Eye of The Tiger

The Ebbs and Flows of a tennis match

2012-01-24T23:22:00.003+13:00

For those that dont know I have been attending the Canterbury ITF supporting a young Liechtenstein Junior Thomas Weirather.Today he beat the third seed 6-3 6-7 7-6, a match that had almost everything.Thomas started nervously and found himself down 3-1, he was playing a brash Australian .Gaining in confidence Thomas took the set 6-3 as he dictated play with his aggressive baseline game pinning the Aussie into the corners of the court. How many times do you see a strong performance winning the first set and then relaxing at the start of the second set.Juniors you must strive to make the first games of the second like the last game of the first,...many breathe a "sigh"of relief and intensity is not as strong as it was.....You must refocus and get tough! Keep your opponent down and keep the intensity up.Now before Thomas knew it he was down 5-3 in the second.He fought back and had an opportunity to break at 5-5 , it then went to a tiebreak which at 5 all in the tiebreak he appeared to get a very dodgy call by his opponent and went on to lose the second set. Not only did Thomas have to battle the player the referee had stepped in and warned both players for Intimidation. I will write more on this latter .To Thomas's credit he kept calm and a good lesson to all players try not to lose to much energy in disputes whilst they some seem ridiculous decisions( as you have seen watching the Aussie Open even the Top Players crack at times and let the moment get the best of them)Keep the focus on the job at hand.Also Thomas had to watch his opponent have an injury time out before starting the third set again another distraction you dont need.Thomas started strongly and went two love up and had the Aussie on the ropes ,,again a lapse of intensity and loose shots allowed the Aussie to break and come back to two all.Games went with serve until 4 all and Thomas lost his serve to go down 5-4 to leave his opponent to serve for the match.This could be enough for most players to acknowledge defeat unlike Baghdatis who in the Aussie Open after dropping serve went and smashed 4 racquet's! Thomas kept his composure and broke to love.Games again went with serve and adding too the drama the Aussie had cramps.Surely now the match must be Thomas's all he has to do is move the guy around,,,,easier said than done as the player takes more risks to shorten the points and suddenly it was another tie-break to decide the match. Thomas was down the first two points surely a guy limping around the baseline could not get the victory.Thomas went to 6-2 , nerves set in and two points were lost quicky!, At 6-4 Thomas wins the point the match is over.!He gets his first ITF points , I said to him after the game remember this game that got you on the World ranking list for Juniors not just because of the win but the many lessons he can take from this match to make him a better and more experienced player.CONGRATULATIONS THOMAS!

Mistaken Identity

2012-01-22T14:12:00.001+13:00

If you are a coach and in the Tennis Industry you have to be ready for anything,but this incident is a first! After returning from Holiday's in Australia I was catching up on emails and there in my Inbox was a letter from a major association re my conduct at their recent tournament. I asked for the tournament report which contained a three page summary from the tournament referee on my alleged conduct which stated I abused the referee during a match ,in the report my name was mentioned throughout, it said I should know better blah blah blah.!!! Now the problem I have with this is simple....I was never at the tournament.I have to ask how can a referee get this so wrong, in fact I know the referee in question ,I have been on the tennis scene a number of years in New Zealand and I do think well known among the tennis fraternity.Also i have never lost my Australian accent and pray to God I never will.I have received written apologies from the association and the referee in question who wrote the report.This is indeed a very case of "the wrong man".New Zealand is a reasonably small place and unfortunately the rumor mill is alive and well.This should not happen.....I cannot fathom how it happened.It remains a huge mystery to me. :)

The Return of the eye!

2012-01-22T12:50:00.000+13:00

The eye will be back with forth right comments , the state of tennis in New Zealand is not good, and its no wonder Sasha Jones has defected, Big story's to come its time to again hit the pathetic and agenda driven administrations .

Words Of Wisdom

2011-11-24T14:23:00.002+13:00

Andy Murray had some advice for British Tennis and I think its very relevant to this part of the world. he says Do you know that in Spain, at 18, your funding stops,From there, you get nothing that you cannot earn for yourself" He also went on to say "We're funding guys to ages 27, 28 - while in the most successful tennis nation in the world you're basically on your own. Maybe there's something in that."

The 24-year-old Scot was sent to Spain to develop his game and has become the lone British player of his generation as a result. "When I went to Spain, from the best players to the worst players we were all taught the same way, all given the same drills. They had a structure and they stuck to it.

"Go to our national center and you've got 10 different nationalities all coaching a different way. If we don't get the results straight away, we panic and change direction.

"There is no confidence in our technique, no sense of sticking to an idea, no identity, no consistency in the way we teach tennis, so naturally there is no British style."

THE EYES SPIN

We also have to look more closely at how ITF points are accumulated more attention on Head to Head results is a very true indication of how a junior is travelling on the ITF circuits and what tournaments these wins and losses come in. At the end of the day what s the point of picking up points in closed local circuits if you cant cut it in the top grade,its fact many of the worlds top juniors hardly bother with ITF's once they reach 17.Most top college coaches are interested in Head to head who you have beaten who you have lost to , it pays to look more at the player rather than some inflated ranking next to their name.

I support this tough stance by the Spanish Federation and it seems to be working looking at all their players in the top 100.Believe me you are not making money playing the futures circuit.

CLASSIC!

2011-11-15T08:57:00.003+13:00

South Canterbury Tennis Academy News

2011-10-28T09:07:00.001+13:00

SCTA Academy Members excel in South Canterbury Spring Open Junior Tournament.

2011-10-19T23:18:00.005+13:00

The South Canterbury Spring Open kicked off today in very blustery conditions that tested players throughout the day.Academy players involved in our coaching programs fared well .The 10 boys Jack Sands who attends our coaching in Geraldine was beaten by the top seed Harrison Darling in the semi finals but went on to win the third place play off against Sam Bubb 9-3.He also recorded a 9-1 win over Matt Ellis in the Quarter finals.Josh Eckhold from our Monday performance Squad won his first round encounter before losing also to Darling second round.He went on to reach the consolation plate final.Great work boys! In the 10 girls Taylor Cvitanich also from Monday Performance squad had a great win in the quarter finals defeating Ella Smith 9-5.Smith had earlier knocked out the top seed Mid Canterbury player Caroline Murdoch.Taylor plays her semi tomorrow.In the 12 boys Taylor's brother Bradreached the quarter finals only to fall to the number two seed James Wild.Ben Deeley the third seed had a great straight sets win over Southern Lakes player Bjorn Pollock 6-3 6-3.He faces the top seed in tomorrows semi final.Both Brad and Ben are Academy Members

A special mention to 8 year old Thararubphet Homkrun who has reached the final of the 12 girls.Nay Nay(name) a shortened version of her full name is very promising considering her age (8).The boys 14 has seen Academy players Tom Russell and Jack Deeleyreach the semi finals of the boys singles.Both were in great form today.Tom the top seed will meet Sam Benny whilst Jack has his work cut out against the second seed from Auckland Connor Van Dalsum.Jack was the tournament 3 rd seed.Luke Elsen a perforamnce squad member was lacking a little fitness from his recent oversee's trip and was a little short of some match play he lost to the Number two seed.Josh Reddecliffe did not handle the blustery conditions too well and full credit to his opposition who did.Josh is also an Academy member.Rebecca Gill lost a competitive match with 3rd seed Zoe Smith from Southland. Rebecca showed good form and will only get better with more match play. Rebbecca is also an Academy member.In the 16 boys number 2 seed Tom Deeley will only get better from his semi final loss to 3rd seed Daiki Naka.Lacking some hard match play also the loss will make Tom even keener for his next tournament outing, Tom is of course an Academy member.Great to see former Timaru Boys High student George Tarbotton playing locally again.George will be joining our Monday performance squad. All players are involved in doubles also and Luke Elsen and Jack Deeley combined well with Jack making some great volleys set up by Lukes solid back court play.It was great to see Juniors from North Otago partcipate and receive valuable tournament experience.Caleb Ludermann had a great first up 3 set win in the 14 boys singles leaving his opponent on the court in dispair as he contempleted what went wrong.Rebecca Dellaway is into the semi's and will expect a tough match from 3rd seed Zoe Smith.Albert Hailes top seed for the 16 boys survived a semi final scare losing the second set to Cougan Stoop. The academy and Director/ Head Coach provide the coaching for North Otago this season and they are all ready showing the benefits from having the experience of Dries at the Helm.Play continues tomorrow.For a more visual Display go to the Academy Web site.LINK

Session Highlights North Otago Performance Squad

2011-10-09T21:28:00.003+13:00

Hello Stranger!

2011-10-02T18:48:00.004+13:00

Back again with a post ! So busy with my Academy side my Blog as been a little bare.Well I am going to post a video from our North Otago Programs of a simple Movement drill and time trial. Why dont you juniors try these out and post in the comment section your times.! Make sure you let me know your age when posting your time.

