Enough turkey, it’s back to tennis! Too bad the 2009 season is over. Here are a few of the loose threads begging to be tugged or tied:
All hail Nikolay Davydenko, King of Tennis! (At least for a month or two. . .) Yes, round robin makes for a different tennis ball game and the end of the year is always gimpy, but Nikolay Davydenko’s final victory at the World Tour Finals on Sunday was still impressive. The 28-year-old Russian earned his crown the hard way – beating all three reigning Major titleists to become the WTF champ. Here’s finalist Juan Martin Del Potro describing the mighty Kolya after the match:
“This tournament has a great champion, like Nikolay. He work hard for beat every players here this week. So maybe I have to improve a little bit the little things. But he’s play much better than me, and that’s it. . .He’s very strong. I never beat him in hard court or indoors. He’s very fast. He play like PlayStation. You know, he run to everywhere. Is very difficult to make winners. But I think is a great champion.”
The Argentine is swiftly becoming one of the most gracious losers – and winners – in the game (watch out, Rafa!) But after some consideration, I disagree with his PlayStation analysis of the Russian. Del Potro is the super-sized, super-human tennis monster, an increasingly common model in the increasingly amped up ATP tour. Davydenko is the mere mortal – measuring under 6 feet tall, with a grinding work ethic and few endorsement deals. (Kolya on why Prince doesn’t sponsor him: “I know Prince give everything to Sharapova and no money anymore.”)
Of course some of us would rather have seen Roger Federer end the year as both No. 1 and WTF champ, or cheered Rafa to a comeback, or watched Murray win in London, but I’m happy for Davydenko, the Common Man made King!
In other PlayStation news, Andy Murray and longtime girlfriend, Kim Sears have reportedly broken up after four years of dating because of the Scot’s addiction to video games. Via Telegraph:
(S)ources close to Sears said one of the causes was the world number four’s long hours playing video tennis and PlayStation 3 games such as the best selling Call of Duty sequel.
Brad Gilbert, Murray’s former coach, has said in the past that Murray spends “seven hours a day” playing video games.
The source told The Sun: “He would spend all his time glued to them. In the end she just got fed up with it. She wanted more out of the relationship.”
However, the player’s agent told the paper that Murray “doesn’t play computer games any more than any other 22 year-old”.
If there are t-shirts commemorating this momentous event, I’ll take the “Team Kim” version, size XXLOL.
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In WTA news, Serena Williams has finally been fined a record $82,500 (or about 1.25% of her 2009 prize money) and sentenced to a two year “probation” by the Grand Slam Committee for her US Open tirade this September. If she commits a “major infraction” at any of the four major tournaments in the next two years, she will be suspended from the US Open and face additional fines (technically, Williams was fined $175,000, including the $10,000 she paid at the tournament, but the final amount was halved barring another melt down.)
Here’s Serena’s statement (via The Washington Post)
“I am thankful that we now have closure on the incident, and we can all move forward. I am back in training in preparation for next season, and I continue to be grateful for all of the support from my fans and the tennis community.”
I’m not saying that the punishment doesn’t fit the crime, or that Serena deserved to be banned and bankrupted for her outburst, but why on earth did it take three months to come up with this? It’s like the old parenting debate: would a quick spanking in the heat of the moment (i.e. a default from the tournament, including the doubles final) have been more effective than a long, indulgent grounding with a decreased allowance? I say the Grand Slam Committee wears the dunce cap for dragging its feet for so long.
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The men’s World No. 1, Roger Federer, has experienced his own dramas this season. Though he’s come out on top, it’s hard for his fans to forget the indignities he’s suffered (racquet smashing! tears!) at the hands of his ever-strengthening opponents (and Julien Benneteau). ESPN’s Greg Garber has an interesting analysis of Roger’s 2009 achievements – and puts Fed’s remarkable return to the year-end No. 1 ranking in context. How about this:
In 2004, when Federer first finished No. 1, Roddick was No. 2. The rest of the top 10, in order, looked like this: Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, Carlos Moya, Tim Henman, Guillermo Coria, Andre Agassi, David Nalbandian and Gaston Gaudio.
