Notes on a Draw Sheet

Dark days for German tennis: 'Everything is finished'
Ferrero, Federer prime for RG
Venus struggles, Mauresmo and Vera triumph

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane/ Camerawork USA, Inc.

Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung just published a story chronicling the woes of the Tennis Master Series and German tennis in general.

Boris Becker's former coach, Guenther Bosch, is quoted as saying that the Hamburg organizer's decision to stage an exo between Becker and Michael Stich against John and Patrick McEnroe is a move of desperation.

The exo is almost sold out. But, only 60,000 of an estimated 110,000 tickets have reportedly been sold for the ATP main event.

"Bosch says that anyone who revives history beats to death the future," said the newspaper, which quotes Bosch as saying that German tennis is already underground. "Everything is finished, everything is finished," Bosch says.

German tennis has plunged in popularity since the retirement of its big two – Becker and Steffi Graf – and its secondary two - Stich and Anke Huber. Promising male Tommy Haas is injured; Nicolas Keifer is essentially a bust; Rainer Schuettler isn't very popular; Marlene Weingartner is nowhere near the player that Huber was – much less Graf.

Germany's biggest women's tournament, Berlin, begins on Monday and the ATP Hamburg kicks off in a week. Berlin's main sponsors, MasterCard, have said that they won't re-up next year unless a German state network broadcasts it.

Hamburg doesn't have a title sponsor and has hired Becker to run it in hopes of turning it around. Becker has reportedly guaranteed the tournament $1.5 million dollars. He also singed a deal to broadcast the event on the free-TV NDR network.

Ferrero, Federer prime for RG

Susan Mullane/ Camerawork USA, Inc.

The ATP called Juan Carlos Ferrero "unstoppable" after he crushed Belgium's Christopher Rochus 6-2, 6-4 in the final of Valencia. Without question, Ferrero is very accomplished dirtballer and he took down a competent field with wins over Albert Portas, Agustin Calleri, Flavio Saretta and Rochus, but the willowy Spaniard has yet to prove himself as a lights-out player at the Slams. "I consider Ferrero as the best player in the world on clay," Rochus said.

Ferrero has had a fine year and moved into second place in the ATP Champions Race. Ferrero is 17-1 on clay this year, owning the Tennis Masters Monte-Carlo title, reaching the semis of Barcelona before falling to Marat Safin and then winning Valencia.

"I am not that far away from becoming the No. 1 player in the world. I am only around 1,000 points away from achieving it," Ferrero said. "The key will be whether I can play better and more consistently on hard courts. If I continue to play well in the European clay court season and then take that form to the hard courts in the United Sates, I could finish the year as No. 1."

"Could" is the operative word.

Outside of Andre Agassi and Carlos Moya (a sick Lleyton Hewitt has virtually no chance), Ferrero's biggest contender at Roland Garros could be Switzerland's Roger Federer, who claimed his third title of the season by beating Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 6-1, 6-4 in the Munich final. Like Juan Carlos, Federer has also struggled at the Slams and has never reached the final of a major.

"I'm already at three wins halfway through the season," said Federer, who also won Marseille and Dubai this year. "If I can now step it up in the majors, that would make me very happy."

Venus struggles, Mauresmo and Vera triumph
Given that she had raised her level to Grand Slam form before retiring with strained abdominal muscles down 6-7, 6-0, 3-0 to Amelie Mauresmo in the Warsaw final, Venus Williams must be beside herself right now.

It's doubtful she'll play Berlin, which will hurt her preparation for Roland Garros. The rangy four-time Slam titlist already withdrew from Rome, so she might consider taking a wild card into Madrid or Strasbourg the week before Roland Garros if she is healed. She definitely needs the match play.

"It's not good with this abdominal strain. It needs more time to heal. I can walk around but it's not my job to sit at a desk," said Williams. "I didn't have any injuries before [this week], that's why it was so strange."

Nonetheless, it's a great win for the chronically injured Mauresmo, who won her ninth title. The Frenchwoman will again be one of the favorites at Roland Garros. So if she manages to bury her choking demons there, she has a terrific chance at becoming the first purely French woman's titlist since Francois Durr.

"I know that I need to be a little more sure about myself, but I already proved this today. Matches like this give you confidence," said Mauresmo.

Susan Mullane/ Camerawork USA, Inc.

We've been propping Vera Z. for nearly a year now, so it was nice to see the stocky Russian win her first career title in Bol with a 6-1, 6-3 thrashing of Spain's Conchita Martinez Granados. Zvonareva still needs to ratchet up her serve and improve her conditioning, but as Martinez said, "She'll be a Top 10 player."

Even though the Bol field wasn't filled with stars, as many players know, it's very tough to win when you are supposed to.

"I didn't have any expectations coming here," Zvonareva said. "Every time I step on the court, I try to play my best tennis and show the people what I can do. My goal now is the Top 20 before aiming
for the Top 10."