Maturing Instead of Moping

Three years ago, he would struggle mightily to even push this match beyond a straight set defeat. If it was held two years ago, he would have emulated his run on empty effort just like he did against Marcos Baghdatis. And if he had played this encounter with Richard Gasquet last year instead of being injured, Andy Murray would have surly became more negative than Gordon Brown’s approval rating.

All of those results, no matter their various characteristics, would make you believe that the Murray you saw on Centre Court today is a bloke that hijacked the body of Scotland’s (and England’s, Wales’ and Northern Island’s) great hope. Because there would have been no way the one known as “Moping Murray” (labeled that dubious moniker in hypocrisy by Patrick McEnroe since Andy Roddick can be accused of doing the same sometimes) came from two sets down the way he did to win the match of his career. Way more so than his straight set mastery of Roddick in 2006, the new golden man of British tennis’ comeback victory over Gasquet is a full testament to his new found self-belief and obvious maturity.

He could have easily gave up and given his Wimbledon aspirations of getting deep into the second week up to the ghost with the way things transpired in the initial two sets. Gasquet once again displayed again for a second consecutive year how grass somehow shows to the world why he is a mercurial talent. Despite all his cons, to dismiss his pros while he is still just 22 years of age is foolhardy to say the least. It was an impressive display from the Frenchman in the beginning of the match all the way to its official middle. He was serving like he was 6’4 and 195 pounds instead of his 6’1,160 pound frame, and did a brilliant job of making Murray look about as valuable on his return of serve as, well, we won’t bring up a certain American again for the third time now.

And with him mixing, bombing, or just being strong with his delivery, it propelled Gasquet to sometimes even hit his forehand bigger than his backhand, winning the crucial “whose going to stay right on the baseline” battle essential to success in this sport. Heck, throw in perfectly timed serve and volleys to counter Murray’s short returns, and it looked like the semifinalist from last year was going to dash the hopes of the British fans who thought a new Murray had arisen.

However, just like he did throughout the whole match in serve games that went to deuce because of a bad forehand or backhand into the net, Murray tested the fans patience and hopes to the highest maximum in the turning point of the match. With Gasquet serving for a most impressive straight set win at 5-4 in the third with no breaks against one of the premiere breakers on the tour, Murray didn’t cast any slump shoulders or any other disconsolate body language. On the contrary, Murray began to show the new sides of him: a stay positive spirit amalgamated with a significantly updated endurance odometer.

Yes, Gasquet got tight, real tight. He double faulted to give Murray a second life to even the set at five-all, but Murray didn’t give up his first life neither in this match. He forced that break in this battle’s turning point by staying aggressive with his backhand return and securing a love-40 lead. And after missing on the first two chances, the gift from the eighth seed was the opening that Murray finally received on his opponent’s serve.

“I think he got a little nervous at the end of the third set.”

The fans, obviously with Murray from the get-go, erupted when he finally received that coveted break. They would explode even more with the brilliance the United Kingdom’s number one displayed in the tiebreak, clinching what turned out to be the middle set with a one handed backhand pass while he was going well off the court. One word to perfectly illustrate the moment?

Ridiculous.

It propelled Murray to higher heights as Gasquet went disproportional to the ascending Dunblane resident. A fourth set rout set the stage for the papers to write their 50 page accounts of this historic moment for Wimbledon history. And through some mental credit must also be given to Gasquet (definitely a sentence that you can’t believe you will actually write at this or any other moment in his career so far) for not folding in the third set, Murray will surly deserve to feel he has a chance against Rafael Nadal. He was clinical in the ultimate set, with the numbers supporting that statement: five aces, no double faults, 18 winners to nine unforced errors. He only faced one break point in the set and handled it the way of a player having that possible career defining moment.

The emotion was just terrific form all constituents in the final match on Centre Court today. Gasquet played the tennis that still shows he has the talent to win Grand Slams if he can get ever get even a sniff of a champion’s mentality. The crowd, who has for now put an end to any uneasiness they may have felt about Murray, was about as terrific as you would want a home audience to be. Most importantly however, the reason for both Gasquet and the fans deserving praise is all due to the world number 11 into his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Murray brought the best out of the former junior world number one and those who paid to watch him hopefully continue his run. He certainly did that.

On his upcoming match with the Spaniard, Murray favors his chances much higher than most do. “When I played him on the faster courts I had a chance to beat him, “he said to the BBC after the match. “And I feel I’m a lot better player and I’m certainly much fitter.” Based on his demolition of Mikhail Youzhny on Court 1, no natural is favoring Murray to prevent Nadal in his road to a possible third final against Roger Federer. In fact, most may feel that he won’t push Nadal the distance despite almost doing that at last year’s Australian Open.

