Roland Garros 2013 The Daily Dirt Day - 6

Recap: Rain Rain Go Away! Very frustrating for players but no doubt frustrating for fans that turned up and expected to watch Rafa his match along with a few more will be scheduled today.I have been listening a lot to Radio Roland Garros ..turning the sound down on the television ..radio has delay but its so much more fun than the Television.Does get a little silly at times but you find it is very informative especially about the players .

It was time to hit the road For Li Na , the knock out blow delivered by American Mattek-Sands . Have I mentioned how the American women are really on fire this tournament.Do not believe everything you read tennis in the USA is very competitive , very intense and would be a great place for good young juniors from our side of the world to play tournaments and gain invaluable experience . We have the idea that we must get to Europe! USA is a cheaper location and as I said a good environment for junior tournaments.

Hold on to your hats New Zealand , yes Marina has made it to the 3 rd round. She now plays American Sloane Stephens.
Anything can happen ,as we know clay is not Erakovic's favourite surface but this is tennis and anything at grand Slam level especially in the Ladies can happen.One of the commentators on radio said "how will New Zealand react"?
I think they thought dancing in the streets ..alas they have no idea of the tennis environment in this country.Marina of course attracts most of the funding  and Guys like Rubin Statham New Zealand No 1 male
receives little or no support from TNZ and refuses to play Davis Cup.Recently Cameron Norrie top 10 ITF junior defected to Great Britain.Let me have a dig at Great Britain right now ..no female from GB progressed past round 1.A nation that pours millions of Dollars into their tennis program each year is very much an under achiever.

I have mentioned a Blog called PsuedoFed before it really takes the "mickey" out of Federer...but you have to laugh... he writes as if Fed is writing to his fans here is a small section from his latest post 

"Hello Mon fans,

I thought it was time to make the little waves and say hi from Paris (France).

Even though I have a reasonably good route on My way to the finals, I’ve been a little down lately. The fact that I have to play at all is starting to dwell on the brains. I chatted about it yesterday with Roland and he said that next year he will look at having three draws, two for the other players that reach a semi-final, and the winner plays Me. I said I’ll think about it.

Anyway, I thought I would share what irritates Me a little bit of the times. Pet Peeves I believe they are called but as always fans, don’t buy them, get them from a shelter.

Here is the Link for the blog site CLICK HERE

Lots of great matches today below are my top three .

Benneteau has home town support , has beaten Rodger this year but lets face it he's up against the G.O.A.T Will the USA keep on a role with Lepchenko can she get past the 8 th seed.And can Simon play better than he did against Hewitt ..he will have to against the big serving Sam Querrey.

This has been a day 6 Dirt File Report.

Competition Men's

There are a lot of Round 2 men's matches to be played today due to the rain yesterday.These entry's have made it to Round 3. Jenny- Fognini  Feds Fan - Giles Simon , Bec- Tsonga ,Fuzzy Yellow Balls - Giles Simon. Waiting for results today are Steve 1959,Ken,Mitch,Del Boy,. These entry's can still select their Round 3 players subject to getting through the unfinished matches.Please put your entry in the comments section of this post and GOOD LUCK!

Competition Ladies

Rain Over night meant some matches could not all be played, however all entries have had their round 2 matches determined. Moving on to Round 3 Ken- Sloane Stephens, Tony Osborne- Kutnetsova , Bec - Sloane Stephens , Feds Fan- Jankovic ,Fuzzy Yellow Balls - Sara Errani .

Eliminated this round was STEVE1959, and Mitch who both selected Caroline Wozniacki .You can add your Round 3 entry here ,naturally before they hit the court. Again use the comments section and GOOD LUCK!

Roland Garros 2013 The Daily Dirt Day - 5

RECAP : Remember that song! "Sweet Caroline ,Good times never seem so bad!"Well the Ladies 10 th seed Caroline Wozniacki was bundled out by Bojangles Jovanovski and with that result knocked me out from my own competition in the Ladies section.."Id be inclined never to pick you again" as the song goes! Well my version anyhow.She said after the match "“My confidence is fine. It's obviously not as fun to go back and practice and feel like you're putting all the hard work into it, but it doesn't pay off. It's always obviously more fun when you're winning… It hasn't been my tournament here. It's all about just momentum, I guess. Hopefully it will turn and I'll start winning some more.” Yeh Sure Wozza!

Ok as expected the young Australian Nick Kyrgios went down to Marin Cilic , I am sure the young bloke learned lots. Cilic is a step up from other opponents and he defused the serve of Kyrgios making the youngster play more balls and of course fewer cheap points that he is used to getting.I did watch the match and noted that his mobility especially on clay will have to improve. Cilic really found a weakness in the young Aussie's ability to move forward and hurt him with a few well timed drop shots. Cilic played well and was simply too good.

