Tennis Chatter: Head Above the Crowd

Well, I'm sitting here at my computer waiting for the clock to strike midnight (it's 10:40) to see what my first ever front-page article will look like. Last week both stories I did got B1 (Sports) billing, but I have a hunch that the piece I did might make section A... so I'm waiting for the web site to re-boot at midnight so I can check it out!

Meanwhile, I thought it might be good to get in here and update all of you on what's going on in the world of tennis (as if you don't know).

Here's one thing you might not be tuned into: a friend of mine that I just graduated from college with is interning down in SoCal with The Press Enterprise in Riverside. He emailed me late today to let me know he was on assignment at the East West Bank Classic, telling me that it was "my first time shooting tennis, too bad the tournament turned out to be kinda lame." I think that Joey is right, the EWBC has turned out to be quite lame so far this year, but let's hope that Jelena can make a run into the finals and start her summer right. I'd love to see her win the US Open, wouldn't you guys?

The link to Joey's (Joey Anchondo, if you're wondering) EWBC photos is here.

And while we're on the topic of the women, let's talk about their summer season for a minute. So far they've played Stanford and now LA, two tournaments that have turned into complete jokes on the women's schedule. Remember when playing during the summer was important to WTA players? When playing outside of the slams for that reason was important?

Well, the girls certainly don't care now. It's really, really heart breaking to watch these tournaments come up with Aleksandra Wozniak (no offense Al, but my favorite Wozy on tour is Caroline... you just don't cut it!) and Bethanie Mattek (sorry to you, too, BM, but you're just not the player I want to see in the semis!) as premiere players?!? Perhaps the WTA needs to re-think that brilliant Roadmap of theirs and figure out how to get top players to play, and play often.

I know that was a poor attempt at a rant... but the last 18 hours have been rough... so take it easy on me, okay?

Let's talk about how Rafael Nadal continues to prove why he's so much better than the entire rest of the ATP tour. Nadal has advanced to the semifinals in Toronto by beating Richard Gasquet in three sets, and will take on Andy Murray, who has arguably had the second best summer on the tour.

With all that's happened at the Rogers (and I'm sure will happen over the next couple of days), it's sure to say one thing: the top of the men's game is very unsure right now. Federer, Roddick, Djokovic... they all lost to opponents they could have and should have beat, all saying that they needed to "play their way into the tournament" or something of the like.

So what's their excuse going to be when they fall at the US Open? Can't wait to hear those.

Oh, and video post this weekend... I PROMISE!

A Brief(?) Return

Well, folks, I've finally graduated from college. Nearly two years after I started this blog, I'm returning to it for coverage of Wimbledon and to see what sort of stuff I'd like to do for the year's greatest slam.

I've been toying with doing some video posts, delving into other women's sports and giving my tennis coverage a little bit of a different angle than any other site. Here's what you'll be getting from Tennis Chatter over the next couple of weeks:

-Original content
-Video posts
-Funny on-tour quirks
-Outside-the-lines stories
-My pure, unadulterated humor
-Opinion
-Gossip

I'm tired of tennis blog after tennis blog popping up all over the net and giving us the same thing that every other site gives: tennis news. Yes, it's great that the men's and women's games are getting ample coverage all over the Internet, but how much do we actually need 50 different sources telling us the same thing? If I learned one thing in college it was that we are drowning in a world content. There's content about everything imaginable out there, and in order to try to doggy paddle through it all, you have to sift through the stuff that's irrelevant.

That's why my return to Tennis Chatter may be brief. Perhaps I'm irrelevant. Perhaps I'm just another talking head that is under-educated about tennis and about life and is just spouting off un-needed opinion and taking up (cyber) space. I take myself (not too) serious as a tennis fan and as a writer, but perhaps I should be putting my energy elsewhere to make this thing called life work. I don't need to "prove" myself through a blog but instead I should be enjoying what I do while providing a unique and worthwhile service for my audience.

As always, comments are welcome.

"They're Both Outdoors"

A few weeks ago, when I was in New York, I took the Chinatown bus from New York to Boston and back again for the weekend. It was a fun adventure to be out on the East Coast traveling by myself, and along the way I met several fun characters on and off the bus.

One of those characters was a girl whose name I forget, but whose personality is unforgettable. She sat next to me on the ride back to New York, with her iPod in hand and her humming voice singing along - she was going to audition for a show. We got to chatting and she told me about how she was doing a show this summer at a theme park, something she didn't seem necessarily proud of, but deep down knew that it was a gig.