Session 1 in the 10s and 12s age group Test 1 was a sideways movement time trial using the service box.They had 30 secs to touch the singles sideline and the center service line as many times in that allotted time.Josh and Katelyn were top with 22 touches.In the Second test forward and backward movement from the service line to net again 30 secs with as many touches in the allotted time.Keedah was top score with 15.The last test was an endurance from Court 2 doubles sideline to the furtherest doubles sideline on court 3.All players made 10 touches during the 1 minute allotted time frame.The 16s and 14s age groups saw Albert with 27 touches in Test 1 ,James and Josh with 21 touches for test 2 and the 3rd the endurance it was all to much for the group and they lost count!How do you compare?

Kids Tennis Game

2011-09-21T05:07:00.005+12:00

I thought I would share you this warm up or wind down game for younger juniors.I call this game lost sheep ,its a court awareness game teaching the juniors the names of the lines of the tennis court.As you can see watching the video as many kids get "lost" in their search for the correct line, hence the name
LOST SHEEP.

Novak does it again.

2011-09-13T20:44:00.000+12:00

Novak Djokovic proved again he is the best tennis player in the World by defeating a gallant Rafael Nadal.The Djoker was always talented now he has been able to focus and control his skills.Mentally he matched it with Nadal and in the end he broke the Spaniard by repelling a Nadal comeback taking the 4th set and the match 6-1.Nadal now knows what Federer felt like when Nadal stopped him successive grandslam finals.Nadal is competitive and it will be interesting to see how Nadal sets out to combat and defeat this new and improved player. In yesterday's post I summed up pretty well the danger for Nadal and his serve was going to be a key part.Here is a section of his post match interview.

Q. That long game in the second set, I think game three, how deflating was that on your serve to not come out of that when you put the overhead in the net?

RAFAEL NADAL: I keep fighting. I fighted a lot to come back in the second. I was ready to accept the challenges and to accept the problems. The problem is, I told you, I didn’t have free points. The serve didn’t help me. I didn’t start the points with an advantage tonight with my serve. That’s a lot. So I don’t think I need an ace or a winner serve, because I think I have enough good forehand later to have the control of the point. But a lot of times I started the point in the worst position than him when I was serving. So that’s tough.

Nadal will be striving to improve his game , and the serve is going to be a key, if he is to ever beat Novak again.Can Novak maintain his focus ,Im tipping him to continue his dominance, he has raised the bar , its up to the rest and Nadal to raise theirs also.

Stosur comes of age!

2011-09-12T16:23:00.000+12:00

What a win for Aussie Sam Stosur today over Serena Williams in the US Open Ladies singles final.Who tipped that? certainly not me and before I write more I have to say I am eating a large slice of Humble pie , well make it the whole pie!I never thought Stosur would lift the silver ware at a grandslam, her game today was outstanding she had to play at her best to win and she did , she surpassed her best she was incredible.As I have written previous I do not think Stosur's backhand was Grandslam material today it was brilliant and a key to her win.When she had to defend she used her slice backhand,executing the short dropshot and angle forcing Serena to come in and then passing her with her forehand.She served extremely well today and was aggressive on Serena's second serve.Congratulations Sam Stosur you proved your critics wrong including me! A huge boost for tennis in Australia.

I am looking forward to the Men's Final Between Nadal and Djokovic.One would say on previous encounters this year Djokovic is favorite.Nadal must be strong mentally he can not afford to let the Djokovic game get to him, he must go in with a game plan.If he hits to short the Djoker will make him pay, can he afford to run around his backhand for his favorite forehand? he has tried this and Djoker has nailed him to the open court.Nadal has to serve well , he is always going to have to scrap more on his service games as unlike Djokovic there wont be as many free points on his service game, Novak has the bigger serve.Nadal to tame his Demons (Djokovic) and I am tipping him to take the title yet again.

I followed with interest the Junior singles,The Girls won by Grace Min USA who in fact was unseeded , I feel sorry for the second seed who Min beat first round.Min is only 5'4 and did not drop a set the whole tournament.As I said before ITF points and ranking are no clear indication where you really sit amongst your peers.Min has been playing more Challenger Woman's tourney's than junior events recently.Madison Keys from the USA and 12th seed bombed out early after good results in the Open section, an indication how far she was going to go in the girls event was a struggling first round win over Fanning from New Zealand.The boys was won by British Junior Oliver Golding who was the 13th seed over top seed Jiri Vesley CZE.The brits junior program is looking good with some great talent both Boys and Girls!

The Serve

2011-08-30T08:17:00.000+12:00

In the blur of the serve,there can seem to be a variety of techniques used, but the worlds best players,the essential components are the same.

Here is a link to a fantastic article by the New York Post.
CLICK HERE

Get the Latest Edition

2011-07-28T13:25:00.000+12:00

Gone With The Wind -Federer and Nadal

2011-07-24T09:36:00.001+12:00

Hi All sorry for the lack of posts recently! Back in action again.Found this picture on the net,with the US Hard court season in full swing could this Old movie poster be a sign of the times for former World No 1s Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.............are they indeed Gone with the Wind?

Davis Cup Live streaming Nz

2011-07-10T16:44:00.001+12:00

Well done to the organizers that made the Live Streaming possible for the Davis Cup tie New Zealand vs Philippine's which New Zealand won 5-0.I guess for the visitors it proved one thing that former World No 72 Cecil Mamiit should retire and let the youth develop.Mamiit is best known as Sharapova's hitting partner.For New Zealand it was a result they should of won Mamiit is 35 and well past his best and the rest of the Philippine's team hardly scare anyone. Over the weekend thanks to the internet I have manged to watch some of France vs Germany,USA vs Spain.Just post here in the comments section if you want to see matches that are not shown on Local TV but are available on the net.

Murray Fashion Statement

2011-07-07T09:27:00.001+12:00

Andy Murray has hit back at former Davis Cup captain David Lloyd for saying that the world No. 4 needs to improve his once court appearance and shave more frequently.

"I don't think it makes any difference, guys like [Bjorn] Borg didn't shave for weeks and months until they lost," Murray said at a Davis Cup press conference in Glasgow. "I heard what he said yesterday and I used to actually practice at one of his clubs, in Renfrew, I think. He's entitled to whatever his opinion is, but I think he should stick to what he does best and that's building leisure clubs. It doesn't make a difference, it's whoever works the hardest, whoever plays the best wins the matches and that's all that's important."

My top 10 ramblings for Wimbledon 2011

1. Novak Djokovic proved he is the Worlds Best Tennis Player.

2. Nadal proved he is human admitting the previous beatings by Djoker played on his mind before the final

3. Petra Kvitova a breath of fresh air in Women's tennis without the glamour fuss associated with Grandslam pretenders.

4. Was it Luck or did the Aussies really have a good Wimbledon.High hopes for Barty girls winner.Saville did not look special.

5. Ladies doubles was like water torture

6. Federer's on the decline

7. Nadal's father was really letting loose in the players box during the final...he did not look happy.

8. Sam Stosur proved again that for someone who is touted as having one of the best serves in women's tennis ,loses her serve to easily.

9. Serena and Venus made a guest appearance.

10. Bring on the US OPEN

Wimbledon Mens Final Preview.

2011-07-03T16:22:00.004+12:00

The two best players in the world battle for the Men's Singles Wimbledon crown.This will be a battle,won with the heart and the mind and the will.Both are fantastic tennis players and athletes the last time they played Djokovic moved the better of the two ,both had outstanding semi final form. Djokovic will hurt Nadal if Nadal is not serving well, Nadal has to get a lot of first serves into play, on grass he gets a little more zip than the clay on which they last played, Nadal needs this to get control of the rally,Djokovic has the ability to win more free points on first serves and this could be crucial if the match is tight.Also a weapon is Djoker's backhand down the line that hurts Nadal big time if its firing.Nadal's forehand against Murray was back to its brutal best and this allowed Nadal to dictate, Djoker has a few more weapons to counter this.For me it comes down to who best keeps their mental game together.Nadal is relentless he wont give in,for me this will be the deciding factor and that he is playing his 5th Wimbledon final.Nadal to win.

Australian Luke Saville took out he boys title.Saville is the first Australian junior to win here since Todd Reid in 2002.I have to say however "what happened to Todd Reid".The transition to the Men's game is huge,but with Tomic reaching the quarters of the Maindraw there is light at the end of the tunnel.Promising news on the Junior girls front is 15 year old Ashleigh Barty from Ipswich. Barty will face Russia's third seed Irini Khromacheva in tonight's final.Barty conceded height, age and experience to Indy de Vroome - but nothing else - in a fabulous 6-4 6-1 semi-final victory.So great results with Aussie Juniors and if you follow the eye , I made mention of Barty's potential some posts ago.I had to ponder when I saw a local top ranked New Zealand junior girl last week practicing locally the gap between the top and the pretenders are immense and so are the correct tournament pathways.

