Day One at Paris

It was my first full day at the BNP Paribas Masters and what a day it was. It was a day of the usual monotonous first round play as well as some doubles disappointments. First up on the chopping block: Janko Tipsarevic. Our favorite 'other Serbian' gave Tommy Haas all he could handle. Unfortunately, it was not enough to throw the German off course for a Shanghai berth. I will give the Serbian the advantage for edgy, borderline-Clement eye wear though.



Our favorite 'other brothers' were playing doubles together. They brought out the best in one another. Jamie played incredible and quick points at the net when it mattered. His older brother showed off his knack for choking. Andy squandered two match points, including a double fault on one.


The most interesting part about their doubles loss was the press conference. Andy was in a foul, borderline rude mood. He started the press conference with a scowl and short answers. He mentioned a car accident briefly and a few questions for specifics followed. Then talk continued about Davis Cup and both of their plans for the rest of their seasons. However brief the discussion of his car accident was, the press jumped on it and created headlines. For some reason, English people in Parisian car accidents just grab attention. (Yes, I went there).


Fernando Verdasco, the 'other finalist' from this weekend, played a strong two sets against Dr. Ivo in his first round match. Karlovic held serve in standard fashion and Verdasco made two flagrant unforced errors to give Karlovic a third set break and eventually the match. A fitting end of a streaky season for the Spaniard.


Rafael Nadal, the 'other major name' to bow out in doubles, also lost in a decisive tie-break with his compatriot Feliciano Lopez. The Spanish duo played their usual brand of 'stay back, attack only when convenient' tennis but managed to pull off several great points, not to mention matching outfits. Because we all know, Rafa will not play doubles with you unless you dress up like him.


Happy Halloween!

Photos and post by:
Troy Venechanos

Clip of the Week

Though Roger Federer and Andy Roddick put on an incredible show at the US Open last night, I can't help but still feel the sting of James Blake's 4th round loss to Tommy Haas a little. Poor Blake, always the fifth set, always oh-so close.

This clip features the best point of the break, and no doubt gives an idea of what New York tennis at the US Open can be when it's at its best. James Blake certainly gave his all, and so did the crowd.

Bridging the Gap

The men and women are playing together this week - and they're not at a major.

In Memphis, the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships kicked off this week. This event models what the future of the tours should look like: men and women playing together, at all levels, attracting fans, television audiences and growing the community of the two tours together.

Scheduling issues are wreaking havoc on both tours: the men are trying out round-robing while the women are slowly, but surely cutting our big events (bye, bye San Diego) because the tour is trying to please all parties.

Having more conjoined events would mean bigger crowds would get to see more players playing top-level tennis. I really enjoy the way that Toronto and Montreal have continued to switch their tournaments every other year. If the men and women were to join together at one location on year A and then jump to another location on year B, the tour(s) could continue to hit as many locations as possible while hopefully gaining more fans.

Creating community between the two tours is something that not only should happen, but needs to happen. This sort of connection would foster good relationships between players, coaches, agents and all those other inside people to make sure that the tours are attractive events that culminate four times a year at the Majors.

Meanwhile the WTA has caught on to the success of ATP.com's player blogs. This week, Vania King (who already lost in a heart-breaking first round singles match) is the blogger on the women's side while Tommy Haas (defending champion) is blogging it up on the men's side.