Cochrane Goes Down but not without a fight

Pupil Anna Cochrane just missed a place in the National 12s girls singles quarter finals going down in a tight three setter against 5th Seed Lauren Alter 6-3 6-7 6-1. Great experience and Anna will take a lot out of this match.Anna and partner Alice Seemann from Christchurch had a great win knocking of the top seeds in the doubles today to reach the quarter finals.All the volley exercises must be paying off!Above is Anna in action.Thanks to Ace Ventura for the pictures.

Sam Stosur’s refusal to represent her country in this weekend’s Fed Cup is a stone-cold snub to those who have nurtured her career and given her the opportunity to play tennis professionally.

Instead of opting to don the green and gold, Stosur remained in Europe to continue her preparation for the claycourt season and battle to retain her top-10 WTA ranking.

While Stosur has been a loyal servant to Australia in the past (32 matches in 19 ties since 2003), her absence in Melbourne has effectively cost her country its place in the World Group.

Jarmila Groth (ranked 30) and Anastasia Rodionova (72) battled valiantly at Glen Iris in Melbourne’s inner-east, but went down 2-3 overall at the hands of Lesia Tsurenko (131) and Olga Savchuk (144), despite holding two match points in Sunday’s deciding doubles.

There is little doubt that had the world No. 6 made the trip, the outcome would be vastly different.

Not Logical or ethical to have the coach of Stosur David Taylor also in charge of the Fed Cup Team.

Read more on it and the full article HERE

Nadal makes it 7 in a row at Monte Carlo defeating David Ferrer in the final.Nadal sends a statement to rivals leading into the French Open .Djokovic withdrew from Monte Carlo stating injury ,maybe a little mind games going on .

STALKER UPDATE : WAS A LITTLE QUIET TODAY NO VISITS TO MY SITE TO DATE, JUST A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THIS SAD PERSON. THEY  HAVE A LOT OF TIME ON THEIR HANDS, THEY LOVE MAKING TROUBLE, A FAMOUS NURSERY RHYME CAN BE ASSOCIATED WITH THEM.THEY NEED HELP.

12s Nationals Update

Mixed fortunes for pupils Anna Cochrane and Tom Russell.Anna moved into the R16 with a 6-3 6-3 win over Amber Barry. Tom went down 6-2 6-3 to Scott Walden in the R16 match.This event is being played in Auckland whilst the 16s are being played in Wellington. 


Nadal fought off a determined Andy Murray to earn a place in the final against David Ferrer in Monte Carlo overnight.


Australia is in trouble locked at 2 rubbers all against the Ukraine in Fed Cup Action. Not a great result as its a home match and The Aussie's have the higher ranked players.


Lot's of interest in the "eyes stalker"and yes they are still stalking , yesterday they arrived at my blog at around 11.40 and was still checking it out at 10.20pm last night and had a lunch time visit today about 12.23pm.I am thinking of starting a contest to see if readers can guess who it is. I went along to Scream 4 today just to get some tips on deranged characters. I am thinking maybe a solicitors letter is needed,its not the fact of the stalker visiting the site, its the threatening comment that was left.


Since word of the stalker my blog has doubled in daily hits. No doubt they will be back later tonight.Oh another stat I notice that sometimes you enter the site from the sports ground site usually from the South Canterbury link site.Although yesterday they were all clean hits.


stalker twitter : stalker logged on again at 8.29pm . Very tricky stalker using firefox 3.6  You really do find this blog interesting .

STALKER Tennis

Monica Seles, Steffi Graff ,Maria Sharapova have all had stalkers , now the "eye"has a stalker. The only thing stalkers eventually get caught.The wonderful stats a blog can give you is who is reading your web page , what country , and even what city! My stalker is a frequent visitor to the site. Occasionally they leave comments .Their last visit to my blog was 8-14 am this morning.I even know what browser they use to log on , they use internet explorer,they even use Windows xp!.Yesterday they made numerous visits to my blog , including leaving a comment. The beauty about New Zealand  its so small, its easy to pinpoint local visitors, most come here for entertainment and news , My Stalker comes for evil purposes :) .I know who the stalker is.


All will be made public soon :). I am up with some great names who have had stalkers , one wonders is it an honor? NO its annoyance to think that people do not have better things to do with their lives.They obviously need help.

