Sunday 25 October 2015

'THE COMEBACK'

I have written more than one chapter regarding my European tour of 1991 with my buddies from Perth, Brett and Pete and the quite remarkable timing of the comeback of my hero Bjorn Borg. That particular initial match by Borg was played at the Monte Carlo Country Club, a place of such magnificence that the setting really does defy logic.
We all watched on from the sporting club in Bordeaux, France where we were playing an insignificant little tournament that would never even register on anyone's 'important' tennis calendar. Every player who was playing that tournament knew of Borg and it showed as the club was full by the time the match commenced. Unfortunately Borg's return to the game after 10 years of absence did not give the sentimental tennis purest the fairy-tale result.
I do not quite remember my reaction to the loss but it was probably not as devastating as it first was when Borg retired at age 26 when I was a lad of 13 or 14 who relied on my hero for inspiration. Looking back I suppose the loss to Arrese in Monte Carlo was to be expected yet when it comes to a legend you tend to expect a miracle even if it wasn't realistic. James Bond could get himself out of any situation, Borg to me was 007, he had that sort of appeal, he just couldn't find a way out of that impossible situation.
In 1992 Borg again contested Monte Carlo and lost to Wayne Ferreira of South Africa by the score of 7-6, 6-2. Putting that performance into perspective Borg was 36, Ferreira 21 and the South African had made the semi finals of the Australian Open that year defeating John McEnroe in straight sets in the quarter finals.
So was Borg's comeback really a failure or was he just a whisker away from being competitive once again despite his age and his ten years of retirement ? The following result  I believe says it all.
The Kremlin Cup of 1993 saw Borg granted a wildcard into the main draw where unfortunately he drew the number 2 seed Alexander Volkov. As one of my previous chapters stated Volkov almost changed tennis history when he lead the eventual Wimbledon champion of 1991 Michael Stich 5-3, 30-15 in the fifth set, unlucky to lose with a net cord shot against him.
The tournament in Moscow was the third year of Borg's comeback though he did not play many tournaments, he simply picked a few that appealed to him and did his best to prepare against guys almost half his age. Volkov at the time was ranked World number 14, his highest ever ranking and was age 26. Surely Volkov would beat Borg with ease and put and end to any doubts about a 37 year old matching it with the World's best tennis players after a decade out of the game.
For history's sake Alexander Volkov defeated Bjorn Borg 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 and the final set tie break score was 9-7. You tell me whether Borg still had ability at age 37 and with ten years out of the sport. The interesting fact about this result was that Volkov did not in fact play his next match, he withdrew without a ball being hit and it proved to be Borg's final comeback attempt. Did the 'old' guy wear the young guy out ?
Volkov won this tournament the very next year.
Personally I believe that Bjorn Borg was three to five years late on his comeback attempt though the highlights that you can see on Youtube in Monte Carlo against Ferreira show a remarkably fit looking Borg at age 36. Not many players can maintain that sort of fitness and perform that well in singles at that age, if any. Connors was possibly the only exception in the past 25 years with his semi final performance at the US Open in 1991.
Borg's comeback had no real heroics involved however if nothing else he proved that he could still play at a remarkably high level against the World's top players.
I am probably one of many who just wished that he had done it a lot sooner........

Tuesday 20 October 2015

'THOMAS'

Without a doubt one of the most unusual defaults from a World Tennis tournament final would have to have been at the Lipton Championships in Florida, 1989. Thomas Muster was ranked number 7 and he had been in red hot form all tournament particularly in his semi final against number 12 seed Yannick Noah of France.
Back then the Lipton Championships were considered the 'fifth Grand Slam' and every player who was fit and healthy would turn up. The other thing that made it so unique was the fact that it was also a best of five sets format, the ultimate test of mind and body.
World number 1 Ivan Lendl had cruised through his half of the draw with the loss of just 44 games in his six matches which broken down is an average score of 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, roughly anyhow. Muster had lost just two sets before his epic semi final against Noah the 1983 French Open champion where he came back from two sets down to win in five, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. The final was sure to be a contest of epic proportions.
There are conflicting reports on when the accident occurred however from what I recall Thomas stopped on the side of the road to grab some food from the boot of his car when he was struck from behind by a drunk driver. The accident put an end to his quest of a potential classic match with Lendl and it put the Austrian star out of the game for around six months.
If ever there was a picture that could inspire a generation of tennis players it would have to be the one of Muster practicing with the aid of a chair designed to take his weight and allow him to still hit balls while sitting down. It was one of the most fascinating things I have ever witnessed in tennis and gave 'heart' a whole new meaning. Nothing was going to stop Thomas from achieving what he wanted to achieve in World Tennis.
Seven years later Muster would become the best tennis player in the World and won a dozen tournaments to back up that ranking. He also claimed one of the best ever winning streaks on the European clay by winning 40 straight matches.
The Austrian was a man to be reckoned with despite his near career ending accident in Florida but just like the American Derrick Rostagno who was lucky enough to change his flight just before it crashed killing everyone on board he was afforded a second chance in life.
Sometimes a near miss can change one's perception of life in general and I believe that Thomas Muster practiced even harder once his leg healed from that potentially fatal accident.
Some cruise through and accept what is given to them but not Thomas Muster. He was a man who made up for lost time, like no other I have ever seen in World tennis......

