Wimbledon 2017 warmups
View(s):For over a hundred years, Wimbledon has always been in the last week of June and the first week of July. This year it begins in the first week of July. Strange it is for the English to change their tradition. The date change enabled a few more grass events to be squeezed in before Wimbledon.
England, the dominant Grass Court (GC) country, is again trying to make its GC season attractive. To boost GC Tennis, the European continent has come up with more GC events. One event is even in Antalya in Turkey. It has attracted a good number of prominent players. These events have affected the attendance of good players in England.
Novak Djokovic goes for a swing
GC season being short, Wimbledon fever, especially in the last few decades, appeared and disappeared without being felt. The time between the French Open and Wimbledon was a mere two weeks. This is not enough to to feel the GC season. Of all the Tennis events in the world, the Wimbledon Grand Slam title is the most prestigious. It is an event that can affect Tennis popularity. To make the GC season longer and for the players to feel the grass under their feet, not to mention getting used to the bounce of the ball, they need more than two weeks. What more, right now the impact of the GC season does not have a big impact on the players ranking.
Since 1993 Germany and other European countries are doing up their grass courts. Tennis world is beginning to feel the existence of a grass court season but it is nowhere near Clay and Hard.
A King on grass?
Winning a title multiple times gives the title of being the King of the surface. Currently, Nadal has won some Clay titles 9 to 10 times. King Federer won his 9th GC title of Halle, Germany, last week. At 35, with his full potential of ability and experience, outplayed the new emerging Russian-born German 20-year-old Alex Zverev in straight Sets. Going down memory lane, it is on English grass Federer made his name.
Federer, during this grass season, after being totally absent for the European clay season, the manner in which he handle matches on grass did not go unnoticed. It looked like he was on his favorite surface. Now Federer is a top contender for the 2017 Wimbledon title. One cannot be certain of this either. Wimbledon is a best of 5 Sets event. If 2 of the matches get extended, players feel the fatigue in the next round. At 35, and with strong challengers in the draw, there is no certainty for Federer.
Federer wins on grass with his service consistency, ability to return better than most of the top players and his lethal passing shots. This means his opponents cannot play from the baseline because grass does not give that comfort, and at the net, they will have to survive his passing shots. Many players can serve well on grass but, the return of the opponent’s serve and the critical ‘third shot’ which steers the players tactical play to get ahead to clinch the advantage, often falls short in effectiveness. Following GC Tennis, one cannot fail to notice the short rally compared with Clay and Hard.
Kivitova shows up
Top Women players in the GC events showed noticeable absenteeism. It almost looked like a summer recession for them. Women’s Tennis is more ground-stroke oriented. We saw the likes of Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams in Ostapenko at the French Open. Their brand of Tennis is rare among Women now. Ostapenko will certainly attract a crowd and I am curious to see her French Title this year is not a flash in the pan. Going by her record, it certainly looks like she is here to stay.
With more than one event a week, often, events without top names in the draw go unnoticed. The player who has shown her form is back and comfortable on grass, among women, is Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova. Right now, on paper, she is proving to be the one to beat for the Wimbledon crown. She looked and performed well to be assured that she has got over her traumatic experience in her hometown. She has all the necessary weaponry for grass, and her record shows her to be a strong contender for the Wimbledon crown.
Strange scenario
Without any big name dominating in both genders Tennis fans are losing their focus on the game. Without big names, a game cannot hold the excitement among the fans and exhibit its brilliance. The big names of Tennis are in the twilight years now. This is an issue now.
This has not happened for a good while in international Tennis. The the main body in Tennis was the International Tennis Federation. With the appearance of the two professional bodies, WTA and ATP, it has become 3. Now they are having a tough time to be prominent in the world. Prominence of the game is what attracts big followers and the sponsors. In this year’s Wimbledon warmups, the slack in enthusiasm was noticeable.
-George Paldano, Former int. player; Accredited Coach of Germany; National, Davis-Cup, Federation Cup captain/coach– geodano2015@gmail.com -