My Girlfriend and I are back together

She's winning tournaments on tv. and I'm watching them.


She's smiling, enjoying herself on court, and I'm smiling watching her smile.


Yes, that's about the extent of our love affair.

And well, that just works for us

Poll Results: Hitting your Opponent at Net?

From Facebook Poll

So what you guys are telling me is that 84% of you don't mind hitting your opponent at the net. Wow, guys, wow!

And 41% actually enjoy going for them! ( ouch!!)

Ok... well at least we have some nice people amongst us (15%) who would actually aim for the rest of the court. That's refreshing, since I'm pretty sure I'm part of the mean group mentioned above.

Thanks for polling everyone...

New Poll coming up this week. I'll make sure to post those results.

Bryan Brothers To Release Debut Album

From ATP World Tour News

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan will attempt to conquer the music world when the American twins release their debut album Let It Rip, with close friend and accomplished singer/songwriter David Baron on 1 September 2009.

The Bryan Brothers Band Featuring David Baron will perform three new songs from their debut album on the Festival Stage on Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day on 29 August at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the venue of the US Open, in Flushing, New York. The following day, the band will play a special set at The Mercury Lounge in New York City.

“Music has always been a big part of our lives. We’ve spent countless hours jamming in hotel rooms all over the world and it’s been our dream to do a real record. We’ve had a blast making this album and we hope to share our passion for music with our fans,” said Bob Bryan.

The album, Let It Rip, will contain five songs that feature Bob Bryan playing the bass and keyboards, Mike Bryan on the drums, and David Baron as the lead vocalist also playing piano and guitar.

In 2009, The Bryan Brothers Band Featuring David Baron has already performed at the SAP Open in San Jose, the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, the US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston and at Wimbledon.

The Bryan twins have won 54 ATP World Tour doubles titles (54-36 overall), including seven Grand Slam championships, and an Olympic Games bronze medal in Beijing last year.

More information on The Bryan Brothers Band Featuring David Baron can be found on www.bryanbrosband.com, which will be made live before their debut at Arthur Ashe Kids Day.

Alright, Ok

So, our blog has been M.I.A for a while now.

We should have warned you the summer in Seattle hit- and boom- we were out the door. Since the sunshine arrived we've been playing tennis, hiking, canoeing and enjoying this great city. We've been meaning to get back to posting, so now that fall is around the corner we'll have more indoor time to do so.


Except, this time around we're going to blog with a new twist...

Sex Pot!

Ok, when I think of "sexy", I don't think of a Brit with crooked, bad teeth. Nor do I think about someone with such horrible fashion sense. What do you think? He looks like he's filming a Bond movie.. running in the sand, with his hair blowing, and birds flying behind. I get it, they were going for the super-hero look. Well done then!





Here kitty kitty, look this way. Smile kitty kitty, it's your day!

Shakira love tennis

"I'll teach you how to sing if you teach me how to hit"

Sony Ericsson Pics, we can't be there, and we can't get nice coverage on TV

Whenever, Wherever ... he goes (I go)

Shakira is present for Nadal's match, last time she showed up in Abu Dhabi of all places. .. remember Love Connection

Venus dress is screaming Miami South Beach, lets go dancing tonight V.

Serena, making me thirsty for some OJ.

My little baby girl, Caroline is growing up, people! C'mon few more matches and you'll be Top10, you're that close, silly. And you'll prove me right.

Eww... Eva Peron would disapprove, trust me, Juan Martin, no, no, no va. I know you have a lot of Argentine pride in you, but dude, you're wearing the flag, save that outfit for Davis Cup.

Omg, you're still playing on the tour? Geez.. the WTA must really be auditioning retirees to fill out the draw. Let's see what Kimmie can do when she returns this summer. As for you, Patti Schynder, go home.

You're really top 10? Really? naw... for real? Ok I believe you, you're face says it all.

Tennis "Zen"

"You find out that life is a game of inches, so is [tennis]. Because in either game - life or tennis - the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it. One half second too slow, too fast and you don't quite hit it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the match, every minute, every second. Champions fight for that inch! Champions tear themselves and everyone else around them to pieces for that inch! They claw with their fingernails for that inch. Because they know when you add up all those inches, that's gonna make the difference between winning and losing! between living and dying..."

