South Canterbury Tennis Academy News

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

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

Hello Stranger!

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

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.

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!

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

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

Gone With The Wind -Federer and Nadal

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

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

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.

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

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.