absolutely alex’s adventures & times

“I hope the media don’t start “killing” Roger for this. He doesn’t deserve it and he is really a great guy. I am sure he will win soon again,” close rival Rafael Nadal said in his blog on Tennis.com, referring to Roger Federer’s defeat by Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami yesterday.

Nadal’s parents should be so proud to have raised such a gracious champion. But the media, and some bloggers, might not be as kind to Federer as Nadal.

Considering how hard psychologically it is for Roddick to try to bring an end to the 11-game losing streak against Federer, it was a sign of the tide turning against Federer, that Roddick dug in and believed. It is also a sign that things will only get more difficult for Federer in future, as more players lose their fear of playing him and believe in themselves more, having the faith that they can beat the great Federer and that he is no longer endowed with an aura of invincibility.

But that’s not to take credit away from Roddick’s game. This season, he had been proving his chops, already winning two titles, beating Nadal and Novak Djokovic so far. It looks like the high-profile split with his coach Jimmy Connors did not do Roddick any harm. Or if you looked at it another way, their parting of ways was actually good for Roddick. Or maybe it is his euphoria of being engaged, to a swimsuit model, no less. That sure could motivate a man.

In truth, Federer is in a funk that he does not seem to be able to shake. This is the first time he had not reached a final of a tournament, since 2000. Law of statistics or not, Federer’s consistency seems to be deserting him at this crucial juncture. Confidence appears to be an issue too. The old Federer would have had the mental edge to push himself to come back and win. He would no doubt have loved to be the winner in Miami, just to silence the critics and prove that he is not losing his touch, as so many have condemned him to be.

The season, however, has just started and has a long way to go. And Federer is working hard to make up ground on his weakest surface, clay. He is moving to Europe next and will be in many clay court events, in the run-up to the big prize, the French Open in Roland Garros. He would have to deliver in those events, so that the heat would be off him a little.

His female counterpart, Justine Henin, looks to be in a similarly vulnerable position. The start of this year has not been kind to her either.

While some might say that she does not usually come into her game until the clay court season, which is her best surface, it is the way in which she was defeated so far this year that should be a matter of concern for her and her coach.

Henin lost 6-4, 6-0 to Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, and scored another bagel when Serena Williams beat her even more badly, 6-2, 6-0, in Miami. Perhaps her body is finally tired of taking all the strain she has been handing it for years, but getting trounced with a humiliating bagel is not the kind of score you would expect from a world number one.

In her defense, Henin, unlike Federer, has already picked up two titles this year, one in Sydney and one in Antwerp. But what many critics have been saying, about how thin the women’s field is, does not seem off the mark, given how the Williams sisters are able to play occasionally and still whip their higher-ranked opponents.

This year could be a watershed year in the tennis world, with both the men’s and women’s number one on the brink of being dethroned, if both Federer and Henin fail to step up and defend their titles and rankings.

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What an exciting start the Australian Open has been for the new tennis season.

New stars were born and some of the established stars faced rude shocks during the past two weeks.

Yet, what a ride it had been for fans, for so many fabulous reasons. Despite all the drama, it’s only the beginning of the year – which means there are lots of reasons for tennis fans to keep their eyes and ears peeled for the months ahead.

1. The women

A. Maria the Assassin

Apologies for the somewhat inappropriate reference but Maria Sharapova is back, baby, and the others had better watch out.

After the full recovery from her shoulder injury and a miserable 2007, Maria has found her mojo once again and is more menacing than ever.

Never mind that she holds only the number five spot in the rankings. With her newfound confidence and renewed aggression, Sharapova is in devastating form and is the one to beat. She has proven her versatility in the sport, having won Wimbledon 2004, the US Open in 2006 and now, the Australian Open. (Does anyone else notice that even years seem to work better for the Russian blonde?) More ominously, she mowed down heavy-weights in her quest for the Australian Open title, without having to drop a single set.