~ Vince Lombardi

fishing, hockey, and HS basketball better coverage than Indian Wells... What the F?

Once again, Fox Sports (Comcast Sports Network) in the SF Bay Area is pre-empting or abbreviating coverage of the IW Masters. No Nadal/Nalbandian on Wednesday night, nor Federer/Verdasco. The 2009 coverage [stinks] as bad as 2008. At least Tennis Channel wouldn't pre-empt coverage to air a 2008 rerun or a hockey game. Please let Charlie Pasarell know.
-- Annette, Oakland, Calif.

• Amen. In a word, this situation is unacceptable. Indian Wells is a world-class event with record attendance and a top-tier sponsor.....and television coverage unfit for a high school jiu-jitsu tournament. How do you call your tournament the "Fifth Slam" and have your coverage get pre-empted for fishing? This is like owning a sweet new Macbook and then having dial-up Internet access. You may as well cut bait entirely and stream matches online than alienate fans like this.

I see this from the tournament's perspective. ESPN was unwilling to give them enough hours of coverage. And much as we all love Tennis Channel, it's still --thanks, Dolans! -- unavailable in so many markets. It also bears mentioning that the international coverage draws high marks. If you want it straight from the directors' mouths, click here.

Still, the current situation is untenable and here's what I don't get: In recent years, the USTA was negotiating with ESPN for broadcast rights of the U.S. Open and, presumably, negotiating from a position of some strength. Why not say, "As part of the deal, you have to guarantee X hours of coverage of the Indian Wells and Key Biscayne events. Our organization, after all, is based on promoting and growing tennis in the U.S., and when the second- and third-biggest Americans event are, for all intents, not televised, it's a real problem. What's that? The ratings would rival those for bull riding and bass fishing? Fine, throw it on ESPN Classic or ESPNU or ESPN Reject Bin. Just somewhere so there's a distinct time and place and the viewers can watch without having to worry that the matches will be pre-empted for the saltwater taffy pull." Then the USTA could either turn around and charge a fee to IW and KB for using its leverage, or even get some sort of equity stake. Anything to avoid the current situation, which has the effect of chilling interest in the sport.

Just to be clear: This has nothing to do with the quality of the broadcasters --Lindsay Davenport, Justin Gimelstob, Ted Robinson -- or the productions. It's just a function of access.

Side note: Just so you know, I think Lindsay did an incredible job as a commentator. Much better than Justin Gimelstob. But then, as you know. I don't really care for him. He's lousy.

Bye Bye Larry, Thanks for visiting

Well, well. The recipient of two consecutive Gonad Awards for Biggest Overall Disappointment on the WTA, I'm happy to see Larry Scott resigning from CEO of the WTA to become Commissioner of NCAA's Pac-10.

As Savannah wrote, this provides a prime opportunity for the tours to join, something Billie Jean King has been calling for rather loudly in recent weeks.

The BNP Paribas Open proved just how poor the WTA product is now. Scott's resignation should inspire those with the biggest influence on women's tennis to take a comprehensive inventory of the tour and suggest some much-needed improvements.
Trackback

I call twins!

But twins, would mean a noisy plane ride for the master.

Seattle Tennis a Palm Springs Heaven

BNP Paribas came and went; just like that.

Hosting friends from out of town for a week plus March Madness and Indian Wells, left little time to update. I did get to see some of the men's and women's semis and finals on t.v. However, the BNP Paribas on the women's side was pretty uneventful. The WTA Tour lacked star power without Venus & Serena these last two weeks. With the upsets of JJ and Elena, there was little drama.

The men's tournament was phenomenal! Can't believe Federer lost 6-1 in the 3rd to Murray. I didn't watch that match, but caught the end score. Roddick played well, but Nadal continues to impress me all the time. I missed the Final but I can't imagine how he beat Andy Murray so easily. Glad I recorder it.

Nadal is so ahead in the rankings, Federer should start relishing his No.2 slot soon before he's bumped down. Can't wait to catch some good tennis on TV these next two weeks during the Sony Ericsson Open.

Anyway, I haven't hit in almost a week. Time to hit the courts tonight! I have a USTA Match this Friday.

