Doing the foxtrot at Roland Garros
View(s):French Open and Asian players
Today, French Open enters the second week. Who survived into the second week will be interesting to see and also why so few Asians are in the draw of the French Grand Slam needs an answer.
Seeds and dark horses
The players with prospects to win are seeded and the rest in the draw could be called the ‘dark horses’. The main draw has 132 players in each gender and they are the world’s current best players. It is a draw where anybody can beat anyone.
John McEnroe
Top ranked players plan and prepare to ‘peak’ their playing form into the second week to face the top ten of the world. But if they display lesser playing form in the first week, they will fall victim to the ‘dark horses’. It is a ‘catch 22’ situation for seeded players. This is the drama in the Grand Slams’ first week. If you have a seat in the grand stand of Roland Garros, you may witness the tragedy of seeing a favourite fall and the romance of success from a ‘dark horse’, an unseeded player.
The main draw
The rule to get into the main draw is simple. Tournaments follow a system called the ‘cut-off’ mark based on the ATP and WTA rankings. Generally for a draw of 132 the ‘cut-off’ is the 160th position. Any player within this is eligible into the main draw. Others will have to prove themselves through the qualifying rounds. In John McEnroe’s first Wimbledon, he came through the qualifying rounds as a ‘dark horse’!
A-B-C-D of winning
This is what you will see in the players who made it into the 132 main draw of the French Open. ‘A’ is for ‘Ability’, the specifics; player who know and have the ‘skills’ that wins matches for them. ‘B’ the ‘Body’ the physical attributes; consisting of stamina, strength, speed, stability and suppleness. This ‘5 S’ formula is the foundation for reaction to execute tactics which wins. ‘C’ is for ‘confidence’ – possessing all of the mental aspects needed.
Without those a player is like a computer without the software in it — not functional. ‘D’ is for ‘Delivery’ ‘performance culture’ is the catch word here. When a player has all the attributes, it has to come together as an effective force to overcome the challenge. It is all about reacting effectively to the need from moment to moment to be the winner.
Often ‘D’ is the reason for the mass dropout of juniors. They fail in the transition from age group Tennis to Open Tennis, without the ability to ‘Deliver’. Open demands the culture to perform. Open tennis is for game makers and not for mere stroke makers.
‘ABCD’ is the ‘missing-link’ in Asian Tennis. Unfortunately very few Asians seem to be good game makers. So far, Japan has delivered entries into grand slams in the post war era consistently- the Samurai culture to deliver is not to be ignored. Team sport permits managers and coaches to ‘select’ and fill the gaps to achieve ABCD aspects. Individual sport is a ‘one man team’ and a ‘one man army.’ There can be no fill ups from outside. A player has to be complete. Asians from other countries do not address this in their development even today.
Paris clay
Coming from the Grass courts of Australia, Rod Laver said that he could have a cup of tea between shots, playing on clay. That is the speed difference between grass and clay courts. So it also needs a different set of tactics. Fifth seeded Berdych was eliminated from the first round by the long time absentee Gael Monfils of France. They fought for over 4 hours and the final set went to Monfils at 7/5. Berdych the better and complete player could not change the game enough to make his tactics effective on clay. Monfils was not great nor was he a ‘dark horse’ but handled clay better.
Prediction
For men, three names are on the card for the title. From Spain it is Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer and world’s number one Novak Djokovic. These three have a good clay record. Other ‘dark horses’ are lurking in the main draw. Could it be currently ranked 81 and former world junior number one Gael Monfils of France?
Sara Errani of Italy
Among the Women, it is Serena Williams. Whatever the surface, she is good. The other two could be Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azerenka. There is a ‘dark horse’ from Italy. She is also the world’s number one in doubles ranking. An all court player and made into the semi finals of Rome this year. – Sara Errani.
Asian prospect – Nishikori Ke
As I write this the only prospect for Asia in Roland Garros comes from Japan. With a world ranking of 15, Nishikori Kei is a lonely Samurai from Asia. He has done well this year. Top 20 is not easy to reach and to remain there is even more difficult in the ATP ranking.
With Wimbledon starting four weeks from now and Roland Garros in full swing, enjoy the peak of the European Tennis season for the next five weeks!
georgepaldano@yahoo.com
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