Blog Mystery

Always amazes me how smart people think they are, Someone left me a nice comment unfortunately they think they know more than me , well anonymous I know who you are here is your Ip address Telecom Xtra (122.61.142.153) [Label IP Address] its not hard to trace things like that ,I would be very worried .This person I know is not very smart !

Yes readers all will be revealed soon!

THE BLOG

Statistics always interest me and its great to see who and where is actually reading my Blog! This is another set of stats readily available and shows how many hits and from what country's for the past month.The above are just the top country's visiting . Well the clay court season has begun and who will step up ?

The above is the first big event of the year . The best inform player Djokovic has withdrawn leaving Nadal to be tested by the rest.Federer will be trying to find some clay court form , I think his best chance of a major event this year is Wimbledon.It will be interesting to see how the young "guns"such as Milos Raonic adapt to the slower surfaces.

What you need to win on clay.


1.The ability to keep height and depth over the net


2. Being able to slide into shots only learnt on clay, the guys that have grown up on this surface will have an advantage.


3. To be able to use angles and drop shots as court craft is a big advantage in winning on clay


4. To gain control of the rally, you dont have to serve big but you have to serve with accuracy and a high percentage of first serves.


5. Be Fit!!!! Prepared to grind out longer rallys.


6.Play the percentages Patience is a virtue on clay.


7.All good clay courters must be prepared to slice and dice

Presentation Video

Each year I do a video for awards night for Tennis South Canterbury. The theme of the video this year is.... What is success?. Success is hard to measure and each individual success will be different ,is it accumulating tennis titles or is it just turning up for local inter-club and participating. I know many that gauge success on titles, yes that part of it but the humblest and most popular players are those that realize success comes in many shapes and forms.

Below are Pictures of a young junior I coach Anna Cochrane who is just back from the Nelson Junior Open where she lost in the Final of the 12s  in 3 hard fought sets the third being a super tie break decider against Christchurch player Alice Seeman. Anna Combined to win the doubles partnering Alice. A very successful trip , well done Anna. Anna is working hard on improving her variety in her game and as a coach I am implementing volley's and angles with Anna , As we know in Junior Girls tennis it can be just a battle from the baseline and a player that can mix it up by coming to the net to finish, create angles can cause some damage once they can implement successfully. Thanks Ace for the pics!!!

Farewell Bernie

Sadly yesterday we said goodbye to Bernard Matze from Argentina who finished his coaching duty's and set sail for a little sightseeing in Queenstown and Auckland before winging his way back to Mendoza Argentina. We housed Bernie and let me say he did keep himself busy whilst he was here , never missing a chance to go and do some thing like canoeing in Dunedin and wake boarding just the other side of Ashburton, the occasional night out in Timas!.On the court he was fantastic, had good technical knowledge and a sound lesson structure.He was very popular with his pupils. For me he gave me some new idea's and ways to look at things and he was quick to work out the achievers , the pretenders and the temperamental , back home in Argentina where he coaches in clubs he had not come across so much emotional outbursts as he experienced here in South Canterbury.


Well Bernie I am sure you will read this soon, we miss you around the house its just not the same,  Good luck and God Bless I hope you have enjoyed your time here and it will help you in whatever or where ever the paths of life take you.You did yourself and Family proud Bernie!

Deeley takes treble with Mixed Title

The mixed doubles final for South Canterbury closed champs ended in an anti-climax with Tom Deeley and Geraldine Prisk defeating Sam Lane and Annabel Ellis 7/6 1/1 after Lane had to withdraw from the rescheduled final with an injury.This gave Tom his third title after winning the Mens Singles and Doubles Title .....a rare treble.Geraldine started her tennis with me at a very early age and some of her achievements have been reaching the 12s National Hard courts final and being selected on Tennis New Zealand's team for training in Spain.I am pictured above with Geraldine and Tom. Another success from the coaching program which some people fail to notice , I have often thought why is this and I guess its common trait in New Zealand tennis culture.... with all the National champions I have produced not one call from Tennis New Zealand saying well done,how are you getting this success in such a small region? In fact all of this has hardly been noticed at a local area. Thank goodness for juniors like Tom and Geraldine , too many "prima donna" tennis players exist in this country and maybe thats why New Zealand in its current environment will never reach great heights.