If Barty wins tonight I am pretty sure that it could be a first ever that both Junior winners are from Australia.Finally wasn't it great to see another Left hander lift the Ladies Silverware ,Petra Kvitova defeated Maria Sharapova to win the Ladies title.We will be hearing a lot more of this "lefty" in the future.The 21-year-old No.8 seed became only the third Czech woman to triumph at Wimbledon after nine-time champion Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna, who were both in centre court's royal box to witness the victory.Packed with emotion its great to see a New Champion fulfill their dreams after all the hard work highs and lows and tears that go together to make a top tennis player.The tears today were tears of happiness and joy . Well done to all her team.Watch out for my future article why do Adult players hate to lose to Juniors!

This is a great story from The Telegraph a little more background on Kvitova and her colorful father.LINK

Wimbledon Semi Finals - Mens

2011-07-01T13:08:00.000+12:00

Rafael Nadal Vs Andy Murray

What a match up this promises to be! Centre Court Crowd will be supporting Murray and should the match get close it could be a huge factor!Nadal must be fit to beat Murray, if his foot hampers his movement he will not win.He needs to be at his mobile best.Murray will have to serve extremely well ie first serve percentage must be Tsonga like from his match with Federer.

They are saying Murray has been strong mentally this past fortnight, he has not been tested really ,Nadal is relentless and should Murray start screaming at his box then he will suffer the same fate as last match.

This will be close.My predication Nadal.

Novak Djokovic Vs Joe Wilfred Tsonga

I hope Tsonga can reproduce his Federer form, I can't say Djokovic has looked comfortable on grass .If Tsonga can serve well he has the ability to win this match .As I said before he has to back up here, Novak will be different and if he leads Jo Wilfred by 2 sets to love then he wont allow him back as Federer did. My Predication Jo Wilfred Tsonga.

Wimbledon Day 9 Tips

2011-06-29T20:26:00.000+12:00

Roger Federer Vs Jo Wilfred Tsonga

Who would bet against Fed , I think this is a danger match and if Tsonga gets on a role and has his adrenalin flowing , he is younger and stronger.

Andy Murray vs Feliciano Lopez

Pretty Boy Vs not so pretty Boy! You can guess which is which.Murray to win.

Novak Djokovic Vs Bernard Tomic

Tomic's run to finally end , what a great draw for the Djoker

Rafael Nadal Vs Mardy Fish

The last of the Americans , and it will be the battle of Little Bighorn and same result.

Day 7 Wimbledon Tips

2011-06-27T20:04:00.000+12:00

What a line up tonight, lucky for the internet streams as I will be able to watch most of the great matches.Below are my tips but expect a few upsets as usual.I have tipped against Wozniacki just because she normally falters in the second week of a Slam.I hope Petrova puts out the shrieking Azarenka!!Nadal and Del Potro should be a beauty and can Murray keep the British hopes alive against Gasquet...he is still whinging and carrying on to his support crew, come on Andy its time to stop it.

Centre Court
13:00
Gentlemen’s Singles – 4th Round
Andy Murray(GBR)[4] vs. Richard Gasquet(FRA)[17]

Ladies’ Singles – 4th Round
Venus Williams(USA)[23] vs. Tsvetana Pironkova(BUL)[32]

Gentlemen’s Singles – 4th Round
Rafael Nadal(ESP)[1] vs. Juan Martin Del Potro(ARG)[24]

No. 1 Court
13:00
Ladies’ Singles – 4th Round
Marion Bartoli(FRA)[9] vs. Serena Williams(USA)[7]

Gentlemen’s Singles – 4th Round
Michael Llodra(FRA)[19] vs. Novak Djokovic(SRB)[2]

Gentlemen’s Singles – 4th Round
Mikhail Youzhny(RUS)[18] vs. Roger Federer(SUI)[3]

No. 2 Court
12:00
Ladies’ Singles – 4th Round
Shuai Peng(CHN)[20] vs. Maria Sharapova(RUS)[5]

Ladies’ Singles – 4th Round
Caroline Wozniacki(DEN)[1] vs. Dominika Cibulkova(SVK)[24]

Gentlemen’s Singles – 4th Round
Mardy Fish(USA)[10] vs. Tomas Berdych(CZE)[6]

No. 3 Court
12:00
Ladies’ Singles – 4th Round
Nadia Petrova(RUS) vs. Victoria Azarenka(BLR)[4]

Gentlemen’s Singles – 4th Round
Lukasz Kubot(POL) vs. Feliciano Lopez(ESP)

Gentlemen’s Singles – 4th Round
David Ferrer(ESP)[7] vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga(FRA)[12]

Court 12
12:00
Ladies’ Singles – 4th Round
Sabine Lisicki(GER) vs. Petra Cetkovska(CZE)

Ladies’ Singles – 4th Round
Petra Kvitova(CZE)[8] vs. Yanina Wickmayer(BEL)[19]

Court 14
12:00
Ladies’ Singles – 4th Round
Tamira Paszek(AUT) vs. Ksenia Pervak(RUS)

Court 18
12:00
Gentlemen’s Singles – 4th Round
Bernard Tomic(AUS) vs. Xavier Malisse(BEL)

Wimbledon Day 6 Picks

2011-06-25T20:32:00.000+12:00

Centre Court - 13:00

Ladies' Singles - 3rd Round

Caroline Wozniacki(DEN)[1] vs. Jarmila Gajdosova(AUS)[27]

Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

David Nalbandian(ARG)[28] vs. Roger Federer(SUI)[3]

Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

Marcos Baghdatis(CYP)[32] vs. Novak Djokovic(SRB)[2]

No. 1 Court

13:00

Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

Rafael Nadal(ESP)[1] vs Gilles Muller(LUX)

To Finish 7-6(6)

Ladies' Singles - 3rd Round

Maria Kirilenko(RUS)[26] vs. Serena Williams(USA)[7]

Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

Robin Soderling(SWE)[5] vs. Bernard Tomic(AUS)

No. 2 Court

12:00

Ladies' Singles - 3rd Round

Klara Zakopalova(CZE) vs. Maria Sharapova(RUS)[5]

Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

Juan Martin Del Potro(ARG)[24] vs Gilles Simon(FRA)[15]

To Finish 7-6(8) 2-4

Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

Fernando Gonzalez(CHI) vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga(FRA)[12]

No. 3 Court

12:00

Ladies' Singles - 3rd Round

Dominika Cibulkova(SVK)[24] vs. Julia Goerges(GER)[16]

Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

Gael Monfils(FRA)[9] vs Lukasz Kubot(POL)

To Finish 3-6 6-3 3-3

Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

David Ferrer(ESP)[7] vs. Karol Beck(SVK)

Court 12

12:00

Ladies' Singles - 3rd Round

Marion Bartoli(FRA)[9] vs. Flavia Pennetta(ITA)[21]

Ladies' Singles - 3rd Round

Tamira Paszek(AUT) vs Francesca Schiavone(ITA)[6]

To Finish 3-6 6-4 3-2

Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

Xavier Malisse(BEL) vs. Jurgen Melzer(AUT)[11]

Court 14

12:00

Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

Mardy Fish(USA)[10] vs. Robin Haase(NED)

Ladies' Singles - 3rd Round

Sabine Lisicki(GER) vs. Misaki Doi(JPN)

Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

Yen-Hsun Lu(TPE) vs. Michael Llodra(FRA)[19]

Court 18

12:00

Ladies' Singles - 3rd Round

Melinda Czink(HUN) vs. Shuai Peng(CHN)[20]

Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

Tomas Berdych(CZE)[6] vs Alex Bogomolov Jr.(USA)

To Finish 6-2 6-4 4-3

Ladies' Singles - 3rd Round

Ana Ivanovic(SRB)[18] vs. Petra Cetkovska(CZE)

Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

Nicolas Almagro(ESP)[16] vs. Mikhail Youzhny(RUS)[18]

Wimbledon Day 5 Tips

2011-06-24T21:30:00.000+12:00

Centre Court
13:00
Gentlemen’s Singles – 3rd Round
Feliciano Lopez(ESP) vs. Andy Roddick(USA)[8]

Ladies’ Singles – 3rd Round
Daniela Hantuchova(SVK)[25] vs. Victoria Azarenka(BLR)[4]

Gentlemen’s Singles – 3rd Round
Andy Murray(GBR)[4] vs. Ivan Ljubicic(CRO)

No. 1 Court
13:00
Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round
Laura Robson(GBR) vs. Maria Sharapova(RUS)[5]

Ladies’ Singles – 3rd Round
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez(ESP) vs. Venus Williams(USA)[23]

Gentlemen’s Singles – 3rd Round
Rafael Nadal(ESP)[1] vs. Gilles Muller(LUX)

No. 2 Court
12:00
Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round
Caroline Wozniacki(DEN)[1] vs. Virginie Razzano(FRA)

Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round
David Ferrer(ESP)[7] vs Ryan Harrison(USA)

To Finish 6-7(6) 6-1 4-6 4-2

Ladies’ Singles – 3rd Round
Tsvetana Pironkova(BUL)[32] vs. Vera Zvonareva(RUS)[2]

Gentlemen’s Singles – 3rd Round
Juan Martin Del Potro(ARG)[24] vs. Gilles Simon(FRA)[15]

No. 3 Court
12:00
Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round
Marion Bartoli(FRA)[9] vs. Lourdes Dominguez Lino(ESP)

Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round
Igor Andreev(RUS) vs Bernard Tomic(AUS)

To Finish 6-4 7-5 3-6

Gentlemen’s Singles – 3rd Round
Gael Monfils(FRA)[9] vs. Lukasz Kubot(POL)

Court 12
12:00
Ladies’ Singles – 3rd Round
Yanina Wickmayer(BEL)[19] vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova(RUS)[12]

Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round
Jurgen Melzer(AUT)[11] vs Dmitry Tursunov(RUS)

To Finish 6-3 2-6 7-6(5) 1-1

Ladies’ Singles – 3rd Round
Francesca Schiavone(ITA)[6] vs. Tamira Paszek(AUT)

Gentlemen’s Singles – 3rd Round
Mardy Fish(USA)[10] vs. Robin Haase(NED)

Court 14
12:00
Ladies’ Singles – 3rd Round
Nadia Petrova(RUS) vs. Kateryna Bondarenko(UKR)

Ladies’ Singles – 3rd Round
Ksenia Pervak(RUS) vs. Andrea Petkovic(GER)[11]

Gentlemen’s Singles – 3rd Round
Richard Gasquet(FRA)[17] vs. Simone Bolelli(ITA)

Court 18
12:00
Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round
Elena Baltacha(GBR) vs. Shuai Peng(CHN)[20]

Ladies’ Singles – 3rd Round
Petra Kvitova(CZE)[8] vs. Roberta Vinci(ITA)[29]

Gentlemen’s Singles – 3rd Round
Alex Bogomolov Jr.(USA) vs. Tomas Berdych(CZE)[6]

Day 4 Wimbledon Tips

2011-06-23T18:18:00.002+12:00

What a great picture of Nadal setting for a slice backhand.Juniors have a look at his balance,head nice and still and the take back of the racquet head much higher above the wrist.Its a handy shot to have and most of the good two hander's Nadal ,Murray and co use it at various times, on grass the shot will stay lower and slide through the court keeping the bounce lower.

Today's Tips are as follows

Centre Court

Robert Soderling Vs Lleyton Hewitt

Adrian Marranino Vs Rodger Federer

Na Li Vs Sabine Lisicki

Court No 1

Kevin Anderson Vs Novak Djokovic

Grigor Dimitrov Vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Laura Robson Vs Maria Sharapova

Court No 2

Simona Halep Vs Serena Williams

Olivier Rochus Vs Juan Martin Del Potro

David Ferrer Vs Ryan Harrison

Caroline Wozniacki Vs Virginie Razzano

Elena Baltacha Vs Shuai Peng

Court No 3

Fransesca Shiavone Vs Barbora Strycova

Marcus Baghdatis Vs Andreas Seppi

Igor Andreev Vs Bernard Tomic

Marion Bartoli Vs Lourdes Dominguez Lino

Court 4

Kateryna Bondarenko Vs Sara Errani

Petra Cetkovska Vs Agniesszka Radwanska

Melinda Czink Vs Anastasyia Yakimova

Court 8

Karol Beck Vs Guillermo Garcia Lopez

Court 12

Ana Ivanovic Vs Eleni Daniilidou

David Nalbandian Vs Andreas Haider Maurer

Dimitry Tursunov Vs Jurgen Melzer

Court 14

Yanina Wickmayer Vs Anna Tatishvili

Fernando Gonzales Vs Rick De Voest

Somdev Devvarmann Vs Mikhail Youzhney

Court 15

Dominika Cibulkova Vs Polona Hercog

Maria Kirilenko Vs Tamarine Tanasugarn

Court 16

Mathilde Johansson Vs Julia Goerges

Jie Zheng Vs Misaki Doi

Andrea Hlavackova Vs Jarmila Gajdosova

Court 17

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Vs Nadia Petrova

Florian Mayer Vs Xavier Malisse

Lucy Sarafova Vs Klara Zakopalova

Court 18

Alexandra Dulgheru Vs Svetlana Kuzsnetosva

Viktor Troicki Vs Yen Hsun Lu

Nicolas Almagro Vs John Isner

Court 19

Tamira Paszek Vs Christina McHale

Ricardo Mello Vs Michael Llodra

Evigeniya Rodina Vs Flavia Pennetta

Day 3 Wimbledon Tips

2011-06-22T19:26:00.009+12:00

Centre Court 13:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN) v. Venus Williams (USA)[23]

2. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Rafael Nadal (ESP)[1] v. Ryan Sweeting (USA)

3. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Victor Hanescu (ROU) v. Andy Roddick (USA)[8]

No. 1 Court 13:00 Start Time

1. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Julien Benneteau (FRA) v. Tomas Berdych (CZE)[6]

2. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Andy Murray (GBR)[4] v. Tobias Kamke (GER)

3. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Petra Kvitova (CZE)[8] v. Anne Keothavong (GBR)

Court No 2

1. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Mardy Fish (USA)[10] v. Denis Istomin (UZB)

2. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Elena Vesnina (RUS) v. Vera Zvonareva (RUS)[2]

3. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)[24] v. Olivier Rochus (BEL)

4. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) v. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[12]

No. 3 Court 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Mathilde Johansson (FRA) v. Heather Watson (GBR)

2. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Gilles Muller (LUX) v. Milos Raonic (CAN)[31]

3. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Gael Monfils (FRA)[9] v. Grega Zemlja (SLO)

4. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[6] v. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)

Court 4 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Olga Govortsova (BLR) v. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[13]

2. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Sabine Lisicki (GER) v. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT)

Court 5 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) v. Julia Goerges (GER)[16]

4. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Ksenia Pervak (RUS) v. Pauline Parmentier (FRA)

Court 6 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) v. Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)

Court 7 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Jie Zheng (CHN) v. Zuzana Ondraskova (CZE)

Court 8 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) v. Monica Niculescu (ROU)

Court 9 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Kristina Barrois (GER) v. Petra Cetkovska (CZE)

Court 10 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Alona Bondarenko (UKR) v. Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)[27]

Court 11 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) v. Chanelle Scheepers (RSA)

Court 12 12:00 Start Time

1. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Richard Gasquet (FRA)[17] v. Igor Kunitsyn (RUS)

2. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Robin Haase (NED) v. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[21]

3. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Iveta Benesova (CZE) v. Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[4]

4. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)[19] v. Anna Tatishvili (GEO)

Court 14 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Misaki Doi (JPN) v. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)[30]

2. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG)[25] v. Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA)

3. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Lukasz Kubot (POL) v. Ivo Karlovic (CRO)

4. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)[14v]. Nadia Petrova (RUS)

Court 15 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)[24] v. Mirjana Lucic (CRO)

4. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) v. Sara Errani (ITA)

Court 16 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) v. Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[21]

4. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Tamira Paszek (AUT) v. Christina McHale (USA)

Court 17 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)[32] v. Petra Martic (CRO)

2. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Rainer Schuettler (GER) v. Feliciano Lopez (ESP)

3. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Dudi Sela (ISR) v. Gilles Simon (FRA)[15]

4. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Rebecca Marino (CAN) v. Roberta Vinci (ITA)[29]

Court 18 12:00 Start Time

1. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Simone Bolelli (ITA) v. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)[14]

3. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Angelique Kerber (GER) v. Laura Robson (GBR)

4. Gentlemen’s Singles – 2nd Round

Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) v. Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)

Court 19 12:00 Start Time

1. Ladies’ Singles – 1st Round

Polona Hercog (SLO) v. Johanna Larsson (SWE)

Not Before:17:30

1. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Stephanie Dubois (CAN) v. Andrea Petkovic (GER)[11]

Not Before:17:30

2. Ladies’ Singles – 2nd Round

Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)[25] v. Marina Erakovic (NZL)

Not Before:17:30

Below is a song recounting with tongue in cheek on the epic Isner and Mahut match at Wimbledon Last Year.

Day 2 Schedule and Tips!