It’s so easy to hate Sharapova – for her glamorous good looks, the on-court shrieking, her psycho dad, and the early successes. But Sharapova looks to have developed a new level of maturity and grace that has boosted her game, making her detractors eat their words while she blows the competition clear out of the water.

Her Kryptonite, like Roger Federer, is the red clay at Roland Garrros, which means that she would not be the favorite to win this year’s French Open. But the girl’s only 20, so there’s probably plenty of time for her before she too, will add the trophy from Paris to her mantel.

B. Justine Henin

What of the women’s world number one?

She remains the odds-on favorite to lift the Roland Garros crown once again, come this summer. But with Sharapova’s renewed hunger and power, Henin would have to fight harder not only to remain the top dog but also to win her first Wimbledon title.

Like a female Federer, Henin is facing a new wave of young and eager talent hungry to dethrone her. However, it is still too early to write the 25-year old Belgian off. Hers might not be the power game favored by today’s younger players but her sharp intelligence and quick thinking, together with an indomitable spirit, still make her a dangerous opponent.

With her devastating loss to Sharapova in the Australian Open quarterfinals, you can bet that Henin would go back to the drawing board and work even harder.

C. The Serbians and the other Eastern Europeans

At this point, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic just do not have the mental edge to take them to the level of tennis occupied by Henin and Sharapova. Both the Serbians have made vast improvements, especially the younger Ivanovic. Somehow, they are not quite ready to take it to the next level of actually winning Grand Slams, even if they might be physically ready – well, Ivanovic at least, while Jankovic seems to be too bogged down by her multiple injuries currently.

Ivanovic has played in two Grand Slam finals but still needs work on her mental game to be up there with the champions. Again, age is on her side and perhaps she will finally break through later this year, or next year.

Daniela Hantuchova – what a waste! The girl’s got the talent but not the mental fortitude nor self-belief to match her game. She is in danger of being written off as yet another “choker” and with every tournament that she throws away, it is getting harder for her fulfil her promise.

Are we ever going to see the other Russians in the women’s circuit stepping up?

The Svetlana Kutznetsovas, the Elena Dementievas and the Anna Chakvetadzes are constantly in the top 20, even the top 10, but one can’t help feeling that they are there to round up the numbers and for the top-rung to pick through on their way to racking up titles.

D. The Williams

This Australian Open truly shattered the aura of their ability to dominate the women’s game as and when they choose to.

Their former victims have ended up beating them convincingly and despite more training and effort put in by the Williams, they can no longer come along and mop up the competition, as the women’s field gains depth.

Would they still slog on? Do they have the interest to keep fighting to win the big events? Who really knows when it comes to the Williams?

2. The men

A. Federer the (temporarily) fallen

Sure, Federer was taken out in straight sets by the eventual Australian Open winner, Novak Djokovic.

But who among us hasn’t had a bad day at the office?

It’s just that when the likes of Federer have a bad day, EVERYONE notices. And the vultures swoop in.

Hold your horses – it’s still too early to write the Swiss maestro’s obituary. No doubt the road to winning more Grand Slams (3 more to beat Pete Sampras’ all-time record) is going to get more arduous for Federer, but he still has time, and more significantly, the game, to crush lesser mortals.

It is proof of the kind of class Federer has when he repeatedly played down the effect of his bout of illness that he suffered just before the Australian Open. Swiss newspapers had shed light on the fact that not only was he hospitalized, he lost something like three kilograms due to that ailment. So Federer was not at his best nor well-prepared enough to face the rigors of a tournament at Grand Slam level.

The ironic thing is, this loss could well spurn Federer on to train harder, soup up his strategy and even find a coach to tighten his game. Expect him to come back hungrier and perhaps more aggressive – he wants to chase down Sampras’ record and he would want to do it sooner rather than later.

B. Nadal is not over the hill either

Poor Rafa.

He had it even worse than Federer.

Critics were quick to dismiss him as nothing more than a clay-court specialist. But they forget to mention that Nadal’s semi-final outing in this Australian Open is his best result ever.