The Monfils vs Gulbis match was entertaining with the Local guy getting there .I am not sure what to make of Gulbis but his post match interviews certainly caused a stir.He called Federer , Nadal ,Djokovic and Murray Boring. He had this to say. " I respect Rodger,Rafa, Novak and Murray but, For me all four of them are boring players" Gulbis said" Honestly they are boring as crap. I often go to You Tube to watch interviews.With tennis I quickly stop.Its a joke" "Its Federer who started the fashion.He has a superb image of a Swiss Gentleman perfect for him.I repeat I respect Federer but I don't like younger players try to imitate him. When I hear them answer like Rodger, I am terrified by phrases like : "I had a little more success at certain moments and that is how I won"...I don't even want to hear a guy I won't name and thinks all his opponents are a***holes..putting on an act!"Gulbis if he has not said enough already went on to say 

" I would like interviews to be more like boxing.Ok maybe those guys are not the brightest ( oh oh ernest! c'mon are you referring to John Tomic) but when they face each other down at weigh-in they bring what the fans want:War Blood,emotion.All that is missing in tennis,where everything is clean,and white with polite hand shakes and some nice shots.While the people want to see broken rackets and hear outbursts on the court" You know the funny thing about what Gulbis says is right for a lot of the fans! Just look up you tube and see how many views court blow ups and tantrums have!

 Ernest has upset a lot of people he better be careful of upsetting Tennis Mums! They are the worst ,spiteful , jealous and just plain ugly ...well a lot of the ones I know!..I do have to add I know some nice ones also! Andy Murray mother Judy tweeted this recently.

Well I know Ernest has good footwork as shown below he will need it !

Great work Ash Barty to move into the second round which will be played today against 12 th seed Maria Kirilenko. At 17 the young Aussie is on track and it will be interesting to see how she shapes up against a quality player.

So cheating in the top of the game does it exist ? Of course it does .Ok not many people can beat Serena so in the quarters of Madrid, Anabel Media Garrigues at the change of ends got the ball boys to gather all the balls and tried a new tactic.. anyhow watch the video see for yourself ..it did not work and it is definitely not aloud ...what was the umpire doing for goodness sake! 

By the way 28,000 views on this ..see Gulbis was right!!!! This is what we want to see!

My Top 3 Matches of the day are as above. Let me say this is a great day of quality tennis and expect a few upsets both men and women have some huge matchup's. Tommy Haas is an incredible player one if not the oldest player in the draw at 35 years. He is the 12 th seed and one of the great players never to win a slam! Ok Jack Sock lets see what you have against this guy youngster vs veteran ..its going to be good and one I will be watching. Battle of the Americans ,Harrison has a younger brother I think will be better but this guy will be looking to take Isner down ..no friends here on court today.  Verdasco vs Tippsy can Verdasco show the tennis he is capable of maybe an upset here today.

This has been a Day 5 Dirt File Report.

Roland Garros 2013 The Daily Dirt Day - 4

Recap :Rain Rain go away come again another day.....at the end of the tournament would be good ! Rain delays for me meant listening to Radio Roland Garros , its not just about tennis as I found out yes commentators air a lot of dirty laundry some their own but a lot of speculations about players romances etc. It was interesting for a while but it did send me to sleep.The top seed in the men's Novak Djokovic was in action against the talented Belgium 22 year old David Goffin. Yep add him to my young guns he has talent. Djoker was quite animated after the match fist pumping in victory ...was he sending a signal to Rafa ...it was quite strong!.Here is some highlights what do you think at the end of the match? What was he saying ?


Have you ever had the chance of watching Marion Bartoli play..yep if you have she has probably drove you crazy with her shadow practice swings ..which go on all match. Some call her "mad marion" and fellow competitors call her much worse. She saved two match points as most of the crowd wanted her gone so the featured men's match could start! But true to form she dragged out the win and moves on to the second round.Have a look at Marion practising its unique to say the least!

Technique : Left is a former USA Junior Winner , he went into that event unseeded. He also played about two ITF junior events. If you have read my blog way too much money and time is being spent by juniors inflating their rankings by playing lots of these events ..eventually you will be caught out as you try to enter bigger and stronger events but more on that later.Have a look at this guys grip coaches!!!Oh dear many will be racing to look up their grip charts and reading their last lecture notes "oh he must change" will be their cry s !...the experienced coaches will however take note and if you are like me if it works for you and your coach is happy go with it. I have seen coaches and usually coaches who do not coach the player concerned start chatting to parents questioning their child's grip.What a joke! This happens way to much , naive parents falling for the oldest trick in the book...and guess what next they are booking lessons with that coach who gained all his knowledge at his  local coaching courses and the many Books they have studied.

The player is young American Jack Sock who had a great win yesterday over Garcia Lopez ..being twenty he has a lot of grit and yes I told you about him yesterday.His next opponent is veteran but incredible player 12 th seed Tommy Haas!This will be a great test for the youngster and one I will be tuning in for! I found a great article on line about Jack climbing the beanstalk ..will he be soon known as Jack the giant Killer.
You can CLICK HERE..For the article.