2011-06-21T16:59:00.009+12:00

CENTRE – SHOW COURT – 1.00 PM START

1. Aravane Rezai (FRA) vs Serena Williams (USA) [7]

2. Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) vs Roger Federer (SUI) [3]

3. Jeremy Chardy (FRA) vs Novak Djokovic (SRB) [2]

COURT 1 – SHOW COURT – 1.00 PM START

1. Andreas Beck (GER) vs Andy Roddick (USA) [8]

2. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [1] vs Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)

3. Robin Soderling (SWE) [5] vs Philipp Petzschner (GER)

COURT 2 – SHOW COURT – 12.00 NOON START

1. Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [21]

2. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) vs Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [4] T/F 4/6 2/3

3. James Ward (GBR) vs Michael Llodra (FRA) [19]

4. Na Li (CHN) [3] vs Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)

COURT 3 – SHOW COURT – 12.00 NOON START

1. Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [15] vs Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)

2. Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) vs Marin Cilic (CRO) [27] T/F 7/6(2) 3/6 2/1

3. David Ferrer (ESP) [7] vs Benoit Paire (FRA)

4. John Isner (USA) vs Nicolas Mahut (FRA)

5. Mathilde Johansson (FRA) vs Heather Watson (GBR)

COURT 12 – SHOW COURT – 12.00 NOON START

1. Naomi Broady (GBR) vs Anne Keothavong (GBR)

2. Ivo Karlovic (CRO) vs Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) [23] T/F 1/0

3. Elena Baltacha (GBR) vs Mona Barthel (GER)

4. Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)

5. Ana Ivanovic (SRB) [18] vs Melanie Oudin (USA)

COURT 18 – SHOW COURT – 12.00 NOON START

1. Stephanie Foretz Gacon (FRA) vs Andrea Petkovic (GER) [11]

2. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) [24] vs Flavio Cipolla (ITA) T/F 6/1 1/3

3. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) [32] vs James Blake (USA)

4. Marion Bartoli (FRA) [9] vs Kristyna Pliskova (CZE)

COURT 4 – 12.00 NOON START

1. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) [14] vs Lesia Tsurenko (UKR)

2. Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Gilles Simon (FRA) [15] T/F 6/4 4/6 3/6 5/4

3. Juan Monaco (ARG) vs Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [18]

4. Alejandro Falla (COL) vs Jurgen Melzer (AUT) [11]

5. Olga Govortsova (BLR) vs Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [13]

COURT 5 – 12.00 NOON START

1. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) vs Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN)

2. Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) vs Alize Cornet (FRA) T/F 7/5 0/0

3. Florian Mayer (GER) [20] vs Daniel Evans (GBR)

4. Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs Illya Marchenko (UKR)

5. Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP) vs Romina Oprandi (ITA)

COURT 6 – 12.00 NOON START

1. Rebecca Marino (CAN) vs Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (AUT)

2. Tobias Kamke (GER) vs Blaz Kavcic (SLO) T/F 6/3 7/6(4) 1/5

3. Xavier Malisse (BEL) vs Mischa Zverev (GER)

4. Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) [22] vs Fernando Gonzalez (CHI)

5. Kristina Barrois (GER) vs Petra Cetkovska (CZE)

COURT 7 – 12.00 NOON START

1. Kai-Chen Chang (TPE) vs Marina Erakovic (NZL)

2. Sandra Zahlavova (CZE) vs Iveta Benesova (CZE) T/F 2/1

3. Ricardo Mello (BRA) vs Frank Dancevic (CAN)

4. Florent Serra (FRA) vs Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT)

5. Jie Zheng (CHN) vs Zuzana Ondraskova (CZE)

COURT 8 – 12.00 NOON START

1. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) [25] vs Vitalia Diatchenko (RUS)

2. Olivier Rochus (BEL) vs Kenny De Schepper (FRA)

3. Somdev Devvarman (IND) vs Denis Gremelmayr (GER)

4. Sabine Lisicki (GER) vs Anastasija Sevastova (LAT)

5. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) vs Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)

COURT 9 – 12.00 NOON START

1. Sania Mirza (IND) vs Virginie Razzano (FRA)

2. Jaroslav Pospisil (CZE) vs Victor Hanescu (ROU) T/F 4/6 1/2

3. Rik De Voest (RSA) vs Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP)

4. Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs Ryan Harrison (USA)

5. Coco Vandeweghe (USA) vs Eleni Daniilidou (GRE)

COURT 10 – 12.00 NOON START

1. Irina Falconi (USA) vs Stephanie Dubois (CAN)

2. Carlos Berlocq (ARG) vs Karol Beck (SVK)

3. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) vs Shuai Peng (CHN) [20]

4. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER)

5. Lucie Safarova (CZE) [31] vs Lucie Hradecka (CZE)

COURT 11 – 12.00 NOON START

1. Simona Halep (ROU) vs Bojana Jovanovski (SRB)

2. Andrey Golubev (KAZ) vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) [26]

3. Andreas Seppi (ITA) vs Albert Montanes (ESP)

4. Anastasiya Yakimova (BLR) vs Sofia Arvidsson (SWE)

5. Alona Bondarenko (UKR) vs Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) [27]

COURT 14 – 12.00 NOON START

1. Petra Kvitova (CZE) [8] vs Alexa Glatch (USA)

2. Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) vs Daniel Cox (GBR) T/F 6/2 0/1

3. Bernard Tomic (AUS) vs Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) [29]

4. Samantha Stosur (AUS) [10] vs Melinda Czink (HUN)

5. Klara Zakopalova (CZE) vs Emily Webley-Smith (GBR)

COURT 15 – 12.00 NOON START

1. Vera Dushevina (RUS) vs Roberta Vinci (ITA) [29]

2. Arnaud Clement (FRA) vs Lukasz Kubot (POL) T/F 4/5

3. Igor Andreev (RUS) vs Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS)

4. Ernests Gulbis (LAT) vs Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)

5. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) vs Julia Goerges (GER) [16]

COURT 16 – 12.00 NOON START

1. Vania King (USA) 1 vs Petra Martic (CRO)

2. Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) [25] vs Marinko Matosevic (AUS) T/F 6/4 6/4 6/7(6) 3/1

3. Viktor Troicki (SRB) [13] vs Maximo Gonzalez (ARG)

4. Nicolas Almagro (ESP) [16] 8 vs Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)

5. Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) vs Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)

COURT 17 – 12.00 NOON START

1. Vesna Dolonts (RUS) vs Nadia Petrova (RUS) 84

2. Ayumi Morita (JPN) vs Tamira Paszek (AUT) T/F 7/5 3/6 0/2

3. Adrian Mannarino (FRA) vs Conor Niland (IRL)

4. Go Soeda (JPN) vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [12]

5. Misaki Doi (JPN) vs Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) [30]

COURT 19 – 12.00 NOON START

1. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) [32] vs Camila Giorgi (ITA)

2. Robin Haase (NED) vs Pere Riba (ESP) T/F 5/4

3. Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) vs Tommy Robredo (ESP)

4. David Nalbandian (ARG) [28] vs Julian Reister (GER)

5. Maria Kirilenko (RUS) [26] vs Alberta Brianti (ITA)

MATCHES TO BE ARRANGED

NOT BEFORE 5PM

Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) vs Maria Sharapova (RUS) [5]

Angelique Kerber (GER) 29 vs Laura Robson (GBR)

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) [24] vs Mirjana Lucic (CRO)

Polona Hercog (SLO) vs Johanna Larsson (SWE)

Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) vs Chanelle Scheepers (RSA)

Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) vs Flavia Pennetta (ITA) [21]

My Tips are in Green, for the punters out there good luck!

Wimbledon Twitter News

2011-06-21T12:23:00.002+12:00

Here some of the Twitter posts from Wimbledon overnight.Some interesting posts.Just click on the link and it will take you there.

head_tennis Head Tennis

What tennis players do when it rains at Wimbledon featuring @DjokerNole and @Vika7 youtube.com/watch?v=FL1_ky…

Wimbledon Wimbledon

Day one podcast from Radio Wimbledon:wimbledon.com/en_GB/interact… #wimbledon

Wimbledon Wimbledon

Player interviews from day one:wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/int… #wimbledon

juumptennis Juump

Wimbledon 2011: Chinese revolution around the cornerhttp://ow.ly/5lTM0 #tennis

tennis TENNIS.com

Isner-Mahut rematch to be contested on Court 3http://dlvr.it/X6jgg

tennis TENNIS.com

Verdict on Venus' Outfit? Outstanding http://dlvr.it/X6jZL

HA I DON'T AGREE WITH THIS! Outstanding Not!!!

Ok Guys you decide here is Venus and her latest fashion disaster.

My Wimbledon Tips Day 1

2011-06-20T15:32:00.001+12:00

Australian Men's Tennis In Despair!

2011-06-20T09:00:00.003+12:00

I am not sure it was with shock when I read this article on Marinko Matosevic who could be Australia's new Number 1 male tennis player but horror!.Yep WTF.It was coming but the day is soon upon us ,Aussie men's tennis is a joke!This is Marinko's background.

Born in Bosnia and raised in Melbourne, Matosevic went into the final round of the Wimbledon qualifying event sitting on enough ranking points to overtake Hewitt even if he did not qualify for the main draw and Hewitt manages to win two rounds next week.