Of those eight players, Hewitt was the only one ranked in the top 50 this year. Yes, it’s hard to stay near the top of the game — much less at the top.
Well, Marat started 2009 ranked in the 20s and Nalbandian was as high as #10, but point taken, I guess.
Fedophile masochists will enjoy the accompanying chart, showing how Fed’s winning percentage has steadily decreased from 2004 to the present (from .925 to .836). Which makes this year’s No. 1 ranking, not to mention his still “live” record of 22 consecutive major semifinals even more impressive.
Roger may still be tops, but killjoy Ivan Lendl thinks Federer has wasted his last chance at the calendar year Grand Slam:
“In my opinion, he easily could have won the Grand Slam (in 2009). Roger may agree or disagree, but his game has not been as good as in years past. It would have been ironic if he had won the Grand Slam playing at less than his best, but well-deserved.”
Lendl also predicts that next year will see four different Major champions.
Loading ...In Nadal news, Rafa and Team Spain will be battling the Czech Republic in this weekend’s Davis Cup final in Barcelona. Nadal may have had a disappointing second half of the year, but just participating in this weekend’s event is a small triumph for him. The top Spaniard couldn’t make it to last year’s final in Argentina due to injury. Helping his teammates retain the Cup at home, on clay, could be just the confidence boost he needs going into 2010:
“That’s a big motivation for me, to finish the year winning.” Nadal told reporters after going out of last week’s World Tour Finals without winning a set. “I have the opportunity there to play well, to play good tennis on clay and to win, to win something important for my country and for friends.” (via the New York Times)
This weekend’s teams are as follows: Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez for Spain and Radek Stepanek, Tomas Berdych, Jan Hajek and Lukas Dlouhy for the Czech Republic. Click here for more.
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In Marat Safin retirement news, the Russian press reports that he’s running for vice-president of his country’s Olympic Committee. Anyone running against him for the post will be interested in what Safin told reporters prior to last year’s Games in Beijing:
“I don’t care about the Olympics. It doesn’t make sense to fly 15 hours over and 15 hours back for that.” (via the Bangkok Post)
Tags: Andy Murray girlfriend, ATP, Barclays World Tour finals, Davis Cup, DelPotro, Federer, kim sears, Murray, Nadal, Olympic committee, Safin, Serena, tennis, WTA
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Considering Lendl’s crap record in slam finals, who’s he to talk? What joke.
Wow — poll-a-rama! Since not voting in the WTF polls didn’t seem to help Roger at all, I’m back to voting again.
Andy Murray really spends that much time playing video games? Sounds pretty boring to me. Team Kim all the way!
Ivan Lendl is full of it. I guess two Slam titles and two Slam finals is a bad year to him.
Welcome back, freakyfrites! We missed you!
It’s easy for people to say that Roger was so close to winning the Calendar Slam, but they forget how close he was to losing to Haas and Del Potro and even the Wimbledon final. What ever happened to the ‘Glass half full’ approach?
Also, I love that story about Murray gaming for 7 hours.
Nice round up, FF good to see you back.
jfk, nice nu fed pic.
yeah, nice pic, JFk!
I feel pretty bad for JC Ferrero being left on the bench. With Rafa, Ferrer and Verdasco it’s understandable, but I think his results (mainly the Wimbledon QF) probably surpassed Lopez’s efforts this year. Maybe he just didn’t fit in with the rest of the HotSpaniardAttackForce3000.
