Miami Open 2019 – Ashleigh Barty and Roger Federer again
View(s):The Miami Open, like the Indian Wells, is another premier event for both genders in the professional circuit. This is their first event in their new location – Hard Rock Stadium. For the past 30 years, it was at Key Biscayne.
Loss of Key Biscayne has emotionally stirred the players. Being the first event at Hard Rock Stadium, it was a work in progress set up. It did not disturb the event so much as the rain did to the schedule. Matches went even as late as 2 AM, giving little or no time for players to recover. With a purse of over US$ 7 million for each gender, it did attract a lot of attention.
Ashleigh Barty of Australia
This year’s professional circuit has seen a large number of winners. The 30-over events this year had an equal number of winners. For a good while this trend might stay. None of them show a dominating ‘signature game’ of the ageing big names. What’s more, all the seasoned campaigners are sporting strapped muscle support to play. They are not there in full steam.
Many withdrew, while some walked away without finishing their matches in Miami, with physical breakdown, it includes Indian Wells winner Bianca Andreescu. Angelique Kerber named her to be the drama-queen, after Andreescu used the medics too many times on court. On the other hand, the physical strain on a teenage body was just too much. It is a, ‘spirit-is-willing’ but ‘body-is-weak’ situation. Australia’s Ashleigh Barty won the Junior Wimbledon title in 2011. Miami Open is her first major title. She is the first Australian, after Samantha Stosur, to win anything big. At 22, Barty is in possession of a strong game. She outdid Carolina Pliskova, Anett Kontaveit and Petra Kvitova to win the title and US$ 1.3 million.
In the semifinals and in the final of the Miami Open, she showed her metal. Having come through tough junior years, her match-playing ability and nerves have matured. She can hit the ball to be heavy on the other side of the net [speed/spin/accuracy combination], move well to cover court, has a domineering serve and return very effectively. This win takes her into the Top 10. If her body holds, she will be in the Top 5 before the season ends. Carolina Pliskova, finalist in Miami, is settling in well after marriage last year. Her potential, physically, mentally and tactically, is enormous. Her biggest advantage is to sight the ball very early. This gives her plenty of time to reach the ball. Among the Women, one could say that Carolina Pliskova is the only one with an all-round signature game. This cushions the player to fall back in case of an emergency. After reaching the Top 5, even with physical breakdowns, she has kept her position comfortably.
Slow but steady Federer
Roger Federer’s Tennis, compared to his heydays, lacks lustre. What wins him now is his ability not to give free points to opponents. Many players play to get points off opponents’ errors. Right through Federer’s career, his error rate was very, very low. Even now, it is so. What has come down in numbers are his winners. He cannot hold out his body reaction speed in long matches, to hit winners as he used to do.
I suppose, something will have to change at 37. Federer’s mental stamina to hang in and ration his physical effort will be a model for the future. Right now, he wins but, not always as it used to be. In Miami last week, he won for the 4th time and that totaled his titles to 101.
Thirty-three-year-old John Isner is 6’10″ tall and weighs 238 pounds. He was Federer’s opponent in the finals. Last year, Isner won the event. His height and weight strained his foot. On Federer’s part, he neutralised Isner’s main cannon, the super-fast and consistent 1st Serve.
Canadian Teenage
invasion
Two weeks ago, Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu won the Indian Wells with a wild card entry. In Miami last week, in the Men’s event, Canadian qualifiers Felix Auger Aliassime and Denis Shapolov reached the semifinals. Both are in their teens. Canada never had this many world-beaters as they do now. Well over 10 years ago, Debbie Kirkwood, present director of Canadian Tennis, was recruiting players and coaches to revamp Tennis-Canada programme. Tennis Canada started in 1890. Yes, that long ago, a non-profit making company, and has been in charge of Tennis development. Kirkwood’s efforts are bearing fruit now. Tennis in North America was known all the same, but no great players surfaced from Canada for a long time. Tennis Canada has put out a ‘No-nonsense’ programme in place.
It is not easy to find and foster young players with commitment, talent and stomach for the workload to reach and perform in the big arenas. This was the work of Kirkwood and her task force in Tennis-Canada. From the results surfacing, Tennis Canada has succeeded.
Players include glamorous Eugenie Bouchard, powerfully built Milos Raonic, Vesek Pospisil, last year’s New-Gen star Dennis Shapolov and Miami giant killer Felix Auger Aliassime. Tennis Canada says it is not the end of their line.
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 -