And what a class act the Spaniard was after his defeat by the giant-killer Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. No excuses, no belittling his opponent. In his blog, Nadal gave full credit to Tsonga’s brilliant play.

And Nadal is still improving. At 21, he is already holding three French Open titles, plus a serious shot at winning last year’s Wimbledon. Nadal remains the top contender to be the next world number one. So give him a break.

C. Djokovic stops (d)joking

The ambition. The hunger. The dedication. And now, the Australian Open crown.

Djokovic has proven to be a quick study and is indubitably here to stay as the gate-crasher to Federer’s and Nadal’s dominance.

At this moment, hard courts seem to be his domain and with more hard court matches than other surfaces in the men’s tour, Djokovic will enjoy much success.

But it’s striking how quickly he switched from being everyone’s favorite joker on the circuit when he did spot-on imitations of his peers, to one facing an openly partisan crowd against him in Melbourne.

For the young Serbian who wears his heart on his sleeves, loves attention and adores adulation, the Melbourne crowd’s lukewarm reaction to his moment of greatest triumphs smarted badly.

He has himself to blame for the lacklustre crowd support.

For one, his gamesmanship has annoyed many, especially the sports-mad Aussies and their sense of fairplay. When Djokovic celebrates points won against opponents, his chest-thumping and screams carry too much of an edge that smacks of arrogance. No wonder then that the crowd had not embraced him, giving his wins appreciative applause but saving heartfelt cheers for his opponents.

He might have made history by being the first Serbian man to win a Grand Slam tournament. No doubt he will win a few more. But there’s still some ways to go before he can get the appreciation and support he craves.

D. Tsonga the French sensation

Tsonga is living proof that when the French have it, they have it in bucket-loads.

Only someone with his charisma and talent could overshadow the other fantastic storyline of the tournament despite not hoisting the champion’s trophy – that of Djokovic winning his first Grand Slam title.

The crowds at Melbourne lapped up the Frenchman’s electrifying go-for-broke style, booming serves and astonishing shot-making. And they obligingly roared louder every time Tsonga incites them to bring down the house.

Add to that Tsonga’s compelling personal story of nearly losing the chance to compete at the top-level, as his body let him down again and again in the past three years, first his back, then his shoulder and abdomen.

With his body finally playing ball, he was able to unleash an irresistible brand of tennis, entering the stratosphere of tennis superstardom.

The big risk is that Tsonga will be one of the many shooting stars that fall off just as quickly. But if he keeps up with the exuberance and audacity that he had displayed in Melbourne, he would doubtless be unforgettable, and another serious, and welcome, contender.

Now if only I can get my body clock back to normal hours after having stayed up till the wee hours to catch the matches for the past two weeks…

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What a Wimbledon tournament this has been!

All that rain washing play out notwithstanding, tomorrow’s women’s singles final is going to be played by two players whose chances hadn’t been much-fancied — Venus Williams and France’s Marion Bartoli.

They are also the two women ranked the lowest to have reached the Wimbledon finals ever. And if 23th-seeded Venus wins, she could be the lowest-seeded player to win there.

Not that Venus is some fresh-faced newbie shaking up the tennis world — after all, she had won here three times before and is on track to add a fourth Wimbledon trophy. But Venus had been playing sparingly in the past year after being injury-plagued and distracted by other interests such as fashion and Hollywood.

The Williams sister that everyone had thought had the better chance of winning this year’s title, Serena, was stopped in the quarterfinals by her arch rival, Belgium’s Justine Henin.

But Bartoli could have made the quest for the crown to return to the Williams family easier by shocking everyone with her upset win over Henin.

Bartoli, though 18-seeded, showed no nerves in her first Wimbledon semi-finals and displayed grit by coming back from her 1-6 first set defeat to stun Henin by taking the next two sets, humiliating Henin in the third set by getting ahead 5-0. Henin’s only consolation was salvaging some pride by winning one game in the final set, to finish 1-6 against an ebullient Bartoli.

Venus, who is a lower seed and less favored, has blasted her way into her sixth Wimbledon final. Along the way, she had steamrolled players such as Russia’s Maria Sharapova and Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic.