Hi, Freaky: Misssing your blog this past days, almost called the police to investigate why you were not posting…
Lendl: I used to like you…
Some of the things I did while you were out: Watched the highlights of the Wimbledon game of Roger vs Sampras, Roger should watched it too, he played like he was so confident, match Sampras point for point, kind of like DelPo in the US Open Final last 3 sets, and at the end he did what Bennetau did after beating him: Celebrate like he just had won a Slam, cute, cute, cute…
hi ff! welcome back.
definitely missed your posts. great roundup!
i was all WTF? about the WTF when rog lost in the semis because he had davy on the ropes at 5-4 in the 3rd, but oh well, still a fun match with great points and shots. maybe i was extra frustrated with fed because i knew a loss would mean no more fedex until jan.
kolya definitely earned that title, beating all the GS champs from this year, which is super impressive considering that trophy probably weighs more than he does! he is like a video game. i was frustrated by rog’s semi loss, but felt better after watching some clips from FO and wimby finals. 
i hope del po stays modest, though i’m not too crazy about him beating rog again in a big match. i love that description of del po given by TC, saying jm ’speaks softly, but carries a big stick.’ his serve and groundstrokes are lethal.
murray mints deserves to lose his girlfriend if he’s spending that much time with the PS3. (my husband enjoys his PS3 games too, but there’s a limit, otherwise stuff doesn’t get done around here. although he did just get uncharted 2…) murray’s life is 24-7 tennis and they are probably apart a lot of the time, so it’s no wonder she’d prefer he not be spending so much of his free time playing games. yes he’s 22, but come on. i guess he didn’t care enough to make a change. maybe this will distract him going into the new year?
at the slams, they should have a players lounge tourny for the players that do play the PS3 or other tennis games, see who is the best at it. you know rog likes the playstation too, so does nadal. i think nadal used to play as rog (surprise surprise!), but now he plays as himself. rog probably chooses some guy from switzerland.
lendl is just jealous he longer has the distinction of being the only player to regain the #1 year end ranking since 1973. fed has broken a lot of the iron man’s records lately. oops! fed continues to impress. it’s the consistency and results in slams year after year that is astounding. he could have, should have… whatever. the calendar slam would have been amazing, but what he’s done transcends the sport and we’re lucky he still has a deep love for the game!
marat should do what makes him happy. if it means he’ll be in the news and we get to see the BSR every now and then, no complaints from me!
you see what happens when you’re not around?! i feel the need to blah blah…
Hi Judy!
Yeah, I’m thinking if Andy practices 7 hours a day and plays video games another 7 hours that doesn’t leave much time for anything else but sleeping and eating. And he’s said he’s not one for nightlife, so Kim probably realized that she’s been bored to death! Good on her for cutting loose – hope she has fun with her new-found freedom. I’m sure Andy will be fine.
We missed you! its gonna be a long hard December without too much tennis! I would love for Roger to win the Calendar grand slam, but i don’t know, the field is deeeeep right now and the forehand has been falling off a bit. I definately voted yes for him to win the calendar grand slam, don’t want to rule it out, but it would be a miracle. All i ask for is another grand slam or two!!!
Hi Dari!
Well, Roger’ back on court in less than a month, so hopefully it won’t be too painful for us.
It was considered a miracle that Roger won the French, so I agree that you can’t rule it out. But, honestly, I’m perfectly satisfied with his career slam – don’t want to be greedy! My personal goals for Roger (how weird that I have my own goals for someone I’ve never met!) are for him to win the gold for singles in London and for him to bring the Davis Cup to Switzerland before her retires. Seems reasonable, right?
What a year!
I remember in January 2009 that Rafa would be the one who could finally achieve a calendar Grand Slam. Twelve months later it was our Roger that made it to ALL of the Grand Slam finals for the third time and regained the number one spot. Wow! I just knew that the press would again report that 2010 would really be Roger’s last great year just like they predicted 2009.
Go ROGER!
Feddy’s calander GS, 2010:
beating Del Potro in AO final
beating Nadal in RG final
beating Murray in Wimby final
beating Djoko in USO final
i’m gonna send this lottery ticket up to the heavens, wish me luck!!
ME TO!!!
