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NOTES ON A DRAW SHEET
Venus, Blake and Roddick's woes
Ginepri's phenomenal success; US tennis survey shows large minority growth;
Gerulaitis death site to be demolished
By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
Susan Mullane/
Camerawork USA, Inc. |
Venus Williams needs to take a hard look in the mirror and decide to what lengths she is willing to go to improve herself this year. Her loss to Meghann Shaughnessy at the NASDAQ-100 indicates that she isn't match tough, has done little to improve her shaky second serve and is lacking confidence in her forehand once again. Maybe she needs a new coach, maybe she needs a new trainer, or maybe she simply needs to ask herself what her goals are in life and how much she cares about playing, because the way her career is going right now, she's in no position to challenge Serena.
Shaughnessy is in Venus' head, but not in Jennifer Capriati's, who said last summer that Meghann couldn't crack an egg with her backhand. If Capriati plays at 90% of her ability, she'll win their quarterfinal in straight sets.
Shaughnessy is still too overly reliant on her inside-out forehand. Jelena Dokic is working triple-hard with new coach Heinz Gunthardt and her decision to go with Steffi Graf's old tutor already appears to be paying off.
She may not be ready to take out the likes of Kim Clijsters at the NASDAQ though, who remarkably has not yet tired in her fourth straight week of play.
Has there ever been more ludicrous scores than Monday's women's results from Key Biscayne? There were way too many 0, 1 and 2s for this deep in an event.
Or maybe depth is just an illusion. …
Even though she has been hurt and ill, Amelie Mauresmo should be embarrassed by the way Chanda Rubin crushed her. Chanda will need to bring the same level against Justine Henin-Hardenne, who
is looking very refreshed after skipping Indian Wells.
Ginepri's phenomenal success
Susan Mullane/
Camerawork USA, Inc. |
In case your browser went kaput the last two months and you have been unable to follow the men's tour, Andy Roddick and James Blake have both severely underachieved post-Aussie Open. Roddick should be routining Todd Martin at this point and Blake should be able to scratch out a three-setter over Robby Ginepri, even if he isn't playing well.
However, there is no question that Ginepri's progress this year has pleasantly surprised even the most cynical of us. His formerly mundane shotmaking is now creative and much more powerful than it was in 2002.
Don't expect Martin to retire any time soon. Given good health, tennis' Abe Lincoln will be around for at least two more years schooling young opponents and propping up the embattled ATP administration.
When Andre Agassi pulled out of Indian Wells with a bum shoulder, there was a suspicion that he could be out for a couple of months. But after he torched Jarkko Nieminen, it looks like he's once again ready to push Lleyton Hewitt for No. 1.
The last time Agassi played Mark Philippoussis – in San Jose in February – he embarrassed the big Aussie. But Flipper is playing with much more confidence now and should give Andre a tussle.
Three guys really need to step up in Florida (and I don't mean semis or better): Albert Costa, Carlos Moya and Roger Federer.
US tennis survey shows large minority growth
In attempting to more accurately quantify tennis participation throughout the US, the USTA and the Tennis Industry Association (TIA) announced 23.5 million Americans play tennis (defined as at least one time in the past 12 months), with participation holding steady over the past three years. Calling
it the "the most comprehensive single-sport participation research study ever commissioned in the United States by a sports organization," the study was conducted by the Taylor Research & Consulting Group and Sports Marketing Surveys, which contacted over 25,000 American households.
The survey found that:
- Growth in participation among new players is fueled by increased play among younger players (under the age of 18), African-Americans and Hispanics.
- Over 5.1 million new players, 13.3 million continuing players and 5.1 million rejoining players (those who returned to playing after at least a year off) constitute the US tennis playing population. The median age of these rejoiners is 31 with 30% of these players in the 35-49 age group.
- More than one in five tennis players is a first-time player in the past year. The median age of all first-time players is 15, and those under age 18 comprise nearly two-thirds of all new players.
- The bad news: 20.6 million lapsed players have left the game for various reasons. But 13 million people who do not currently play were likely to consider playing tennis this year (including 8 million non-players, and 5 million former players).
- On the frequency front, 8 million Americans (3% of U.S. population; 35% of current tennis players) played one to three times last year.
- 10.5 million (4% of U.S. population; 45% of tennis players) identified themselves as regular players, playing four to 20 times in the past year.
- Only 5.1 million (1.9% U.S. population; nearly 22% of tennis players) described themselves as frequent players, playing 21 or more times in the past year.
- On the multicultural front, 6% of all players are African-Americans, 9% of new players are African-Americans; 13% of all players are Hispanic American, while they represent 20% of new players.
- The average age base of new players is 18; average age of total players is 29.
- Females comprise 45% of player base and 52% of new players.
- The highest levels of tennis participation are in California, New York, Florida, Texas and Illinois.
- 75% of players play on public courts.
Gerulaitis death site to be demolished
Our friend and paddle-tennis addict Tim Corridon passed this on: According to the NY Post, the Southampton oceanfront estate where the late Vitas Gerulaitis perished will be demolished this weekend. The 18-year-old estate is owned by Auto Mall mogul Donald Toresco. The 4.5-acre locale features a 17-room house nearly 500 feet of oceanfront, a tennis court, hot tub and two swimming pools.
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