There were no strong indications that Venus could’ve come as far as she did, with a good shot of winning the whole thing altogether. Venus was looking shaky in the first three rounds, against lower-ranked players like 59th-ranked Alla Kudryavtseva and 71st-placed Akiko Morigami.

But Venus suddenly displayed the fine form that showed why she had won at Wimbledon so many times before. In the round of 16, Venus totally annihilated Sharapova in straight sets. She continued her run in the quarterfinals, again wiping out Svetlana Kuznetsova easily.

Today, she took out rising star Ivanovic, who displayed flashes of brilliance but ultimately had no answer to Venus’ aggression and dominance. Williams broke Ivanovic twice early in the first set and never looked back after that. Ivanovic disappointed by crumbling again in a big match and although she fought back in the second set, she looks like she has to work harder on her mental game.

By far, Venus is the fastest-moving player on the women’s side, and along with her incredible power, self-confidence and will to regain her former glory, Venus will be a tough opponent for Bartoli to beat tomorrow.

On the man’s side of the game, the match of the day had to be between Marcos Baghdatis and Serbia’s other tennis star, Novak Djokovic. Djokovic is living up to the hype that he’s the man with the goods to win at Majors, when he not only endured a 5-hour match, he also overcame back pain. More importantly, Djokovic displayed tremendous tactical and strategic thinking in the fifth set to thwart Baghdatis.

Tomorrow, Djokovic must dig even deeper to face the awaiting Rafael Nadal, in a repeat of the French Open semifinals last month. It’s going to be tough, when he has played two preceding matches that lasted over four hours and five sets. But there’s no doubt that Djokovic is right up there with the best.

Today, Venus Williams showed the champion that she is, crushing Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-3 in a first-rate match at the fourth round of Wimbledon that had the look and feel of a championship game.

Of the two, Venus had more tricks up her sleeves; moving well, serving phenomenally and being aggressive right from the start, not letting up on the pressure on the Russian. No matter how hard Sharapova shrieked and tried to psyche herself, she was helpless against the relentless Venus, who had a stranglehold on her serve and didn’t drop it once during the match.

Venus also showed Sharapova why she was a three-time winner at Wimbledon, with her sure and rapid groundstrokes and agility. Sharapova by contrast, seemed stuck to the baseline. The few times she tried to move forward, she was punished, no doubt increasing her unease at playing at the net. It looked like her determination and will to succeed were the only things that pushed her on, where she mentally refused to be cowed by Venus’ pressure, even if her game was.

There were occasions when Sharapova looked like she could assert herself, particularly in the third game of the second set, but that was when her serve was under threat. She never came close to threatening Venus’ serve at any point in the match. In contrast, Venus was close to, or breaking, Sharapova’s every serve.

Venus goes on to face 2004 US Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals. More significantly, Venus’ last trip to the quarters at a major was at the 2005 US Open.

Her little sister, Serena, is playing Belgium’s Justine Henin in the quarterfinals today. That’s bound to be a tougher match, as Henin is a much wilier player than Sharapova, and has more variety in her game. Henin is also playing her best tennis ever, mixing up her game with effective serve and volley, while displaying a new mental fortitude and contentment as she reconciles with her long-estranged family.

Serena recently survived her fourth-set match after a dramatic cramp, and could be finding it a little tough to move the way she wants to. She is also determined to play on, despite doctors’ advise against it. But there’s no underestimating will and determination.

It’s going to be a treat for tennis fans today.

Good thing I’m not the betting type. I would have lost badly over the weekend, having backed Roger Federer and Ana Ivanovic to win the French Open men’s and women’s singles titles respectively, but they were both beaten convincingly by their opponents Rafael Nadal and Justine Henin.

Even as Federer was denied his chance to make history by becoming the third man ever to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time, he would probably have to do some serious analysis of how he fared during the match against Nadal, and find a coach, fast.

