'THE FUNNIEST'?

Have a look at that Noah - Larsson video , it may just be the funniest ATP match ever played.....

Noah Larsson Hamburg 1991

'MR ENTERTAINMENT'

Radek Stepanek is possibly one of the most gifted tennis players to have ever played the game. Even at age 35 he can still push the World's best as he showed in his second round match at Wimbledon against Djokovic. I believe he can still do it because he is a thinker, his shot making is some of the finest you will ever see , still fit and hungry, he may do a 'Connors' and still be playing at 39. 
The entertainer from the Czech Republic has earned just under ten million dollars in prize money, has won the Australian and US Open Doubles titles and has been part of the winning Davis Cup team for his country. In fact he played more than his part in both the Davis Cup victories in 2012 and 2013 as he won the doubles on both occasions with Thomas Berdych as well as winning the fifth and deciding singles match. Will Radek sleep a satisfied man at the end of his career do you think ?
He has never really been considered a singles player but he has produced some amazing statistics in his career in the one on one format, these two matches are proof; In 2007 he played Djokovic in the second round of the US Open , he lost by the score of 6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 in nearly five hours. In 2009 he won the opening Davis Cup match against Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in 5 hours and 59 minutes by the crazy score line of 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 16-14. He was aced 78 times in that match but actually hit 170 winners himself including his aces . His ability to win a match like that is testimony to his stamina and mental strength.
The thing I like most about Stepanek is his ability to read a point, like a novel he has already read. He will quite often come to the net on balls that others don't see an advantage on yet he will pick the moments to finish the point as he is not a base liner. That's what makes him dangerous.
A good net player will move in when he sees his opponent line up for a slice backhand that most players are content to accept from the back of the court, Stepanek doesn't look at it like that. He sees a sliced backhand as a chance to move forward as the ball will lack the pace of topspin, a common move for someone who doesn't want to play long rallies. 
The Czech drives opponents crazy with short angled volleys and drop shots that give no rhythm and will ask the question of his opponent " can you hit enough winners to beat me "? Radek plays a risky game as that sort of style is not what is common place in today's game but it is so entertaining for that reason alone, it's quite simply 'different'. His personal life is also 'risky'.
Apparently his marriage to former top ten player Nicole Vaidisova ended because of his new romance with Petra Kvitova, maybe just a rumor but a well publicized one. He was also once engaged to Swiss great Martina Hingis. Radek is a popular man with the ladies.
Stepanek, despite being a doubles specialist has won 5 singles titles plus 17 doubles titles and resides in the tax haven of Monte Carlo. His on court celebrations aren't everyone's idea of tennis etiquette but he draws a crowd with his style, a classic 80's net game that can still match it with today's power from the back. That's a talent in itself.......
      
Radek Stepanek, a talented player with an '80's' game who can still match it today against the best, and a popular man with the ladies.....

'ANALYSE IT'

Ever watched a game of tennis and thought to yourself "geez these guys are good" ? I have done since I was a kid but now days when I watch tennis I look at it a lot differently, quite simply I analyse it. I don't enjoy the game as much i used to because I find it very 'ho hum', it's all pretty much the same, but there are always some good matches in a Slam.
Grass court tennis is rather tactical as opposed to say the French Open which does of course require tactics but it needs a mind to stay out there for as long as the legs will hold up, a slower match. Grass court tennis is quick and the points are over a lot sooner, volleys don't have to be perfect as they do on clay or hard courts, short volleys are sometimes more effective. Trying to hit a winner off a dying short volley can be hard work.
Dustin Brown played this tactic to perfection against Lleyton Hewitt at last year's Wimbledon, the Australian couldn't find an answer to it.
Have you noticed how much a player will actually attack the strength of an opponent ? Watch two big forehands from two right handers and how often they in fact go back to each other rather than try to change the direction. Why is this ? It's not an ego thing. It's because they are playing safe tennis . Changing the direction on a ball is risky from the back of the court so cross court tennis is always the safest option. Tennis professionals will try to get a short reply from the forehand so as to attack the backhand side. How many times do you see a pro come to the net on an approach to their opponent's forehand side ? Not too many smart players would even consider it.
Some call it the 'one , two punch ' where you attack the strength with the equivalent of a boxer's jab then follow it up with a 'hay maker' into the backhand side. I don't believe the tactical side has ever been taught as much as the technical side, it's lacking in the game, it's lack of thought.
How often does a sliced backhand get returned with another slice ? Why is this ? Again it's the safest option as a low slice to the backhand is easier to slice back rather than trying to get down underneath it to hit a topspin shot. A sliced ball is also tough to change direction on so a backhand slice cross court will almost always be returned with another backhand slice, cross court. These guys play the percentages. So what happens when a right hander plays a lefty ? Look at Fed vs Rafa . Roger always struggles to deal with the high spin to his backhand from Nadal's forehand , it's where most points are won by the Spaniard. Rafa hits cross court almost all the time against Roger from his forehand and unless Roger is hitting his backhand at 100 per cent he will lose . 
Same theory, cross court tennis, it's playing the percentages, tennis down the line is risky as you have to change the dynamics of the ball from a cross court ball.  When you first learned to play the game what were you taught ? Hit it out in front, early, that's cross court tennis. Here's a fact you may not know.
From the corner of the baseline to the opposite corner down the line is 4 foot shorter than if you hit the ball to the opposite corner cross court, 4 foot is a lot in tennis.
There's a lot to the game of tennis,being a great ball striker is not enough, you need to know how to play , there's a difference, some realize this , some don't. That's why being a pro tennis player is almost like being an A Grade Student, you need to know your angles...... 