As the conversation turned to me, I told her about how I was moving to the City in September to try to make my way as a writer. I told her that my interested varied, but that I was particularly interested in the environmental movement and the professional tennis tour, which are two completely different things.

"Well," she replied. "They're both outdoors."

Yes, I thought, they are both outdoors - sometimes. Needless to say, she was being kind and trying to make a connection, something that I appreciated from her.

Those two issues - the environmental movement and tennis - are what my two most recent published writings include. My column at GreenforGood.com, "The Greener Grad" continues this week with a look at how the green movement is often seen as a competition when it shouldn't be. And, over at TENNIS.com, I wrote an article about my own school, Seattle University, going Division I and bringing back their storied tennis program.

Check both of them out when you have time, and get out and enjoy the outdoors when you get the chance! There's lot to do out there, separate from tennis and the environment, of course.

Ban the Bottle

Another post over at Green for Good - this one on bottled water.

UPDATE: Looks like the City of Seattle has caught on too! Mayor Nickels is banning all bottled water purchases for city use. AWESOME!

Can't Stop Writing

So for a few of you that might be still checking in here, or have stumbled upon the blog accidently, I thought I'd share the little amount of (non-academic, of course) writing I've been doing lately.

A couple weeks ago I went to an alumni panel for communication and journalism majors at Seattle U, and quite a few interesting SU alum showed up to share their wisdom. One of them was Teresa Wippel, an upbeat lengthy woman probably in her mid-40s. She spoke about her public relations firm that focused on green issues. She also talked about her new community-based web site, Green for Good, a place for people to gather and share green ideas in an effort to live a more sustainable life.

So, being the ever-hopeful journalism student, I approached Teresa after the panel with the proposal of doing a once-a-week column on students living green in a simple (and cheap) way.

Here's the first of my weekly columns in what we're calling the "Greener Grad." Enjoy!

A Long Time Coming

For the past three months, I've battled this blog on a daily basis. We've become bickering siblings; me wanting to play with others, Tennis Chatter wanting me all to herself.

I love the game of tennis. In many ways, it helped me along my path of adolescence, and has been an integral part of my developing writing career.

As I begin to make my final strides toward graduating from college, however, it's time for me to focus on things that have more of a direct impact on who I am. I've kept this blog going because of that love, but also because I feel a pressure to do things for the unknown future, for the potential job interview, for the chance at one-upping my peers.

I want to work for a lot of things in this life, and tennis is one of them. But right now I'm at such a crossroads - both personally and professionally - that I'm unsure of where tennis will come in, and what role it will play in my life.

I hate to add my blog to the thousands that have gone to the wayside in the recent past. I, however, feel as though I will return here sometime in the future to make some sort of change or perhaps to re-capture my love for this game in a whole new way.

Thank you to everyone who has read, commented, bashed or browsed in the last year; you're all much appreciated.

Cheers,
Nick

Tennis Chatter

Well, this post has been a long time coming... as has the retirement of Monica Seles.

The delay of my post is many tiered: the retreat I work on for Campus Ministry happened this last weekend (it was a big success) while I had three midterms in the last eight days not to mention helping Conscious Choice (where I'm interning) getting ready to go to print for their March issue.

Seles' delay, however, has been something she relied on for much of her career - an intangible. She hoped for so long that her foot would heal and a comeback might spark something deep down inside of her tennis soul that sprung her tennis body into action. But no such luck would come upon Seles, who won nine grand slam titles.

She'll be sorely missed. But, tennis fans, Monica's foot might not be good enough for the pro tour, but she'll be gracing a competitive surface with her shoes anyway... her dancing shoes, that is.

Below, my favorite Monica match of the thousands: a thrilling victory over Venus Williams at the 2002 Australian Open. Pay attention to the clip around 6:45, where she and Venus are wrapped in a heavy exchange that ends up with Monica scrambling and Venus netting a forehand. At that point, the camera pans to the crowd where two women are up on their feet, pumping their fists, engulfed in Seles' emotion.

That moment shows what Monica meant to fans, and she'll surely be missed on the tour.



Meanwhile, Kei Nishikori spoiled an all-American final at Delray Beach last weekend by beating Sam Querrey in the semifinals. If that wasn't shocking enough, the 18-year-old Japanese player went on to triumph over James Blake in three sets in the finals.

What's up with these young guys making noise early in the year? Are they random flashes of brilliance... or are they a sign of more of what's to come?

In case you missed the action at Delray, Erwin over at Tennis Served Fresh has posted some really cool pictures of the awesome artwork done on center court.