They were also probably the ones who felt Murray was still susceptible to moments of horrendous posture, before they witnessed his second two sets to none comeback victory in his career today. And maybe realized, at least for one match, this is a different Andy Murray who won’t mope when the going gets tough anymore.

Welcome to "The Deft Volleys"

The worlds of tennis and international football (or soccer in America) are two of the most captivating sports on the entire planet. The global affection for both of these sports is apparent in how many participants from almost every continent take part in them, and the fans’ fervor in competitions between countries such as the World Cup and Davis Cup bring is something that isn't restricted to one region or country in the world.

However, in America, despite a rise in television time for both of their big events as well as new channels dedicated solely to their fields, let’s be real here: they no where near get the love that football, basketball, and baseball receive. In the big sporting magazines such as Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, and the Sporting News to name a few, you will only see good attention given (if any) on the big events that no magazine, regardless on how low they view these sports, can’t ignore. The same can definitely be said of nationally renowned newspapers in big city markets.

With that, sometimes the coverage of these two athletic fields here in the United States isn’t necessarily as good or closely analyzed, scrutinized, and debated as it should be. The obvious or basic stories are written for just the casual sports fan who don’t have a consistent interest in even massive (but not the number one event by far in the sport) contest like the UEFA Champions League Final or the Italian Open. They only deliver devout attention to these sports whenever the World Cup comes or whenever the four Grand Slams are in play (and it can be both argued that both the Australian and French Opens don’t get the love equal to Wimbledon and the U.S. Open from the mainstream American media).

Even ESPN, in their pursuit of truly representing the mantra “Worldwide Leader in Sports”, has been criticized heavily by regular fans of both tennis and soccer for their intensive, but questionable coverage of these sports. Whether it through impartial commentating, dubious hours of taped-delayed action or mediocre in depth discussion on the topics that are near and dear to the fans of the sports, ESPN has also played a part in alienating the core followers of “the beautiful game” and the “green ball extravaganza.” Not only that, but it has also placed even some feelings of anger towards both the specific soccer and tennis communities on who is going to get the most attention of being ESPN’s dubbed “niche” sport.

“Why are they showing so much tennis on here” or “Why is soccer cutting into tennis time” are the questions that may arise on some soccer or tennis forums, especially the one that raises up either question doesn’t care about the other sport in the least bit.

I, on the other hand, clearly have affection for both of these sports, as well as a myriad of others. Through the NBA, MLB, the NFL, and the NCAA’s in the sports of basketball and football will always be among my favorites (and there are several others like track and field that I enjoy), tennis and soccer are two of the sports that are near and dear to my Brooklyn soul. And with that, the idea of bringing them together was formed.
There needed to be a blog that brings both of these two terrific sports together in a spectacular way. Through one is a team game and the other either presents itself as an individual or duo sport (singles and doubles of course), one usually has a set time limit while the other can go as long as it wants to, and one allows you to use your hands while the other bans everyone except one player for using their upper appendages, both soccer and tennis share close similarities as well as sharp differences. They are extreme running sports where going side to side is common, they are globally accepted but in America semi-disrespected, and they both contain their share of, there I say, deft volleys.

Yes, deft volleys.

“The Deft Volleys” is the name of the blog and it’s something that I am happy to create for not only the fans of both the tennis and soccer world, but even the casual fan who may need a perspective or update on these great sports and realize that there’s nothing “third-rate” about them. Just as important, however, is that it could bring both soccer and tennis fans together (if they aren’t already unified) in a way to officially end any discourse with each other. I don’t mean to get all United Nations cheesy here, but the blog will simply be dedicated none other to tennis and soccer (or soccer and tennis if you want to put it that way).

Because Swiss clinical combo Roger Federer and Alexander Frei certainly have “deft volleys.” Spanish sensations Rafael Nadal and Cesc Fabregas have “deft volleys.” And (only tennis fans will get this one) Roman Pavluchenko and yes, even Maria Sharapova, have “deft volleys.”

About one of the few things bring these two sports together.

Tears of Disarray from Despair

In just a mere two days, the thoughts that there was no real depth in women’s tennis have been annihilated faster than Maria Sharapova and now, Ana Ivanovic here.

All those years of cupcake first week talk, where the usual quote was “now the real tournament starts for the women” seem now about as antiquated as Bill Simmons tennis brain (if there is any left that is).
For those wishing that people would simply shut up about the women’s game not being as strong in numbers as the men’s game in terms of depth, hope maybe currently unfolding in front of our eyes.

