Miami Crisis Center
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by Pete Bodo
Mornin', everyone. Let's get the ball rolling here with a few follow-up thoughts on yesterday's women's final at the Sony Ericsson Open. I didn't think Venus Wiliams plucked and swallowed too many sour grapes in her press conference, although I wouldn't call her presser a model of humility and grace, either. And as I wrote in the previous post, I don't even blame Venus for handling those questions about her seeming injury in that familiar, opaque manner. She didn't bring up the subject, the reporters did.
If you read that transcript, you may have noticed her reply when she was asked if she had any concern, with the clay season coming up, about the state of her groundstrokes. Her printed reply doesn't quite do justice to the challenging nature of the brief exchange that followed. Well, I was the one who asked that question (and in pretty tactful tone and manner; note the deference to her "power" in the preface), and I think it's a critically relevant issue.
I was both surprised and disappointed by Venus's aggressive reaction - something that doesn't really come through on the printed page. But trust me, there was serious push-back there. And there was no reason for it that I can see. In fact, can't imagine a more relevant question, given the time of year, and the state of Venus's groundies. If that's not an obvious, legitimate question, deserving of a response with at least a little thought behind it, I don't know what is.
The episode doesn't bother me, I'm used to all sorts of reactions and have done this job long enough to roll with them and back off, at least or certainly where women players are concerned. I inadvertently but clearly hit a nerve, though, and Venus's reaction suggests that she knows danged well that all is not hunky-dory in her game. But being as vain and self-deluding as any player (and in some measure, it's part of a top player's job description, and I have no problem with that), she runs the risk of spoiling a fine start to the year by retreating into denial. So if Venus won't say it, i will: she needs to get her ground stroke sorted out and dialed in anew if she has any hope of making a big statement on clay.
And please - let's not feel obliged to re-hash yesterday's debate about Venus.
And to the comment poster who suggested that today's players, if injured, would go out to satisfy the desire of a paying audience out of some selfless desire not to disappoint - all I can say is that you haven't been around too many tennis players. That's not a criticism of the players, either. Any WTA or ATP staple would tell you that it's insane for a player to risk doing serious or permanent damage in order to avoid defaulting a match.
And to those of you who still obsess over my "asterisk" comments of a few weeks ago: I never said that Rafael Nadal's injury figures into the good fortune that helped enable Roger Federer to win the last French Open. He benefited greatly from the fact that Nadal was not there too try to stop him. Whether Rafa was MIA because he was upset or had run off to marry Shakira in a secret ceremony on the middle weekend matters not at all. If you go back through my posts you'll see that I've written very little about Rafa's physical problems, short of reporting that they existed (he did skip Wimbledon, after all) and that the situation had a dramatic impact on how the year spooled out.
Anyway, Andy and Tomas coming up soon. I'm looking for Andy to (perhaps) surprise some of you by using his slice backhand as a rally shot, and putting a little air under his forehand. He may not be the most consistent or dangerous groundstroker out there, but one tournament doesn't change the book on Berdych: he's a very dangerous guy if you want to thrust out your jaw and trade thunderbolts, but if you can keep 3 or 5 or 9 balls in play you're apt to be gifted with an error.
On the other hand, feeding that big machine is a risky business. The challenge is a subtle one: given him different looks and multiple opportunities to make an unforced error, but don't tee up the ball for him. But you remember where pre-match analysis got us yesterday, right? It was a waste of good virtual ink. It's up to the players to perform at a level where strategy and/or tactics come into play.
Enjoy the final, everyone. I have a flight out of Fort Lauderdale this evening, and may not be able to do justice to the final before I have to hit the road. If I' don't, I'll revisit the match tomorrow.
Happy Easter. I had to smile when I checked Twitter earlier today and saw that someone tweeted those three words: He is Risen.
-- Pete