Erwin's post got me thinking about how tennis can start branching out and being a more inclusive sport. Why not recruit more artists to do the backdrop on the walls, or designs on the court? Music has become a staple at the Australian Open, and perhaps other forms of art at tournaments can start becoming more of a common sight.

There's been quite a lot of chatter about Pete Sampras returning to the tennis tour. My gut feeling is that it wouldn't happen... but the way he played against Tommy Haas in their exhibition, he might as well. Right?

MIA

I've been totes MIA lately (totally missing in action, if you were wondering).

Midterms have overtaken my life (one down, two to go) as has Search, the retreat that I help plan on campus. The retreat itself this weekend, which is both scary and exciting in one! We have lots to do, but I know it'll all get done.

If anyone's feeling a bit overwhelmed (other than me) it's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The Aussie open runner-up crashed out of Marsielle in the first round, losing to wildcard Mario Ancic in straights.

That's no follow-up to his slam breakthrough. Hopefully I won't have such a dip from midterm number one to two and three...

Where Are They Now: TENNIS.com Style

Love this. TENNIS.com has updated you on all the players you were wondering about on the men's side of the game.

Thursday they're running on women's special. Love, love, love it!

Now... I have a midterm to take :)

School and Semis and Sickness! Oh My!

Well, the three things consuming most of my time right now in life are listed in the title of this post, but sadly I'll get to them in that order. School comes first (as usual), while the sickness just lingers in all that I do, making it nearly impossible to find any time for those precious semifinals.

But, alas, this is a tennis blog - so let's talk semis! As my good friend Troy pointed out, Serbia is SO the new Belgium. With the Serbian sweep of the Williams sisters, we have an interesting three matches remaining to determine who will walk away the women's title.

Semifinal one:
(5) Maria Sharapova versus (3) Jelena Jankovic Head-to-head: Sharapova leads 3-1.

Though Maria holds a 3-1 edge in their head-to-head record, the two have played just once in the last 30 months. That affair was won by Jankovic on grass 7-5 in the third. Needless to say, Maria has been rather on fire as of late. She brushed off Davenport in the second round like she was some desperate housewife, not a comeback player on a tear. From there on out it's been sheer brilliance, highlighted by her straight-set drubbing of Justine Henin.

If there was ever a model for tournament progression, however, Jelena Jankovic would be it. She struggled early, including her epic win over Tamira Paszek and then a rough-tumble-affair with Virginie Razzano. But the last three rounds have looked good from Janky, and her win over Serena will boost her confidence to new-found levels.

Prediction: I'm still sticking with Maria here, who will win her third slam and first Aussie after dispatching Jankovic 3-6 6-2 6-4 in the semifinals.

Semifinal two:
(4) Ana Ivanovic versus (9) Daniela Hantuchova Head to head: Ivanovic leads 2-1.

Could Daniela Hantuchova really make a grand slam final?

It's certainly a possibility, but the way Ivanovic is playing, it's a small one. I give Hantuchova a miniature chance for these two reasons: Ivanovic's nerves and Hantuchova's grit. Dani might be one of my least favorite players, but she can play out when she needs to. Therefore, if nerves sneak into Ivanovic's repertoire and she starts to spray, watch out for the Slovak.

Check out Ivanovic's power and precision (at the net, too!) against Venus in the quarters:


If you haven't noticed yet, I follow the women's tour a little more than the men's. It's nothing against the boys, I just think the girls play a more interesting game.

The semifinal match-up between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will be beyond interesting, however. Both men have been playing incredibly, with Fed overcoming Janko Tipsarevic in the third round before steam-rolling Tomas Berdych and James Blake on his way to the semis (See Blake clip below).

As much as I'd love to see the Djoker breakthrough here and win his maiden slam, it's extremely difficult to forecast a win for the Serb over the brilliance that is Federer. My prediction: Federer in four.



As far as Rafael Nadal is concerned, he has a hard-hitting Frenchman awaiting him in the semifinals. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga started this tournament with a bang and really hasn't stopped his drumbeat, beating three seeds in five matches while dropping just two sets while doing so.

Fairytale runs often see reality once again once the semifinals are set, and for Tsonga, his story ends here, against Nadal. Here's looking forward to a Fed-Nadal final and four great semifinal matches to come!

Disconnected

Over the last few weeks I've been experiencing difficulties with my laptop. It was running slower than usual (which is already slow enough), and a couple times the screen just went blank - minor heart attacks on the way to the big one.

So yesterday, when I plunked myself down in the library to do research on the state of the field of Public Relations in contemporary Japan, I wasn't too surprised when my laptop let out a pitiful sigh before turning itself off for what I believe is the last time.