Monday 19 October 2015

'SHOWING FAITH'

The Kremlin Cup tournament currently under way in Moscow has shown the tennis World an incredible show of faith by a tennis federation towards its players. The mens qualifying event produced no less than 21 budding Russian professionals all trying to make their mark on the big stage. All of these players compete on the Challenger Circuit.
There was even a seasoned veteran also playing in Dimitry Tursinov.
Out of all of those Russian hopefuls just one however made it through to the main draw, brutal fact of life in the World of tennis, there's not much room to squeeze through anywhere.
Tursinov lost second round to the number 1 seed Lajovic from Serbia and the only player to make it through from Russia was a guy by the name of Aslan Karatsev who currently has a ranking of 207. He also has made a grand total of $55,000 this year, about as much as the local postie makes but the postman doesn't have to travel too far to work, these guys do. That sum of 55 grand would not go too far after travel expenses for a tennis pro.
For his efforts in qualifying for the local tournament Karatsev has earned the right to take on another local hero in Mikhail Youzhny, former World number 8 who has now dropped to number 150. Youzhny has won a lazy 400 grand already this year and 12 million in his career who probably now just plays for fun as opposed to his first round opponent who is playing for his life.
That's another brutal fact of tennis, some are in it for the money and a career whereas some are already rich and just spend their last couple of years topping up their superannuation. These are just two mind sets of tennis that must be tough on the newcomer. One will probably play tight tennis, the other a free wheeling style afraid of nothing, least of all losing.
Jimmy Connors once said "I hate to lose more than I like to win" yet someone in their twilight years will simply take each win as another bonus day left in a tournament and a loss as a fact of life as a veteran sportsman. In this case Youzhny is the veteran at just 33 years of age, Karatsev 11 years younger at age 22.
Personally I would love to see the young fellow make it through the first round yet tennis is not a sentimental sport. I would suspect the 'old bloke' to win comfortably and add to his already bulging super account.
Tough sport tennis.........

Saturday 17 October 2015

'DOUBLES OR SINGLES' ?