Of course, the emphatic example of this sudden, legitimate aggrandizing of the power throughout the women’s field will only be compete if Venus or Serena Williams somehow become part of the upset bug-a-boo this fortnight like they have been a number of times in the past. Or if Jelena Jankovic finally realizes that this is the time to actually serve and play offensive tennis worth the mantle of a Grand Slam champion.

She certainly won’t shed a tear for Ivanovic of course, whose days at number one for the moment could be transient to say it in a benevolent way. Instead of propelling to higher heights after swimming with the sharks of Natalie Dechy two days ago, the recent French Open champion did the opposite in 6-1, 6-4 beating 131st ranked wild card Jie Zheng delivered to her.

If Sharapova was tentative and terrible against Alla Kudryavtseva’s, Ivanovic was ghastly and gloomy in her own shocking departure.

In a performance that was just as bad as some her displays in 2005 and 2006 while she was maturing, Ivanovic let the expectations get to her in the worst possible fashion, in the worst way. Over the last few years, Vera Zvonareva and Anna Chakvetadze, who has had a pleasant revival during the first week, had public moments of crying that they were criticized heavily for. Denunciation sadly may have to be given to this three time Grand Slam finalist as well for exhibiting conspicuous sullenness at such an unnecessary time.

Still well in the match at 1-6, 2-3 during the changeover, Ivanovic turned the water works on for the world to see how vulnerable she was. It was a stunning moment that you wouldn’t expect from her after all that she has been through in tennis the last 13 months. Despite going off the boil after the first two games of her French Open final last year against Justine Henin, she never showed signs of disconsolation. When Venus Williams outclassed her last year at Wimbledon and frustrated her to no end at the US Open, there was no water works shown. And even against Sharapova at this year’s Australian Open final, when she had her chances at 5-4, two points away for taking that first set, there was nothing from her façade containing extreme depressed emotion after being defeated.

But all of that was before she ascended to the apex of the sport. She had proven all year long that she was the best player, and she was thought by many to be ready to at least give it her best try and seize her new found elite status. There would have been no shame and questioning of her credentials to be a force if she had lost a thriller to Serena or Venus later in the tournament. And even with this lost, there sill may be some that will she say she just had “a bad day”, like Sharapova.

However, just like the American Russian, the questioning of whether Ivanovic can really handle the pressure when she’s the one with her name next to the number one slot or atop the odds makers table will be justifiably brought up. Just like those stunning tears.

The one who helped produced those tears, Zheng, is another captivating story in her own right. The Chinese world class doubles player looked like every much bit a premiere soloist in many facets, overcoming her debilitations from injuries last year and the devastating earthquake in her town less than two months ago. One of the future representatives for her country at its Olympic Games in Beijing, Zheng drove Ivanovic crazy with her counterpunching and combination of speed, shot selection, patience and aggressive. Her compact backhand, just like Kudryavtseva’s one against Sharapova, was slow or fast, short or deep. And maybe the key reason to this latest stunning result was the way Zheng served, or the way Ivanovic returned those deliveries.

“I liked the grass,” said a delighted Zheng after the biggest win of her singles career. “I stay low (and) it’s tough for her because the courts no jump too high.”

Quite frankly, it was the horrendous of the horrendous in the game of Ivanovic today. More so than even her own serve, which showed up about 12 games too late today in itself. She converted only one of seven break point chances against Zheng, but even more painful to watch was her lack of anything threatening to her opponent’s serve as the match progressed to its conclusion. She was jammed too easily by Zheng’s moving first serve, and whenever she got a look at a second offer that most of the times was slower than some groundstrokes, the WTA’s top ranked player choked it away with either a stroke into the net or the most telling point of this match: an overly aggressive second serve forehand return well wide that gave Zheng two match points.

And after falling to emulate her survival or receive lady luck again in her epic against Dechy, Ivanovic is the latest example of the diminishing days of talent only bestowed to the top five or 10 players in the women’s game, with a few underachieving ones mired in the mediocre 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s in the rankings. Her mulligan will be painful, and it will give her and her camp more time to analyze about her altered mindset since winning in Paris some 19 days yonder.

“It’s tough, you know,” said a more composed Ivanovic in the press room than she was on Court one. “But I think she played well today, (and) it was a tough match for me.”

Though the increase of dangerous talents in the women’s game still has some ways to go in order to compete with the men’s quality in numbers (picture Sveltana Kuznetsova with her talent ranked as low as say, Marat Safin or someone in the women’s game winning a Grand Slam like Goran Ivanisevic did in improbable fashion with a wild card in 2001), only the most critical skeptic could call these upsets just bizarre flukes.