But Matosevic's points have not come in the top flight of tennis.

In fact the man with a strong chance of becoming the No 1 Australian has in his whole career won just one match in a top-flight ATP event, a straight-sets win over France's Michael Llodra in the first round of the 2010 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

The only grand slam events he has played are the past two Australian Opens, when he lost each time in the first round.

He has started in four other ATP 1000 tour events, losing in the first round each time.He is 25 years old.He is drawn to play the 25 th seed Chela from Argentina not known for his grass court prowess so in with a slight chance. The guy he could overtake is Aussie Battler Lleyton Hewitt who has drawn Kei Nishikori and even if Hewitt takes the court it will be sayonara and retire!Hewitt is around 130 and Marinko 150 next is Tomic who is drawn against the Russian and 29th seed Davydenko and this is certainly winnable for Tomic as the Russian has not got a great Wimbledon track record.Mathew Ebden 24yrs and ranked 159 did not get through qualifying as did our 5th top ranking male Peter Luzak who is 189.

Only Tomic has age on his side and could if lucky make top 100!Ok whats under the top 5?Don't hold your breath with the next group who lie between 200-300 in the world.Carsten Ball learnt his tennis in the USA is 209 and 24 years of age,Greg Jones 22yrs and 224 is hardly making a name for himself,James Lemke is 23 and 224,Chris Guccione who lost to Marinko last round of qualifying is 25 and 226 whilst John Millman is 22 and 256 is the last in this group.Which one of these guys could break through? None is the plain truth!

Ok it gets worse!! In the next group of 300-400 we have only three males,Brydan Klein 310 he is 21 ,Samuel Groth 338 and 23 and Dayne Kelly 20 and 387.Too low in rankings and these guys are doing it tough trying to improve, at the same time watching their bank accounts go into the red!.

The 400-500 group contains a group around the same age and could achieve some success.Benjamin Mitchell at 19 and last years junior Wimbledon finalist is 418.His latest results are so so.The Brits are winning against this guy!

SINGLES
Eastbourne Qualifying Draw				Great Britain
TE	11 Jun 2011 to 12 Jun 2011		Entry: DA	Grass (O)
32	L	Donald YOUNG (USA)		1-6 7-6(5) 3-6
Queen's Qualifying Draw				Great Britain
TE	04 Jun 2011 to 05 Jun 2011		Entry: DA	Grass (O)
32	L	Marcus WILLIS (GBR)		6-3 6-7(5) 2-6
South Africa F2 Futures				South Africa
FU	23 May 2011 to 28 May 2011		Entry: DA	Hard (O)
32	W	Alexei FILENKOV (RUS)		6-3 6-0
16	L	Denes LUKACS (HUN)		3-6 2-6
South Africa F1 Futures				South Africa
FU	16 May 2011 to 21 May 2011		Entry: DA	Hard (O)
32	W	Denes LUKACS (HUN)		6-4 6-2
16	W	Mark FYNN (ZIM)		6-7(2) 6-2 6-4
QF	L	Lewis BURTON (GBR)		6-1 1-6 6-7(8)

The next is Colin Ebelthite at 26 and 438 forget this guy.Michael Look at 23 is 459 ,below are his recent results.

SINGLES
Spain F20 Futures				Spain
FU	14 Jun 2011 to 19 Jun 2011		Entry: DA	Hard (O)
32	W	David SOUTO (VEN)		7-5 6-4
16	W	Igor BUJDO (POL)		6-1 6-2
QF	W	Carlos GOMEZ-HERRERA (ESP)		6-2 6-3
SF	L	Arnau BRUGUES-DAVI (ESP)		3-6 7-6(5) 3-6
Queen's Qualifying Draw				Great Britain
TE	04 Jun 2011 to 05 Jun 2011		Entry: DA	Grass (O)
32	L	Matthew EBDEN (AUS)		4-6 7-6(1) 3-6
South Africa F2 Futures				South Africa
FU	23 May 2011 to 28 May 2011		Entry: DA	Hard (O)
32	W	Hassan NDAYISHIMIYE (BDI)		6-4 6-1
16	W	Lewis BURTON (GBR)		7-6(2) 6-4
QF	L	Joshua MILTON (GBR)		2-6 6-2 6-7(7)
South Africa F1 Futures				South Africa
FU	16 May 2011 to 21 May 2011		Entry: DA	Hard (O)
32	W	Jarryd BOTHA (RSA)		4-6 6-4 6-1
16	L	Lewis BURTON (GBR)		6-7(5) 5-7

Finally James Duckworth 489 and 19 years old is our last player ranked in this group.Now Duckworth has been playing futures in Poland and getting results as you can see below.

SINGLES
Poland F4 Futures				Poland
FU	07 Jun 2011 to 12 Jun 2011		Entry: DA	Clay (O)
32	W	Maverick BANES (AUS)		6-2 6-4
16	W	Erik CHVOJKA (CAN)		6-4 1-6 7-6(5)
QF	W	Pavol CERVENAK (SVK)		6-3 3-6 6-3
SF	W	Grzegorz PANFIL (POL)		7-6(1) 6-4
FR	W	Peter TOREBKO (GER)		6-3 3-6 6-4
Poland F2 Futures				Poland
FU	24 May 2011 to 29 May 2011		Entry: DA	Clay (O)
32	W	Maciej SMOLA (POL)		7-6(5) 3-6 6-2
16	W	Piotr GADOMSKI (POL)		6-2 6-4
QF	W	Blazej KONIUSZ (POL)		6-3 6-2
SF	W	Jerzy JANOWICZ (POL)		7-6(3) 7-6(5)
FR	L	Marcin GAWRON (POL)		4-6 2-6
Poland F1 Futures				Poland
FU	16 May 2011 to 22 May 2011		Entry: DA	Clay (O)
32	W	Sebastian CHYLINSKI (POL)		7-6(1) 6-3
16	W	Matthew BARTON (AUS)		2-6 6-1 7-5
QF	W	Blazej KONIUSZ (POL)		7-6(2) 6-1
SF	W	Jiri SKOLOUDIK (CZE)		7-6(3) 6-7(6) 6-3
FR	W	Grzegorz PANFIL (POL)		6-3 6-4
Great Britain F7 Futures				Great Britain
FU	10 May 2011 to 14 May 2011		Entry: DA	Clay (O)
32	W	George MORGAN (GBR)		6-4 6-1
16	W	Josh GOODALL (GBR)		6-4 5-7 7-6(4)
QF	W	Carlos POCH-GRADIN (ESP)		6-2 7-5
SF	L	Yannick MERTENS (BEL)		4-6 2-6

Now the biggest question is can Duckworth step up to the better tournaments now?Maybe just maybe Duckworth could be the player to stop the despair.

You can read the Marinko rankings story HERE. Also Craig Tiley's spin on Aussie men's tennis that headlines .TILEY BULLISH ABOUT FUTURE OF MEN'S TENNIS and if you had a "it" to the Bullish then you probably get the true interpretation I got.HERE.My advice is to work harder , get rid of face book for a year( to the younger juniors) or so, drop the texting , get a realistic approach to where you are in the world and work 3 times as hard as you have been doing.Australia just have 16 men in the top 500 tennis player Worldwide, compared to Spain who has 37 , 14 of which are top 100.France has 45 players in top 500.Serbia just has 9 one of those is Djokovic.Germany has 30 inside top 500.The USA 31.Serbia shows that small country's can produce, so why cannot Australia ? Again the question is not in finding athletes , its finding athletes or tennis players with discipline.

2011-06-20T07:26:00.001+12:00

The Ladies draw shapes up as an interesting battle, with no clear cut winner.The Williams sisters return certainly complicate the eventual outcome.Below are the quarter with a short summary on what I think will happen.
Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) v Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP
Sania Mirza IND v Virginie Razzano FRA
Anastasia Rodionova AUS v Andrea Hlavackova CZE
Alona Bondarenko UKR v Jarmila Gajdosova AUS (27)
Dominika Cibulkova SVK (24) v Mirjana Lucic CRO
Polona Hercog SLO v Johanna Larsson SWE
Mathilde Johansson FRA v Heather Watson GBR
Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP v Julia Goerges GER (16)
Samantha Stosur AUS (10) v Melinda Czink HUN
Anastasiya Yakimova BLR v Sofia Arvidsson SWE
Elena Baltacha GBR v Qualifier
Kirsten Flipkens BEL v Shuai Peng CHN (20)
Lucie Safarova CZE (31) v Lucie Hradecka CZE
Klara Zakopalova CZE v Emily Webley-Smith GBR
Angelique Kerber GER v Laura Robson GBR
Anna Chakvetadze RUS v Maria Sharapova RUS (5)

Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki have been seeded to meet in this quarter.Wozniacki should get to play either Stosur or Sharapova.The only one I feel confident in tipping is Maria to get through.Dont put your life savings on either Slamming Sam or Woznevergoingtowin.