The World of doubles tennis is in a word 'tough' as there are so many high quality combinations out there just looking for a slice of luck to beat high quality opponents. Take for example the recent Shanghai Masters tournament where the Bryan brothers lost in the round of 16 by the rather heart breaking score of 6-7, 7-6, 10-7 to Cabal and Farah, another handy team. The second set tie breaker score was 9-7. In a nutshell there was nothing in this match, I am stating the obvious.
Matkowski and Zimonjic, the number 3 seeded team just squeaked by the Aussie team of Kyrgios and Tomic 6-7, 6-4, 10-8 in the same round. When's the last time you heard of the Aussie boys playing doubles together ? This form of the game is almost a raffle if a scratch pairing like that can almost topple a team of that calibre. In the same round again the Wimbledon Champions Tecau and Rojer lost by the score of 7-5, 7-5 to Lopez and Mirnyi, the latter a doubles genius. Once again, nothing in it.
The quarter finals of this event were surprisingly one sided, three straight sets results and one walk over, most unusual though I like to look more into some scores than probably most do. A 6-3, 6-4 score line is basically just a break each set as is 6-4, 7-5 which were two of the results so that's tight tennis where one team senses a chance at a pivotal time, the other not so up to the challenge.
Klaasen and Melo seeded 6 took on the number 8 seeded pair of Bopanna and Kubot in the semi finals and the score of 6-3, 6-7, 10-7 says it all. One team found a way to edge ahead in a third set super tie breaker that shows what you require to be successful at a sport such as tennis. There is no place in tennis for nerves when it gets tight.
Boleli and Fognini as we all know are a remarkable doubles team and their style is typical of today's way of playing with plenty of baseline hitting as opposed to the standard serve and volley of say the Bryan brothers. As the number 5 seeded team they earned the right to play the number 7 seeded team of Nestor and Roger- Vasselin in the other semi. That in itself typifies today's doubles in World tennis. The number 5, 6, 7 and 8 teams played off in the semi finals rather than the usual top 4 playing off in singles.
Boleli and Fognini, the 2015 Australian Open champions just got over the line 5-7, 7-6, 10-3 and there is another score that tells you this match was almost over in two straight sets.
The second set tie breaker was won by the Italians 7-5, a two point buffer that could quite easily have gone the other way with just a little bit of luck or a slight change in a tactical play. I am certain the final will be a classic.
Playing doubles for a living is tough because there are so many great combinations and unless it is a Grand Slam event the matches are all decided with a third set super tie breaker. Every point then is gold.
A player of Fognini's ability can play both forms of the game at an amazingly high level and not all professional players can do that. John McEnroe did both to perfection and made an awful lot of money in the process. Some do it just for fun as Jack Sock has often said. Half of the winning 2014 Wimbledon Mens Doubles combination has not hidden his desire to want to become known as a singles player yet he seems to have more success in doubles.
The main thing about doubles however is that it's easier on the body hence guys such as Paes, Nestor and Mirnyi still find great success into their late 30's and early 40's. A lot more money is available for doubles experts now so these guys don't have to bother with the physical demands of singles.
And rightly so, nothing better than watching an entertaining match of doubles that involve some chip, charge, slice and dice type of points that finish more often than not at the net.
Personally I like the challenge of singles but my ageing legs appreciate how doubles looks after the body a little better. Tennis, it's often about the type of game you own and what your body can handle when it comes to making up your mind as to what form of it you should play.
Most of the time it's how you wake up the next day, that should help you make up your mind.....

Thursday 15 October 2015

' NICK vs TEX '

Not quite sure about the latest tit for tat between sports stars but what I do know is that guys like Tex Walker know nothing about tennis. For those of you who don't know who Tex Walker is, he's an AFL player who kicks goals for the Adelaide Crows Football team. Nick Kyrgios claimed that he didn't know who he was after receiving a 'tweet' from him on social media. I thought that was a good comeback but then it turned a bit nasty and it even included Tex sending Nick a highlight package of his AFL exploits !
C'mon boys this is all getting a little bit out of hand, this is how it all started. Nick was playing Nishikori at the Shanghai Masters and Nick hit a fault, the ball was returned and Nick laid into a forehand straight down the middle of the court, nice shot too by the way, a practice shot. Problem was this, Nick is a marked man and anything he does is now being scrutinized with every umpire doing his best to be the one to send Nick to the 'sin bin' for a month of suspension. He has no more warnings left.
Every player has done it, I have done it, you have done it, it's a release of energy while you are playing. Stefan Edberg used to do it on his volleying when he missed a serve simply to complete a routine. Serve missed, he's still running in, he hits a volley, no big deal. So Nick is Robinson Crusoe ?? Fair dinkum I have never seen anything so beefed up in years on a tennis court that turned out to be nothing as it did not hit any linesmen or ball boys.
Tex Walker asks for Nick to be suspended for it. Why is that Tex ? Because you don't like Nick ? If Tex knew anything about tennis he should have known that what Nick did was not worthy of a suspension and subsequently Nick Kyrgios was let off by the authorities, good decision. It was perhaps like an AFL umpire making the wrong decision in an AFL match regarding a player's involvement in a 'rough' passage of play.
Does Nick Kyrgios send a tweet to an AFL player asking for the guy to be suspended and in the process adding that he thinks the guy is a 'flog' ?? No I believe Nick may just have more brains than people give him credit for. But it gets better. Patrick Dangerfield ( another AFL player) chimes in and defends Tex and has a shot at Nick saying how generous Tex is regarding his foundation that he supports.
So now it's all about personal values in life rather than what happened on the field!! Fair dinkum I have often said that I thought AFL players weren't bright but this has just confirmed it.
Nick Kyrgios knows tennis, Tex Walker and 'Paddy' Dangerfield know Footy. Please guys do the rest of us a favour and don't embarrass yourselves any further and by that I mean that despite Paddy and Tex not liking Nick they really need to let the tribunal do their job.
Nick was found NOT GUILTY fellas, get over it, move on, build a bridge.........