Blood is Thicker than water! -Bernard Tomic was sent packing yesterday or should I say limping as he withdrew after being down two sets to zero against Hanescu. I am fast losing any sympathy for him as he stated in his press conference that his father will always be his coach. He said it was strange not to have his father at court Side!
I find that comment even stranger once Bernard went to the umpire to ask if he could remove his father as he was yelling abuse at him.Lets hope our Daddy Day Care gets what he deserves from the Spanish inquisition..and lets hope Thomas Drouet the guy knocked out by the infamous head butt  stays strong and does not settle for an out of court settlement ..which is on the cards! 

My Top 3 matches of the day!

Young Aussie Kyrgios against seasoned top player Cilic and 10th seed. Surely he cant beat this guy..but he's up for it and anything is possible he's got nothing to lose!.

Two Young Guns going at it Puig 19 and Keys another from the USA just 18. Puig is confident way above her ranking , whist Keys maybe the best for her age going around.

Monfils vs Gulbis. This will be fantastic two very talented guys battling it out.The crowd will be for Monfils and at some stage Gulbis will stir up the French which could go against him.

This has been a day 4 Dirt File Report.

Competition Ladies

Congratulations to : Steve 1959 - Ana Ivanovic Ken - Sam Stosur Mitch -yaraslova shvedova Fuzzy Yellow Balls - Sloane Stephen's Tony Osborne - Sloane Stephen's 

These entry's are still waiting results because of the rain yesterday some matches are drawn today.You may select for round 2 and depending if your First Round pick gets through you will of course remain in the competition. Dafa-ashleigh barty Feds Fan -Kvitova Bec - Wickmayer

These have been eliminated after round 1 del boy -julia georges Jenny -Flavia Pennetta  .Please use this post to post your entry's for next round in the comments section as you did for the previous round. And Good Luck!

Competition Men's

Congratulations to : Steve 1959-Giles Simon : Ken-Victor Troiki : del boy: Kei Nishikori :mitch - tommy haas :dafa - milos raonic :Fuzzy Yellow Balls - fernando verdasco :Jenny - Kei Nishikori Feds Fan-Verdasco : Bec - Verdasco.

ELIMINATED FROM THIS ROUND 

Tony Osborne :Stepanek and Sharapova's Granny : Alexander Dolgopolov 

Your second round picks are due now and please use this post to lodge them just as you did before in the comments section.Bad luck to those that were eliminated , such is the nature of tennis upsets will occur each round.Good luck to you all for the Second round!Please post before your player takes the court.

Roland Garros 2013 The Daily Dirt Day - 3

DAY 2 Recap:Well lets start with Rafa , he moves to the next round but for my liking he was pushed around way to much by Daniel Brands. Nadal thrives on a faster dry clay court so as the tournament progresses his camp will be hoping for hotter temperatures.He could of easily been down two sets to love but typical Nadal the fight and grit allowed him to win in 4 after dropping the first. Rafa you need to pick up your game and stop letting these guys bully you pushing you to far behind the baseline. Nadal said his opponent was trying to hit the ball as hard he could! He found he had not much time and was a little nervous early.I will paste the the Presser and you can see the whole interview along with the dumb ass questions some journalist ask!

What about Gail Monfils taking out the 5th seed Thomas Berdych , it was one of my top 3 matches from yesterday and it certainly provided us with inspiring tennis especially from Monfils. Asked where did today's tennis come from ,Monfils said this" I haven't got the exact answer, but my only answer is I worked.I worked.And I believed in myself.I have gone through very difficult moments,so necessarily, you know you get tougher.After this,as I usually say, its very strange,but here its magic here.Its magic....Its a place where I feel really good,and yeah, I can go beyond myself and play a type of tennis I wouldn't even think of".Well Gail your next match is against Ernest Gulbis and that is going to be a cracker also.And for Thomas back to the drawing board once again a let down and your clay court season is virtually over. Not every one struggled and The courts are alive with the sound of Maria Sharapova who had an easy win, as did Smoking Joe Tsonga and Richard Gasquet.

Well Caroline Wozniacki scored a solid win over GB up and comer Laura Robson. Many tipped Robson for a win including me! But Robson had 39 unforced errors and against Wozza you just cant have that many and win!Robson is like Wozza looking for a new coach. Well done to Aussie Nick Kyrgios who is the youngest player in the men's field took out veteran Stepanek 76 76 76.Fantastic for the young guy and this is were you want to be at 18 if you have any chance of top 100 aspirations.