'ANOTHER CHAMPION'

Joakim Nystrom was a typical Swedish player of the 80's, a base liner who looked at times so casual that he appeared to be just having a hit up with a mate. His back hand was his strength, a shot that was hit with two hands but with a one handed release, not unlike Borg's. He didn't miss too many balls from the back of the court as Yannick Noah found out in Monte Carlo in '86.
Apparently the night before the final Yannick's wife gave birth so the Frenchman was lacking some sleep but the highlights of this match show Noah hitting and moving freely despite his late night. Noah's game was to attack as he did in the 1983 French Open final against Wilander yet in Monte Carlo Nystrom simply kept him back, the tactic worked beautifully. The score was 6-3, 6-2 and it shows how depth of shot can win a match , especially against a net rusher. 
1986 was Nystrom's standout year as he peaked at World number 7 in singles and 4 in doubles due in large to a Wimbledon Doubles win with good friend Wilander. In fact he won 5 titles that year in singles plus 4 doubles titles which included Wimbledon. He even beat 'the almighty'. In the final of Madrid he and Anders Jarryd beat 'Jesus' and his partner, that's a fact. How many tennis players out there by that name you reckon??
Nystrom won titles on three surfaces, grass, hard court and clay due mainly to his returning qualities, he rarely missed a return and he didn't just get it back, he returned with 'interest'. In the quarter finals of the French Open in 1985 he lost 5-7 in the fifth set to John McEnroe and at Wimbledon the same year he had another heart breaking loss. Nystrom played eventual unseeded Champion Boris Becker in the third round and went down 7-9 in the fifth , perhaps just a hand full of points that year that may have landed him a major.
The Swede qualified for the year ending Masters Tournament for three consecutive years , '84, '85 and '86 and his last singles title rather fittingly came at Bastaad in his home town of Sweden. 
He also played in Sweden's winning Davis Cup team in both '85 and '87 as he partnered Wilander in both finals in the doubles The two were brilliant together and won both matches comfortably.
Nystrom made the final of 18 singles Championships for 13 titles and he played in 20 doubles finals for a total of 8 titles. He finished his career with a doubles title in Bordeaux, France in 1988 and his career earnings were just over two million dollars. 
Joakim Nystrom was not as well known as perhaps Borg, Wilander and Edberg yet he will surely go down as one of the best players of the 80's, his record speaks for itself. If you look at who Sweden produced  in that decade you will realize just how good the nation was at producing players . Starting with Borg and then continuing with Wilander, Edberg, Nystrom, Jarryd, Carlsson and Pernfors the nation of Sweden was one of the best . Perhaps only Spain recently has surpassed Sweden in the number of top 100 Men's Professional's playing for their country.
The 80's were a great era for tennis, Sweden was possibly the bench mark , Joakim Nystrom was one of the best, no risk.......
              
 The tall Swede Joakim Nystrom and good friend Mats Wilander who won the 1986 Wimbledon Men's Doubles Title. 

