Defeat of Nadal, twice
Monte Carlo and Barcelona are Nadal’s home turf. For over a decade, he reigned supreme. This year, Nadal lost in the semifinals in both these championships. After his loss to Italian Fabio Fognini, who eventually won the title in Monte Carlo, Nadal confessed he had played his worst Tennis in 14 years. Fognini is 31 and had never beaten Nadal before.
Then came Barcelona, Austrian Dominic Thiem has beaten Nadal on clay four times. It was not a surprise when Thiem beat him again in the semifinals, but it was special. Nadal lost to Theim in Rafael Nadal Stadium in Barcelona. Currently, Thiem is ranked 5 in the world and Barcelona was his 2nd title in 2019. He won Indian Wells, USA. He is a strong contender for the French Open title in Paris.
Nadal
Nadal finds it difficult to sustain his form in the latter rounds of an event, where it counts. Federer and Djokovic are rationing their appearances, being selective in playing on European red Clay Courts. It is hard labour. They, like many, are saving their energy for the compulsory events and for the obligatory number of events in a year. It was creditable of Nadal to play and reach the semifinals of Monte Carlo and Barcelona, considering he has been under doctor’s care for a good while.
The last Italian to win the Monte Carlo title, 51 years ago, was Nicola Pietrangeli in 1961, who also won it in 1967 and 1968. The last Austrian to win Monte Carlo, 23 years ago, was Thomas Muster in 1992, who also won it, 1996 and 1997.
Dominic Theim serves and returns effectively, and is agile in court coverage. This year he has got his act together. There are two major events before the French Open in Paris. They are Rome and Madrid. Theim stands a chance to get closer to the No.1 spot in the rankings, even before the French Open.
European Tennis season
Nearly 10 events a week is being worked out in Europe and in northern Africa, conducted by the WTA and the ATP. These are for top end players. Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic is the first woman to win two titles this year. She won the Stuttgart title last weekend. For all purposes, one could say that she has fully recovered from the unfortunate knife attack by a burglar in her own home. She took over a year to recover.
Kvitova, ranked 2, is very consistent in her stroke making and has excellent all court ability. Mentally, she is strong now. She is just behind Osaka for the No.1 position. As things stand, Kvitova, 29 years of age has 6,015 points, which is just over hundred points less than Osaka. None of the women being consistent, in 2019, titles went to 30 different players. Most of the top 20 are not in their best physical shape.
Asian Tennis
In Colombo ITF is having under 18 junior event for girls and boys. At the end of the first week, three of the four titles went to China. Delightfully, Sri Lanka’s Angelika Kurera won the fourth, Girls singles. The draw had more far eastern players and Angelika held well coming around from being down. This makes her a potential star of our women’s Tennis.
In the last one year, Angelika’s Tennis has improved. Particularly, one noticed her agility, which is a combination of sighting, footwork and to a good extent, anticipation, has evolved noticeably. Under the voluntary managerial guidance of Arjun Fernando, one of the two Sri Lankan players who rubbed shoulders with the top 200 of the world in the open era, she should make some headway. Excess training makes a player technical and matches makes them tactical. For Angelika, getting good matches, will decide her future.
There is an observation in Tennis development that, potential players get more match practice, others are coached for stroke making.
The Open era permitted professionals to play all events. Since then, from Sri Lanka, three players appeared in the 200 list of the world ranking. They are Lihini Weerasooriya in WTA, Suresh Sivagnanam and Arjun Fernando in ATP. The ‘passion’ to play and the stomach to accommodate a disciplined life are the requirements to reach the top 100. A very tough pill to swallow.
Li Na gave a big boost to her country’s Tennis, winning Grand Slam events and being world’s No.1. Currently, China has the best chance to have another top 10. Qiang Wang is 27-years-old, with a ranking of 16 in the world, with points from 22 events. The other is Hsieh Su Wei of Taiwan. Hsieh is 33 years of age, ranked 46 and her ranking points come from 24 events. She is a mixed bag, when it comes to performance. On a good day, she will topple any good player.
Chinese women are also doing well in Doubles. They have 3 in the top 50. It is a decent count for an Asian nation. In 1988, China entered Olympic Tennis. At that time, they had 1 million regular players, which has now risen to 14 million, with 30,000 courts. The most number of Spanish Tennis coaches outside Spain is in China. China’s tournament calendar is equally impressive.
For the moment, all eyes are on the European Tennis arena. It is big, exciting, unpredictable and the best showcase of the game.
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 -