My Top 3 Match of the Day 

Young Guns: I made a mistake yesterday of leaving out American Ryan Harrison in my young guns category. The 21 year old from Austin Texas showed he was not that big of a cowboy on clay beating Russian Andre Kuznetsov in straight sets. I have listed Young gun Aussie Bernard Tomic also 21 as one of my feature matches.I am sure security will be high with what has happened over the past couple of weeks with father John who is not allowed on the grounds of Roland Garros. Look Bernie has faults ..well a lot of them lets hope he goes out and plays a good match.Jack Sock also USA is another. I have featured Sock in my top 3 matches of the round also 21 has came through qualifying and is a young player  to keep an eye out for. Benoit Paire is 24 from France is a solid player and just scrapes in on my list. Will be a great match with him and Baghdatis today also.Aussie Ashleigh Barty who is just 17 plays Lucie Hradecka ranked 51 whilst Barty received a wild card is 174.A big day for the young Aussie. Barty is on my young guns team of course! Grigor Dimitrov is maybe the best young gun in men's tennis along with Raonic ...Grigor plays also today against Alejandro Falla

Marina Erakovic will have all of New Zealand hoping she can win today she plays Elena Baltacha a winnable match for sure ...one problem Marina has lost a lot of winnable matches!

Novak Djokovic is drawn today David Goffin 23 and for sure needs to go on my young guns list , this will be a good match Goffin can play.

The top shrieker is in Action also Victoria Azarenka with REDFOOL in her corner.

Yesterday I mentioned that USA Women player base and depth was on the up.Here is an article about that subject.HERE

Finally Rodgers tweet contest has G STRING in the lead! Still time to vote before he plays his next match.

This is a Day 3 Dirt File Report.

Competition Round 1 closes today

Thanks for all that have entered so far , today before start of play is the last chance to enter the competition. Those that have moved through to the second round will be announced in tomorrows post. Your Round two picks will be required before the start of play of the day your player selected plays.There will be a post for round two that your selections will need to be made to the comments section.

Roland Garros 2013 The Daily Dirt Day - 2

Well day 1 at Roland Garros was like a teaser of whats to come. We had plenty of drama with two old former stars fighting but eventually exiting.First Venus Williams went down Urszula Radwanska, Venus said she wants her old serve back..Venus is turning 33 soon and she will need more than her old serve back to do well at Wimbledon.Williams is also battling autoimmune disease.As for her creation she wore for the match for me it was another fashion disaster looked like Pajama's and she had came for a sleep over.The other former Number 1 The little Aussie Battler Llyeton Hewitt went down to local Giles Simon.Hewitt lead two sets to love but Simon fought back to level the match and take a 5-0 lead in the deciding set , only for Hewitt to do what he does so well fight and levelled the set at 5-5.Simon won the next two games and Hewitt limped from the court after receiving applause from the French crowd on his effort.I think Lleyton will call it quits at the next Australian Open.Love him or hate him he's been a great competitor no one likes being drawn against. Federer Busted Busta and taught him a lesson when competing against the big boys.I was disappointed after knowing his results this year in the futures... he was really lacking in power and the serve just is not good enough at this level.I have put Busta down a notch from the Young Guns to the Pop Guns until he deserves reinstatement. Day 2 sees a full program so below is the schedule along with my selections.
If you want to see the selections and schedule bigger just click on them.

There are some great matchups today and I have picked out 3 that will be worth following.

Monfils has fallen in rankings but has so much talent and playing in front of his home town crowd could cause an upset over Berdych.Berlocq could have enough clay court experience to knock the American and 20th Seed John Isner over. Its been stated that Wozniacki is after a new coach her father has had enough of the tour which he labels a "circus'Laura Robson is a player of the future and she has the ability to allow Caroline an early start to look for that coach.There are plenty of great matches many on the outside courts and of course a few more Young Guns in Action.

Young Guns- Well of course Laura Robson from GB is certainly a young gun and one of the best.Ricardas Berankis is another Young Gun he is 23 and plays the 30th Seed Frenchman Julian Benneteau.Ernest Gulbis is 25 same age as Nadal so I hardly class him a young gun his form is good but he keeps failing to deliver.Euginie Bouchard is 19 from Canada she also plays tonight,Madison Keys who is 18 from the USA could have a bright future and is in action today. Jerzy Janowcz is 23 and hes got talent and he's got some spark he is also the 22 seed ...remember his Aussie Open Meltdown and a youtube video that went viral! Kei Nishikori from Japan is the 13th seed he is 24 but size is his downfall against the powerful and talented big guys he is Chicken feed.Sloane Stevens who is from the USA and 20th seed whilst another Christina McHale 21 is also from the USA ...who said USA tennis was looking bad! Certainly not in the Ladies.Fablious Fabio Fognini is also fun too watch and is from Italy but for me is out of the young guns eligibility at 26.And what a day for 18 year old Aussie and World Junior Number 1 Nick Kyrgios who received a wild card into the main draw and comes up against seasoned campaigner Radek Stepanek. Nick certainly makes my Young Guns group.

