Tag: Rafael Nadal

French Open Dominated by Spain and Sweden During Open Era

horvath Leave a comment

The strength of tennis in a country is often measured by the performance of its singles players in the Grand Slam events. Based on this definition of success the Spanish and Swedish Men clearly dominated the French Open during the Open Era (since 1968).

Overall, the Swedes won 9 titles and the Spanish men won fifteen. Combined, this is slightly more than half the total titles for the Open Era. The Swedes dominated from 1974 to 1988 and the Spaniards have been in charge since 1993.

A summary of the French Open winners during the Open Era is summarized below:
• 1968 -77 – No country dominated the scene during this period. Players from Australia, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden won two titles each.
• 1978 – 87 -The Swedes (Bjorn Borg and Mats Wilander) controlled the scene.
• 1988 – 97 – Early in this period the American players won three titles. Players from Spain won two titles during the second half of this ten year period.
• 1998 – 07 – Players from Spain won six championships, including three by Rafael Nadal.
• 2008 – 14 – Nadal won six of seven titles during this period.

Stay tuned for the 2015 French Open starting on May 24th.

Does Nadal have enough left in the tank to win his tenth title? Will 2015 be the first year for Djokovic to win in Paris? Will the U.S. have anyone playing during the second week?

Men's French Open Winners by Country for Open Era

USTA Player Development MIA at Wimbledon

horvath Leave a comment

There was something different about the results for the men’s and women’s draw at Wimbledon 2014 – No American advanced past the third round in the singles. In fact, only one American man and five women made it to the third round.

Sadly, the embarrassing showing of the Americans made their abysmal showing at the French Open look somewhat respectable. Even worse, Wimbledon is a tournament where the Americans usually play well.

Clearly, the results of the men and women accentuate the fact that the USTA Player Development has been MIA for a number of years. The program may be taking credit for developing players, but it is not producing elite players at the international level.

On the men’s side, John Isner was the only player to have a winning record. He exited in the third round.

Sam Querrey, Jack Sock, and Denis Kudla all lost in the second round after winning a match. Bradley Klahn, Steve Johnson, AlexKuznetsov, Ryan Harrison, Donald Young, and Michael Russell were all first round losers.

The men won 5 matches and lost 10. In other words, if the American men had combined all of their wins and allocated them to one player, they would have lost in the semifinals.

The American men are excellent players; however, with the exception of Isner and Querry, they are ranked closer to 100 than number 1. The player development programs of other countries appear to have aspirations for greatness that exceed those of the USTA Player Development program.

Memo #1 to USTA Player Development.
Topic: There were no American men players in the round of 16.

The following countries had multiple players in the round of 16:
• Spain – 3
• France – 2
• Switzerland – 2
The following countries had one player in the 16s: Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Serbia, and South Africa. The player from Serbia won the tournament.

There were 13 Americans in the women’s draw. Combined, they won 13 matches and lost 13.

The first round losers included: Anna Tatishvili, Christina McHale, Taylor Townsend, Sloane Stephens, and Vania King. They were joined on the sidelines by second round losers Victoria Duval, Coco Vandeweghe, and Varvara Lepchenko.

The following American women won two matches before exiting the tournament: Serena Williams, Alison Riske, Madison Keys, Venus Williams, and Lauren Davis. Game over for the women!

The recent American youngsters to appear on the big stage are finding that life is tougher than it looks like from the sidelines.

Memo #2 to USTA Player Development.
Topic: There were no American women players in the round of 16.

The following countries had multiple playing in the Round of 16:
• Czechoslovakia – 4
• Germany -2
• Russia – 2
• Kazakhstan – 2
The following countries had one player in the 16s: Canada, China, Denmark, France, Poland, and Romania. One of the players from Czechoslovakia was the winner.

Wimbledon 2014 confirmed what was expected last summer. At that time it appeared there were either an inordinate number of upsets or a changing of the guard. The recent results confirmed the latter has occurred.  Halep, Bouchard, Kvitova, and the host of other young players have begun to take over the top spots in the women’s game.

Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer, still control the men’s sport, but the youngsters are rattling their sabers that change is on the horizon in the not too distant future.

Hopefully the leaders of the USTA and the USTA Player Development Program were watching. Wimbledon is much more fun to watch when Americans are playing in the finals!

American Men and Women Have a Weak Showing at 2014 French Open

horvath Leave a comment

Another Grand Slam event has passed and no American players were serious contenders for the title. What is the USTA Player Development Program doing?

Rafael Nadal won another French Open. Rafa has now won nine French titles.  Since the first tournament in 1891, Americans have won the event a total of 11 times. Four of those victories have come during the open era.

On the women’s side Maria Sharapova captured her second French Open. She defeated 20-year old Simona Halep in a knockdown-dragout match that lasted for more than three hours.