'MR TOPSPIN'

         
Kent Carlsson was another Swede from the 80's who made a name for himself on the clay court tournament circuit. Carlsson hit the ball with such extreme spin that a match today with Nadal would have been entertaining to say the least. The Swede's playing style was once likened to 'hitting a topspin lob on most ground strokes', his ball was high and uncomfortable for his opponents. He was fit too. He once famously said that he 'would not lose from lack of conditioning, I would only lose because my opponent was better on the day'.
Carlsson won the junior boys French Open singles in 1984, carrying on a proud Swedish tradition as Wilander did in '81. This was the same year Borg won the Men's Championship, his final major.
 In Bologna , Italy, in 1987  the Swede made tennis history dropping just 10 games for the entire tournament and 5 of those were in the first round. Carlsson won his second round match 0 and 1 before taking on Franco Davin of Argentina who had beaten the number 8 seed Casal in three sets.
The Swede humiliated Davin 6-0, 6-0 which defies belief as Davin was an experienced dirt baller who eventually made it inside the World top 30. Carlsson won his next match 1 and 0 before taking on World number 17 Emilio Sanchez of Spain, another experienced clay courter who made a handy living from the slower surface.
The final was another humiliation in the Swede's favour, 6-2, 6-1, such was his dominance in this particular tournament.
In 1988  he beat future World number 1 Thomas Muster of Austria in the final in Barcelona, a tournament he won twice. He also won in Hamburg in that same year against Henri Leconte in the final by another one sided score line 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. Putting that demolition  into perspective, Leconte lost in the final of the French Open one month later to Wilander.
Carlsson's best performance in Paris was two fourth round appearances in consecutive years of '87 and '88, a tournament that with his style could have perhaps expected better results. He also played Davis Cup for Sweden in 1987 winning both his singles matches in the quarter final against France. He retired in 1990 prematurely due to a knee injury that cost him a longer career and perhaps many more titles on his favourite surface. His highest ranking was World number 6 in 1988 and he finished his career with $998,000 plus some loose change. His endorsements no doubt would have taken him well over the million dollar mark.
Kent Carlsson, yet another Champion Swede from the 80's, if you get a chance, look him up, his style is quite remarkable.......

'MARBURG,GERMANY' PART 2

       
The Marburg Tennis Club would have to be one of the most picturesque places I have ever had the good fortune to hit a tennis ball at. It made playing the game such a pleasure that you sometimes forgot the game and took in the surrounds instead.
The walk to the club over the few days I was there was a walk through cobblestone streets that if you did the sums on it all you would realize the magnitude of the work required to achieve it. The town of Marburg is nothing short of magnificent, playing tennis there was yet another highlight of my tour of 1991.
I mentioned in my last chapter sitting down in the lounge at the youth hostel in Marburg and watching the Hamburg Masters. From memory I believe that back then it was in fact called The German Open, either way it always attracted a quality field. Give or take a day I remember that May 7 of 1991 produced possibly the most outrageous tennis match there has ever been played at a professional level.
Frenchman Yannick Noah was all but finished with his career but was granted a wildcard into the main draw where he won his first match against Australian Richard Fromberg. In round two he faced Swede Magnus Larsson who at the time was ranked 46, Noah was ranked 113 . This match would leave no doubt whatsoever as to who in fact was the most entertaining player in World Tennis.
Rather than me explain just what Yannick Noah did in this match, look it up, the You Tube highlights are more than worth a look 'Noah Larsson Hamburg 1991'.
Now I am all for entertainment in a game of tennis but this match possibly goes beyond the guidelines of 'tennis etiquette' particularly as it was played for both rankings and prize money. But what did Noah care? I believe that this was his second last tournament before he retired so running after a ball and jumping into the stands to receive a glass of wine from a spectator was all part of Noah's final script .
His John McEnroe impersonation is also one of the funniest things you will see, perhaps even better than the great man himself. Umpiring a match like this would no doubt have been somewhat difficult as some shots played were not actually with the racket. So why wasn't Noah told to behave? Because the crowd reaction to everything he did was so euphoric that the umpire may have risked being dragged out of the stadium , bound and gagged.
The match eventually was won by Noah in three sets but my hat went off to Larsson who played along with it , he didn't have much choice. Noah went on to make the quarter finals where he lost to Larsson's mate Magnus Gustafsson, a fellow Swede who lost in 5 sets in the final to Novacek of the Czech Republic.
Yannick Noah was perhaps the last great entertainer in the game of tennis as far as court antics were concerned. Others could do more with the ball but I don't know of any who could entertain as the Frenchman did. I remember him playing Lendl once and he started mimicking the umpire to the crowd, he had a way with actions. I also recall him as the French Davis Cup Captain who had a rather unique way of 'motivating' his team.
His courtside stereo and dancing could be seen regularly while his players trained , there must have been something in it as he  took his team to victory in 1991 and again in 1996. Noah was one of the great characters of World Tennis who not only won The French Open Men's singles title but who took the French to Davis Cup glory in the same year he retired professionally, France's first victory in 59 years.
Noah also took up singing and in one year sold over one million copies of an album while his son is a champion basket baller in the NBA . Yannick Noah is a man who the Tennis World was fortunate to have as both an ambassador and entertainer......