought there were some especially good matches at the Australian Open this year.
Verdasco's, performance at the Open, has been nothing shy of incredible. Although he's probably tired from the grueling match with Murray, Verdasco, does stand a good chance of making the finals, despite having an 0-6 head to head vs Nadal. I think it's going to take everything Rafa's, got to put an end to Verdaso's amazing run.
Roger Federer, more than made up for his sub-par fourth round match by demolishing Del-Potro in... get this 6-3, 6-0, 6-0. I'm not surprised that Federer beat Del Potro but a double bagel?! It really doesn't say much for the sixth best player in the world. Still, I'm glad that Federer is taking the Open seriously. With a blow-out like this I would have to favor Federer to make the finals.
Andy Roddick, has made it to another major semi-final, his opponent, Novak Djokovic, apparently knew that Roddick wanted to make the semi-finals and was willing to retire from the match in the fourth set, so that Roddick could move on to face Federer in a match that he will most likely lose. Seriously, why does Djokovic retire from so many of his matches? Is it because he doesn't want to lose and feels that he's getting out of it this way? I don't know but I don't buy all of his injuries.
Maybe it's just me but I thought there were some especially good matches at the Australian Open this year.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Australian Open week 1
It looks like Nadal is bringing his A-game to the Australian Open. I wasn't quite sure how the time off after Paris last year would effect him. Nadal, seems to be incredibly focused at the Australian Open and he's adjusted well to the change in the court's surface. He's kept his points shorter and has actually been coming to net more often than usual. Nadal has also changed his look for the Australian Open. Instead of the sleeveless look with the long shorts, he's changed to a crew shirt with shorts that are maybe a little shorter.:/
Like Nadal, Gilles Simon also came to play at the Open. Simon, has had strong performances in most of his matches, taking down opponents like Guccione, Ancic, and Monfils. Simon, has really become a different player since his breakthrough during the summer hard court season last year, he's now a serious force to be reckoned with. I don't like has chances against Nadal in the quarters but a quarter-final finish is still enough to keep him in the top 10.
Roger Federer, seems to be continuing his 2008 performance, he looked shaky against Berdych and was lucky that Berdych self-destructed halfway through their five set match. I'm not sure how Federer is going to do from this point forward but he's got some tough opponents still left in the tournament. Can he make it past Del Potro, Roddick or Novak and Nadal to win his 14th grand slam title? I don't know but if Roger does win he will equal Pete Sampras's record of 14 grand slams won during his career. I would like to see this happen because it could be many years before a player like Roger comes around again.
Another player I'd like to talk about is Verdasco. I was surprised to see him defeat Andy Murray. I saw the last two sets of their match, Murray looked burned out and unhappy. Verdasco was by far the fresher of the two, despite being down two sets to one. Verdasco, got an early break in the fourth set which helped level the match out. The fifth set was very close, there was one game where Verdasco was trying his best to hold serve but every time he got the advantage Murray would come up with a great shot and force the game back to deuce. It was a very intense, exciting match.
Bernard Tomic, made his grand slam debut and managed to make the second round before losing to Gilles Muller. At 16, Tomic is in the same position that Donald Young was a couple of years ago. The new guy on the tour and a player with tremendous potential. I'm hoping that Tomic will have an easier time making the adjustment to the pros than Young had.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Demoing racquets
Hey Everyone,
Hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Over the Christmas holiday I demoed some racquets, I'm about a 4.5 (I say about because it's hard to practice in the snow);) and I was looking for a racquet that would help take my game to the next level. I decided to demo the Head Microgel Radical Pro, the Babolat AeroPro Drive Cortex, and the Wilson K-Factor KSix-One Tour 90.
If you are a Federer fan, you might recognize his racquet in the ones that I demoed. As a Federer fan myself, I was very curious to see what the racquet was like so I decided to demo it, merely out of curiosity and I'm very pleased that I did. Fed's racquet was unbelievable at the net, it was very light weight and when I swung it, it felt more like a wand than a racquet. I was able to get a nice pop on the ball and it really enhanced my slice. It was also a great racquet for flat hitting. All in all, it's a great racquet, although it's not for everyone. The Wilson K-Factor KSix-One Tour 90 is best suited for advanced players who really know what they're doing. I also wouldn't recommend it if your playing style is topspin oriented (like mine is.) This racquet requires practice and flat strokes, preferably some net skills as well.
After playing with the Wilson I decided to try out the Babolat. The first thing that I noticed about the Babolat AeroPro was how light it felt. The head size was fairly large for a mid plus and it had a more flexible feel than the Wilson. The Babolat racquet was more like what I'm used to and that's probably why I enjoyed it so much. It's probably the best racquet that I've ever hit with for generating topspin. It was nice at the net although not exceptional. The power level was good and I didn't have any trouble with short returns. This is a good racquet and is worth a try, although like the Wilson, your ability to use the racquet will depend on your game.
