Tennisnowornever

Here we are again folks: it’s that time of year. Excitement and anticipation is bubbling up within you, simmering under your skin as you try to sleep until it reaches boiling point and you can physically wait no longer. Like a child desperate to unwrap their gifts and hoping to sneak a peak of the man himself. Twas the night before….the Championships Wimbledon?!? Yes, it’s Wimbledon Eve everyone and that means one thing only! It is time for unnecessary pre-tournament analysis and predictions that will most likely not come true!! Yay!!!                                 But we do it anyway because somehow to just watch and enjoy the matches for what they are would be too simple….so let’s start! There is no better place to start than with this year’s top seed, defending champion and world number 1: Andy Murray . Sorry, Sir...

How many times, tennis fans, have you heard commentators, journalists and now retired legends of the game squawk enthusiastically about the quality of play we have been spoiled with in the era of the big 4? Tournament after tournament they chant:  ‘The physicality is remarkable!!’  ‘These guys are just superhuman!!!’  ‘Will we ever see such greatness on court again?!!?!?’ ……Sound familiar? But before we accuse the hypothetical record of needing to be changed we should realise the band responsible for releasing it have recently launched a new album. That’s right, the smash hit of the moment: it’s the #nextgen!! All of a sudden EVERYTHING is about Zverev, Kyrgios, Thiem and the gang. What a boyband that would be. And don’t get me wrong, this is completely justifiable. No one would be talking about them if they didn’t have results and talents to back it up. Meanwhile that ‘classic album’ is still selling really well. You know, that one that brought the band to...

Almost two years ago exactly I watched a girl play tennis. She was a fairly normal girl in nearly every way except for one: this girl was someone that we would all come to know as Jo Konta, British number 1 and current world number 8. It was 2015 and the Aegon International tournament was being televised for the first time by the BBC. My money was on Caroline Wozniaki to lift the woman’s singles trophy but I was wrong. This prize went to Belinda Bencic who defeated Agnieszka Radwanska in the final to emerge the victor from a very strong field. However, in retrospect, none of this became my most enduring memory of the tournament. Surprisingly, all I can really remember was watching one of the wildcard entrants. She was a local girl who was ranked around the 150 mark in the world. I wasn’t expecting much from her: just another home hope that the commentators were excited about who would probably have an unremarkable career when all was said and done. But still I settled down to wat...

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...

Lesson #2 The changing of the guard is coming…..But it’s not here yet!! If you read my last blog post ‘5 things we learned from the French Open: Lesson 1’, then you will know that the French Open 2017 taught us that the next gen are on their way as they gain confidence and slowly chalk up wins against the big 4. In particular, Dominic Thiem looks like a strong charge who could have a fruitful clay career awaiting him. However, it’s easy to fall into a trap of overpraise for younger players when they do succeed when, in reality, they lack the consistency necessary to rule the game. Let us stick with Thiem for a moment: in 2016 at the ATP World Tour finals Dominic was able to take the first set from Novak Djokovic in their round robin match but went on to be relatively easily dispatched in the two sets that followed. Sure Djokovic raised his level, but anyone watching would probably have agreed that Dominic’s reaction to taking the first set resembled one of panic at finding him...

So dear tennis fans, you semi-postponed your life for a whole 2 weeks to immerse yourselves fully in what we know is one of the four most important events of the year. Personal hygiene and social life may have suffered but was it was worth it? Well, perhaps your answer depends partially on which players you were supporting but I assure you that whether you were happy with the results or not this tournament was an eye opener on many levels. With Wimbledon just around the corner, over the next few days I am going to roundup the 5 main knowledge nuggets we can extract from the French Open 2017 and, more importantly, what they mean heading into the grass courts: Lesson #1 The changing of the guard is coming… Tennis is a sport always looking to the future, even if sometimes prematurely. My first recollection of hearing about the impending ‘changing of the guard’ was probably in 2012 into 13. It was a year in which BBC commentators seemed to talk about nothing but the inevitable fall...

There’s that feeling again: the morning after. You are missing him already… Before you conclude that I must have had a very interesting booze fuelled night out, and am now dealing with the inevitable hangover of the soul that too often accompanies while you painstakingly overanalyse every detail and wonder whether you should call the number he gave to you (I mean, he was soooo dreamy, right?), I will set you straight. I didn’t and I’m not! *guilty face* But seriously, I refer to that feeling that every true tennis fan knows oh so well: it is the morning after effect. Roland Garros 2017 is finished. Mourn all you like people….it’s done… forever! Who are you missing? John Inverdale obviously! Now who is going to greet you excitedly every morning with promise of a whole days’ worth of incredible shot making and drama? (For any non UK readers wondering who John Inverdale is…don’t bother). Okay so considering that the French Open tournament will of course be back next year and that t...