With the exception of John Isner and Sloane Stephens, the American players had a lackluster performance. After Isner, the highest ranking American male was ranked 64th.

In the men’s draw Bradley Klahn (71), Michael Russell (98), and Robby Ginepri (279) lost in the first round.

Sam Querrey (67) and Steve Johnson (64) won their first round matches, but lost in the second round.

Donald Young (79) and Jack Sock (75) won two rounds before bowing out in the third round.

John Isner (11), seeded 10th, held his seed by winning three matches before being defeated in the round of 16.

Overall, the American men won 9 matches and lost 8.

On the women’s side, tennis enthusiasts got a sneak peak of American tennis without the Williams sisters. Fans anticipated seeing the players face off in their third round; however, both Venus and Serena lost in the second round.

Only Taylor Townsend and Sloane Stephens advanced beyond the second round. Townsend won two matches before losing in the third round and Stephens won three before she was defeated in the fourth round.

In the last six Grand Slams she has reached the fourth round. In four of those tournaments she was the last American in the bracket. That sounds good, on paper, but….

The following American women fell in the first round: Grace Min, Lauren Davis, Christina McHale, Vania King, Shelby Rogers, Anna Tatishvili, and Madison Keys.

In addition to the Williams sisters, the second round losers included Varvara Lepchenko, Coco Vandeweghe, and Alison Riske.

At the moment Serena Williams is the only elite American male or female player. Although John Isner has been consistent, it is unlikely he will win a Grand Slam event.

Stephens has shown that she has the potential to play in the upper echelon. Time will tell whether there are too many players such as Simona Halep, Eugenie Bouchard, Belinda Bencic, and Garbine Maguruza, who will prevent her from being an elite player.

Another Grand Slam has passed and there is no evidence the USTA Player Development Program is having an impact on American tennis.

U.S. Men Continue to Disappoint in Grand Slams (Australian Open)

horvath Leave a comment

Julius Caeser is credited with saying, “Veni, vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered). Clearly Caeser was not in charge of the USTA Player Development program.

Of the 12 American players entered in the Australian Open 9 were first round losers (Ryan Harrison, Bradley Klahn, Tim Smyczek, Rhyne Williams, Wayne Odesnik, John Isner, Steve Johnson, and Michael Russell).

  • Jack Sock finished the tournament 1-1 and exited in the second round.
  • Donald Young and Sam Querrey won 2 matches before bowing out in the third round.

Overall the 12 men won 5 matches and lost 12.

Based on the performance of the U.S. men in this and previous Grand Slam events, it is clear the USTA needs someone with a Julius Caesar mindset to take charge of USTA Player Development.

Note:  In 2003 Roger Federer won his first Wimbledon. There have since been 43 Grand Slams Including that event and the most recent Australian Open. Only eight men have won titles during that period:

  • Roger Federer 17
  • Rafael Nadal 13
  • Novak Djokovic 6
  • Andy Murray 2
  • Stanislas Wawrinka 1
  • Juan Martin del Potro 1
  • Gaston Gaudio 1
  • Andy Roddick 1
  • Marat Safin 1

As an aside, Murray defeated Djokovic in the finals of both his Grand Slam victories, del Potro upset Federer in his only Grand Slam victory, and Wawrinka upset Nadal in the most recent Grand Slam. In other words, at least of the trio (Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic) have been in the finals of all but three Grand Slams since the 2003 Wimbledon tournament.

It is safe to say that Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic have dominated the sport for the past decade.  Unfortunately, they are only part of the reason the U.S. continue to disappoint in Grand Slams. A major part of the problem is the USTA Player Development program.

 

Rafa – A Guide to Mental Toughness

horvath Leave a comment

The book, Rafa, written by John Carlin in 2011 takes a look at the mental toughness that has made Rafael Nadal the most dominant clay court player in the history of the sport. Specifically, it talks compares Nadal’s mindset in the finals of the 2007 and 2008 Wimbledon.

The following quotes from the book provide a sampling of Nadal’s mental state on the court.