Tuesday 13 October 2015

'THE HACKER' ( AND PROUD OF IT)

I vividly recall several years ago I played a local club vs club competition and I had to beat a kid 24 years younger than I was. Nowhere to hide. If I had lost then it was going to be one of those local tennis articles written in the paper that I personally may not have bothered reading. When you are fighting for your reputation it is a matter of asking for your inner self to produce something that has substance.
I often wondered what the great Andre Agassi thought of his loss to Lleyton Hewitt in a lead up tournament to the Australian Open in 1998 at Memorial Drive, South Australia. Andre was 27, Hewitt a 16 year old upstart who held no fear of playing a living legend. The 7-6, 7-6 win by Hewitt had Andre saying in the post match press conference " I was just hoping he would go away, but he didn't".
I wonder if ego came into it for Agassi and did he call on everything that he knew about the game or did he continue to simply try to outhit a skinny kid who just kept getting the ball back into play ? I still find that match hard to comprehend because Agassi should have belted Hewitt, it didn't make a whole lot of sense really.
Once again I am sorry for comparing one of my small town matches to a living legends' but it's all relevant, trust me. We are all doing our best to work within the confines of a tennis court that at times feels like working on a postage stamp which is in fact around 23 x 8 metres. If you look at that area there is only so much you can do with the shots that you are best at. It's almost like a stunt bike rider who has to take off and land in an area that we as spectators look at in awe and shake our heads in disbelief at the skill involved in the whole process.
When I warmed up against that kid I saw that he wanted everything right in his slot, his hitting zone, but when I went with the slice or the high loop he quite simply hated it. That gave me an idea right from the start. I thought, let's take this kid away from what he likes and see how effective his rather glamorous shots will be then.
Rather than bore you with the whole match I will simply give you the run down on some stats that make the most sense. Because he never followed a serve into the net I floated many returns six feet or higher over the net that gave me a sense of a 50/50 situation that most returners can only dream of.
There was no point in hitting a great return, no point at all, just a high ball with depth was required that 'restarted' the point. At times during a rally I would put in a series of short sliced backhands that begged him to come to the net. When he did I just made sure that I gave him a ball to volley, nothing special, just a ball to hit at the net yet he missed every single volley I gave him. He obviously spent way too much time on his groundies but never practiced finishing a point at close quarters. Typical of the young kids playing the game now days.
So to the result and a rather funny assumption by a 'guru' of the sport;
A couple of my juniors were in earshot of someone who should have known better when it came to a match roundup which was relayed to the rest of the younger brigade of hopefuls. "Thommo won 10-5 in a third set tie breaker by hacking". Yep that was the 'guru's' way of putting it. Personally I felt it was a great tactic. All I did was loop the sh.. out of my forehand and slice the sh.. out of my backhand and made very few errors. I won possibly the equivalent of three games by drawing the 'robot' into the net and giving him garbage which he failed to clean up.
It was like a robot who is made to clean up a house with no dust pan and shovel.
"I keep setting it all up but I can't seem to find a place to put it".
So did the 'guru' really do the match justice when talking about the tactics involved from the guy who beat the hard hitter with patience and a better way of thinking through the tight spots ? Well unfortunately the 'guru' did not really know a whole lot about the sport otherwise there may have been something said in a more positive light.
I do believe that Brad Gilbert did in fact say "It's better to win ugly than to lose pretty". I am sure it's in that book somewhere which I will one day read and gain some more ideas that will help me through my old age in tennis.
When you play kids who can run all day and love a ball in the comfort zone I do believe that it is a necessity to bring out all the tricks you have learned over the years.
Why try to outhit someone when you can outthink them instead ?
Tennis, a thinking person's sport.........

** Just for the record, I played this same kid two years later and won in three sets playing exactly the same way. I was 42, he was 18. I didn't walk too well for the next week but it was a proud limp.....

Wednesday 7 October 2015

'HOW GOOD WAS HE' ?