Suddenly, Kuznetsova and Jankovic, who has been talked about so little at the AELTC this year to the level that you didn’t think her and Jaime Murray mixed double partnership made the papers go crazy , have a legit shot at being number one now at the end of this tournament.

As the depth grows, so does the disarray in women’s tennis. Seems a new topic has arisen where people can tell others possibly to shut up about.

"The Favorite's" Unforgettable Day

Maybe it was the pants. Maybe it was competing with Roger Federer and Serena Williams to be Nike’s fashion darling over the fortnight. Or maybe it was the thumb injury to Michael Joyce.

But despite all those possible reasons, immense pressure was the definitive answer for the shocking demise of Maria Sharapova on Court one.

“I was pretty tentative,” said the number three seed after suffering the biggest upset of this tournament, the biggest upset of this tennis year: a comprehensively beating by 154th ranked Alla Kudryavtseva in a 6-2, 6-4 scoreline that will make those who didn’t watch the match question if the right player is on the left side of the letter “D.”

Gone is all the momentum of coming back from a woeful 2007 and winning the Australian Open. Gone is some pundits’ maddeningly belief that she would dominate the game the remainder of the year.
And what happens to all the good feelings about Sharapova coming into to this year’s Wimbldeon tournament?

N’Sync doesn’t even have to sing the word to you.

The signs of this happening weren’t showing at all. Despite her contentious and painful lost to Dinara Safina at the latter preliminary stages of the French Open, Sharapova had improved her form enough at Paris to consolidate all the confidence she had in the early part of the year. She was the oddsmakers favorite even after it was revealed that Venus Williams was in her half of the draw . And that she hadn’t come close to beating Serena Williams since losing three match points against her at the 2005 Grand Slam opener.

No matter to Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim and many other experts however, as they felt somehow someway that the American Russian was going to hoist her second title here. But despite their lack of definitive reasons for picking her to take the tournament, if anyone prognosticated her to egress Wimbledon in the second round, they seriously need severe medication. And even with their “out of this stratosphere” prediction turning out to be an actual truth, they still should get a dose of “What were you smoking?”

Nevertheless, the domination that Kudryavtseva placed on Sharapova was felt in every facet of the game. Kudryavtseva, who failed to take out the elder of the Williams sisters last year when she had her on the ropes in round one, refused to stop laying the blows this time around. At times in the second set, from the first two games to the seventh one when Sharapova survived two break points, it seemed she was going to recapitulate a match against a top player again. Instead, not only did she earn the match by keeping placid and strong, it was also the person on the other side of the net that made this the most jaw dropping result here since Jill Craybas knocked out Serena three years ago. Even bigger than Marion Bartoli dispatching Justine Henin the way she did in the third set of their semifinal last year.

“You think I played great, why thank you so much,” said a humbled and obvious enthralled Kudryavtseva. “For sure beating her is a big moment for me.”

Always against Sharapova, showing her that you have the controlled belief to beat her in the incipient stages of the match is crucial to whether you will do so. Establishing that mental frame and keeping it at the same level is integral against her. And Kudryavtseva displayed that so beautifully that Nadia Petrova should take notes from her 22nd ranked countrywoman on how to close out the 1st ranked one. Even through she failed to convert on break point opportunities in the first two Sharapova serve games, Kudryavtseva didn’t get down on herself. On the contrary, she continued to be clinical and sharp on her serve games, avoiding her own self-destruction and still taking the initiative with her compact strokes that work so well on the grass.

“I didn't say I was confident I'm going to win,” said the improbable winner of this match. “But I just thought I have to put myself in the frame of mind that if I have a chance I have to take it.”

Take it she did.

That mindset lead to the exact opposite on the other side of the net, as Sharapova equaled her holler of a performance at last year’s US Open to Aggie Radwanska to put it in the running of worst match of her career. The serve is of course the said be all of her game. But more essential to success for the IMG client though is what’s in her head. And especially important, the alpha key for whether Sharapova will ever be the consistent champion beating everyone at their best when the expectations are on her to do so will be how her head handles the pressure. The moments when someone challenges her all the way to pushing her on the brink of a crushing defeat, showing the spirit of refusing to submit to the vociferous grunts and intense style of Sharapova’s play.

Today, like her match against Safina in Paris, Radwanska in Flushing Meadow last year, and the beatdowns that Ana Ivanovic and the Williams sisters delivered to her in the recent 12 month epoch, Sharapova crumbled. And any of her fans would contest that she was the epitome of brutal like never before. Even more so than against the Polish teen in Queens last year.