  • Because what I battle hardest to do in a tennis match is to quiet the voices in my head, to shut everything out of my mind but the contest itself and concentrate every atom of my being on the point I am playing. If I made a mistake on a previous point, forget it; should’ve thought of victory suggest itself, crush it. 
  • I always dreamt of playing here at Wimbledon. My uncle Toni, who has been my coach all of my life, had drummed into me from an early age that this was the biggest tournament of them all. By the time I was 14, I was sharing with my friends the fantasy that I would play here one day and win. 
  • But my defeat in 2007 (in the Wimbledon finals), which went to five sets, left me utterly destroyed. I knew I could have done better, that it was not my ability or the quality of my game that had failed me, but my head. And I wept after that loss, I cried incessantly for half an hour in the dressing room.
  • Losing always hurts, but it hurts much more when you had your chance and threw it away. I have beaten myself as much as Federer had beaten me; I had let myself down and hated that. I had flagged mentally. I had allowed myself to get distracted; I had veered from my game plan. So stupid, so unnecessary. 
  • Tennis against a rival with whom you are evenly matched, or whom you have a chance of beating, this all about raising your game when it’s needed. A champion plays at his best not in the opening rounds of the tournament but in the semi-finals and the finals against the best opponents; the greatest champion plays at his best in a Grand Slam final.  
  • I also know that, most probably, the balance of poorly chosen or poorly struck shots would stand at close to fifty-fifty between us by the time it was all over. That is in the nature of tennis, especially with two players so familiar with each other’s game as Federer and I are. You might think that after the millions and millions of balls I’ve hit, I’d have the basic shots of tennis sown up, that reliability hitting a true, smooth, clean shot every time would be a piece of cake. But it isn’t. Not just because every day you wake up feeling differently, but because every shot is different; every single one. From the moment the ball is in motion, it comes at you at an infinitesimal number of angles and speeds; with more topspin, or backspin, or flatter, or higher. 
  • The differences might be minute, microscopic, but so are the variations your body makes – shoulders, elbow, wrists, hips, ankles, knees – in every shot. And there are so many other factors-the weather, the surface, the rival. No ball arrives the same way as another; no shot is identical. So every time you line up to hit a shot, you have to make a split-second judgment as to the trajectory and speed of the ball and then make a split second decision as to how, how hard, and where you must try and hit the shot back. And you have to do that over and over, often 50 times and a game, fifteen times in twenty seconds, in continual bursts more than two, three, four hours and all the time you’re running hard and your nerves are taut; it’s when your coordination is right and the tempo is smooth that the good sensations come, that you were better able to manage the biological and mental feat of striking the ball clearly in the middle of the racquet and aiming it true, at speed and under immense mental pressure, time after time. And one thing I have no doubt; the more you train, the better you’re feeling. Tennis is, more than most sports, a sport of the mind; it is the player who has those good sensations on the most days, who manages to isolate himself best from his fears and from the ups and downs in morale a match inevitably brings, who ends up being world number one.

The book has much more and is a must read for any athlete wanting to improve his or her mental toughness.

American Women Record Wins at French Open

horvath Leave a comment

This past weekend, Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal were crowned Men’s and Women’s Champions at the French Open. For the trio of Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal, this was their 32nd win in the last 36 Grand Slams. Total dominance. For Nadal, this was his record setting seventh French Open championship.

Sharapova’s victory was also historic. She ousted a determined Sara Errani, retained her #1 ranking in the world, and completed a career grand slam. In a classy, post-match interview Sharapova provided some words of wisdom for life on and off the court, “I’ll retire the day I wake up and don’t believe I can be a better player.”

Overall, the showing by the Americans in singles was mixed. The women results for the women were respectable, while the outcome of the men’s matches was ugly.

The singles results for Americans are listed below.

U.S. Men’s Results
Round of 128
The 8 U.S. men players had a weak start – 3 wins and 5 losses.
• Winners – Brian Baker, John Isner, and Jesse Levine.
• Losers – James Blake, Ryan Harrison, Sam Querrey, Andy Roddick, and Donald Young.

Round of 64
The American players were pathetic in the second round – 0 wins and 3 losses.
• Winners – NONE.
• Losers – Brian Baker, John Isner, and Jesse Levine.

Round of 32
At the Australian Open 1 of 11 American men made it to the round of 32, while none of 8 American men made it to the round of 32.

At the French Open, the 8 American men won 3 matches and lost 8.
At the Australian Open, the 11 American men won 7 matches and lost 11.

U.S. – Women’s Results
Round of 128
The 12 U.S. women players showed promise in the first round – 10 wins and 2 losses.
• Winners – Lauren Davis, Irina Falconi, Alexa Glatch, Vania King, Varvara Lepchenko, Christina McHale, Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Sloane Stephens, and Venus Williams.
• Losers – Jamie Hampton and Serena Williams.

Round of 64
The women didn’t fare as well in the second round – 3 wins and 7 losses, although 2 of the matches pitted American players against each other.
• Winners – Varvara Lepchenko, Christina McHale, and Sloane Stephens.
• Losers – Lauren Davis, Irina Falconi, Alexa Glatch, Vania King, Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Venus Williams.

Round of 32
The American women performed admirably in the third round – 2 wins and 1 loss.
• Winners – Varvara Lepchenko and Sloane Stephens.
• Losers – Christina McHale.

Round of 16
The American women lost to the 4th and 6th seeds – 0 wins and 2 losses.
• Losers – Sloane Stephens and Varvara Lepchenko lost.