I can always remember the first time I saw Andre Agassi play tennis, he was just 16 years of age and I watched him hit a few balls on a brief sports report. I was rather taken by his ability to hit a forehand as he did when he was so slightly built and I wondered where that sort of power could come from. It wasn't long after that clip that I watched highlights of Agassi and Lendl at Stratton Mountain, the tournament which put Andre on the tennis radar. That was impressive hitting to say the least.
Andre Agassi came along at a time that America needed a tennis idol to look up to because back when Andre first started playing the circuit the two biggest players from the US, McEnroe and Connors were in the twilight of their careers. Neither Mac or Jimbo won a Grand Slam singles title after 1984 but Mac was still a very successful doubles player who won the US Open title with Woodforde in '89 and Wimbledon in '92 with Stich. Andre was a 'required' singles player no doubt about it.
The Las Vegas flash went from a skinny kid with rather loud denim shorts and Def Leppard style hair cut who didn't win much to possibly the most respected and recognizable tennis player on the planet especially after winning Wimbledon in 1992. Every kid wanted to be like Andre due not only to how he played but how he dressed and grew his hair. He was in a word, different. I for one was a fan from the first time I saw him hit those few shots in practice, he owned an aura about him right from the start.
Despite not winning as many Slams as his biggest rival Pete Sampras I always found Agassi's style to be a whole lot more interesting than watching Pistol play because Pete's style was one that I liken to a school yard bully. Big hitting and ugly.
There were many great matches between these two and Andre lost in the final of the US Open on no fewer than three occasions to Pete. The last shattered Andre beyond comprehension as he explained in his book with great detail. Agassi thought he was almost a shoe in for that title as he went in with around 26 straight wins before that title match but Pete always played his best against Andre.
There was however one particular match between these two that for some reason stood out more than the rest to me due mainly to a statistic that can only be described as remarkable.
Now anyone who saw Pete Sampras play will be well aware of his ability to not only close into the net and put away a volley but his serving was the best of his era, it was ridiculous. Pistol owned a bomb that more often than not was unplayable even for a man of Andre Agassi's returning prowess despite Andre's ability to pick the direction better than most.
So to the Lipton Championships in Florida, 1995, two months after Andre had defeated Pete in the final of the Australian Open, his only Grand Slam final win against Pete. At a set up and 2 games all Pistol Pete had 40-0 on Andre's serve, three break points to take a strangle hold on the match and with the way that he had been serving it would have almost been all over had he broken. Agassi though held on by winning five straight points. 3-2 Agassi.
The next service game by Sampras was perhaps one of those mind games that had even the great man himself thinking "If only I had converted one of those break points". Tennis, so easy yet so frustrating in hind sight as the mind goes about tearing strips off one's decision making at crucial times in a match. No points won on serve for Pistol, 4-2 Agassi. NINE straight points.
Same story next game, Andre on a roll, total control of the mind and body, tennis is now real easy, the boxer has his opponent on the ropes, 5-2. THIRTEEN straight points. Andre's Father no doubt proud, a former boxer. What can Pistol do ? He is now getting hammered by a man who senses a knockout punch. Does he offer some resistance or save himself for the third ?
You guessed it, another break to love, 6-2 Agassi, SEVENTEEN straight points. Outrageous. Andre won the next two points before Pete finally broke the drought that had Andre Agassi take NINETEEN straight points in a row to come back from the jaws of defeat.
For history's sake Andre Agassi took the match in a third set tie breaker seven points to three, perhaps justice for a remarkable run of points that may never be repeated at a standard so remarkably high. Even the best players in the World can be 'zoned' out by another but it is a rarity if a player even loses two love games in a row such is the standard of the elite of World tennis.
This match was a ripper, worth a look. It shows what confidence and a change of mind set can do for a player especially when they are perhaps within a point or two of defeat. After almost losing, think about it, what have you really got to lose ?
Tennis, it's all in the head..........

