Tennisnowornever

There was a running theme throughout this year’s Wimbledon and unfortunately it was not a positive one. We have become accustomed to talking about the impact of the weather at Wimbledon over the years and the impact it can have as a third player, but this year the spotlight was on a different issue: injury! Indeed, it was the talk of the first round as the centre court crowd saw two consecutive mid-match retirements when both Klizan and Dolgopolov succumbed to injuries they had carried into the tournament. Under current rules a player may not take a medical time out in circumstances where the issue already existed before the match. Hence, they had no option but to concede defeat….. Or did they? I only ask because the decision sparked a lot of controversy! For those that didn’t hear the discussions, a first round Wimbledon loser gets around £30,000 (maybe as much as £35,000- I honestly don’t remember) for participating in the tournament: regardless of the score-line. This, o...

Lesson #5 The game is in flux! Okay, so, a little contradictory? I know: I’m just after implying that the matches at this year’s French Open were more predictable than normal and I stand by it! In terms of outcome that is. As I said, it appeared that identifying which player was physically stronger often answered the question of who would win. So if we could guess the result then what do I mean by ‘the game is in flux’? Well firstly let us think back on some of the score lines from the tournament. While it is true that the winner was often predictable the manner in which they got there was so often not. The Halep vs Svitolina encounter was always going to be a tight one. Hence, the fact Svitolina stretched her to 3 sets was pretty regular. But if anyone foresaw the demolition that would follow in the decider then I would like to congratulate you and maybe even employ you to write these for me! The momentum was so obviously with Svitolina….so how come Halep took it 6-0?? She ...

Lesson #3 No man (or woman) is a machine... This post is perhaps more personal to me than has been the case so far. Actually, I have a confession to make! So make a cup of tea, sit down and brace yourselves for a revelation….I am a Djokovic fan. I know, it’s not the hot thing to be right now but don’t try to save me friends: my appreciation of the Djoker already runs way too deep. Seriously though, it’s not exactly news to any follower of the ATP tour (fan of Djokovic or not) that his form has taken somewhat of a nose dive in the last 12 months. It all started at Wimbledon 2016 when he crashed out of the 3 rd round to the ‘blind squirrel that found a nut’- Sam Querry- in 4 sets (don’t look at me like that! That’s the words of Querry’s own coach, not mine!!). But, realistically, for a man who had just conquered the pinnacles of the sport by holding all 4 slams at once (something not even Federer and Nadal have managed to date) it was not initially that concerning to most. Ho...