FROM THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN, SUNDAY, JAN. 23–
Jo Tsonga has never played a five setter, an extraordinary stat if one
considers that he’s been on tour for six and half year years. So
let’s the call the high-flying Frenchman Mr. four-setter after he
came back from a break down and took out the competent veteran Tommy Haas
6 4, 3 6, 6 1, 7 5 to reach the fourth round.
Beating the German at a Slam has been a very difficult task for anyone
over the past two years, so it was a huge win for Big Jo, who due to a
mediocre 2009, came into the Aussie Open without much backing. Who would
have thought that after his roaring run to the 2008 finals that he wouldn’t
even be considered amongst the top seven picks to win the tournament,
and that he’d be tossed into a heap of dark horses with the likes
of the streaky Fernando Verdasco and the wet-behind-the-ears Marin Cilic?
But Tsonga has to be way too erratic as of late and has been unable to
smooth out the very rough edges of his game. His conditioning has been
suspect, his backhand has been attackable, his movement has been questionable
when he’s not in a good head space, and let’s not even discuss
his shot selection.
But the 24-year-old’s ability is there: a massive first serve, terrific
volleys, a willingness to charge, a huge forehand and a love of the occasion.
He’ll have the steady and hard hitting Spaniard Nicolas Almagro
in the next round and if he plays to form, the 10th seed is a huge favorite
to advance to the quarters, where he’ll like say Bon Jour to Novak
Djokovic, the same man who wore him down in the 2008 final.
“I think I will be dangerous,” Tsonga said. “Now it's
a new tournament begin, and it's gonna be the second week. Yeah, it's
gonna be different. I know I have my chance, and I will try to take it.
It's better to play in front of 10,000 people than two people that, I
don't know, somewhere in the bush. It's good for me. I enjoy every moment,
every match, every point I play on this court.”
Venus Not Satisfied
As she’s grown older, Venus Williams has become even more enigmatic
and it’s really hard to get a read on these days. Just how much
does she want it anymore and in saying that, I mean huge titles, not just
decent play and a few deep runs here and there. She says she still yearns
for more and I largely take her at her word, but how in creation does
one explain her mediocre results at the Aussie Open since she blew the
2003 final to Serena?
It’s nearly inexplicable, although there’s no doubt that she
should seriously consider changing her pre-Aussie Open routine and take
a page out of Serena’s book and compete in a WTA Tournament in Brisbane
of Sydney, rather than the play the Hong Kong exo, where she’s getting
big bucks but no meaningful matches.
But Venus has always marched to the beat of her own drummer and once she
decides something, there really is no changing her mind. She says she
open to improving and is always looking to add new elements to her game,
but that the 29-year-old hasn’t become a serve and volleyer at this
stage in her career is a bit disturbing, considering that she has lost
a little speed and can no longer bash the other elite players off the
court from the baseline. Yes, she comes into net a lot more than she did
a decade ago, but why not make the full transition, especially when her
greatest success since 2001 has been when she stretching out at the cords
at Wimbledon and with the full knowledge in her head that since 2002,
she’s only won two sizeable outdoor tournaments on cement, the year-end
2008 WTA Championships in Doha and 2009 Dubai.
That’s a full six years of play on hardcourts folks without a lot
to show for it.
Nonetheless, Venus keeping striding forward, nearly 16 years since she
first made her debut in Oakland as a stringy, happy go lucky girl. In
the off-season, she thought hard about how she could make another push
to the top.
“Obviously with professional sports you can't remain stagnant,”
she said. “Every off season I'm thinking of which ways I can play
better. There are a couple things here, couple things, da, da, da, da,
here, da, da, da, there. And then you know it was like, da, da, da, da.”
La Dee Dah indeed.
Venus says there’s no part of her game that she’s completely
satisfied with, which would be an indication that she believes she can
improve, but whatever she’s been working on with her traveling coach,
David Witt, it hasn’t consistently come to the forefront.“Who's
ever satisfied? The people that have retired. The people still on tour,
we're not satisfied. I think that's definitely my attitude,” she
noted.Venus has looked pretty good in wins over Lucie Safarova, Sybille
Bammer and Casey Dellacqua and will face Francesca Schiavone in the fourth
round. Her first serve has been effective, her backhand remains a dependable
weapon and her forehand on the run has been spot on. But her second serve
still goes up and down and when she’s not moving her feet, she’s
prone to errors off her forehand side. It’s hard to see her losing
to Schiavone, but Caroline Wozniacki or Na Li loom and both are capable
of taking her down.
But for all the talk about the revealing dress she’s wearing in
Melbourne and her love of design, she still says tennis is her No. 1.
So maybe she’ll surprise a lo of us and actually make a title run.
And yes, at this point in her carrer, it would be a bit of surprise.
“ Tennis is more fascinating than design,” she said. You have
to work hard at anything that you want to be good at. This is definitely
what I found trying things off the court. It's all challenging, but I
like [tennis] best.”
