Tennis Note #6
The March Madness of Tennis
Seattle is breathtakingly beautiful, especially during the cherry blossom season. However, Seattle is worthless for a tennis fan. There are literally no ATP or WTA tournaments in a 150 mile radius. On top of that, the time difference pretty much kills you during most of the season. So when I found out Canada was hosting Japan at UBC for the first round of Davis Cup, there was no hesitation. A chance to see Kei Nishikori v. Milos Raonic? I am there. No convincing required. Let it be known, until this moment, I had actually never seen a Davis Cup match ever. Ever. But I knew people described the atmosphere like the ‘World Cup of Tennis’. Not to mention, I had not seen live tennis since US Open 2010 (Side note: I ended up watching Elena Dementieva’s last grand slam match courtside on Ashe despite my $50 ticket).
The crowd atmosphere was INCREDIBLE. Despite having no allegiance to Canada or Japan, I blended in with my red and white t-shirt. I was also sandwiched between a drum ensemble and a pro-Canadian section so I tried to keep my cheers for Kei to a minimum (ha, as if). I think the funniest moment was right before the tournament. The head of the Canadian section and the head of the Japanese section exchanged handshakes and gifts. These two countries take their tennis seriously, especially when they have such amazing young talent in the top 10. The match itself was five sets (6–3, 3–6, 4–6, 6–2, 4–6) and despite Milos’s loss, Vasek Pospisil defeated Go Soeda afterwards ( 7–5, 6–3, 6–4), giving his country the win. For $36, I would say I got my money’s worth or at least my pictures do. Apparently, this same venue will feature Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Michael Chang, and Mark Philippoussis in May.
March features two major outdoor hard court tournaments for both the ATP and WTA: BNP Paribas Open aka Indian Wells (California) owned by Larry Ellison and Miami Open (Florida), newly sponsored by Itaú and owned by IMG. Remember my chart on tennis note 4? Well, just as a reminder, these two tournaments are each worth 1000 ranking points. What does that mean? If you win both, it is equivalent to a grand slam. Even if you win one, it’s like reaching somewhere between a semifinal and final of a grand slam. These are big tournaments. In fact, Indian Wells has one of the largest stadiums in the world and usually termed the ‘Grand Slam of the West’ or ‘Fifth Grand Slam’. There is plenty to talk about on and off the court starting with the ranking change for the men.
- Novak Djokovic
- Roger Federer
- ANDY MURRAY
- KEI NISHIKORI
- Rafael Nadal
- Milos Raonic
The women’s section is the same although Carla Suarez Navarro has entered the top 10.
In my last note, I talked about the impact of social media. Well, here is my multimedia list of some highlights and definitely not a complete list.
Key Results:
Indian Wells and Miami Open Men’s winner is Novak Djokovic for the third time. One away from tying Roger Federer in total Masters 1000 titles.
I had to commentate the Miami Open Final on @ByTheMinTennis. I think the most unforgettable shots from Murray were all in this game.
Indian Wells Women’s winner is Simona Halep, who battles Jelena Jankovic: 2–6, 7–5, 6–4. She also played incredibly against Serena at Miami coming back from multiple breaks to push Serena 6–2, 4–6, 7–5.
Miami Open Women’s winner is Serena Williams for a record-breaking 8th time. Despite the loss, Carla Suarez Navarro makes her first Premier final and a sign of better things to come.
Most talked about on every form of media possible: Serena Williams returns to Indian Wells. She gets a huge standing ovation. Eventually reaches the semifinal put withdraws with an injury.
A quiet but long awaited return: Mardy Fish has battled a cardiac arrhythmia but more importantly, he continues to battle his anxiety disorder. Welcome back, Mardy!
Parental Struggles: Timea Bacsinszky openly speaks about how tennis broke apart her family and her difficult relationship with her dad. It really is a familiar story in the tennis scene. She has come back now and dominated this year, winning 2/3 titles.
The Kids: Lots of kids are slowly on the rise. Check out this tremendous shot from Dominic Thiem to win the first set against Andy!
Not to mention, Sloane Stephens vs. Belinda Bencic.
Milos Milestone: Milos Raonic defeated Rafael Nadal in an EPIC battle.
Double Trouble: Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil won Indian Wells and reached the final of Miami for doubles. The Wimbledon champs of last year are absolutely dominant in doubles right now. It will be interesting to see how they do on clay together.
Bryan Bros. Chest Bump. 105th Title. Enough Said.
On the women’s side, Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis seem rather unstoppable. The won both Indian Wells and Miami against the same Russian duo, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
Injury-free return: Many players back from injury including Juan Martin Del Potro, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, and Jack Sock! Nick Kyrgios came back…but then got reinjured.
That one person in the draw no one saw coming: While there is always a qualifier that takes you off your guard, two major players surprised me:
John Isner had a brutal defeat during Davis Cup against James Ward: 6-7, 5-7. 6-3, 7-6, 15-13. His start to the year had been less than ideal. So imagine our surprise as Isner reached the 4th round at Indian Wells and semifinal of Miami, losing to Novak in both instances. Isner had to beat Nishikori, Raonic, and Dimitrov (Baby 3*)to get to the semifinal.
Sloane Stephens reached the 4th Round and quarterfinal of the two tournaments. She fell to Simona Halep and Serena Williams but she played incredible tennis to get to that point. Perhaps a resurgence in form has started?
*Baby 3 because they are the youngest in top 15.
Sportsmanship Award:
Goodbye. We won’t miss you:
Welcome Back to Queens, Rafa!
Your quick reflexes will be necessary.
Reusable GIF:
Best Twitter Exchange:
Most debated tweet with my friends who don’t really watch tennis but take Disney seriously:
My favorite tweets:
And finally, hello clay court season! How I have missed you…
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