Your Call (Queen's, Day 5)

By Rosangel Valenti, TW Contributing Editor

Good morning. This is the Tribe's regular post for discussing and match-calling the day's tennis. You can also use this space to go off-topic. I'm attending the Artois Championships at Quuen's Club this week with camera in hand - I'll compile full web galleries after the week is over.

I can't believe that this week has gone by so fast. It's already Friday, and today is quarterfinals day. Yesterday's action on Centre Court at Queen's was considerably more exciting than Wednesday's, with Nadal, Murray and Djokovic all being taken to a third set. It's hard to say whether Nadal-Nishikori or Murray-Gulbis was the best match of the day.

Kei Nishikori in person looks quite dainty compared to Rafael Nadal. By the third set, he may have run out of steam a little, but early on in the match he was pounding in some strong serves, and getting to almost every ball. Nadal also had a strong serving day, and among other things outlasted his opponent physically. Nishikori won himself a few new fans yesterday, though - British crowds love to support the underdog, especially if he's putting on a show, which Nishikori certainly did. The pre-match interview with Rafa (even the BBC use his nickname) was broadcast to the crowd as it was being held, and it appears he'd forgotten that Nishikori warmed him up before his 2005 French Open final.

One thing that continued to be noticeable yesterday was the state of the court. Mardy Fish retired with an injury against Andy Roddick; Andy Murray seemed to injure himself in multiple places, including his thumb, his leg, and his neck - he received treatment for the first two, and repeated neck massages, during his match. At one point I heard him tell Lars Graff that the court wasn't fit to play on - this was after the extra moisture on it following a rain delay. Almost everyone was slipping and sliding - Nadal fell heavily twice in one game, which he went on to lose, along with the second set. The first time, he actually got up straight away and was trying to make the next shot; the second time, he slid partway under the net (I don't think I've ever seen that happen before). If memory serves, he was trying extra hard during this game to break back and save the set - the tumbles probably say something about his determination to win at all costs, even knowing how difficult the court was to play on. I also heard him say something to the umpire about the court before taking a "comfort break" after the second set was over.

Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic weren't immune to the slipperiness either. It had also become so cold on court by the time the last match was played that both players warmed up wearing extra clothing layers. I left after the second set, because I was shivering, and wasn't in any doubt about the outcome. Tipsarevic had played an excellent first set, aided by Djokovic's poor serving performance, but had few answers afterwards.

Sitting among photographers, I've noticed that the desired "moment of capture" in action is almost always the same for all - it's the split second when the ball makes contact with the racquet. I've found myself guilty of doing this too. I say "guilty" because although essential, I'm not convinced that these alone are necessarily the best pictures for conveying the essence of what's going on during a match - from the absence of other shutters clicking, I often seem to be the only one looking to capture facial expressions after a missed opportunity, or pulling off a near-impossible winner. It's the difference between capturing technique, and trying to read minds, I suppose. A photographer can rely on the action happening, but what the player gives in terms of emotions is often unpredictable, yet you need to be ready for it when it happens. And maybe, being a less technically skilled photographer than those around me, the only advantage I might bring to photographing tennis is a knowledge of and passion for the game, and time already spent observing the players. Not every photographer there focuses exclusively on tennis - many will cover other sports or events too. So, perhaps I can end with a question today - when Tribe members look at photos of tennis, what stands out? Is it the technical shots, or something else?