John Isner has pulled out of the French Open starting tomorrow cause of illness. Isner accepted a wildcard into the event by winning a qualifying tournament held by the U.S. Tennis association. The USTA has now returned the wildcard slot to the French tennis federation, which has since handed the wildcard to world number 310 Romain Jouan of France.
Other players to have pulled out of the French Open include Dmitry Tursunov of Russia and Mario Ancic of Croatia. Tursunov has a heel injury and Ancic pulled out because of lack of fitness.
There has been a lot of talk in the last few days about Maria Sharapova and her return to the tour. Sharapova played yesterday in her first match in over 8 months at the Warsaw Open in Poland. Maria played Tathiana Garbin and won the match 6-1 6-7 (6) 6-3.
I must admit it is great to see Maria back on court and winning tennis match. However, that being said should she really get this much hype? She is a very good player and I’m sure she will return to the top of the women’s game, but I feel that she now seems to be more of a celebrity than a tennis player.
Additionally, it just completely drive me nuts that she can scream and make so much noise on court. Grunting seems to happen when players get tired on court and they put more and more effort into the shots, and most of the time they don’t even know they are doing it. However, with Maria is seems to be very loud, completely over the top, it starts from the beginning of the matches, and I’m sure she knows and deliberately does it!
I can confirm that David Nalbandian will not play the French Open and will be undergoing hip surgery which will keep him out of minimum of four months. The 27-year-old Nalbandian’s last match was a 6-2 6-2 loss to Chile’s Paul Capdeville at last week’s Estoril Open in Portugal.
Serena Williams is back in the headlines again and for the wrong reasons. Serena has just pulled out of her match in Madrid after losing the first set to Francesca Schiavone 6-4.
“I was just really hindered. My movement was hindered as a result of an injury I’ve been struggling with for some time,” Williams said.
Williams was refering to her leg injury that she suffered during the match. Williams would not comment on the extent of the injury or whether it would keep her out of the French Open, which begins May 24.
While at the same time Serena has been commenting about the WTA injury policy and how it needs to be reviewed. The American 10-times grand slam winner was asked why she played at last month’s Andalucia Tennis Championships when she had clearly not recovered from a thigh problem that hampered her in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open the previous week. “Unfortunately it doesn’t matter if you’re injured, if you’re dead or if you’re alive, if you don’t play they’re going to fine you heavily,” Williams said at a news conference ahead of this week’s Madrid Open. “So I have to play whether I am injured or not. That’s just how it is so I have no choice.”
To me it seems like Serena is talking a lot more in the press about the WTA and what regulations she isnt happy. I just wish she would stop talking out and get back to playing tennis and winning!
Rafael Nadal will miss Spain’s Davis Cup final against Argentina because of a knee injury.
The top-ranked Nadal said Monday he was still struggling with tendinitis in his right knee following a week of treatment.
“The knee said no,” the 22-year-old said.
Spain team doctor Angel Ruiz-Cotorro said Nadal would need three to six weeks to recover from the injury.
“These are very difficult moments, but I have done all that I could to be ready for the final,” he said. “It was a huge objective, and I’m used to playing with pain, but this is a distinct, new pain that I couldn’t control.”
Nadal’s absence deals a big blow to Spain’s bid for a third Davis Cup title since 2000. Spain captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario has until Tuesday to name his team.
Spain plays Argentina on indoor hard court at Mar del Plata from Nov. 21-23.
“We’re sorry for him, but it’s good news. Spain is one thing with Nadal and another thing without him,” Argentine captain Alberto Mancini told Buenos Aires-based radio station Continental.
All players should use different shoes for different surfaces. The main 2 differences are hard courts and ’slippery’ courts. (eg clay, dirt and synthetic grass)
On the weekend I watched a young player slip over on Synthetic Grass during the warm up for his match. Synthetic Grass has a layer of sand over it making it slippery. He slipped because of his shoes. He was wearing his 2 month old, hard court shoes. He had left his grass court shoes at home this time. After falling and taking some skin off he forfeited the match in the warm up!
(in an upcoming article I talk about what you SHOULD do if you injure yourself in a match)
Amazing, you can do all this training and practice and something simple like keeping 2 pairs of shoes in your bag can determine how well you play. Simple really! I personally always have both sets of shoes in my bag. Even if I am playing a ‘hard court tournament’ I will bring my grass court shoes just in case. Why? Well I know that if there is a delay sometimes other ‘outside’ courts are used. This may mean different tennis centers are used and potentially they can be a different surface.
Be strict with yourself. Never wear your grass court shoes on a hard surface – not even once. The hard courts just strip the tread off – you want maximum grip when you need it.
So why different shoes?
There are 2 main things to look for when deciding what shoes to wear when. Cushion and grip pattern.
On a hard court surface the pattern does not matter as much as the cushion. Having extra padding, cushioning, gel, air – whatever the technology – is important.
Elite players notice the difference between a good and inferior pair of shoes. Always purchase shoes with padding at the front as well as the heel. This subtle and overlooked difference can be the difference between you feeling light or heavy on your feet.
I remember playing in shoes which were the model down from the top model. It felt like I was playing in thongs. Tennis players spen alot of time on the balls of our feet – jumping for smashes, recovering from a wide ground stroke, going forward on our volleys. You really notice the difference with extra cushioning at the front.
The other reason why cushion matters on hard court is the heat of the court. Playing on a hot court in the middle of the day can be very draining. You need a large buffer between you and the court to keep that heat away from your feet.
Cushioning also – obviously – protects you from injury. By the shoe absorbing the impact – it stops you from taking the impact to your ankles, knees and leg muscles. You also want some ankle support.
Ok, now ’slippery’ surfaces. Clay, synthetic grass, grass etc. Cushioning and durability is less important. It is more about the tread pattern typically you want a shoe with the majority a heringbone pattern. The rubber can actually be softer so the shoe can mould to the surface of the court. The old Dunlop Volleys are a great shoe for these conditions – however – offer very little ankle support or cushioning.
NEVER wear your shoes on the wrong surface. You need your slippery tread to be fresh, not worn from use on a hard court. And Vice Versa.
Keep both pairs in your tennis bag if you are going to an event and there is a chance between playing on either surface. It can be the difference between winning and loosing.
I also recommend playing on both surfaces regularly. Playing on slippery surfaces is a completely different game to hard courts. They are both very enjoyable. We are going to discuss some surface strategies in an upcoming article.