Above are visitors to my blog over the last week.Thanks for dropping by!!

Mission Accomplished- The "eye" gets South Canterbury Doubles Titles

Yesterday I partnered 15 year old Tom Deeley to win the South Canterbury closed Men's Doubles Title 6-0 6-2 against Top Seeds Les Jones and Kevin Lind.I coach Tom and playing with me is no easy task , I hate to lose and I hate to lose points so my intensity in Match play is always high.I can remember myself playing as a junior with the better Men players and it was here I learned the craft of doubles and also the intensity required to win at Top level, I learned a lot even though some of the older players at times were quite hard.I enjoyed playing with Tom and the event gives me an incentive to pass on some knowledge that I have learned throughout the years of playing many matches.Tom really handled the match like a veteran ,except for the drop volley :) ,I had made a similar error with a break point ,I tried a silly drop shot .....lapses of intensity made me remember one of my old partners saying you get a sitter ...bury it! Tom also won the men's singles title yesterday with a 6-0 6-0 against the Top Seed Kevin Lind.Tom was ruthless in his demolish-ion ,determined not to drop a game.The event was seeded on Top Dog and certainly made a mockery of the system, Top Dog works if you are put on your correct level of entry , Tom was way to low and needs an adjustment. 
So another success with a pupil taking out the Men's Championship and Tom deserves this with his enthusiasm and ability to put in at lesson's , no dramatics , no racket throwing and banging on the ground, no swearing and tantrums, no putting down the opposition and no excuses.......shame this was not a trait in all juniors , I have to say in all honest opinion its a credit to the parents because its their influences that help create the persona ,Well done Dad and Mum you deserve the victory also.

Djokovic Fly's High

Above the finished shoot and below just after the actual footage was shot and Djoker back on the ground

.NO WONDER HIS TENNIS IS ON A HIGH!

Meltdown Mania - Alive and well in Junior Tennis

The mental game as we know is one if not the most important part of winning a competitive tennis match.We see it at the pro level but more so at junior tennis level. Its always an interesting battle watching juniors compete at tennis from the sideline.Usually a Junior match starts timidly both players feeling each other out but its not long before one player starts looking to the sideline for their parent as they have just lost a series of points and games.Usually the typical trait off the court for these juniors are they usually get what they want and usually Mum or Dad accommodates their needs and wants.Back to the match suddenly the child is not getting what they want , they want to win! this is not happening panic sets in ! They know if they start crying off the court they usually can get what they want, suddenly the tears start on the court ....yes this will work!!! Just one small thing its not Mom or Dad you are playing !!!! Suddenly they realize the tears dont work ...whats next? Well when they dont get their way a tantrum always works at home! They start tapping and banging their racquet (if they break it Mom and Dad will buy them a new one), still the tears are flowing , they start yelling and screaming ....Still they are losing! WHAT NEXT? Constantly the child is looking at the parents for help!,they start blaming them for the current state of the match!HELP ME! Hold it a second have you seen Mom or Dad play? do you really want them to come out and play your match?! Then the realization hits  for the player they cannot win! The head drops- even further - no eye contact with anyone except the ground!-hardly any body movement and then the end is near Game Set and Match!


It came as a surprise that someone had generously arranged travel arrangements for me.Unfortunately they failed to check if I was available for travel on the dates they arranged.I am sorry to inform the buffoons that made these bookings I will not be travelling on those dates.

Not everyone agree's with what I have to say on this blog and after all many articles are just my opinion.Its interesting that over the years I have many readers that drop by to look at the blog and what is on it.Many enjoy whats here , what I can't work out is why the "haters" keep coming back?

Indian Wells - Whats to come in 2011!

The first real major event after the Australian Open is being played in Indian Wells California and beautiful desert location.Some major shocks and upsets have rocked the tennis world.Andy Murray always suffers Australian Open Blue's was sent packing.....(well not really he is still in the doubles with Brother Jamie) by Donald Young ,an American always touted as the next big thing.He Beat Murray in straight sets......This was the coming of Donald Young ....NOT!  ,unfortunately a "flash in the pan" veteran Tommy Robredo beat him 6-0 6-4 in the next round.In the women's side Aussie Sam Stosur lost to Dinara Safina,Safina served 16 double faults for the match and still won!!.....I have always thought Stosur was overrated and her runner-up in the French Open may be her big time crowning glory.