Na Li CHN (3) v Alla Kudryavtseva RUS
Sabine Lisicki GER v Anastasija Sevastova LAT
Jie Zheng CHN v Zuzana Ondraskova CZE
Qualifier v Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA (30)
Ana Ivanovic SRB (18) v Melanie Oudin USA
Coco Vandeweghe USA v Eleni Daniilidou GRE
Kristina Barrois GER v Petra Cetkovska CZE
Olga Govortsova BLR v Agnieszka Radwanska POL (13)
Marion Bartoli FRA (9) v Qualifier
Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP v Romina Oprandi ITA
Evgeniya Rodina RUS v Chanelle Scheepers RSA
Irina-Camelia Begu ROU v Flavia Pennetta ITA (21)
Maria Kirilenko RUS (26) v Alberta Brianti ITA
Qualifier v Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ
Simona Halep ROU v Bojana Jovanovski SRB
Aravane Rezai FRA v Serena Williams USA (7)

This quarter could provide a lot of upsets Serena Williams and Na Li are seeded to meet. Rezai will give Serena a good warm up first up,and how Na Li has survived her win in the French Open more expectations on her shoulders here and I dont think she will handle it, look for an upset.Serena Williams is my tip to come through this quarter.Ana Ivanovic will also be an early casualty ,tipping the American to put paid to her first up.

Francesca Schiavone ITA (6) v Jelena Dokic AUS
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE v Qualifier
Ayumi Morita JPN v Tamira Paszek AUT
Christina McHale USA v Ekaterina Makarova RUS (28)
Shahar Peer ISR (22) v Ksenia Pervak RUS
Sorana Cirstea ROU v Pauline Parmentier FRA
Qualifier v Qualifier
Greta Arn HUN v Andrea Petkovic GER (11)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS (14) v Qualifier
Vesna Dolonts RUS v Nadia Petrova RUS
Kateryna Bondarenko UKR v Alize Cornet FRA
Sara Errani ITA v Kaia Kanepi EST (17)
Daniela Hantuchova SVK (25) v Qualifier
Qualifier v Qualifier
Sandra Zahlavova CZE v Iveta Benesova CZE
Magdalena Rybarikova SVK v Victoria Azarenka BLR (4)

Schiavone is seeded to meet Azarenka this wont happen!Schiavone could be a first round casualty against Jelena Dokic who is 3-0 in head to head and has good grass court form ,should be a great match.I need a clairvoyant to tip this quarter , its beyond me!

Petra Kvitova CZE (8) v Qualifier
Naomi Broady GBR v Anne Keothavong GBR
Rebecca Marino CAN v Patricia Mayr-Achleitner AUT
Vera Dushevina RUS v Roberta Vinci ITA (29)
Yanina Wickmayer BEL (19) v Varvara Lepchenko USA
Anastasia Pivovarova RUS v Anna Tatishvili GEO
Jill Craybas USA v Alexandra Dulgheru ROU
Shuai Zhang CHN v Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (12)
Jelena Jankovic SRB (15) v Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP
Monica Niculescu ROU v Sybille Bammer AUT
Katie O'Brien GBR v Kimiko Date-Krumm JPN
Akgul Amanmuradova UZB v Venus Williams USA (23)
Tsvetana Pironkova BUL (32) v Qualifier
Vania King USA v Petra Martic CRO
Elena Vesnina RUS v Laura Pous-Tio ESP
Alison Riske USA v Vera Zvonareva RUS (2)

This section again look for plenty of upsets,I like Kvitova who I think will come through to play Venus Williams ,again this section will have plenty of upsets. Punters beware the Ladies field this year will be full of surprises.

Wimbledon -The Draw and how it shapes up! -The Mens

2011-06-18T10:19:00.002+12:00

The much anticipated Wimbledon draw was made yesterday and here is my summary of how the early rounds shape up ,firstly the men's.

Rafael Nadal ESP (1) v Michael Russell USA
Pablo Andujar ESP v Ryan Sweeting USA
Gilles Muller LUX v Tommy Haas GER
Fabio Fognini ITA v Milos Raonic CAN (31)

Heading the top of the draw is defending champion Rafael Nadal who has drawn journeyman Michael Russell unless Rafa plays with no strings he will be in the 2nd round with out much trouble.This section features Tommy Haas who is trying to make a come back and the match up of this part of the draw will be Fognini vs Milos Raonic ,of course Fognini had to withdraw with injury in the French and Raonic who boasts the best serve on tour will I think be too good and he shapes up as going through to meet Nadal,anyone that serves huge at Wimby is a dangerous opponent so Rafa will have to be at his game if he does play the young Canadian.

Mardy Fish USA (10) v Marcel Granollers ESP
Philipp Kohlschreiber GER v Denis Istomin UZB
Robin Haase NED v Pere Riba ESP
Radek Stepanek CZE v Fernando Verdasco ESP (21)

This quarter won't excite too many, One of my least favorite player on tour Mardy Fish heads this section,just a boring tennis player in my mind.A fall in rankings by Fernando Verdasco who is seeded 21 this year plays Stepanek will be close I think and not confident Verdasco will get through.Kohlschreiber the german is always hard to beat at Wimbledon and he may well be the player to beat in this part of the draw.Certainly one of the weakest quarters of the draw which favors Nadal's run if he gets through his section which he should.

Juan Ignacio Chela ARG (25) v Qualifier
Donald Young USA v Alex Bogomolov Jr. USA
Qualifier v Julien Benneteau FRA
Filippo Volandri ITA v Tomas Berdych CZE (6)

On paper Berdych gets this quarter easily ,his recent grass court results have been nothing to right home about but he will and should get through,Chela the other seed in this section is a clay courter and Donald Young keeps failing to deliver,Can't see any upsets here but then again it is Wimbledon.

Andy Murray GBR (4) v Daniel Gimeno-Traver ESP
Tobias Kamke GER v Blaz Kavcic SLO
Sergiy Stakhovsky UKR v Daniel Cox GBR
Ivan Ljubicic CRO v Marin Cilic CRO (27)

Murray Mania starts here ,the trick shots wont help but he probably does have enough up his sleeve to get past these players.Ljubicic and Cilic looks to be a great first round match up.Cilic has tested Murray before but his current form is not great.

Richard Gasquet FRA (17) v Santiago Giraldo COL
Igor Kunitsyn RUS v Qualifier
Qualifier v Qualifier
Potito Starace ITA v Stanislas Wawrinka SUI (14)

Another interesting section I think Gasquet and Wawrinka will fight this one out,whats interesting the winner of this part of the draw most likely will play Murray so this part of the draw is a "hot"one.

Gael Monfils FRA (9) v Matthias Bachinger GER
Qualifier v Robert Kendrick USA
Arnaud Clement FRA v Qualifier
Ivo Karlovic CRO v Janko Tipsarevic SRB (23)

Monfils at least entertains ,especially his facial expressions!Looks good in this section but as we know his results are so unpredictable, Tipsarevic and Karlovic will provide the match of the section with Karlovic and his serve at his best at Wimbledon.I am tipping Karlovic to get this one.Some quality matches at least here.

Thomaz Bellucci BRA (30) v Rainer Schuettler GER
Feliciano Lopez ESP v Michael Berrer GER
Jaroslav Pospisil CZE v Victor Hanescu ROU
Qualifier v Andy Roddick USA (8)

You would think Roddick is a "shoe in" and looking at the players here he should be,his best days are way behind him and he might come through here but A rod will not be getting to the final but like always will be out there giving the best he can.

David Ferrer ESP (7) v Benoit Paire FRA
Ivan Dodig CRO v Qualifier
Carlos Berlocq ARG v Qualifier
Andrey Golubev KAZ v Guillermo Garcia-Lopez ESP (26)

Watching these clay courter's play on grass is like watching paint dry!Berlocq the Argentinian has been in good form of late.Ferrer should come through but Dodig could be a surprise.

Alexandr Dolgopolov UKR (22) v Fernando Gonzalez CHI
Qualifier v Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo ESP
Grigor Dimitrov BUL v Qualifier
Qualifier v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA (12)

Loaded with qualifiers but also loaded with talent.Tsonga heads the list but the unorthodox Dolgopolov along with former junior champion Dimitrov make this part of the draw very attractive.Tsonga has had good recent form but there are players here that will test him.

Nicolas Almagro ESP (16) v Jarkko Nieminen FIN
John Isner USA v Nicolas Mahut FRA
Somdev Devvarman IND v Denis Gremelmayr GER
Juan Monaco ARG v Mikhail Youzhny RUS (18)

The biggest story overnight was the first round match up of Mahut and Isner who made history last year with their epic match!Will they be drawn on the same court?Isner has been playing pretty well so it may not be like last year whilst Mahut has been struggling.Isner could be a danger in this half against the seeds.

