Dark-horse Naomi Osaka and Man-to-Match the maestro
For the professionals in Tennis, March occupies the 2 compulsory major events which keeps them in the North American continent. They are the Indiana Wells in California and the Miami Open in Florida.In the concluded 2018 Indiana Wells, a dark horse emerged in Women’s Tennis. Unseeded Japan’s 20-year-old Naomi Osaka, ranked 44 in the world, won the event in an unprecedented manner, beyond all expectations.
A day later, Federer found himself facing the Man-to-Match him, in the Men’s finals. Surviving 3 Match points against Federer and going to 3 Sets, Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro beat the Maestro himself, to win the title. The Tennis was thrilling. It also stopped Federer’s 17-match winning streak of 2018.
Man-to-Match Federer
This is not the first time Del Potro has beaten Federer. The last time was in the quarterfinals of the 2009 US Open, which title he won. It was always believed in Tennis circles, that Del Potro had the ability to beat big names, especially Federer. Whenever Del Potro played Federer, epic Tennis was witnessed. Being injured, Del Potro had to lay off and appeared only sporadically. At 29, he on his comeback spell. Earlier in this month, he won the Mexican title, and now the Indiana Wells. This match against Federer will certainly go into the records as an unforgettable Tennis classic.
Del Potro is a tall man with a signature forehand, excellent court coverage, early sighting, ability to handle pace, engage and attack consistently and a master tactician, who is as good as Federer in match planning. Even after this loss, Federer still holds the upper hand in their head-to-head record at 18-7. This is still impressive. Not many have beaten Federer 7 times.
At Indiana Wells, Federer was the sole representative of the big 7 names in recent Tennis. Nadal, Murray, Nishikori, Wawrinka, Djokovic and Raonic. Djokovic did play and lost in the very 1st Round. Men’s Tennis is feeling the absence of big names, and the reappearance of Del Potro is going to prop up ATP’s image in 2018. Del Potro, after this performance, is ranked 6 in the world. His highest ever is 4.
Naomi Osaka of Japan
Ever since Japan’s Kimiko Date retired from professional Tennis, quite a few Japanese women have appeared in the top 50 of the Women’s rankings. None so sensational to win a Premier as Naomi Osaka. Osaka lives and trains in Florida. Her parents are from Haiti and Japan.
Osaka entered the event as No.44. Between her and her opponent in the finals, Russia’s 20-year-old Daria Kasatkina, the list they beat looks like a ‘who’s who’ in today’s Women’s Tennis. The list included Sharapova, Radwanska, Pliskova, Stephens, Wozniacki, Kerber and Venus Williams. Critics hailed Kasatkina’s match against Williams’s as the match of the event. With this performance, Kasatkina reached her career high Women’s ranking of 11. Osaka’s performance in Indiana Wells takes up to 22 and doubles her earnings.
Osaka’s game is fluent, which means she does not have to strain to play. Extremely comfortable in all departments of stroke making and in all court positions. Her comfort zone at the net, reduces her reliance on long ground-stroke rallies. Halep, Wozniacki and Kerber rely excessively on ground-strokes to win the early Rounds of an event, but get burnt out in the final rounds and lose. Osaka escapes this with her all-court play.
Apart from her positional play, Osaka has good eyes and footwork to engage opponents comfortably and hit winners. Her favourite is to catch opponents on the wrong foot. Of course, one must be careful of overstating her ability after 1 title. Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, at present, is ranked 6 in the world, with the merit of winning the French Open last year, and has not really shown herself much otherwise. To win consistently, there must be maturity and only staying on the road provides this. For Asia, Osaka is a big hope after Li Na of China.
The known names
With almost all the known names on the injured list in Men’s Tennis, Women’s Tennis is taking the front seat to be noticed. Indiana Wells saw the return of Serena Williams after motherhood and she won the 1st Match. Pitched against her elder sister Venus, she could not sustain the winning streak. All signs showed she will return.
What about others such as Sharapova. There seems to be something a player finds to overcome, after suspension. It seems like a long road to gain self-confidence. Only surviving the test of time can bring it back. Strength of personality plays a big part in this. In Tennis, where the time available between shots is extremely small, any mental condition can affect court coverage and shot selection process very badly. No tactical play can be pursued in that frame of mind. Having a clear head in Tennis is not a request but a demand in professional Tennis.
Long season ahead
For the professionals, there is a long season ahead. Each will face their own set of challenges, internal and external. Only the strongest will survive.
-George Paldano, Former int. player; Accredited Coach of German Federation; National coach Sri Lanka & Brunei, Davis-Cup, Federation Cup captain/coach– contact 94 77 544 8880 geodano2015@gmail.com –