Federer showed that he was human after all, when he committed 60 unforced errors in the match (vs 28 by Nadal) and only converted one out of 17 break points (a miserly six per cent, compared to Nadal’s 40 per cent, or four out of 10). His serves and forehand, both usually instruments of terror were largely neutralized by Nadal. Federer’s crushing dominance against everybody else was brought to an abrupt halt at Nadal’s feet, who refused to be intimidated nor to give in even when he was down.

Perhaps the pressure was too much on Federer. Expectations for him had been so high coming into the tournament, as he seeks not only to win the only Grand Slam title that’s been out of his grasp but also to hold four consecutive Grand Slam titles.

Federer will certainly try again next year but as he will be 26 then, time might not be his best ally. Nadal on the other hand, has only just turned 21 and is likely to have a few more years to peak and stabs at other Grand Slam tournaments.

But Federer should take heart. He’s in the company of some illustrious tennis champions who have swept every other Grand Slam save the French Open — Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker. And 10 Grand Slam titles to his name is something no one can sniff at.

Still, being a champion is about being competitive. At least it will give Federer something else to aim for. “Obviously, if I would have won today — again, same thing happened last year — I would have had not many other goals to chase in my career. Like this, it stays open. And, eventually, if I get it, the sweeter it’s going to taste,” Federer told reporters after his loss.

As for 19-year old Ivanovic, her mental strength obviously needed more development, the way she crumbled in her match against Henin. But she is young and was perhaps hit by a severe case of nerves, of being in her first final in a Grand Slam tournament, and of facing the world number one and three-time French Open champion across the net.

She started bravely enough, breaking Henin at the opening game, but lost her footing and self-confidence after that and appeared in a hurry to end the nightmare.

But in time, Ivanovic will hopefully gain the experience and confidence in her abilities, and prove to be the champion that she has shown so much promise of being.

Don’t we all love an underdog story?

19-year old Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic has a great one. She grew up playing tennis inside a drained Olympic-sized swimming pool. Yes, you read right. And playing in the pool most likely helped her develop her deadly but accurate shots that stayed in line.

The New York Times related that story, to illustrate how far the teenager who grew up in a country (a part of now-defunct Yugoslavia) which didn’t have much of a tennis-playing tradition, had come. At this year’s French Open, there are three female Serbian players in the semi-final stage. Novak Djokovic is their compatriot who’s a rising star on the men’s side.

But the ex-Yugoslavia had another other tennis great, Monica Seles, who was training in the US.

As a child, Ivanovic was so inspired by Seles that she grew up wanting to be a professional tennis player.

Her story should inspire. Running out of money from her family and sponsors in Serbia, Ivanovic was sponsored by a German businessman, which allowed her to go to Switzerland to train.

That has all been worthwhile. Today, Ivanovic annihilated Russian diva Maria Sharapova with a stunning 6-2, 6-1 defeat in their semi-final match in the French Open. Not a moment too soon, as Sharapova’s shrieks were getting unbearably annoying.

On Saturday, Ivanovic will meet the world’s top clay-court player, Justine Henin, who’s trying to make a bit of history herself, by going for her fourth French Open title, and her third consecutive. Interestingly enough, Ivanovic’s inspiration Seles was the last woman to have won three French Open crowns consecutively.

Another coincidence – Henin beat another Serbian, Jelena Jankovic, during the other semi-final, to face Ivanovic for the title match.

Henin will be a tough hurdle for Ivanovic, no matter how hard we might cheer for the underdog.

But with the crop of talent like the two Serbians, there’s perhaps hope for the future of women’s tennis.

The highly-anticipated quarter-final French Open match between Serena Williams and Justine Henin turned out to be an anti-climax, when Serena broke her supporters’ hearts everywhere by going down in straight sets to Henin (6-4. 6-3).

It’s not so much that Henin beat Serena, it’s more like Serena beat herself, which is the saddest thing of all, for a fan at least.

There were only brief flashes of that brilliance during the 78-minute match, but most of the time, hell, even from the start, Serena just wasn’t there and in the game.