Friday 2 October 2015

'MORE FROM THE VAULT'

Sometimes when I write it jolts the memory and my mind flicks through some pages from the vault, many times the subject will be in regards to my tennis heroes of years gone by. I mentioned a score line in my last chapter that reminded me of a match at the US Open in 1982 between Mats Wilander and Ivan Lendl.
This particular match was the first played between the two on a hard court remembering of course that just a few months earlier Mats had beaten Lendl at the French Open in a monumental fourth round upset. The five set win on the clay in Paris was en route to Wilander's first Grand Slam title and he did it as a 17 year old who had no fear of his more credentialed rivals, yet plenty of respect.
I will touch on that statement in detail a little later which I believe is worth mentioning.
When the two played at the US Open in 1982 I for one was rather shocked at the ease at which Lendl won the match due to their marathon match at the French Open yet that was on the dirt which gives a player much more time to play their shots. The hard courts of Flushing Meadows suited Lendl and his hard hitting style that brought dozens of winners each match and gave his serve an edge that the clay did not.
Mats Wilander, despite matching not only Lendl but top ten players Vitas Gerulaitis, Jose Luis- Clerc and Guillermo Vilas in the penultimate match in Paris was still a player learning the art of the game. Hard court tennis was back then and still is a totally different ball game where the big hitters and servers usually dominate the clay court players who like to hit the ball with a little more spin and height over the net which ultimately gives them more time between each shot.
The 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 win by Lendl over Wilander that year in New York was a belting that gave the reigning French Open champion some food for thought when assessing his own ability and how to eventually out play or out think Lendl on hard court. Their next meeting at the US Open came a year later and it wasn't the much improved 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 loss by Wilander that had players talking but the rather honest take on his own chances of winning the tournament.
John McEnroe was the main voice when he criticized Wilander for playing down his own chances of winning in New York in 1983. Mac believed that every player should have owned his cut throat mental approach to big tournaments but Mats was not anything like Mac. The Swede respected his opponents far too much, a trait that gained more respect than criticism.
Wilander had just stepped into the big time as a 17 year old quite by accident just one year after winning the French Open junior championship. He now was forced to ignore the aura surrounding the legends which he watched countryman Bjorn Borg take on in some of the biggest matches of the 1970's. When you really think about it, that's a tough thing to do. Borna Coric was without a doubt the best junior in the World but when he took on Roger Federer this year he spoke of just how difficult it was to play someone of Federer's status.
It takes a remarkable mind set to do that.
In my last chapter I mentioned the need to learn from a loss or to simply gain as many games as possible even if a win is beyond reach as it can help with future matches. The 1987 US Open final was a match where I am not sure who was more disappointed at the result, Mats Wilander or myself, it was shattering. I trained with guys in Queensland who loved Lendl and his big hitting style however I was in awe of the 'lightweight' type of player in Mats who relied on not missing and a tactical mind. It was the style that I adopted myself as a kid.
The four set loss by Wilander to the Czech was even more disappointing considering the two set points Lendl saved in the pivotal third set however they were on Lendl's serve and he simply banged in two huge bombs to get out of trouble. The final score was 6-7, 6-0, 7-6, 6-4 and I didn't look that up, I just remember it. The match went for over four and a half hours.
To the following year and this is where I look at that first hammering by Lendl in 1982 of Wilander and tennis finally started to make sense. It really was a sport where a player learned from a loss and gathered information to eventually use against an opponent for an eventual victory. Mats did not play the same in 1988 as he did in 1982 or '83 but he simply tweaked or fine tuned what he did in the 1987 final. He put away a shot and developed another.
The slice backhand was a shot that Wilander hit to absolute perfection that year and it was a shot that not only conserved energy but it won him many points by coming into the net behind it. Baseliners love a topspin ball to strike a pass off but are nowhere near as comfortable off a low skidding ball which makes a player at times search for a nine iron to scrape underneath it. At times Mats would come in off a shorter hit sliced ball that had Lendl reaching forward on to try to hit a winner, that's tough for even the best players to deal with.
The 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win by Mats in just a tick under five hours will go down as a tactical victory of the biggest kind against one of the biggest hitters of all time. It proved that a change in tactic can win the day or in this case the title and the number one ranking. What was the point in Mats hitting that double handed backhand of his that was never really going to bother Lendl who lived off those sort of shots from his opponents ? Mats may have played down his chances in 1983 however was he simply storing information for a future crack at the title ?
Tennis has numerous stories of players who were beaten up on by others for years before finally a change in tactic or mind set eventually reversed the result. Roger used to 'own' Novak, how the times have changed.
These last two chapters I wrote go hand in hand because they show a pattern in the sport that I suppose is common, we simply don't really give it too much thought though. Grab a few games here and there even if a loss is inevitable, give the mind some future matter to digest. Reprogram and don't be content with just an A game plan, work on B and C.
I am sure the great Mats Wilander will agree........