 |
 |
|
|
Senior-itis: Sampras, Mac, Courier set to wow BostonSummer of 1980 book will cut into writer's scheduleBy Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net
None of the tournaments on the ATP and WTA board this week have really wet my whistle, so it's a good time to hop on a plane and head to Boston, where for the first time, I'll get a good look at Jim Courier's group of high-level senior males, namely the Champions Tour, who are stopping at Boston University's Agannis Arena May 2-6. It should be a terrific tournament, with Pete Sampras coming on board to join Courier, John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Pat Cash, Todd Martin, Petr Korda and Wayne Ferreira. Ticket sales are said to be going briskly, which is a good sign in a nation that has been spotty about supporting senior tennis. But there are a lot of personalities on board and while the ball-striking might not be up to Federer-Nadal standards, it's certainly good enough for most of the tennis watching populace, especially in cities like Boston, which is sadly lacking a pro tournament. I mention this jaunt because this trip will signal a bit of change on this web site. I have about a year to finish a book on McEnroe and Bjorn Borg's "Summer of 1980" and, as a result, I'll be visiting the senior circuits more and will be doing a little less writing from the regular tour events. Yes, I'll be at all the Slams again, and yes, at most of my California standard tournaments, but the large day-in, day-out blogs won't be as frequent. I'll try to make sure to buttress the site with some tales from the former greats and include their insights on today's game, but there are only so many hours in a day and as much as I've tried to create new ones this year for TennisReporters.net, I simply cannot find any. So wherever I am, I'll be emphasizing quality over quantity. Hopefully, that will mean more interesting pieces, but it will also mean that there will be days when someone else will have to pick up the writing slack. I haven't talked about the project much, but I will let those of you who weren't weaned on McBrat vs. The Ice Man in on a little secret; there's still a tremendous amount of interest in the subject, perhaps more than in any other in the sport outside of the life and times of Andre Agassi, and maybe a thorough breakdown of Sampras' career, which is in the competent hands of Pete Bodo. I can think of at least five other books that are worth writing on the sport, including one on The Fab 4 as a whole – Agassi, Sampras, Courier and Michael Chang – but tennis books in general have proven to be a tough sell and numerous publishers shy away from them. Fortunately for me, the venerable publisher Wiley & Sons (which is celebrating its 200th year of publishing) believes that there are thousands of folks out there who cannot get enough of men's tennis' greatest rivalry and will sweep the book off the shelves – provided that the author can make that stirring summer somewhat coherent and intriguing to people of all ages. I'm pretty sure that if I begin the book discussing my August 1980 romp through the zany Spanish island of Ibiza that I'll draw in enough readers - as long as I include every tantalizing detail. I swear I must have seen Bjorn and his former wife Mariana Simionescu in a hazy disco there one night, or was that just some other Nordic God and his fetching Romanian bride. What I do clearly recall is that the disco that was attached to my hotel never stopped playing Abba, which defines Sweden to outsiders as much as … Borg. The book will also touch on 1980s culture. Mac and I grew up about one hour away from each other and I have some strong memories of what life was like in the greater New York area at the time. Sweden is another case altogether. I've never had the pleasure of visiting there, but fortunately for me, the US and Sweden will face off in the Davis Cup semis, so it looks like I'll be getting a taste of King Gustav's tennis culture in mid-September.
IS THERE ANY STOPPING RAFA? Nadal claimed his 20th ATP title and 12th consecutive clay court crown when he hit through Guillermo Cañas 6-3, 6-4 in the final of Barcelona. Imagine that … hitting through the strong-legged and forceful Cañas. Rafa stepped into the ball with tremendous confidence and never looked like he'd have to rely on pure defense to pull him through. Right now he's looking as invincible on clay as Sampras and Roger Federer do on grass. Here's two stats of the day that might have been missed: He improved his record in clay court finals to 15-0; and his 15 clay court titles puts him in a tie with Gustavo Kuerten for fourth place on the list of most career clay-court titles. Get that? At 20, he's already tied with the modern god of Roland Garros for clay crowns. Of Rafa's 12 titles during his streak, only two can be considered minor – Bastad and Stuttgart. If he three-peats at this year's French, he'll have to be considered better than Guga - no small feat. Then it's time to start gazing at Borg's French Open marks. Rafa won't play again until Rome, when a slightly better field will be in front of him but really, the only major upgrade on the Barcelona draw will be Federer, and with the way that he's been going the past month and half, he might not even reach the final. Rafa should end his dance through Italy with his 78 straight victories and head to Paris. I don't expect him to play Hamburg. Two quick shout outs go to France's Paul-Henri Mathieu, who won his third career title when he defeated Albert Montanes 6-1, 6-1 in Casablanca, and to Argentina's Gisela Dulko, who won her first WTA crown with a 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-2 win over Romanian teenager Sorana Cirstea in Budapest.© TennisReporters.net 2007
|
|
Home | Commentary | The
Scoop | Newsletters | Q&A | Forum | Archives | Links | About
TR | Contact TR TennisReporters.net
encourages e-mail comments on our stories.
Any e-mail sent to feedback@tennisreporters.net
|