David Nalbandian ARG (28) v Julian Reister GER
Florent Serra FRA v Andreas Haider-Maurer AUT
Adrian Mannarino FRA v Qualifier
Mikhail Kukushkin KAZ v Roger Federer SUI (3)

Federer will win this part of the draw with his eyes shut.Say no more.

Robin Soderling SWE (5) v Philipp Petzschner GER
Kei Nishikori JPN v Lleyton Hewitt AUS
Igor Andreev RUS v Teymuraz Gabashvili RUS
Qualifier v Nikolay Davydenko RUS (29)

Soderling should come through but no certainty ,Nishikori should put paid to former champ Hewitt...retire Lleyton! Davydenko never performs here and his current results show him slipping down the rankings.Petzschner will test Soderling first up.
A competitive section of the draw for sure.

Florian Mayer GER (20) v Daniel Evans GBR
Xavier Malisse BEL v Mischa Zverev GER
Ernests Gulbis LAT v Dmitry Tursunov RUS
Alejandro Falla COL v Jurgen Melzer AUT (11)

Really the seeds are just on paper look for upsets here in this section.No Wimbledon winner here.

Viktor Troicki SRB (13) v Maximo Gonzalez ARG
Yen-Hsun Lu TPE v Tommy Robredo ESP
Ricardo Mello BRA v Qualifier
James Ward GBR v Michael Llodra FRA (19)

If fit Troicki is a very hard player to beat I cant see anyone here beating him.Llodra is suited to grass with his serve and volley approach , Robredo is never going to win Wimbledon and a Brit who has had decent form will certainly push Llodra.Would not be surprised if an upset happened in this match.No dangers here although Troicki does push Djokovic who is in the next section.

Marcos Baghdatis CYP (32) v James Blake USA
Andreas Seppi ITA v Albert Montanes ESP
Kevin Anderson RSA v Illya Marchenko UKR
Jeremy Chardy FRA v Novak Djokovic SRB (2)

So where has Novak been? His lead up to Wimbledon has been low key electing not to play a lead up tournament.Can his game hold up on grass, its not a straight forward section he is in with some talented players here.Baghdatis is a player that can rise to the big occasions.Kevin Anderson is a player that should be at home on the grass huge frame with big serve.

Wimby Updates

2011-06-15T12:45:00.000+12:00

Wimbledon 2012 the extinction of the Aussies

2011-06-14T20:49:00.006+12:00

Wimbledon to me is still the tournament to win, thats the one as a kid I waited up till 1 am watching the great Aussies Laver, Court,Goolagong,Rosewall and Newcombe.Over the years Pat Cash,Lleyton Hewitt and Pat Rafter kept the tradition going... this year the Australian competitors except for Stosur are on the verge of extinction.Most Aussies this year are playing qualifying ,household names such as Tomic,Peer,Ebden and Jones.....NOT.War horse Hewitt is Maindraw but his day in the Sun has come and gone as quickly as the change in the Men's game passed Hewitt's game.Hewitt loved a target but the game now most of the Men are prepared to trade ground strokes from the baseline..........even I dare say on grass at Wimbledon.Stosur is not mobile enough to win this tournament and whilst may get past a few rounds ,she wont be holding this years trophy. I am sure some of our legends will be in attendance as spectators but there wont be any fellow Aussies to cheer on.Tennis Australia again will come under scrutiny as I tip the most disastrous year yet for Australian Tennis at Wimby.Why is it that we can't compete with the rest of the world, its not the lack of Clay Courts its simply the lack of quality opponents the base is too small and the "dog eat dog" attitude is not strong enough.Tomic touted as a future champion is simply not doing enough his game was good in the Junior Level but he did not possess any thing special, except he could out smart the other juniors.

The other's you may as well put them in the same boat ...just have not got it full stop!What are these Junior tennis players prepared to sacrifice to make it as a Tennis Player, I say not enough its not that we cannot swing the racquet its because of our mental and discipline approach, like the Americans we come from a "land of the free" its too easy to do things material such as the latest mobile phone, the ipods, the parties its all at our feet.Our parents have changed also along with the times, its the kids that dictate and our parents are not strong enough to keep the materials things out of their children's life.There is no Harry Hopman to mentor the young players, money has changed that , parents change coaches searching for the "yellow brick road" only to find that by clicking the Ruby red slippers all you get is back to "Dubbo "No one is prepared to work really hard! parents and players want a quick fix, yes Tennis Australia the answer is Clay courts....come on the answer is in society and how we address every day life, get your head around that and maybe just maybe we could find another Laver and Court.The rest of the World is working harder and sacrificing more......the bottom line is were not!

Wimby Thoughts

2011-06-13T11:58:00.003+12:00

The Tip Of The Iceberg

2011-06-08T19:42:00.002+12:00

Parents and observers of a match will often come up with the obvious feature of their child's losing match,In this match "little Duncan lost with many backhands going long over the baseline.This is just the tip of the iceberg,what lies under the surface often goes unnoticed.That is the secret of good coaching is being able to determine the factors that cause the inconsistency to happen.I have listened to a few Coaches giving advice to players , "look to beat this opponent you have to slice low across court with your backhand" , one problem the player cannot hit slice! Beware of coaches that give you tactical advice on the spot , if you have not practiced this in training forget about it and look to work on this at a later date .....NOT THE MATCH.I commented on my last post that Federer made 57 unforced errors , his team and coaches must look below the "tip" and come up with technical and tactical reasons.Good coaches will always look below the tip it is these coaches that truly understand the game.If you find one ...a coach that is ...keep them!

A True Champion

2011-06-07T09:30:00.003+12:00

With the dust now settled at Roland Garros at the end of the day both Men, Nadal and Federer have won all four major Grandslam titles ...they now play for history and to be etched with the true tennis greats of all time.When Federer beat Djokovic in the Semi's the Nadal camp breathed a sigh of relief as Uncle Tony said in a press report "The game of Rafael is not too good for Roger," Toni said, adding that Federer's "mentality against Rafael is not the best." Nadal leads Head to Head against Rodger 17-8 so one would have to agree with this.Federer made 56 unforced errors to Nadal's 27 in a match such as this a very significant statistic.Whilst Rafa did not serve as many aces as Rodger , he did have the edge on winning second serve percentages.Mentally Rafa is tougher and does not give so many free points away,when the pressure was mounting during the week his uncle Tony had some wise words to say 'Stay calm. Winning or losing won't change your life.'" He did and the rest is history.I do believe it would of been a different match up with the Djoker.The mental side in tennis is so important and thats where tennis players in New Zealand suffer.They grow up in an environment that if you reach the top of your age group then you have done so without too much competition.Because of this we have a strange perception of working hard and what sacrifices you have to make to get to the top.We simply dont work hard enough , we simply are not tough mentally,we look at our local rankings and set training accordingly.Parents and players are easily conned by local coaches setting "Wimbledon Dreams".No tennis player will succeed without discipline this is a fact and New Zealander's can dream all they want, until Parents and players get their head around this we wont be producing top 100 players .Marina Erakovic is an exception she is one player who I think had the Mentality and discipline to succeed.I will devote another blog post in the future to why New Zealand tennis players are just not "tough enough" and why we have more prima donna's playing game than most country's.Young juniors out there in Tennis Land use Rafael Nadal and his ethics as a role model, lets hope you have the mental fortitude to emulate Nadal! Congratulations Rafa bring on Wimbledon!

Enough of the WE! DAD

2011-06-03T13:21:00.000+12:00

Don't coaches get sick of parents that talk in the "We" Dad who when he steps out on the court is really just and average B player often parts his great tennis experience on their child.Coaches cringe at the tactical advice Dad is giving!They then rock up to the next coaching lesson with the pro for their child and the introduction goes a little like this Father"We had this awesome game plan,we executed it in the second set ,we hit our backhand well but our serve let us down,we really felt disappointed that we waited to 0-6 0-5 to execute the plan,we must try to do it earlier in the match next time,I think we should work on the backhand today.WE WE WE.Usually the child does not do much thinking for himself,the child is prone to emotional breakdown on the court with tears, the child does not play the match his Father does.The worst kind of parent are those living their sporting dream through their child!The best parents are the ones that rock up watch and support their child win or lose and if they do have a good coach that watches matches then they let the coach deal with all things tennis.These parents are nearly extinct in New Zealand.

On Thursday's I have an enjoyable trip out to Geraldine to coach 8 enthusiastic young tennis players.Thanks to the Mulligan's whose home court we use the juniors can keep their tennis going over winter.Pictured below are the young juniors from this weeks practice.

I am sorry I have not updated the French Open but will try to give a pre final post, today Nadal takes on Murray and whilst reports Rafa is low on confidence he will beat Murray .Federer takes on the unstoppable Djoker!I would love to think Roger can beat him but Novak will exploit Feds great shot selection and will break him down in the unforced error department. I hope I am wrong!