This list made me really excited for next year!
Almost visited GTT 20 times every day since Thanksgiving to see some post. FF its so bad of you that, you took a long weekend holiday for Thanksgiving without even informing us. So bad of you (Kidding!!!!) After those two loses (by Del Po and Kolya) I was trying to read your post to cool myself. Even though I was not hurt a lot by Kolya’s win over Rog. And one thing I was expecting after that match from our Rog that he will atleast give a well done mate pat on Kolya’s back or a nice hug. But Rog, just left with a Soderling kind of handshake. Hmmm our Rog can be more nicer than that.
Coming back to the list given by FeddyBear, I am very happy with it. But I would like to make one small change. My list would be!
beating Djoko in AO final (2008 Semi….)
beating Nadal in RG final (2005 Semi and Finals from 06 to 08, particularly 08)
beating Murray/Nadal in Wimby final (H2H 4-6/08 Final)
beating Del Potro in USO final (09 Final, last 2 sets particularly…)
these lists are great and also make me look forward to 2010! i’ll have to second the one guga made. vendettas! i like ff’s goals for fed- olympic singles gold and davis cup would be great! i also want to see fed continue to improve his h2h vs nadal (most importantly) and murray and to keep winning big matches vs nole and del po. i won’t ask for a calendar slam, but i would absolutely request another pic of the mighty twins! come on, at least for the holidays and new year!
hi ff, here’s my favorite ? from davy’s interview after beating rog.
Q. Sleeping alone?
NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO: Come on. I have wife. Come on, come on. What do you want, two girls, three girls, four girls?
Q. You are a Russian.
NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO: I came Russian, but I’m not Safin (smiling).
i read that lendl piece and thought “here we go again.” i’m looking forward to a real competitive 2010 from rog. i personally think he will unleash a nu arsenal of unseen talent to keep up with the young ones.
i had fed/davy in the final so if fed couldn’t b there i’m glad davy won. he is full of confidence and the love of a good woman. murray might want to take notes.
so welcome back ff and ff.
FeddyBear, I like the way you think! Ok, gonna start my positivity now. I think what i forget is that he made ALL FOUR finals this year. Anybody who does that is not too far away! Also, I think he might have learned some lessons about letting chances slip away and he won’t want to do that again. 20X belongs to BIG FED!
in unrelated
PS, just relived this moment at the FO with Roger w/o the shirt:
http://www.gototennisblog.com/2009/05/30/french-open-shocker-roger-federer-shirtless/
I knew he wore belts, but this makes it clear as day. who else can do that?! This man is special.
Marat loved Olympic (in Sydney), staying there till the end (despite losing in day 1), hated Olympic (in Athens) coz of crazy security maniac and sloppy balls and didn’t care about Olympic in Beijing (this I don’t know why — end of career, sick of flying, perhaps).
So with all of these emotions towards Olympic, he makes a good candidate!
Besides, he’ll may Russian Olympic Committee 100 c hotter!!! It’s freezing now in Moscow.
‘his ever-strengthening opponents (and Julien Benneteau)’
haha! poor benneteau.
i WISH i could wholeheartedly say ‘team kim!, especially as i’m no fan of murray, but… i can’t. i lovelovelove videogames myself, so (though i’m a nintendo fangirl). 7 hours a day is a lot indeed (assuming he does actually play 7 hours a day), but speaking from personal experience, it’s very easy to lose track of time.
that being said, once you’re in a relationship, you should be willing to make some sacrifices to make it work. the least he could’ve done is cut it back to what? 3 hours? that should be enough. :p
Serena, should have been banned from the US Open for a year. $82,000 might sound like a lot of money but to her, it’s just chump change.
Ivan Lendl, is delusional if he thinks Federer’s chances of winning the calendar grand slam are over. Yes, it’s true that Roger’s getting older and yes Del Potro and Djokovic are now significant threats on hard courts or even clay but he still has the ability to win it, if he really wants to.