Electrifying momentum to US-Open
This year’s WTA and ATP world tours have provided an electrifying momentum to the world of Tennis. A strong field of players in each gender out did each other throughout the tour. The competition was fierce.
The old guards have held their ground. The new comers showed their fangs but their deficiency to handle all three surfaces of Clay, Grass and Hard well, made their performance inconsistent. The physical assault of playing in the circuit claimed equal numbers in new players as well as the old.
All these have taken away the slim chance of change of guards in the ranking that was expected in 2014. Tennis is a ‘one man show’ and that means it is a ‘one man army.’ Players must be ‘tactical generals’ ‘deciding commanders’ and the all important ‘fighting soldiers’ with technical perfection. To posses all these by any standard, is a tall order.
Mens’ winners from 4 continents
For players to be eligible for ranking, the ATP insists on a set number of tournament participation. Some are mandatory while others can be selected by the player.
This is the method by which the ATP supports tournament success around the globe. This year saw winners coming from four continents. Asia had Nishikori as semi-finalist, finalist and winner, Australia had Layton Hewitt, South America had Juan Martin Del Potro, North America had Isner, Raonic and Pospisil. Europe rolled out so many to be reckoned as the most advanced Tennis continent of today.
The missing continent was Africa. The US-Open next week is a mandatory event for all players in the rankings. In all probabilities the outcome will decide the player line up for the ATP masters in London. The tail-ender in the top 10 ranking can change with the remaining events of the year but not the top five. Eight from last year have stayed in the top ten – they are Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Berdych, Wawrinka, Murray and Tsonga. The two new comers are Raonic of Canada and Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria. Argentinean Del Potro was not noticed after the Australian season.
Women’s Ranking
Simona Halep of Romania and Eugenie Bouchard of Canada are the new found talents of WTA Tennis. They, along with former French open winner Ana Ivanovic are the three newcomers into the top ten of Women ranking. Another who might still make it before the end of the year is former number one, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, on a comeback trail, now ranked 11. Her name was heard in the US-Open-series last week when she played a good semi-final match against Serena Williams.
Potential players
This is the backdrop for the last Grand-Slam of the year the 2014 US-Open which is also the last leg of the successful US-Open-series. When considering this, one cannot ignore the potential of the players in the second ten places in the ranking. This is where the ‘unknown’ but big guns hang out.
The women’s second ten is occupied by players who were in the top ten before. Most prominent of them all is Venus Williams, because of her absolute mastery over the Hard court game she features prominently in the US-Open series. She showed what she can be on hard courts recently and is tipped to be one of the top contenders for a semi-final slot of US-Open. Others are Caroline Wozniacki, Garbine Mugurusa of Spain, Alize Cornet of France, Andrea Petkovic of Germany and Ekaterina Makarova of Russia. Considering all, I see Caroline Wozniacki to be the best potential to come through as the strongest from the second ten of the ranking. She always had a good all-round game and showed very effective tactical traits in dire situations.
Sensational upsets?
It is difficult to create a sensational upset in men’s because they play best of five sets. This means there is time and space for a good player to turn it around which is difficult in a three set match. The outcome of the fourth and fifth sets of men’s Tennis is mostly based on a personality factor than talent and technical ability. Taking this into consideration, I see Nishikori to be a good name for any unexpected wins if he is fresh enough. He seemed tired after the European season which was long and crowded this year. The maestro of 5 set matches of course is Roger Federer. The old guards are maintaining their supremacy with the very good use of serve, return and their weapons in all critical situations of the final set.
US-Open –a $17 million event
This year’s two week long US-Open is offering more than seventeen million dollars as prize money. More than the prize money, it is the prestige that makes the players participate. This is the road that ‘legends’ walked on.
The attraction is not only in singles but also in doubles and mixed doubles. Many Asians have made their presence felt in the doubles. Appearance of leading singles players in doubles is making these events interesting again.
In the men’s side, USA’s Bryan brothers have shown for a long time that they are the best. Among the women, Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci not only win but seems to be having a great deal of fun on the court. Indians Leander Paes and Sania Mirza have been consistently seen in the last rounds of majors. After the US-Open, only the Shanghai Open has shown the strength to offer six million as prize money.
Enjoy some great Tennis from tomorrow at Flushing meadows as the US Open begins!
-George Paldano, former international player; Accredited Coach of Germany, ITF and USPTR; National, Davis Cup and Federation Cup Coach–gptennis.ceylon@gmail.com-