I have an appointment on Monday to see if a revival is possible, but it looks like I'll be in the market for a new computer over the next month. Any suggestions?

With finals approaching (they're 9 days away), I got anxious while lying in bed last night trying to figure out in my head what I was going to do sans a computer. The important stuff - all my Word documents - are on a USB drive and easily transferable.

But while I was thinking about school, my computer and the like, I couldn't help but feel anxious, empty and scared. Am I that connected to my computer? Do I really rely on it that much? I had this same feeling when I lost my phone early in the summer in New York, and it just feels gross to me.

How human am I if part of me exists in a computer?

As cliche as that sounds, I completely and utterly mean it. For all intents and purposes, I'm trying to live a simple life that is centered around family, community, hope and faith, not keyboards, URLs and mousepads.

So with the weight of school on my shoulder and a computer in the waste bin, I've decided to take a little blog break. I'll be out of commission for most of the rest of the year, focusing on school and other important things while gearing up for the 2008 tennis season.

Thanks to all of you who have been reading over the last 11 months - especially to you lurkers who don't comment much - and I look forward to being back in action come January 1.

Cheers,
Nick

Andy Up, Computer Down

Well, it looks like Andy Roddick is just about to close out Dmitry Tursunov in the first rubber to give the Americans a 1-0 lead over Russia in the Davis Cup finals.

It isn't surprising that Roddick has put the U.S. up, but it is rather impressive the way he did it. In their three previous match-ups, the pair had tight battles, including the instant classic 17-15 fifth set Davis Cup win for Tursunov last year in the semifinals and a 7-6 in-the-third win for Roddick at Indianapolis in 2005.

If this sets any tone for this tie, it's that the Americans are here to play. Can James Blake answer with a win over Youzhny? History favors Russia, again...

Meanwhile, my computer made a sad sighing noise before turning itself off this afternoon. Was that the last of its seven lives? I think so. And what perfect timing! Finals in two weeks :)

The Power of a Mission Statement

As much as it pained Martina Hingis to lose, she couldn't help but do so sometimes. Especially late in her career(s), losing was something that came along with her game. The problem for Hingis, however, was that her mission statement was too short, too simple. The abridged version read something like this: "Win tennis matches."

Hingis' statement is similar to many top-tier players. Actually, it would be hard to find a tennis player at any level that didn't have "winning" somewhere in their mission statement. For the most part, that word would land in sentence one or two, as the forefront goal of a player.

The important part of any mission statement - whether its for a corporation, non-profit, stay-at-home mom or professional athlete - isn't about the end goal, but the process it takes to reach that goal. How, exactly, are you going to reach this stated goal? How are you going to achieve your mission?

If you were to read the unabridged version of Hingis' game, it might go like this: "Win tennis matches by out-thinking opponents." Okay, that's a little better, but still, where is the fuel that feeds the fire?

Let's take men's tennis current number one, Roger Federer. Federer's mission statement might read: "Win tennis matches by out-thinking opponents with the use of tactical slice, a powerful serve, cat-like movement and defense that looks like offense. Achieve this by surrounding myself with positive, confident people who boost my morale, but also keep me grounded. Train under a regimented schedule that challenges both my tennis game and my physique, especially focusing on long-term conditioning."

Federer's mission statement is obviously more detailed, and more goal-oriented. The problem with Hingis throughout her career was that she stuck to her simple mission statement, instead of being willing to change it up with an off-court conditioning program or a beefy serve.

History shows that those willing to re-write their mission statements have been most successful. In 2001, Jennifer Capriati entered the Australian Open shedding her old mission statement ("Hit every ball as hard as possible") with a new one: "Hit every ball as hard as possible and run down every ball hit to me. Do this with a stringent off-court training schedule."

Looking at the players of today, I see mission statement as brilliant as Federer's and as ignorant as Hingis'. The point is, unless there is context behind a great player, they no longer will be able to find success like great champions once did.

Just last week, Pete Sampras, during his well-documented tour with Roger Federer, said that the serve-and-volley game was extinct, and that players were now being taught to hit the ball as hard as they could, simply put.

While Sampras' words ring true, he may want to look at the track record of the last two years in tennis, when players liked Federer, Justine Henin, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams ruled. Sure, they all hit the ball hard, but it's the substance in their strokes - and their statements - that give them the edge to be the best.

Back in Blogness

So after a minor brush with death (AKA my computer crashing), my computer is back up and running (for now).

It's funny how things can get so turned upside down when we become clipped from certain 'necessities' in our lives. During my first weekend in New York for my internship this summer, I lost my phone and felt - well, completely disconnected.