Milos Raonic has split from his coach also and ex player Ivan Ljubicic is in his camp and rumour has it he has been working on Raonic to stick out his tongue whilst hitting his forehand.

Well another rumour that surrounds Rodgers next twitter tweet contest is fans will choose 1. whether he wears a G string for his next match or 2.conventional White Calvein Kleins.

This has been Day 2 of the Daily Dirt!

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Statham Wins in Korea

Well done Rubin Statham on winning the Singles and Doubles titles at the ITF DaeGu Mens 15,000 Futures event in Korea.The above is an old picture obviously taken at the Heineken a few years ago. Remember this year the powers that be made a very poor decision not giving Statham a Wildcard to this event even though he was New Zealand's top player.Since January Statham is having his best year yet on tour. KEEP STICKING IT TO THEM JOSE(Rubin) .RESULTS HERE

COMPETITION STILL OPEN

You can still nominate your R1 winners pick for the Men's and Ladies pick the winner of the French Open Contest. Scroll down to find the post or for the Ladies Click HERE For the Men's Click HERE

Some very strategic entry's so far , just submit in the comments section at the bottom of the post.

Rafa's Knee

I am going to give you a link to a fantastic interacting story on Rafa's Knee. It gives great insight to the wear and tear on the knee especially from the backhand side.Click HERE

The Eye's Roland Garros - The Dirt Files Day 1

Well day 1 starts in a few hours time and I will have some updates news and other various posts as the tournament progresses.So I guess the major news is that it will not be a Djokovic and Nadal final, Nadal with his time spent out due to injury was seeded 4th,the French powers that be that could of seeded Rafa higher elected to go with the current rankings. The player with the biggest smile after the draw which landed both the Djoker and Nadal in the same half was the GOAT Rodger Federer.
For those that are not familiar with the term GOAT it stands for Greatest Of All Time.Now for those that did not know Rodger has now joined Twitter .So Twitter followers Rodger has tweeted that Fans can choose what colour bandana he wears for his first match.Yes you could choose White or Violet!

 Lets just hope readers Rodger is not wearing Red after the match as Rodger and his opponent features in one of my Matches of the Day

His opponent is Spanish Player Pablo Carreno-Busta.He is the best qualifier and started the year at 654 and is now around 133.He has won 7 out of 8 futures and obviously can play on clay.This will not be a walk in the park for Federer and he cannot be affording to tweet too many times during the match.Oh by the way I think he will be wearing Violet, I just checked the poll! The other match up is The little Aussie Battler Lleyton Hewitt up against the Local and 15th seed Giles Simon.Sadly being an Australian and knowing the battles Hewitt has fought Simon will be burying Hewitt in the Red Clay and probably will mark his last match here at Roland Garros.The dim light at the end of a dark tunnel is Simon is in the worst form of his career.Whilst on the Aussies Marinko Matosevic will also be joining Hewitt and on the plane( he plays Ferrer),I want to say to no where but it will be to the Grass courts and they will have plenty of time to practice before Wimbledon starts.James Duckworth another Aussie has come through qualifying and has the best but slim chance to make it to the second round.

THE YOUNG GUNS : Who are the next grandslam winners? Alas my opinion is whilst Nadal,Djoker,Murray and Federer are playing I don't see any of these pretenders holding the Cup.Young Gun 1 playing today is 14th Seed Milos Raonic from Canada. I don't think he can win this tournament ,His mobility on Clay is a huge question and he will be found out in this area. He plays Veteran Xavier Malisse in a good match up also on Day 1. Raonic is 23. Just an Interesting stat is that World No 1s such as Fed,Sampras,Nadal,McEnroe have all had their best year at around 24 or 25.This maybe a good gauge for players .I would class Busta in the Young Guns category also so readers keep an eye on this guy.I will add more as they play , for me that's it for today in this catergory no other worthy entries playing on Day 1.

LOVE 30 - Paris and Love what a couple.So everyone says that Serena Williams and coach Patrick Mourataglou are more than just player and coach, I have to say that Serena starts Favourite and my Pick for the title.I have never seen Serena look fitter and she wont be losing first round today.In fact Serena has a great draw with Agnieszka Radwanska seeded to meet Serena in the Semi's.She does have Caroline Wozniacki in her quarter but since her and Rory have been an item there has not been too much major success on the court. Another Victoria Azarenka and in her Corner REDFOO will be screaming her way through matches ..would hate to have the hotel room next to them!The other screamer Maria Sharapova complete the top 4 super couples with player Grigor Dimitrov , who has been suffering with cramps recently and yes I mean the leg ones! So which one of these 4 couples will make it to the final.Will they be overpowered by love, can they put lust to the back-burner for the two weeks.
This is a DAY 1 DIRT FILE REPORT!

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The Eyes 2013 French Open Competition - Ladies

You can enter the ladies competition as well as the men's.Just put your entry on this post in the comments section.Same rules as the Men's.

