Final furlong of 2017 and US-Open
Trial and tribulations
The ‘US-Open series’ created a strong backdrop and attracted the Northern American audience effectively. It set the stage well for the final Grand Slam of the year but issues popped up from the top ranked players. The final furlong of the 2017 global Tennis season has a illustrious injury and fatigue list of players to worry every event organiser rest of the year. Tennis now is a 12 month season and it effects are showing it’s down side in the players.
In men’s, illustrious names like Djokovic, Wawrinka, Murray, Krygios, Nishikori, Federer, Cilic, Raonic and Nadal are not playing or nursing to be in the game for the rest of the year. In the women’s the performance of Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, Caroline Wozniacki and few more top-tenners show how tired they are and exhibit very weak performances.
The physical tiredness can be made good with a break of few weeks in the care of a physio. For this purpose WTA employs 30 physiotherapists and ATP 18. However coping with mental tiredness, motivation, stagnation of skills and recovery of form are mental and these need very long recuperation with changes in life style. The expertise to correct these is with coaches. They can be complex and need very long time spans.
Tennis as dangerous game
This is hardly the right topic to discuss in the middle of the last Grand-Slam of the year. The long break of Federer took not playing the sand court season this year gave him the rest needed to win the Wimbledon Title and Maria Sharapova’s long break has given her a win against Halep in the current US-Open. There is a message in these two performances to the Tennis world. Body needs rest to peak in performance.
After the win Sharapova, herself confessed that she does not deserve the win against Halep meaning that she did not play a great game. This is true. She had 64 unforced errors and 60 winners and won only 113 points, just 5 more than Halep. I have not seen Halep so bad, She only hit mere 15 winners in three sets and made 14 unforced errors. If one thing can be said against Halep in a lighter vein it is to comment on her stagnation of skill level. Literally the way I see it, she wins now only if her opponents make more mistakes and hits less winners. No player should expect this in Tennis.
In the top 100 of the ranking as much as 40 are over 30 years of age now. While Tennis is considered to be a late maturity game the relentless globetrotting, night sessions which go past the midnight and exposure to time zone changes are affecting the personality of the players. Is tennis a dangerous game? Trials and tribulation of Tennis will get some attention next year and WTA and ATP will have to act to save the stars.
Good matches
Some players did their best to enhance the US- Open in the early rounds. 19-year- old American teenager Frances Tiafoe took maestro Federer to five set and became a hero and etched his name as the famous first round loser of 2017. In the same vein Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov beat Frenchman Tsonga impressively and the 61st ranked 20 year old Croat Borna Coric beat much fancied German wunderkind Alex Zverev in five sets. Bulgarian Dimitrov after being a potential for a long time is now making his presence felt. His game is impressive and appealing to watch with solid ability to engage opponents, hit winners and play effectively at net.
In the women’s side the rising star is USA’s Slone Stephens. She always performed below her potential. In last few months she has changed this and stepped up her efforts. She beat seasoned campaigner Cibulkova in a hard fought match. Sharapova coming after suspension and injuries did well to beat Halep and went win the next match but only in three setters. For somebody returning to competition after a long break that is all right.
Trials and tribulations
However, even with so many snags to overcome the US-Open show is going well. Whatever illustrious names could not deliver were well compensated by the “Wunder kinds and speedy Gonzales” in the early rounds. US was always in the forefront in modification and in alteration of Tennis for their commercial need. Latest is the experimentation of permitting coaching in the qualifying rounds. This is supposed to create more media material.
From my experience as a player and coach, match time coaching will be most disastrous to the player. Outside coaching means the players mind will be taken out of the actual match situation and they could be responding to imaginary match situations of the coach and indulge in shot selection completely alien to them. There is no better way to lose a match than to be subjected to this folly. Tennis players cannot be produced externally. Successful players internalise tactics and that is the secret of good performance. Tennis has been fiercely an individual sport. Eroding the individualism could produce dull Tennis.