Sports Then and Now

Rafael Nadal and the other tennis elite have hit the ground running in preparation for the 2010 Australian Open.

In case you missed it, December was technically the “off-season” for the elite of the tennis world.

It was the month when those sore, tired limbs and flagging hearts took a well-earned holiday.

The sun and sand of Florida, the coral islands of the Indian Ocean, and a paradise of Caribbean hideaways beckoned players and their partners before December rushed headlong into Christmas.

But downtime seems to be in short supply. As the rest of the world decks the halls, roasts the chestnuts on an open fire, and stuffs greetings cards into letter boxes, the tennis world is already winding up to the first tournaments of the ATP year in the very first week of 2010.

Whether the players launch their campaigns in the Middle East at Doha, in India at Chennai, or down under in Brisbane, all the courts will be hard and all the temperatures will be high, because all the focus is on the first Grand Slam of the year: the Australian Open.

The contenders want to hit the ground running, and that doesn’t mean turning up on New Year’s Day for a couple of days’ practice before the tournament gets underway. Indeed, it doesn’t even mean getting back into harness straight after Christmas. So intense is the competition, so demanding is the opening month, that most of them were pounding the Plexicushion well before December ended. Read the rest of this entry →

2009 was a record setting year for Roger Federer.

Memorable. Historic. Record-breaking. Personal best.

That is how you describe Roger Federer’s 2009 season. Roger was married to his long-time partner Mirka Vavrinec, and together they had twin daughters Myla Rose and Charlene Riva—oh, yes, and he played some tennis on his way to the top of the record books…

Leg No. 1—2009 Australian Open

Unlike 2008, when the world expected Federer to complete his life’s work, 2009 began with reservations about Federer’s abilities, his resolve, and his competitive fire.

Their suspicions were quickly confirmed as Andy Murray sustained his seeming domination of Federer first at Abu Dhabi, 6-4, 2-6, 6-7, followed quickly at Doha at the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open, 7-6, 2-6, 2-6. The Swiss fell to the unshakable Scot both times in semifinal contests.

Since losing to Federer in the finals at the 2008 U.S. Open, Murray had scored three consecutive victories against the former world No. 1.

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Kim Clijsters went from zero to hero with her improbable run at the 2009 U.S. Open.

From beginning to end, which player in 2009 showed the most improvement? Whether you look at rankings, results, or impact, several players during 2009 advanced the game of tennis and, in the process, themselves.

As you read these entries (arranged in alphabetical order), decide for yourselves who deserves the mantle of “most improved” and cast your vote accordingly.

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1) Kim Clijsters, nominated by Claudia Celestial Girl

From zero to hero? How about from out of (match) condition mother of an 18-month-old, and not even ranked, to qualifier, to Grand Slam winner (USO) in the space of three months, and only three hardcourt events?

In May 2007, Clijsters announced her immediate retirement. She was ranked No. 4 at the time. Only two other players have retired ranked higher: Graf (No. 3), and Henin (No. 1).

In March 2009, she announced that she’d been granted two wild cards to play in the summer North American hard court events: Cincinnati and Toronto. She then played a couple of exhibitions, including one at Wimbledon with Steffi Graf. Read the rest of this entry →

Always keeping her eye on the prize, Chris Evert won at least one major for 13 straight years.

As half of one of the greatest sports rivalries of all time, Chris Evert is probably the “half” less appreciated today.

Her battles with Martina Navratilova grew to legendary status as they met so often in the finals of majors. The fact that Navratilova’s career extended years beyond Evert’s is the reason the Czech-American is better known today.

Evert was a powerful baseline player and Navratilova had the ultimate serve and volley game. They battled during an era when these two playing styles clashed on tennis courts around the world.

But there was something else different between these two champions—their on court demeanor and individual personalities were as opposite as night and day.

The one thing they did share in common was an ultimate drive and a fervent determination to be the No. 1 tennis player in the world.

Knowing her, you have to believe that when Christine “Chris” Marie Evert was born on Dec. 21, 1954, she must have come into the world with a tennis racket clutched in her tiny little hand. Thank goodness her mother never had to endure such a handicap. Mom simply had to contend with family members whose lives revolved around the sport. Read the rest of this entry →

Soderling's victory over Nadal is considered as the biggest upset in the history of Roland Garros

One of the (dis)advantages of being a software junkie is I like to come up with weird geeky nicknames without any context, and those are not taken particularly well, especially with the fairer sex. This disappointment is usually covered up by the amusing happiness I get by basking in my own glory of false intelligence.

Robin Soderling was assigned a similar nickname when he created the greatest upset in the history of Roland Garros — BSOD — an acronym for “Blue Screen of Death ” which we often get while using a Windows Operating System. Soderling became famous after this historic match and his career has steadily progressed after this tournament, rather than being lost after a one off, which further justifies the nomenclature.

Things were not the same for this Swede, though, till he met Nadal at Phillip Chatrier.

Unlike his precedents, he does not possess the ice cool demeanor of Bjorn Borg, the adaptability of Mats Wilander, the elegance of Stefan Edberg, or the raw, but underutilized, talent of Thomas Enquist. And there is only so much that you can achieve with a big serve and a massive ugly forehand which works best only in normalized conditions under a roof.

Yet, mentally stronger people have fought and achieved much better results with even lesser talent that what Soderling had achieved till May this year.

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After recent struggles, Andy Roddick regained top form in 2009.

This article is the third in a series which talks about how the players fared in the 2009 season…

Amongst the likes of Federer, Rafa, Murray, Nole, Davydenko and Del Potro; Andy Roddick would stand out. These players might have won Masters’ events and tournaments, a trio even managing to grab and bifurcate the four slams between them, but yet, Roddick holds his own place in their midst.

The season might have started off as being Murray and Rafa centric, deviating towards Federer in the middle of the season and later on towards Nole, Del Potro and Davydenko but when it comes to Roddick, it can be said that he has been steadily consistent throughout the season—more often than not maintaining a very low profile, before injury claimed him as its victim.

Starting right off from Doha in January until Montreal in August, excluding the slams, Andy’s performance bracket veers mostly either as a semifinalist or as a finalist; not to mention the fact that post his victory at Memphis, he became the only active player along with Federer to have won at least one ATP tour title for nine consecutive years.

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