Righty v Lefty - "The Struggle"

I have never given it much thought that a big factor between the winner and the loser in the great rivalry between RogerFederer and Rafael Nadal is not the surface but whether the player's are left or right handed. This weekend, after playing a very difficult lefty in a USTA League tennis match, I finally understood what it must be like for Federer to play a left handed player, and one as talented as Nadal, for 5 excruciating sets.

First off, Left handed players have an advantage when it comes to playing righties. They are accustomed to playing righties because most of the world is right handed. A righty practices with righties about 80-90% of the time, and not often enough, encounters a left handed opponent. So left handed players are adept to playing righthanders. But we, right handers are always thrown when we face the dreadful lefty spin.

Now, I'm considered a pretty good 4.5 player in my neck of the woods and usually have no problem breaking players with my excellent return of service. One time, while playing college tennis I broke my opponent every time they served, I held ONLY once and won the match! Score, 7-6, 7-5! Unfortunately, my return of serve (my biggest weapon) is neutralized when I play a lefty spin. And usually, my left handed opponent zeros in on his God-given advantage.



In my match this weekend, the match came down to one singular tactic. My opponent diligently figured he could diffuse my slice backhand with his lefty spin. He would come in behind every short ball he hit to my backhand and finish the point with him at the net. What he did in essence is kind of the way,Nadal uses his lefty spin to Federer's backhand for the entirety of their matches. Taking away the rest of Federer's magical repertoire and focusing the game on one thing, Nadal's left hand forehand to Federer's backhand. Well, that's exactly how I felt playing this guy. Frustrated, I yearned to see a good ball that I could rip with my solid forehand. Unfortunately, this was the typical battle of the 'lefty v therighty.'



Here are some tactics to consider next time you play a left-handed player. Some of these in combination can work to perfection.

Return of Serve
1. Consider stepping into the court, to receive serve, and hit the ball early off the bounce before it generates too much spin.
2. Swing from low to high, to return. Swinging upward will not clash with the ball's projected spin.
3. Follow through completely on your swing, don't hesitate upon contact as you will lose control sending the ball flying into outer space

The Match
1. Don't let you're opponent control the point. Stay aggressive and take charge.
2. Attack their weakness, lefty's too have a weakness and it's usually in the form of their backhand.
3. Nail them to one corner, until you have the perfect ball to put away to the open court.

Serving
1. Be EXTRA focused on holding serve, their serve may be difficult to register at first, so hold serve until you become familiar with their patterns.
2. Hold serve, again, nothing might work but at least you're holding.
3. SURPRISE: Use righty spin on your serve to wreak havoc on their return.

It can be a struggle out there, when you're opponent doesn't let you see anything else but one tactic for an entire match. So what to do when you're playing a lefty? Give them a similar medicine and zero in on one tactic.this can be, usually hitting to one side of the court for the entire match.

I didn't have the most pleasant day playing a lefty, nor did I win my match. Like Federer, I faced a very good lefty, and I can only hope to beat them next time.

Federer: Mirka is Pregnant

Dear Fans

I arrived in Indian Wells earlier this week and I am eager to get back out on court. My back is feeling much better and I am ready to go.

I also have some really awesome news to share with all of you: Mirka and I are excited to let you know that we will be parents this summer! Mirka is pregnant and we are so happy to be starting a family together. This is a dream come true for us. We love children and we are looking forward to being parents for the first time. Mirka is feeling great and everything is going well.

Speak soon and thanks for all your continued support!

Roger

Can I get in on this? Like right now!

They need to start a lotto system, where an average joe like me gets a chance to get trained for 1 week by these pro's.

Wait! That's an idea for a show... Tennis Channel, pay up!

How low can you go?

Everyone in the world wants to know, what happened to Nicole Vaidisova. I like the article below, thanks Forty Deuce for the find.

'Private voice' saying all the wrong things to Vaidisova

by TOM TEBBUTT
March 2, 2009

Athletic and attractive, Nicole Vaidisova was primed to become the next Maria Sharapova and reap the benefits that inevitably follow in lucrative endorsements. But that is all in the past.

At 17, she reached the semi-finals of the 2006 French Open and the 2007 Australian Open, and ranked No. 7 in the world just after turning 18.

Now, less than two months from her 20th birthday, the six-foot, blond Czech will this week drop to about No. 80 in the WTA Tour rankings. She is playing so poorly she is a pushover for opponents.