How it works : It's easy , you pick the winner but their is a twist ! From round one you must pick a ladies winner in that round , so for example Round 1 you may pick Serena Williams to progress......logic says that's a sure bet , however the twist is you cannot pick the same player again as the draw progresses in the following rounds! So if Serena wins the tournament after you picking her in Round one... unfortunately you will not! So use your tennis knowledge and hopefully your last pick will be the winner.

How to enter : You will see the comments section on this post so for example all first round picks must be lodged in the comments section.You must make up a nickname that you keep for the whole tournament.(comments at bottom of post click on)
So for example   Nickname or ID : The eye     My pick R1 Steffi Graff I am just giving an example *I would not be that stupid to select Steffi as she has retired long ago and not in the tournament .Each day winners will be updated and you will enter your next pick on the update post.

You must have your entry in prior to the start of the days plays for the round you are picking.(For the start of the tournament Each round is usually played over two days, the top or bottom half of the draws will be played) Your first round pick must be from Round 1 matches.

The Eyes 2013 French Open Competition - Mens

The second Grand-slam of the year is commencing Readers are invited to participate in this competition.Its easy and you will enter the draw as a player and just like the competitors you win or you go home.
How it works : It's easy , you pick the winner but their is a twist ! From round one you must pick a men's winner in that round , so for example Round 1 you may pick Nadal to progress......logic says that's a sure bet , however the twist is you cannot pick the same player again as the draw progresses! So if Nadal wins the tournament after you picking him in Round one... unfortunately you will not! So use your tennis knowledge and hopefully your last pick will be the winner.

How to enter : You will see the comments section on this post so for example all first round picks must be lodged in the comments section.You must make up a nickname that you keep for the whole tournament.
So for example   Nickname or ID : The eye     My pick R1 Bernard Tomic I am just giving an example *I would not be that stupid to select Tomic given the recent slam bam and thank you man events*.
Each day winners will be updated and you will enter your next pick on the update post.(comments at bottom of post click on)

You must have your entry in prior to the start of the days plays for the round you are picking.(For the start of the tournament Each round is usually played over two days, the top or bottom half of the draws will be played) Your first round pick must be from Round 1 matches.
.
The First Days Scedule can be found here
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/schedule/index.html

The men's full draw can be found here
http://http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/draws/ms/index.html

So GOOD LUCK!

Yes their will be a women's contest also just look for that post if you want to enter the Ladies Contest Also.

Transition Balls are They Really The Cat's Pyjamas?

The eye asked Clem Apted The Piako Tennis Coach about what he thought of transition balls... here's what he said...For some time now I have been using Transition Balls in my Coaching Programme and I find them invaluable especially for beginners. Naturally a ball bouncing lower suits a child who is naturally lower! Just get on your hands and knees and hit a few yellow  balls and you will see what I mean. It’s difficult for kids to hit a ball around their shoulders. Naturally for the more advanced kids the sooner they start hitting the yellow balls the better, another point is it’s difficult to hit hard heavy balls with little Racquets. I realise that Coaches have to fork out a lot of money to purchase the different grades of balls when yellow balls are generally much cheaper or even free!. Coaches these days are expected to spend a lot of money on balls, mini nets and kids Racquets, on top of traveling etc. I can appreciate why many Coaches don’t bother joining NZ  Tennis, together with the cost of a first aid certificate and then equipment it’s a big outlay before they even start.  Getting away from Transition Balls , it would be great to hear what other Coaches think about what is happening with Tennis in NZ, how things could be improved, should we have an Association of Coaches independent of NZ Tennis to protect our lively hood?. Coaches are very vulnerable, you could loose your coaching position in an instant , and the Contract with the Club or employer means absolutely nothing.  If only NZ Tennis valued the contribution of Coaches in NZ. I have been critical of NZ Tennis and have offered some suggestions of how they could improve the relationship between Coaches and them, but it seems any criticism levelled at them, has resulted in me being ‘blacklisted’.   I have read Steve Dries Blog and have seen negative criticism of Steve Johns CEO of NZ Tennis, perhaps Johns and people that  make anonymous comments could be more public, the more dialogue the better for our sport, Regards Clem Apted. The Photo, is Clem’s cat who is a big fan of Prince balls!

Nadal is ready to Defend French Open - Smacks Federer once Again

Nadal although seeded 4th for the upcoming French Open is again the favorite after beating Rodger Federer yesterday in Rome. The above picture says it all with Nadal increasing his Head to Head to around 21- 10.

Rafa- I dont like it when someone checks my balls!

Rafa interviewed today in Rome after beating Gulbis in 3 sets: "Gulbis is an amazing player but he needs to calm down because he asking the umpire to come down to check my balls too many times, and I don't like it when somebody checks my balls....

Its not just the Parents ---Crazy Crazy Crazy

I have sympathy however for Victor ...