The third and final racquet was the Head Microgel Pro. Since I started tennis, I have played with Head almost exclusively but this racquet was nothing like the other head racquets that I own. In fact the Babolat AeroPro felt more familiar than this one did. Unlike the other two racquets the Microgel felt heavy and the round frame took some time to adjust to. However, this was by far the best of the racquets from the baseline. I was able to hit deep penetrating flat shots as well as awesome topspin returns. The racquet blended the control and power perfectly together and added a nice bite to my slice. It's going to take some work but I decided that this is the racquet for me. In my opinion it was the most versatile of the three racquets, it was good from all over the court and wasn't limited to topspin or flat shots (which is perfect for me because I have a flat backhand and a topspin forehand.) This was by far the racquet that I enjoyed the most.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Over the Christmas holiday I demoed some racquets, I'm about a 4.5 (I say about because it's hard to practice in the snow);) and I was looking for a racquet that would help take my game to the next level. I decided to demo the Head Microgel Radical Pro, the Babolat AeroPro Drive Cortex, and the Wilson K-Factor KSix-One Tour 90.
If you are a Federer fan, you might recognize his racquet in the ones that I demoed. As a Federer fan myself, I was very curious to see what the racquet was like so I decided to demo it, merely out of curiosity and I'm very pleased that I did. Fed's racquet was unbelievable at the net, it was very light weight and when I swung it, it felt more like a wand than a racquet. I was able to get a nice pop on the ball and it really enhanced my slice. It was also a great racquet for flat hitting. All in all, it's a great racquet, although it's not for everyone. The Wilson K-Factor KSix-One Tour 90 is best suited for advanced players who really know what they're doing. I also wouldn't recommend it if your playing style is topspin oriented (like mine is.) This racquet requires practice and flat strokes, preferably some net skills as well.
After playing with the Wilson I decided to try out the Babolat. The first thing that I noticed about the Babolat AeroPro was how light it felt. The head size was fairly large for a mid plus and it had a more flexible feel than the Wilson. The Babolat racquet was more like what I'm used to and that's probably why I enjoyed it so much. It's probably the best racquet that I've ever hit with for generating topspin. It was nice at the net although not exceptional. The power level was good and I didn't have any trouble with short returns. This is a good racquet and is worth a try, although like the Wilson, your ability to use the racquet will depend on your game.
The third and final racquet was the Head Microgel Pro. Since I started tennis, I have played with Head almost exclusively but this racquet was nothing like the other head racquets that I own. In fact the Babolat AeroPro felt more familiar than this one did. Unlike the other two racquets the Microgel felt heavy and the round frame took some time to adjust to. However, this was by far the best of the racquets from the baseline. I was able to hit deep penetrating flat shots as well as awesome topspin returns. The racquet blended the control and power perfectly together and added a nice bite to my slice. It's going to take some work but I decided that this is the racquet for me. In my opinion it was the most versatile of the three racquets, it was good from all over the court and wasn't limited to topspin or flat shots (which is perfect for me because I have a flat backhand and a topspin forehand.) This was by far the racquet that I enjoyed the most.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Finding Christmas tennis deals
Christmas, is almost here and if you're looking for some last minute deals on tennis gear, then you should check out http://www.tenniswarehouse.com/, http://www.midwestsports.com/, and http://www.prodirecttennis.com/.
Tennis Warehouse, has some very good deals on their bags right now. I recently bought a Wilson K Factor Super Six Bag from Tennis Warehouse for $30 off. The bag is amazing and was definitely worth the money but what I really like about Tennis Warehouse is how fast they process orders. I'm one of those people who gets impatient if my package doesn't arrive on time and Tennis Warehouse has done a great job of delivering my package when they said they would.
Midwest Sports, has good deals and sometimes they sell their tennis gear a little cheaper than Tennis Warehouse does.
Tennis Warehouse and Midwest Sports, both have some low prices on the older model tennis racquets, if you are a 3.0-4.0 and don't mind playing with an older model racquet, you should be able to pick one up for under $100.
Pro-direct Tennis is a good place to go, only if you are interested in very specific things. Pro-direct is currently carrying the Spring of 2009 tennis apparel, if you like to collect or wear what the pros wear then I would strongly recommend Pro-direct but be aware that the shipping costs are very high if you aren't living in Europe.
Thanks, to all of my readers for reading my blog this year. Merry Christmas and hopefully I'll see you back next year.
Adios
Tennis Warehouse, has some very good deals on their bags right now. I recently bought a Wilson K Factor Super Six Bag from Tennis Warehouse for $30 off. The bag is amazing and was definitely worth the money but what I really like about Tennis Warehouse is how fast they process orders. I'm one of those people who gets impatient if my package doesn't arrive on time and Tennis Warehouse has done a great job of delivering my package when they said they would.
Midwest Sports, has good deals and sometimes they sell their tennis gear a little cheaper than Tennis Warehouse does.Tennis Warehouse and Midwest Sports, both have some low prices on the older model tennis racquets, if you are a 3.0-4.0 and don't mind playing with an older model racquet, you should be able to pick one up for under $100.
Pro-direct Tennis is a good place to go, only if you are interested in very specific things. Pro-direct is currently carrying the Spring of 2009 tennis apparel, if you like to collect or wear what the pros wear then I would strongly recommend Pro-direct but be aware that the shipping costs are very high if you aren't living in Europe.
Thanks, to all of my readers for reading my blog this year. Merry Christmas and hopefully I'll see you back next year.
Adios
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