The 12 American women won 15 matches and lost 12.
At the Australian Open, the 10 American women won 9 matches and lost 10.

The Grand Slams are not a team or country contest. Nevertheless, it is still interesting to look at the performance of the top players an countries.

France had 29 players with 30 wins and 29 losses.
Spain had 20 players with 30 wins and 19 losses.
USA also had 20 players with 18 wins and 20 losses.
Russia had 17 players with 10 wins and 16 losses.
Germany had 15 players with 13 wins and 15 losses.
Italy had 12 players with 15 wins and 12 losses.
The Czech Republic has 12 players with 14 wins and 12 losses.
USA Tennis is a solid performer, but clearly not a dominant factor in the sport.

American tennis fans can only hope that the women continue to play well at Wimbledon. With a little luck, some of the younger players will have a break-through tournament. While the American men are fabulous players, they demonstrated again that they are clearly not in the upper tier.

 

Three Reasons the U.S. Fails to Dominate Men’s Tennis

horvath Leave a comment

If you were asked to list three reasons the United States does not dominate men’s tennis what would you say?

The politically charged response is, “The USTA is doing a horrible job with player development, America’s best athletes play other sports, and American kids choose to be well-rounded, rather than focused on individual sports.”

A less controversial response to the question is, “Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.” The 3 Ss – (Swiss, Spaniard, and Serbian) have had an unprecedented death grip on the Grand Slam trophies since 2004. And they have a lot at stake in the upcoming French Open.

• If Federer captures the top prize, he will become the third player to complete a double career Slam. A win at Roland Garros would up his total of Grand Slams to 17.

• If Rafael Nadal wins he will surpass Bjorn Borg with seven French titles.

• Djokovic currently holds three consecutive Grand Slam titles. A win would make him the second player of the Open Era to hold all four titles at once. The only other player to do that was Rod Laver.

The following results show the dominance of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic in Grand Slams since 2000. (Each name is followed by a fraction. The top number represents the number of Grand Slam wins through that tournament and the number on the bottom is the total number of career Grand Slams won by the player. Players with only one win do not have a number listed by their name).

Australian Open
2000 Andre Agassi (6/8)
2001 Andre Agassi (7/8)
2002 Thomas Johansson
2003 Andre Agassi (8/8)
2004 Roger Federer (2/16)
2005 Marat Safin (2/2)
2006 Roger Federer (7/16)
2007 Roger Federer (10/16)
2008 Novak Djokovic (1/5)
2009 Rafael Nadal (6/10)
2010 Roger Federer (16/16)
2011 Novak Djokovic (2/5)
2012 Novak Djokovic (5/5)
Since 2004 the trio has won every Australian Open except 2005. Federer has won four Australian Opens.

French Open
2000 Gustavo Kuerten (2/3)
2001 Gustavo Kuerten (3/3)
2002 Albert Costa
2003 Juan Carlos Ferrero
2004 Gastón Gaudio
2005 Rafael Nadal (1/10)
2006 Rafael Nadal (2/10)
2007 Rafael Nadal (3/10)
2008 Rafael Nadal (4/10)
2009 Roger Federer (14/16)
2010 Rafael Nadal (7/10)
2011 Rafael Nadal (10/10)
Since 2005 Nadal and Federer have won every French Open. Nadal has won six total wins.

Wimbledon
2000 Pete Sampras (13/14)
2001 Goran Ivanišević
2002 Lleyton Hewitt (2/2)
2003 Roger Federer (1/16)
2004 Roger Federer (3/16)
2005 Roger Federer (5/16)
2006 Roger Federer (8/16)
2007 Roger Federer (11/16)
2008 Rafael Nadal (5/10)
2009 Roger Federer (15/16)
2010 Rafael Nadal (8/10)
2011 Novak Djokovic (3/5)
Since 2003 the trio has won every Wimbledon tournament. Federer has won six.

U.S. Open
2000 Marat Safin (1/2)
2001 Lleyton Hewitt (1/2)
2002 Pete Sampras (14/14)
2003 Andy Roddick
2004 Roger Federer (4/16)
2005 Roger Federer (6/16)
2006 Roger Federer (9/16)
2007 Roger Federer (12/16)
2008 Roger Federer (13/16)
2009 Juan Martín del Potro
2010 Rafael Nadal (9/10)
2011 Novak Djokovic (4/5
Since 2004 the threesome has won every U.S. Open. Federer has won five U.S. Opens.

Beginning with Wimbledon in 2003 through the Australian Open in 2012, Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic have won 31 of 35 Grand Slams.

Although American purists may long for the days of Sampras vs. Agassi or Connors vs. McEnroe, the remaining 2012 Grand Slams will be tennis at its finest. In three months we will know if the 3Ss continue their stranglehold on the sport and make it 34 of 38 Grand Slams.