Friday 29 February 2008
Thursday 28 February 2008
Tennis Blog
It was a blog by Gerald Mcgloughlin that caught my eye this week. Not just because he makes an interesting point, but because it is a point that completely disagrees with the blog I wrote two weeks ago.
McGloughlin believes Andy Murray, can be the next John McEnroe. I dont completely disagree with this, he could be, but i very much doubt he will be, and im not alone. Judging by the responses the blog got, alot of the readers disagreed also.
"If Murray can overcome his innconsistency his talent would take him to where those top players are.' I don't disagree, but at this moment in time I think that Murray may well never overcome those inconsistancies, and if he dosent soon there is alot of talent ready to overtake him.
My fear for Murray, a fear that Mcgloughlin obviously dosent have though, is that he will become a player who wins maybe one or two majors, but dosent really ever go on to become a great player. Mcgloughlin believes Murray can win Wimbledon within two years, I cannot agree for one minute, I cannot see Murray being able to stop Federer's dominance, and that is even before we take into account other players, Djokovic, Nadal or Gasquet.
Murray is young, and still has alot of time, but then so is Djokovic, Nadal and the man who comfortably beat Murray in the Australian Open, Tsonga. Mcgloughlin is hopeful im much more sceptical.
What Mcgloughlin calls an inconsistancy is to be becoming a much more serious problem for Murray, he is developing a habit for getting beat by wildcards in the opening rounds of tournaments. A complex which could hold Murray back in the future.
I hope im wrong and that Mcgloughlin is right, but im still sceptical. The next John McEnroe? I just cannot see it.
McGloughlin believes Andy Murray, can be the next John McEnroe. I dont completely disagree with this, he could be, but i very much doubt he will be, and im not alone. Judging by the responses the blog got, alot of the readers disagreed also.
"If Murray can overcome his innconsistency his talent would take him to where those top players are.' I don't disagree, but at this moment in time I think that Murray may well never overcome those inconsistancies, and if he dosent soon there is alot of talent ready to overtake him.
My fear for Murray, a fear that Mcgloughlin obviously dosent have though, is that he will become a player who wins maybe one or two majors, but dosent really ever go on to become a great player. Mcgloughlin believes Murray can win Wimbledon within two years, I cannot agree for one minute, I cannot see Murray being able to stop Federer's dominance, and that is even before we take into account other players, Djokovic, Nadal or Gasquet.
Murray is young, and still has alot of time, but then so is Djokovic, Nadal and the man who comfortably beat Murray in the Australian Open, Tsonga. Mcgloughlin is hopeful im much more sceptical.
What Mcgloughlin calls an inconsistancy is to be becoming a much more serious problem for Murray, he is developing a habit for getting beat by wildcards in the opening rounds of tournaments. A complex which could hold Murray back in the future.
I hope im wrong and that Mcgloughlin is right, but im still sceptical. The next John McEnroe? I just cannot see it.
Friday 22 February 2008
Thursday 21 February 2008
Whilst browsing through this week's tennis blogs I found an interesting one Nina Rota on the state of U.S. tennis.
Rota started by bemoaning the crowd's support of American James Blake against Kei Nishikori in the recent ATP event at Delray Beach. Nishikori became the first Japanese player to win a singles title in 16 years, which deserved a mention in itself, but Rota's real point was that the American crowd failed to get behind Blake, ho has come through so much adversity to bounce back and appear in any final.
However after a few paragraphs Rota got to the point, and what a good point it was, that Nick Bollettieri, the famous tennis trainer was in fact helping aid the downfall of American tennis.
In a nutshell Rota's point was that by bringing in so many Eastern Europeans Bollettieri was making champions, but at the same time restricting America's chances in tournaments.
Rota rounded things off by claiming that after Blake, Andy Roddick, 'whats left' of the Williams sisters and Lindsey Davenport, there is'nt much left for American tennis, oh and then she tried to claim Sharapova was really an American.