After a quarter-final finish at Wimbledon last July, she was just 2-7 for the rest of 2008.

This year, Vaidisova began with what should have been a character-building 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-5 win over Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia in Auckland, New Zealand, but her three most recent matches have been abysmal: 6-1, 6-1 loss to No. 131-ranked Mara Santangelo of Italy; 6-2, 6-1 loss to No. 96 Séverine Bremond of France; and 6-1, 6-4 loss to No. 134 Émelie Loit of France.

Against Bremond at the Australian Open, Vaidisova won the first two games, missed a smash right on top of the net, then fell apart. It was painful to watch her incapable of stringing together more than two or three shots without drilling the ball into the middle of the net or flinching it well out of bounds.

By all accounts, Vaidisova has no physical problems and plays well in practice. But a source familiar with the situation said: "She basically cannot compete. And there's a difference between that and trying. The minute things go wrong, she can't handle it. There's a complete irrationality about her when that starts to happen on court."

The source, referring to Vaidisova's boyfriend of more than a year, compatriot and men's tour player Radek Stepanek, added: "The one thing that's unfair is to say it's all about Radek. If it wasn't him, it would be another boyfriend."

After working with David Felgate since last April, Vaidisova and the Briton split after the 2009 Australian Open.

"What's hard for any player like her, her margins [for error] are quite low," Felgate said of Vaidisova's powerful, flat-trajectory ground strokes. "When she was winning and confident and it's all going in, it works very well. You start to miss, the inevitable happens and you lose a bit of confidence.

"I will say that Nicole tried everything. She didn't leave one stone unturned. She wasn't just going though the motions. She was trying to get back."

Dr. Jim Loehr, the renowned American sports psychologist who has worked with numerous players including Jim Courier, Monica Seles and Daniela Hantuchova, says someone struggling has to work on his or her inner "private voice" and "craft a whole new way of looking at things that will change how they feel on the court."

"It's going to take a new story," Loehr added, "and a new beginning and she can actually put together an understanding of why she got herself in this situation. Players have amazing insights, once they sit down and rally that wise, perceptive and intelligent part of themselves. They probably will see where this all came from.

"And she needs to play a lot of competitive matches that are not tournament-based, play different players in practice and get her private voice going properly in those matches when she's not really putting it on the line."

Vaidisova is not willing to drop down to lower-level Challenger events to try to regain her confidence. Recently, her agent, Olivier van Lindonk of IMG, wrote in an e-mail that his client will next play this month's big events in Indian Wells, Calif., and Miami.

He also wrote that Vaidisova has been training at the Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida and is "exploring starting to work again with her stepdad [and former coach] Ales Kodat."

One person who has observed much of the unravelling of Vaidisova, wondered: "I don't know how low she's got to get before she lets go."

The implication was that, maybe then she could finally put it all back together.

So, what I've been thinking about Vaidisova is that she doesn't have a fighter's spirit in her. Nicole simply doesn't have the fire to win that Sharapova, Henin, Venus and Serena have. What she has is professional tennis skills, for exhibition matches and a beautiful face and bod.

Poor Nicole. This girl is headed for a very early retirement from tennis if she doesn't seek the right people to boost her confidence and help her find her inner-self on the court.

Jelena's Orbit

The making of:



And, the commercial:



Good to see she takes direction well. I'm sure they could find her a script in Hollywood.

Seattle Tennis - A Palm Springs Heaven!

What's with all the beautiful weather in Seattle? In case you didn't know, Seattle has had amazing, sunny weather the past week or two. But what most people don't know is that this is pretty common for this time of year. So, no, it's not always raining here!

What else? Well, this weekend, the USTA League Tennis got underway in the Northwest, and my team had our first match! Roger Mark (Avanti Sports) recommended me for the 4.5 Dao Team, led by the very capable and clever doubles player Duong Dao. This was my first time playing USTA League Tennis, so I was very excited!

I started practicing with Dao's team back in December. And as my singles challenge record indicates (1-4), I didn't have the "warmest of welcomes" by the guys.

