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Thus begins the first official edition of the TennisReporters.net mailbox, where I swear, I will answer questions more than once every two months. I'll be looking at my TR e-mail – cronin@tennisreporters.net – more frequently now so feel free to e-mail me at cronin@tennisreporters.net or go to the forum and pop a question. Here are some recent questions from Ellyn, Andrew, Richard, John and Martha and Xerox. I can't get to all of them, but will address some of the more current ones.
Q: Have you learned anything about Karolina Sprem and her coach, the controversial Borna Bikic? A: It appears that Sprem is back with her original coach, Sasa Hirszon (Goran Ivanisevic's old doubles partner). At Amelia Island, Hirszon signed up as the man who would coach her on-court for that event. I'm not sure whether Sprem still speaks to Bikic.
Q: I think Higueras can only help Federer, who looks as bad as I've seen him in years. Possibly the mono is playing a part, but his stay-back-at-the-baseline tactics I believe will not work anymore as the field has improved (Djokovic, Murray, Gasquet, Berdych, Davydenko). A: Agree that Higueras can only
help Federer, and that should not only come with increased practice,
but with how to best put his weapons to use on all surfaces. If Federer
is going to prosper on clay this year, he'll have to shorten more points
because clearly, the mono took a substantial toll on him physically
and he's lacking some pop off the ground. But he'll also have to be
super-patient at times (see Todd Martin's comments in my column on
Foxsports.com). Q: What did you think of Justin Gimelstob's criticism of Jon Wertheim's take on Andy Roddick on SI? A: I think that Justin needs to understand that there a clear difference in the way that Andy treats him and the other current and ex-players and the rest of the tennis industry. Just because Roddick engages in charity work and has some positive qualities doesn't mean that he's always a nice guy.
 Anne-Marie Stark Serena Williams has slimmed down and amped up her game. Q: Despite winning in Key Biscayne and looking to be in slightly better shape, Serena might be near the end. She is a far cry from 2002. Her transition game to the net is not pretty. A: Due to her bum knee, Serena will never be as quick as she was in 2002, but if she's patient and intelligently works her way into net when given the opportunity, she's still has one of the game's most effective volleys. I'd give her two more good years of major title contention if healthy.
Q: This is the best I've ever seen Davydenko look. He clearly is the best ball striker, beyond even Djokovic, Nalbandian, Davenport and Sharapova, although David's backhand may be the single best ground stroke in all of tennis. A: That's a big stretch, even though Davydenko does own great hands and does a terrific job at taking the ball on the rise. I'll take Djokovic over him off both wings, and would say that Federer has a far better forehand, volley and serve. I like Nalbandian's two-handed backhand, too, but can you seriously put that wing over Federer's or Nadal's forehand, or even Djokovic's backhand? Not me, and then his thick head comes into play...
Q: Why did ESPN drop coverage of the Masters Series events???? Maybe because ratings have plummeted, possibly because the tournaments put early and mid-tournament mismatches on the feature courts, thinking that Roddick vs. Schlebweeweb or Sharapova vs. Dinkatelafors is more compelling than is a 3 set war between Chela vs. Wawrinka? Or maybe because the networks do not explore and expose the fans to the best personalities of the game, which happen to be the international players right now (Djokovic, Safin, Wozniacki, Schnyder, Ivanovic, Jankovic, Ferrer, Baghdatis, Gonzalez), and instead kill us with Sharapova, Roddick, and Williams sisters interviews??? A: Because ESPN's ratings were nearly invisible and they didn't think that Master Series was worth the expenditure. Make way for more Internet broadcasts of matches (hopefully at a higher quality) because it doesn't look like the other channels will fill a need. The Tennis Channel doesn't have a broad enough distribution, Versus has yet to discover how to properly cover tennis and puts few resources into its coverage, and Fox regional channels are forced to put tennis behind their local [MLB, NBA and NHL] teams, which they are contractually obligated to. I'm off two minds about the personality issues:
stars clearly get better ratings, even in dog matches, but certainly,
the capable, personality-laden more unknown players need more exposure
if they are to attract more fans. But the trick is to hook folks before
they turn the channel and if, for example, Chela and Wawrinka aren't
engaged in the point of the century, who is going to keep their thumb
off the clicker? Q: Is Sam Stosur going to start playing on the tour again and playing doubles with Lisa Raymond? A: Stosur played an ITF $75k in Dothan, Alabama last week. She is entered in Rome and Roland Garros, but the WTA is unsure whether she and Lisa will be playing together again
Q: I saw a clip of Novak Djokovic on Jay Leno and he seemed to be insinuating that he and Sharapova were more than friends. What have you heard in your travels? A: I've heard that there is some interest from
both parties, but Djokovic is still publicly dating a Serbian woman
and Maria is keeping her options open. Q: I have seen a few events over the years where the ATP will call the surface hard, and ITF record it as carpet. Who would you rely on out of the ATP tour and the ITF site to get it right? Examples are the Zagreb event, as well as Lyon. A: Neither. I would go to the tournament web
site and look at the exact name of the surface before making the call.
Carpet is very rare these days, but there are some European tournaments
that use it.
A: Here's the word from WTA statistical genius Vani Vosburgh: Dokic is ranked No. 9999, the number the computer gives to anyone who has no ranking. A player must play 3 events within the current 52-week period to have a ranking. Jelena has 37 points but they are from only two tournaments, so she will not have a ranking until after she plays her next event, which turned out to be in Fes, this week, where she lost in the first round. She'll have a ranking when they are released on Monday.
A: Consider it stopped. No bias here. I might have to blame co-owner Ron Cioffi for the headline but … Federer did collapse, even though I think Nadal would have ended up winning anyway in the third. Agree that "gives" is too strong a term. But Rafa the best clay-court player ever? Not yet. That moniker still goes to Bjorn Borg and his six RG crowns. Ron Cioffi: After reading
your note, I've changed the headline to "Federer collapses,
Rafa takes another clay-court crown." Thanks for the input. © TennisReporters.net 2008
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