‘Who is who’ in Tennis
Referred to as ‘Majors’ the four Grand-Slams are the oldest annual Tennis events comprising the Australian-Open in Melbourne, French-Open in Paris, Wimbledon in London and the US-Open in New York. Why these four? They are the national championships of the ‘first four’ countries to win the inter-nation men’s competition, the ‘Davis-Cup’. As the showcase of Tennis, the Grand-Slam events made the game to grow in the last one hundred years. Along the way Grand-Slams have successfully woven sporting glamour and a premium social aura into their events, making them extremely attractive. Participating in these, have popularized the players and their nations. Today any Grand-Slam draw is the ‘who is who’ in Tennis.
The Open-Draw
The last week in May sees the start of the French-Open. Grand-Slam organizers are subject to a code when compiling the draw. The names of seeded players, citing the cut off mark for ‘direct entry’ into the main draw and ‘qualifying draw’ are the first pieces of information that comes out. In the singles main draw, there will be 128 players in each gender. It will also include ‘wild-card’ entries, which is a privilege of the event organizers to place any player of their choice into the draw. The seeding process keeps good players apart in the early rounds. Draw will come under the scrutiny of the International Tennis Federation-[ITF], the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals-[ATP] and the Women’s Tennis Association-[WTA]. A neutral officiating body will conduct the event.
Continents, countries and players
The draw attracts and directs public interest to the event. It also reflects the current Tennis status of continents, nations and players. The game in the form that exists today, originated in Europe over a century ago. I believe that with recent political changes in Europe, it has again become the leading continent of Tennis. The two previous dominating continents, Australia and the Americas have a relatively down-graded representation in global Tennis today.
With 83 women and 87 men in the top hundred, Europe stands out as the leading Tennis continent today. Americas have 10 women and 8 men, Asia has 6 women and 5 men, Africa and Australia together have 3 women and 2 men. The doubles more or less has the same proportion in representation. On this rough count, Asia is ahead of Australia and Africa in Tennis. Country-wise, Eastern European countries are leading. They lead in Women’s, Men’s and Junior Tennis. World rankings being the guide for the French-Open draw, it will reflect that.
Red Clay Tennis
French-Open is played on burnt and crushed brick clay and it is the slowest of all Tennis surfaces. It is easy and forgiving on the body joints of the players but strenuous to sustain tactics due to the slow speed. The last man to win all four Grand-slams in one year was the strong serve and volley man, Rod Laver. He was developed by Harry Hopman on the fastest Tennis surface ‘grass’ in Australia. He is believed to have said that he could have ‘a sip of tea between shots on clay.’ It must have been a tough test to win on the slow French Clay courts where it is easy to pass the man at net. Bjorn Borg of Sweden thrived on clay with this advantage. For one of the all time best Pete Sampras of USA, it was the ‘Waterloo.’ Preparing to play on clay, players will have to throw in long practice hours. Physical endurance to cover nearly 12 kilometers of movement, nearly 250 rallies most going past 10 shots, a staggering 100 tons of power transfer in almost every match.
This means, pushing the limits to the threshold of physical breakdown. Marathon runners restrict their participation to meager 6 times a year. Tennis players cannot afford that luxury. Legendary McEnroe of USA tackled this issue by using early rounds for practice for the final rounds. This may not be possible now as the difference between world’s number one and fifty has become marginal, making this approach extremely risky.
Artistry on Clay
Clay Tennis makes it easy for spectators to get involved emotionally with any match. Often considered the most interesting Grand-Slam to watch, the French-Open’s attraction is the artistry in stroke making which the clay surface permits. Bounce on clay reduces the service and ground stroke speed and intensifies the spin. The extra time allows the players to indulge in time consuming drop shots, top spin lobs, floating backhand slices and the rarely seen drop volley and lob volleys. South Americans’ crafty touch-game often found clay more rewarding than other surfaces. Their artistry and the ability to play prolonged rallies took the emotion of spectators to an electrifying state. Originally Spanish Tennis was this, now that has changed.
Preparation for French-Open
This week as I write this, the worries of the French Open organizing committee must be to field a draw with good players and keeping them into the final rounds.
Top women’s player Azerenka has already announced her withdrawal from this year’s competition due to injuries. Djokovic had an injury recently in Monte Carlo; Kei Nishikori the Asian prospect had it in Madrid two weeks ago. Observers say the Madrid Tournament recently did not have two of the stars and it had an effect on the box office.
It is never easy to maintain high standards of such demanding events. There is an indication that preparation for a Grand Slam begins four to six years before. This means preparation for the French-Open in Roland Garros 2020 could have already began. It is a long and hard road with some of the best sports and entertainment management skills, to stage an event such as the French-Open. The best attraction for the French would be to see French players in the semi-finals and finals. This year it is only possible in the men’s. These must be the reasons why Grand-Slam draw shows the world ‘who is who’ in Tennis.
-George Paldano, former international player; Accredited Coach of Germany, ITF and USPTR; National, Davis Cup and Federation Cup Coach–gptennis.ceylon@gmail.com-