There're Creepy and there Spooky- Tomics father in Jail for assault on hitting partner!

There're Creepy and there kookey
Mysterious and Spookey

JOHN Tomic is likely to face court in Madrid today after allegedly assaulting French player Thomas Drouet (pictured with Tomic above middle)as reports emerge the infamous coach might also have attacked his son Bernard in Monte Carlo last week.

John Tomic is said to have been held in custody after his arrest at a Madrid hotel for allegedly attacking Drouet, who is employed by the Tomics as Bernard's regular practice partner.
The shocking news comes after a Monte Carlo news outlet claimed John Tomic had struck Bernard during a public practice session in Monaco last Tuesday.


Drouet and John Tomic are alleged to have clashed in the street outside the hotel.Drouet was knocked out and left with a broken nose, fractured vertebrae and stitches after the alleged attack which was witnessed by leading players, including Alexandr Dolgopolov and Janko Tipsarevic.


Drouet was said to be bleeding from the nose, lips and face. An unnamed witness said police and an ambulance were called.
European media reported said a man - believed to be John Tomic - was arrested at the hotel and had blood on his face when taken into custody.
It is understood he spent a number of hours in custody before being released yesterday evening (local time).
Bernard Tomic subsequently lost to Czech veteran Radek Stepanek 6-3 6-2 in the first round of the Madrid Masters.
Ok its time to go John ....Goodbye you are the weakest link. I first came across Tomic's father at the Australian 14s Winter Nationals in Brisbane which my niece was playing.I was watching Tomic then 14 playing another boy , there was one supporter clapping loudly each time Tomic's opponent won a point..I said to some one is that the boys father they said no its TOMICS! My niece made the final as did Tomic of that event. Hopefully the ATP will take action ...Tomic Snr must go ..somethings up as the Bernards clay court season has been ordinary so far.

Read Full article HERE

Update Tennis in turmoil --- Yep New Zealand

With interest I listened to Radio Sport with Brendon Telfer discussing the move by Norrie to Great Britain with Lee Radovanovich . I have included the link for you guys to listen to.

http://content.radionetwork.co.nz/weekondemand/radiosport/21115.mp3

Radovanovich made some good points. The chat starts around 6.32 into the time slot posted.A great point was made during the discussion ,which I have advocated on this blog that juniors can get higher rankings that sometimes are inflated depending on where they have picked up points.He says that Norrie has played twice as many tournaments than most juniors inside the top 10 and a lot of points have been accumulated in the Asia Pacific region....He said this was ideal for gaining a USA college scholarship that most New Zealand junior tennis players aspire too. He also was critical of the current standard of Junior tennis in this country and went on to say that New Zealand had missed the boat about 10 years ago.He did say that Norrie had made the right call.Alan Chester from the Seed Foundation approached the Norrie family offering whatever they wanted funding wise for Cameron, they declined. Radovanovich said even if New Zealand Tennis had the money they do not know how to use it! Telfer then asked Radonanovich had New Zealand Tennis learned anything from this...he said no ...they have not learned anything in the past 15 years.He went on to say that the best place for promising juniors was not New Zealand!

Yep sadly it makes sense to me!

Another Defection Hits New Zealand Tennis Hard

New Zealand's leading junior tennis player, ranked No 10 in the world, has defected to Great Britain due to lack of funding.Auckland's Cameron Norrie is considered our best tennis prospect in years, but the 17-year-old played his first tournament as a Brit in Scotland last week.Norrie qualifies for Britain through a parent being born in the UK, and follows Sacha Jones, who defected to Australia last year.Tennis NZ says the switch of allegiances again highlights the lack of development funding for top players, with CEO Steve Johns saying he will again raise the issue with Sport New Zealand. Norrie went to the UK six weeks ago to trial with Britain's Lawn Tennis Association.

This is a slap in the face for tennis in this country on top of Sasha Jones and the Rubin Statham Debacle with their top ranked player making himself unavailable for Davis Cup over issues with TNZ. Norrie has had some support from TNZ to deny that is wrong, but the grass is greener on the other side of the world and British Tennis is cash ladened. In saying that they have not had much success outside Henman and now Andy Murray in mens Tennis.In fact Tim Henman just recently labeled British Men's tennis as embarrassing .Goodluck Cameron I hope you have researched all the components of tennis in GB after all we all know Murray went off shore to Spain at a very early age.

So the signal is loud and clear junior tennis players from New Zealand ,check your heritage there is hope , or like Jones did migrate to Australia , although she hasnt actually set the world on fire since her move. Their coaches (Great Britain)deemed (Norrie) good enough to be part of their development programme and he has automatically become the UK's top-ranked junior. That sort of sounds funny ,Norrie learning all his tennis locally now is the top ranked junior player for Great Britain!Dont worry juniors Mr Steve Johns  is on to !be it a defeatist statement that will not inspire local juniors "Johns said New Zealand couldn't compete with Britain's funding."As it was when Sacha left us, these guys are out there wanting to make a career in tennis, and there is no way we're ever going to be able to match the resources of a Grand Slam nation," he said." Well Mr Johns if you want some homework why not look up the budget of other Tennis Nations who have top 20 ranked players.They dont spend half on what Great Britain has spent over the last 20 years and some dont have a budget equal to New Zealand!.So you really need to know that money helps but its not always the key ingrediant at the end of the day.