It wasn’t just the fact that she was broken five times in nine serve games. How it unfolded had to be disheartening to her supporters. As Kudryavtseva was consistent and cynical, Sharapova was tense and terrible. The 2004 titlist at a stunning 17 year old stunned herself four years later with how awful she was on the baseline and in the middle of the court. Forehands into the net, backhands into the net and getting wrong footed constantly by her slightly younger, vastly less successful opponent, it was an array of negatives for Yuri Sharapov’s daughter. And though it was an amazing moment to see Kudryavtseva rise to the moment with a brilliant running forehand to seal the famous victory, the main story of the match was the unbelievable departure of Sharapova.

A shocking departure that can’t be attributed to those new garments or her assistant coach’s weird injury. Rather, folding to the expectations expected of her proved to be the reason for an embarrassing victory that most will remember, but that Sharapova will want to forget completely.

Welcome to "The Deft Volleys"

The worlds of tennis and international football (or soccer in America) are two of the most captivating sports on the entire planet. The global affection for both of these sports is apparent in how many participants from almost every continent take part in them, and the fans’ fervor in competitions between countries such as the World Cup and Davis Cup bring is something that isn't restricted to one region or country in the world.

However, in America, despite a rise in television time for both of their big events as well as new channels dedicated solely to their fields, let’s be real here: they no where near get the love that football, basketball, and baseball receive. In the big sporting magazines such as Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, and the Sporting News to name a few, you will only see good attention given (if any) on the big events that no magazine, regardless on how low they view these sports, can’t ignore. The same can definitely be said of nationally renowned newspapers in big city markets.

With that, sometimes the coverage of these two athletic fields here in the United States isn’t necessarily as good or closely analyzed, scrutinized, and debated as it should be. The obvious or basic stories are written for just the casual sports fan who don’t have a consistent interest in even massive (but not the number one event by far in the sport) contest like the UEFA Champions League Final or the Italian Open. They only deliver devout attention to these sports whenever the World Cup comes or whenever the four Grand Slams are in play (and it can be both argued that both the Australian and French Opens don’t get the love equal to Wimbledon and the U.S. Open from the mainstream American media).

Even ESPN, in their pursuit of truly representing the mantra “Worldwide Leader in Sports”, has been criticized heavily by regular fans of both tennis and soccer for their intensive, but questionable coverage of these sports. Whether it through impartial commentating, dubious hours of taped-delayed action or mediocre in depth discussion on the topics that are near and dear to the fans of the sports, ESPN has also played a part in alienating the core followers of “the beautiful game” and the “green ball extravaganza.” Not only that, but it has also placed even some feelings of anger towards both the specific soccer and tennis communities on who is going to get the most attention of being ESPN’s dubbed “niche” sport.

“Why are they showing so much tennis on here” or “Why is soccer cutting into tennis time” are the questions that may arise on some soccer or tennis forums, especially the one that raises up either question doesn’t care about the other sport in the least bit.

I, on the other hand, clearly have affection for both of these sports, as well as a myriad of others. Through the NBA, MLB, the NFL, and the NCAA’s in the sports of basketball and football will always be among my favorites (and there are several others like track and field that I enjoy), tennis and soccer are two of the sports that are near and dear to my Brooklyn soul. And with that, the idea of bringing them together was formed.
There needed to be a blog that brings both of these two terrific sports together in a spectacular way. Through one is a team game and the other either presents itself as an individual or duo sport (singles and doubles of course), one usually has a set time limit while the other can go as long as it wants to, and one allows you to use your hands while the other bans everyone except one player for using their upper appendages, both soccer and tennis share close similarities as well as sharp differences. They are extreme running sports where going side to side is common, they are globally accepted but in America semi-disrespected, and they both contain their share of, there I say, deft volleys.

Yes, deft volleys.

“The Deft Volleys” is the name of the blog and it’s something that I am happy to create for not only the fans of both the tennis and soccer world, but even the casual fan who may need a perspective or update on these great sports and realize that there’s nothing “third-rate” about them. Just as important, however, is that it could bring both soccer and tennis fans together (if they aren’t already unified) in a way to officially end any discourse with each other. I don’t mean to get all United Nations cheesy here, but the blog will simply be dedicated none other to tennis and soccer (or soccer and tennis if you want to put it that way).

Because Swiss clinical combo Roger Federer and Alexander Frei certainly have “deft volleys.” Spanish sensations Rafael Nadal and Cesc Fabregas have “deft volleys.” And (only tennis fans will get this one) Roman Pavluchenko and yes, even Maria Sharapova, have “deft volleys.”

About one of the few things bring these two sports together.