So Madrid starts tomorrow? Hope to see a really great tournament. Would love to see another refreshing result to be honest. This year has started out with a bang with Stan winning AO at the very onset. Who knows what else is in store for us. We shall see.
And I shall catch you guys later then.
well stan is the hottest property in tennis right now. some people---including Federer---believe that he is going to give nadal a run for his money at RG.
no telling how it is all going to play out. I will just say this: good luck beating nadal in a RG final. that is one final he does not lose.
he will fix his game by then. it may not happen in Madrid but by the time he is in a RG final, all bets are off. he is going to mow somebody down.
morning sports fans.
it is going to be a bit warm here today but that is ok. I welcome the heat and the humidity after such a brutal winter.
it is almost show time in Madrid.
let the games begin.
Morning, herc.
The Diva sees a defeat to Klizan at the BMW open final. Great results.
And Klizan's 2nd title and 1st on clay. Congrats.
Hi everyone. Hope you are well. Looking forward to top class tennis again in Madrid. Also fascinated by Andy and McEnroe openly flirting with each other about McEnroe being a possibility for coach. Would be gamble for both but great players can make it work.
Hola Anikh. All's well, yes. Hope all's well with you too.
I don't think JM was on Andy's list initially as he clearly stated that he wouldn't want to go with any legend and would rather stick to someone with low profile. But now that JM has openly showed his interest in coaching Andy, Andy seems to be suddenly thinking about it too. This may take place. I do like JM and feel he's pretty good at assessing any matchup and during a match, quite often than not he can tell who's doing what wrong and what needs to be changed. So he does have that great perspective of things. However, both are temperamental so not sure how that will be handled. Although this should be taken into account that Andy has a lot of respect for JM. I guess time will tell and we will eventually find out.
Strange result from the Portugal tournament btw. Berdych bagels Berlocq in the 1st set and they play a very tight 2nd set and Berlocq takes it. And then Berlocq almost bagels Berdych in the final set. I wish he did really so to make it look even stranger.
On one hand you can say 'oh, Berdy seems to be in form this week. He made the final here after all.' and yaddi yadda stuff, but then he loses in the final to Berlocq and 6-1 in the 3rd. Surely Berdych is the better player of the two? But of course, Berlocq specializes on clay so that needs to be looked at too.
Anyway, good for Berlocq and congrats! His 2nd title as well and both on clay.
Hi Emma im ok thanks. Yes I think you are right with observations. It is like a sudden opportunity has presented itself and Andy fancies a bit of it. I think it may be worth the gamble. Yes they can both be temperamental but Andy at stage of career where perhaps can take a risk with two Slams under his belt.
It's also possible Andy was modest about JM's approach and wanted to say some nice things back. The media is obviously picking things out deliberately for news purpose. We'll find out sooner rather than later since we are not too far away from Wimbledon and Andy is quite firm about getting a coach before then.
To be honest, Sampras would be ideal for Andy if he wants a big name beside him this time too. He needed Lendl since Lendl too had seen a series of losses in Slam finals, so Andy needed someone like that in his corner to remind him how it was still possible to win a Slam after losing one too many finals. Things are different now and Andy's in a different mindset. The road from here requires different goals and plans since the initial plan has already taken care of. Lendl is very good for the initial take off but to land a very successful and consistent career needs extra boost. Sampras is very much known for his mental toughness, super consistency and his ideal all court game. He was afraid of failure but that's what made him very successful. He didn't even need a coach and had only two coaches in his entire pro career. He treated them more as a mentor and friend than a coach.
Andy needs someone who has the mental toughness since Andy still lacks it IMO and just the presence of Sampras in his box would get half the job done. It's essential because the reason why Andy suffers so much in certain matches because he's doesn't fee very confident. As a result his serves suffer. Now he's got a great 1st serve but it's not consistent enough to be considered as a real threat. He then often has to resort to his 2nd serve because of it and pays the price half the time for it, since it's very weak. Sampras can definitely improve that department. Also, he can improve his forehand which has seen much improvement already of course and also, Sampras can encourage Andy to come to the net far more and perhaps teach him to have more of a mixed approach. Andy is also not very comfortable with the overheads and the timing is always a bit off. Sampras can definitely teach him a thing or two in that department.
But of course, whether Sampras is available or not that is the question and of course, if he's willing. Also, the British media is not a good thing so that's something might turn Sampras off immediately even if he's willing. And of course, if Andy will be comfortable with Sampras or not is also up for debate. Though I agree with you in that, Andy's much more mature now and has the right kind of temperament. And why not. He's achieved what he was aiming for already so definitely time for to settle down more mentally.
When was this? I dunt remember.
For Anikh and myself and to lesser extent....our darling herc. hahaha
And of course, Andy wants to win as many Wimbledon as possible and there's no one better or ideal than Sampras at this point. A girl can dream I tell ya!