I certainly am a 21st Century adult: completely reliant on my technological devices. As much as I want to be simple, down to earth and free from any sort of attachment to material, instances such as losing my phone or being without a working computer for 24 hours have shown me that isn't necessarily the case.

Perhaps I need to go cold turkey and just wipe it all out of my life? But, in the society that we live in today, that's nearly impossible. As a university student, I'm told (and feel like I need) to check my e-mail daily for campus announcements, etc. And my phone is always on my hip, or in my bag...or palm for that matter.

Is there something wrong with that?

In a lot of ways, I would say yes, that there is something wrong with that. Just like I feel disconnected from the sport I love when it goes into its short but painful hiatus for 6 weeks, being without my technology is as hard as differing between decaf coffee and regular: it's not easy to do.

Yet this time around, I did my best to apply my most recent don't-freak-out-technique: deep breaths. They seem to work pretty well, and I went an entire day at work, school and through meetings without checking my e-mail, worrying about the blog (okay, only for a second) and thinking of another reason why I needed to 'Google' something.

I did, however, miss this girl. Listen and love, that's all I can say.

Through all of that processing, I'm not sure where I've arrived in this post or how I feel about possessions (especially technological ones) in my life. I guess it just take re-evaluating every now and then to know why we do what we do, and what it's all for.

Crashing

Looks like school has taken its toll both on my and my computer, which died twice last night.

Let's just hope I can revive it for enough time to transfer everything to an external hard drive, right?

Meanwhile, posts will be slow throughout the weekend. But enjoy the last few days of men's tennis until '08! Should be a dandy.

MIT: Matt's in Town!

Greetings all! Matt is in town this week from New York and we're doing our best to conquer Seattle in three days.

Check out all his posts of what we're up to day-to-day. I'll do a post sometime this weekend to summarize it all.

I'll do my best to keep up with the YEC in Madrid this week, too. Today, Serena delivered a bombshell, and it wasn't in the W column.

That Thing Called Life

As fellow bloggers know, life can catch up with you sometimes. This weekend I had grand plans to do a post on Mary Pierce featuring her now-famous scream fest from Linz last year, and commentary about Andy Murray and Daniela Hantuchova winning their third titles, each.

That, however, did not happen. We all have busy schedules, and while one principal is trying to change that, life still keeps us on our toes - whether we're blogging or not.

In one jumbled way or another, this is what you have to look forward to on Tennis Chatter this week:

--Mary Pierce: A Year After Linz
--Breaking out of Their Comfort Zones: Andy Murray and Daniela Hantuchova
--Tennis Chatter
--Clip of the Week
--LIVE! Blogging from Troy at the Paris Masters Series

For now, it's back to the homework front for me.

Boo School

...and boo the mid-term I have to take in one hour and four minutes.

Anyone want to brush up on their free speech law? You're completely welcome to take the test for me :)

Meanwhile, I'm SO thankful for this woman. She's been hanging out in my headphones during my cram sessions.

Tennis Chatter

The Tennis Channel's Steve Fink takes a look at Justine Henin's recent domination of the WTA Tour and if her "rivalry" with Jelena Jankovic will ever become just that: a real rivalry.

Anna Kournikova still isn't playing tennis. But for some reason, people are still taking her picture.

Andy Roddick was spotted toting racquets in NYC today. Fashion shoot? Practice in the Indian Summer?

The match-fixing scandal continues to eat up the news. Are we going to have a Marion Jones-esque, tearful confession from some WTA star in the near future? I sure hope not.

Seattle University, the place that educates me so, is planning a move to NCAA Division I next year. With that, an added varsity tennis program. (So, to get that straight, I went to SU four out of the five years the school did not have tennis in the last 50 or so years. Awesome...)

Jon Wertheim weighs in on who's up and who's down this week in tennis.

The Scariest One of All

Yesterday I meant to do a Tennis Chatter post of all the goings on around the tennis world, but school got the best of me, so look for that later today or tomorrow.

One of my favorite things about TENNIS Magazine was the flexibility we had as interns. Troy and I got to work for FRAMED, do writing for SMASH and all sorts of other tasks that help put together both magazines and TENNIS.com.

For one of my FRAMED posts, I did a compilation of what I thought were the Top 5 best tennis commercials of the recent past. While researching this, I came across A LOT of tennis commercials, including some that were funny, and others that were just bizarre.

Another category, owned solely by this European commercial featuring Justine Henin, was 'scary'. Sometimes I'm just confused on what advertisers and PR people think will sell, especially in this case.

Check this one out for yourself and see what you think.