But if you know me, you know I'm a fighter. So I pulled out The Inner Game of Tennis (read earlier blog) and Winning Ugly (Brad Gilbert) in order to mentally prepare myself to produce a better challenge record against my new teammates. I was going to be on the starting lineup for our upcoming match (come hell or high water)! In addition, I worked out in the gym and on the court regularly to up my fitness level.


Six pounds lighter, faster, stronger and armed with the advice of Gilbert and Gallwey, I racket up impressive numbers at practice, winning several key challenge matches.

Which brings us to this weekend. A very intriguing first match was booked. We were set to play the Ball Busters, a team I had contemplated playing for in November before finally deciding on the Dao Team. Unfortunately, the captain of the Ball Busters felt they had their singles line-up pretty much settled. Seeing as how I suck at Doubles, I had no other option but to join a team in which I could compete rather than warm the bench. And so, with some persuasion, I was chosen to start as #2 Singles, against the team that wouldn't have me! The prospect of revenge can be quite salivating, indeed!

Actually, it was much more stressful than you can imagine. In fact, I became so nervous during the warm-up that I could not get a long rally going. My hands were sweating and my feet were dead. I had the jitters. I wanted to win eagerly for the obvious reasons of proving a point and giving my team a lead. With the match underway, I settled into my pre-match summary (as instructed by Gilbert in "Winning Ugly"). My nerves never really did settle. Nonetheless, I won my match 6-2, 6-2. Our team had the early lead at 1-0.

Unfortunately, things overall didn't work out as I had hoped. My team lost the match 3-2. A bittersweet victory for me. But definitely, much sweeter than bitter.

Posted by bigE

look, it's going to be a while

From Roger Federer's official page:

Dear Fans,

Today I am disappointed to announce that I am withdrawing from both Dubai and the Davis Cup tie in the United States. This was a hard decision to make as I am missing not only one of my favorite events on tour in Dubai but I am also missing out on an opportunity to help my country try and move on to the next round of Davis Cup. After injuring my back last fall, I did not have enough time to strengthen it completely. As a precautionary measure, I will use the next few weeks to make sure the back injury is fully rehabilitated and I am ready for the rest of the 2009 season.

As always, thanks for your continued support.
Roger

If u ever have had back pain, you know it doesn't go away permanently with a little rub. I hate to be a pessimist but once the back pain starts, it's never the same again. It's chronic, it's nagging, it's a frustrating pain to have to play with. And he's saying he's been having this pain since last fall? Oh boy, that doesn't sound good. Poor Fed, I wish him a speedy recovery.

Tennis Zen

One of the major no-nos that tennis players do on the court is to judge their performance. I do it, and I've watched many times as students stare in awe after they hit a winner down the line.

In my 10 years of playing tennis, I've come to learn that there should be little to no judgment when executing on the tennis court. I love this passage from The Inner Game of Tennis (W. Timothy Galley) that talks about quieting the mind and allowing your shot to happen spontaneously. It's about trusting your body to achieve its peak performance.

The image comes to my mind of the balanced movement of a cat stalking a bird. Effortlessly alert, he crouches, gathering his relaxed muscles for the spring. No thinking about when to jump, nor how he will push off with his hind legs to attain the proper distance, his mind is still and perfectly concentrated on his prey. No thought flashes into his consciousness of the possibility or consequences of missing his mark. He sees only the bird. Suddenly the bird takes off; at the same instant, the cat leaps. With perfect anticipation he intercepts his dinner two feet off the ground. Perfectly, thoughtlessly executed action, and afterward, no self-congratulations, just the reward inherent in his action: the bird in the mouth.

I tell everyone I coach to limit the amount of judgment they place on themselves while playing. And instead, to replace that judgment with concentrated action. The concentration should be like meditation. Simply enjoy the action taking place, whether it produces a good or bad shot.

In short, 'getting it together' requires slowing the mind. Quieting the mind means less thinking, calculating, judging, worrying, fearing, hoping, trying, regretting, controlling, jittering or distracting.

When I first started playing tennis, there was a lot of judgment going on in my head. Most of it was uncontrolled energy focused on shot accuracy. So if you're just starting out in the game of tennis, this is an important lesson to learn. Even if you've been playing for years (like myself), it's a lesson worth repeating in your head continually. I keep The Inner Game of Tennis in my hitting bag, and from time to time find it useful to skim the pages on concentration when my actions start to become forced.