Among other big names Robert Soderling, Fernando Verdasco ,Li Na, have fallen in the desert! And in the mens doubles the Singles players are cleaning up the doubles specialists. This is a fantastic event also marking the return of Rafa to the tournament scene after the injury at the Australian Open.


You can follow the tournament HERE

Rumor has it "the eye" may make a comeback to tournament play , he tested his skills yesterday with a 6-0 victory over local Junior George Tarbotton!

Brothers Clean up Age Group Titles at South Canterbury Closed Champs!

I attended the local South Canterbury Closed Junior champs today ,what better way to spend a Sunday watching the battles unfold in each age group!The Deeley Bro's Tom,Jack and Ben pictured above took out their respective age groups this is a unique feat for tennis with three age group winners coming from the one family.What I like about all three boy's is the no nonsense approach no antics, no racket throwing and no head dropping just compete to win but fairly.Tom is a pleasure to coach and I always know Tom's going to give his best win or lose he will be there till the end, hes the type of guy if you were in war , you want this guy in the trenches next to you! Tom beat Henry Craib not allowing his opponent a game in the final. Jack is a little quieter he just goes about his way with out too much fuss. He has a good head on his shoulder and his variety of play proved the difference in his win over Oscar Acland today in the final.Ben's win was over Harrison Darling one of the best if not the best match for the day.Both boy's court coverage and retrieving was a feature of the play. Ben kept his play consistent and mentally had the edge when it mattered most.Anna Cochrane also took out the 12 girls singles in a strong display.Watch out for the full report in the media of this tournament.


Not going unnoticed was the typical circus of displays one player throwing a muesli bar at their parent after a loss, another telling their parents on the sideline to shut up and the usual parent coaching from the grandstand.Just another usual day at a tennis tournament.! I know I would not of lasted the day at a tournament  had I performed like this. Oh bring back the days where we had discipline and players had respect.


Well back to the main Topic well done bro's I am sure your parents are proud of you and its great as a coach to have some great ambassadors of the sport under my wing!


Yesterday I mentioned re the top ATP singles players partnering each other in the doubles at Indian Wells , Not a great result for the doubles specialists with Wawrinka and Federer defeating No 2 seeds Mirnyi and Nestor 6-1 6-2

Whats News On Twitter

Twitter is a great place to keep up with the tennis worlds latest news. Heres some of the latest tweets and links I have found interesting.

tennisviewmag TennisView Magazine 

Verdasco practicing earlier, wearing his "All Fernando" shirthttp://twitpic.com/48nut0 http://twitpic.com/48numv

TennisConnected Tennis Connected 

New blog post: IW: Rafael Nadal Pre-Tournament Press Conference http://bit.ly/dIAAVd

tennis TENNIS.com 

Djokovic says Nadal, Federer still the best http://dlvr.it/Jz0sx

juumptennis Juump 

Andy Murray Learning from his Mistakes http://ow.ly/4cAj1 #tennis

BillieJKing Billie Jean King 

Check out MSN's list of the "Most Outstanding Women in Sports," which includes Billie Jean King! http://fb.me/Vfxo0pkW

Clijsterskim Kim Clijsters 

Jada made a drawing for Serena ... :-) to wish her a fast recoveryhttp://yfrog.com/gyg89taj

darren_cahill Darren Cahill 

 by WilsonTennis

Best doubles event of the year!.. 9 of top 10 singles players competing.. Federer/Wawrinka v Mirnyi/Nestor tomorrow 4th on Center Court

Speaking of the above it is indeed that many of the top singles players are playing doubles in the first Masters points series in Indian Wells CA. Here are some of the combinations.

BERDYCH, Tomas (CZE)/TIPSAREVIC, Janko (SRB)

MURRAY, Andy (GBR)/MURRAY, Jamie (GBR

ISNER, John (USA)/QUERREY, Sam (USA

DJOKOVIC, Novak (SRB)/TROICKI, Viktor (SRB

FEDERER, Roger (SUI)/WAWRINKA, Stanislas (SUI)

LOPEZ, Marc (ESP)/NADAL, Rafael (ESP)

No doubt will make for some interesting results. You can follow the tournament here.LINK