Excuses? Sounds alot like it. But she has a point. Bollettieri is coaching foreigners and making them better than his own, but he is after all a coach, and can you blame him for wanting to coach the best?
It seems the dog eat dog commercial nature of American sport has finally caught up with them, at least within tennis. Whats left of the sport, Blake, Roddick, the Williams sister and Davenport still aint bad though is it?
Rota started by bemoaning the crowd's support of American James Blake against Kei Nishikori in the recent ATP event at Delray Beach. Nishikori became the first Japanese player to win a singles title in 16 years, which deserved a mention in itself, but Rota's real point was that the American crowd failed to get behind Blake, ho has come through so much adversity to bounce back and appear in any final.
However after a few paragraphs Rota got to the point, and what a good point it was, that Nick Bollettieri, the famous tennis trainer was in fact helping aid the downfall of American tennis.
In a nutshell Rota's point was that by bringing in so many Eastern Europeans Bollettieri was making champions, but at the same time restricting America's chances in tournaments.
Rota rounded things off by claiming that after Blake, Andy Roddick, 'whats left' of the Williams sisters and Lindsey Davenport, there is'nt much left for American tennis, oh and then she tried to claim Sharapova was really an American.
Excuses? Sounds alot like it. But she has a point. Bollettieri is coaching foreigners and making them better than his own, but he is after all a coach, and can you blame him for wanting to coach the best?
It seems the dog eat dog commercial nature of American sport has finally caught up with them, at least within tennis. Whats left of the sport, Blake, Roddick, the Williams sister and Davenport still aint bad though is it?
Friday 15 February 2008
Andy Murray
It seems that Britain’s number one tennis players career for the time being seems to have ground to a halt.
When Murray broke through as an exciting 18 year old in 2005 the nation needed somebody to represent British tennis, especially as Tim Henman was in the twilight of his own career. Murray seemed like the ideal replacement, promising on the court, shy and soft spoken off the court.
However since then Murray has not really climbed the heights expected of him, and didn’t endear himself to all of the British public with his comments about the English football team.
In 2005 Murray was making progress, reaching the second round of the U.S. Open and the third round of Wimbledon, however three years on it 2008 it seems Murray has not made the progress he would have like it the major tournaments, and the hype has inevitably died down.
This criticism of Murray may seem harsh, but if you compare his progress to that of Novak Djokovic, of around the same age, it seems that he hasn’t reached the heights his potential should allow.
Murray has only won four ATP Tour titles and hasn’t made much of an impression on any of the Grand Slams in three years, compare this to Djokovic, who broke on to the scene a little later than Murray and he is just celebrating his first Grand Slam, defeating Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Murray’s victor, in the Australian Open final. He was also runner-up in the US open.
In order to reach the same adoration that Henman received, Murray must do something that Henman was so good at, come out fighting.
When Murray broke through as an exciting 18 year old in 2005 the nation needed somebody to represent British tennis, especially as Tim Henman was in the twilight of his own career. Murray seemed like the ideal replacement, promising on the court, shy and soft spoken off the court.
However since then Murray has not really climbed the heights expected of him, and didn’t endear himself to all of the British public with his comments about the English football team.
In 2005 Murray was making progress, reaching the second round of the U.S. Open and the third round of Wimbledon, however three years on it 2008 it seems Murray has not made the progress he would have like it the major tournaments, and the hype has inevitably died down.
This criticism of Murray may seem harsh, but if you compare his progress to that of Novak Djokovic, of around the same age, it seems that he hasn’t reached the heights his potential should allow.
Murray has only won four ATP Tour titles and hasn’t made much of an impression on any of the Grand Slams in three years, compare this to Djokovic, who broke on to the scene a little later than Murray and he is just celebrating his first Grand Slam, defeating Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Murray’s victor, in the Australian Open final. He was also runner-up in the US open.
In order to reach the same adoration that Henman received, Murray must do something that Henman was so good at, come out fighting.
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