I know from watching Norrie over the past few years ,in fact I coached a junior that beat him in the National 12s final in Christchurch that he has the grit and will to win. His results since supports that.Norrie has been New Zealand's highest ranked junior since Marina Erakovic reached No 5 in 2005. The next best male Kiwi junior is Kyle Butters, ranked 209.  It really boils down to toughness and what you are prepared to do to go to the next level.Norrie has obviously made his choice ,what he has to do for the next level.Here in New Zealand he should of been picked for the next Davis Cup tie , sadly that wont be happening.I dont see him playing for GB either in the next couple of years.No doubt Norrie will focus on the remaining Junior Grandslams pointless really in the scheme of things. His success in the futures recently is promising be it they were in Great Britain ...oh dear a thought just ran through my mind the first tournament in GB Norrie reached the Quarter finals after coming through qualifying the tournament winner was 16 year old Borna Coric ( Croatia) who is the 4th best Junior in the world.Norrie....has had a win against him in the Junior ITFs in Manila recently. Coric beat the Brits in their backyard my thoughts are Timmy Henman Hill maybe right!This week Norrie was beaten in the qualifying by guess who Coric ...in three. Ok to cut a long story short the guys playing these events are from high 300s to 1000s plus.! As I write a Belgium ranked 478 takes on a Brit ranked  619 ( 24 years old) in the final of this weeks Great Britain challenger.Coric was beaten in the quarters by Aussie Jason Kubler 61 62 ranked 398 and 19 years of age.

Great Britain has not had a great track record especially in the Admin department , I guess probably a little more success than TNZ.Johns said High Performance Sport NZ's funding policy was limited to athletes capable of podium finishes at Olympics or world championships.

"We're clearly not there yet," he said. "But who's to say Cameron wouldn't have been a future Olympics medallist for New Zealand."

A spokesperson for HPSNZ said: "Athletes and coaches do move around the world. We benefit when overseas athletes choose to live in New Zealand."Cameron has identified an opportunity for him and we wish him well in chasing his dream. THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT HPSNZ .Unfortunately as many will talk about  the short comings of tennis in this country but few lack the WILSON balls to publically come out and criticize..I mean just attend a tournament here there is nothing positive said about TNZ. Norrie maybe had to do what he had to do......Time will tell if its the right choice..tennis has to change in the country  .One of the brain waves from TNZ was to move offices and rub shoulders with the elite of sport...Money could of been better spent on the Juniors maybe.Norries move did not happen overnight! did we have our Head in the sand once more? Must be a running joke out at the Millenium centers water coolers....if your looking to make it in tennis check your ancestory!

Would love to hear some comments on your thoughts of Norries defection and what it means for aspiring juniors here in NZ

National Juniors Teams Event a Positive

The Last few days I spent in Wellington with the Southern 14s Girls team at the National Event.I am not sure that the powers that be understand how important events such as these are for junior tennis players from the region.I know that this event for most Southern Juniors is a reason why they put that extra into the tennis ,following tournaments and having extra coaching and training.Its a great chance for regions to measure their region against others.The Southern Region does not get the exposure on a regular basis and this event is a highlight for juniors making the teams.We managed to pip Canterbury to finish fith and having three matches be decided by countback after rubbers were tied was a great effort for our team.

I hope that TNZ can put more into the regions financially for this event as the spinoff is invaluable in keeping players playing the game and to give other juniors something to aspire to.

Locally its been a good week with the 16 National girls team qualifying for Worlds.Cameron Norrie reached the quarter finals  of a futures in Engand.Lets hope that he plays a few more senior events rather than lingering in the ITF junior events for too long.The eye does have to report a couple of high ranking juniors being caught out after sneaking out of their rooms whilst on tour.If its good enough for Pat Rafter to drop his players from Davis Cup because of behavior then TNZ needs to keep a firm grip.

I also urge more fundings to the coach of top juniors allowing them to map out a plan and be able to travel with their players to major tour events. Farming them off to salary coaches is a disaster, give the individual coach access to funding.Where to get this funding....get rid of the babysitting coaches .

We need to stop nursing our up and coming juniors and getting them to play tougher events , I mean the top end junior ITFs and a few future events.

Last week 18 year old Aussie Nick Kyrgios took out the China futures event.He is the worlds leading junior boy but those events are well behind him.

The measure for New Zealand juniors are the Aussies start beating them in their backyard thats a start .