She didn’t fight hard, nor did she seem determined enough.

Why, Serena, why?

Everyone had such high hopes for the amazingly gifted young woman, who surprised all when, against the odds, she won in Australian Open earlier this year, despite not having put in enough practice.

Perhaps that’s when her myth started growing again, the talk built up about her brilliance, athleticism and determination. More importantly, people thought she was back and hungry.

But Paris with clay-court surfaces is a different story from the hard courts in Australia, I suppose.

Funny that Serena said post-match that all Henin had to do in the match was show up. But Serena herself never did.

She would have had to do more than just show up to beat Henin, who’s currently the strongest female clay-court player and has lots going for her – with a messy marriage behind her, being comfortable on the clay-court surface and playing before a supportive crowd (the French are natural Henin supporters as she’s from the French-speaking part of Belgium). And clay-court isn’t exactly Serena’s best surface.

But at least both players were gracious to each other this time. There was no repeat of the 2003 match, when during the semi-final, their game turned ugly as Henin displayed unsportsmanlike behavior and Serena was booed out of court by a partisan crowd.

So, no more Americans in the French Open.

Well, there’s always Wimbledon….

And of course, the Federer- Nadal match, which would make the French Open still fun.

For sport fans, there’s recently been no end to the disappointment after disappointment that sport have been delivering these days.

First, the devastating news that former Tour de France champ Bjarne Riis had used illegal substances to win the title in 1996, which follows confessions by five other cyclists who had been racing with him.

And this, while guilt is still hanging over last year’s winner Floyd Landis, suspected of doping himself to make a seemingly impossible comeback and grabbing the title towards the end of the race.

As if that wasn’t enough, just name the top names in cycling and chances are, they’ve been linked to one doping scandal or another — Ivan Basso, Jan Ulrich and Tyler Hamilton are just a few that come to mind.

The only other prominent cycling name who has steadfastly insisted on being fueled solely by training and will power, is Lance Armstrong.

I desperately want to believe that Armstrong won his record-breaking string of Tour de France titles through his obsessive training and superior determination, coupled with his remarkable come-back-from-near-death inspirational story. But the way things are heading, I would be upset but I don’t expect to be heartbroken if one day in the future, he too says he has won with a little extra help.

The entire sport is in danger of falling into disrepute and the worst thing to happen to it, would be if the response to the next cyclist confessing to doping is met not with outrage and anger, but with a matter-of-factness bordering on expectance.

In Formula One, the McLaren team is under investigation for possibly fixing the outcome of Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, with suspicions that McLaren’s chief Ron Dennis ordered Lewis Hamilton to give in to eventual winner Fernando Alonso, by falling back and mounting less of a challenge.

Team McLaren ended with a one-two finish in the race, but is likely to be in breach of rules that forbid the violation of international sporting code through acts prejudicial to the interests of the competition.

While Dennis denied any wrongdoing, the incident if true, is another distressing example of sports losing its spirit of true competition to cynical forces while athletes can’t compete freely. It might not sound as bad as doping but it is certainly disheartening to know that sports fans’ emotional investments are based on shams.

And even as Roland Garros is looking at facing scheduling chaos while rains wreaked havoc on play and the excitement revolves around whether Roger Federer will finally win a French Open crown, the women’s field is looking bleak.

Justine Henin remained her usual whiney self, complaining about the weather, noise, her age and other matters. And the gifted and brilliant Serena Williams continues to squander her talents, looking wobbly in the first round against a lowly-ranked 19-year old. The road ahead may be a bigger struggle for the player who had played in few matches this year but has been more preoccupied with Hollywood and starting fashion and beauty lines.

Which brings me back to the elegant Federer, whose play is poetry in motion and a joy to behold, even in the sluggish clay.

Can Federer, in his striking turquoise ensemble set against the dusty red clay, once again outplay and outlast Raphael Nadal like he did in Hamburg? Here’s hoping there will still be sporting inspirations like Federer and Tiger Woods out there, even as sport continues it downward slide and scandals increasingly become the sad rule.