TENNIS in DEPTH.

After writing over 4000 posts, watching every tennis tournament either online or in person, I have decided to retire from the active tennis scene.

I hope someone will continue with their own perpesctive, and gain as much enjoyment as I have.

Email me at Derek@tennis-in-depth.com if you are interested.

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It will be interesting to see how things unfold in Madrid, particularly given it is such a major tournament – one of the Masters 1000 events on the ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory week for the WTA. Players are also desperate to find good form on the surface ahead of the French Open which is just four weeks away. Whatever the future holds for the blue stuff, the decision to use it has already had an effect on other tournaments.

Organisers at Roland Garros have already announced they will have a pink claycourt during the French Open, although significantly it will not be used for main tournament matches. It is instead being used as more of a publicity stunt – promoting the tournament’s ladies’ day which comes on June 7 when the women’s singles semi-finals are due to take place. Court One will be turned pink and will play host to two women’s legends matches.

Critics say Madrid’s move to blue is also nothing but a PR gimmick, although if that is the case it has certainly worked. We await the verdict of the players with bated breath.

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Maybe this is not tennis, but it is major sports news……….The NHL will expand in the 2014-15 season with two new Canadian teams. One will return to play in Quebec City while a new team will be situated in Markham Ontario. A new arena is already under construction in the Warden Ave/Hwy 407 area which will house the new team. A compensation amount of $150 million is to be paid to the Toronto Maple Leaf organisation. The new team is backed by the Bauer Sporting Goods Co.

Speculation about the location of a new team in the Toronto area has been discussed for years with places like Hamilton, London and Kitchener often being mentioned, but now the speculation ends as the new team will be just 20 miles Notheast of Toronto in Markham Township.

A public competition for a name for the new team will be announced soon. How about the Markham Marauders? or the Markham Misfits? Markham has a large Chinese population so The Markham Ming Dynasty might take on a new meaning!

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had given France the lead on Friday before John Isner levelled and the Bryan twins gave the Americans the advantage with two rubbers left with a 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7/4) victory. The first two sets were close with the Bryans edging their opponents thanks to a break of serve in each set. In the third, there were no breaks with both pairs playing tight, controlled tennis with minimal unforced errors and they tied at 6-6 to force a tie-break. The Bryan brothers moved to 6-4 and match point and they prompted a driven forehand error to seal victory in two hours seven minutes. On Monday Tsonga will take on Isner with Gilles Simon facing teenager Ryan Harrison in what could be the deciding rubber.

The Czech Republic took a 2-1 lead against Serbia after Janko Tipsarevic and Radek Stepanek held off spirited opponents who came back in the third set to win 6-4 6-2 7-6 (7/4). Tipsarevic had come out on top in a five-hour five-setter with Stepanek to bring Serbia, without world number one Novak Djokovic, level at 1-1 with the Czech Republic in Prague. Berdych joined forces with Stepanek and they edged the first set against Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic with two breaks of serve before dominating the second. The Serbian pair broke at the start of the third and then held for 3-0, although their opponents managed to bring it back to 6-6, taking the set to a tie-break. Tipsarevic and Berdych eased into a 3-0 lead before their rivals levelled. It was nip and tuck but the Czech pair moved to 6-4 on their serve which they converted for victory.

Austria enjoyed a four-set victory over Spain who could have qualified for the semi-finals with a win as they led 2-0 going into today’s rubber. However, Oliver Marach and Alexander Peya overcame the loss of the first set to beat Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez 3-6 6-4 6-4 7-6 (14-12). The Spanish had been in complete control of their tie with Austria from the outset with Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer both easing to straight-sets victories yesterday. Granollers and Lopez broke twice in the first set as well as capitalising on their opponents’ numerous unforced errors, to win 6-3. However, Austrian pair Marach and Peya hit back in the second, breaking once and minimising their unforced errors count. They continued to surprise in the third, which they also won 6-4, to move to within a set of halving the deficit with the current title holders. With no breaks in the fourth, the set moved to a tie-break which swung this way and that with Austria eventually prevailing 14-12.

Argentina will take a 2-1 lead over Croatia into the final day of their tie in Buenos Aires after edging an epic doubles rubber. David Nalbandian and Eduardo Schwank beat Marin Cilic and Ivo Karlovic 3-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-3 6-7 (6/8) 8-6 in a match lasting one minute short of five hours.

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Frenchman Gael Monfils was the highest-profile victim of the illness – which tournament officials were quick to say had nothing to do with their food service. Monfils was one of six players who have either pulled out or quit a match in the past several days due to the illness. WTA players Vera Zvonareva and Vania Kind were forced to withdraw from their third round matches. Other players have complained of ‘not feeling so good’ including Petra Kvitova. Don’t be surprised to see more withdrawls from competition this week!

“There is currently a Coachella Valley-wide virus, which is resulting in symptoms of nausea and vomiting, fever and subsequent diarrhoea,” the local Eisenhower Medical Centre said. “It is self-limited and lasts between 24 and 48 hours. It is transmitted by air and direct contact and not passed via food.” Hospitals across the area had seen a surge of patients with such symptoms. “At Eisenhower Medical Centre, which provides medical support for the BNP Paribas Open, we have seen increases in overall visits to the emergency department by about 15 per cent over the past week, mostly adults and children with these symptoms,” the statement said. “We have seen fans and players at the tournament experience these symptoms as well.”

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While Azarenka survived, Jelena Jankovic and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova both suffered surprise defeats in Indian Wells. Serbian 12th seed Jankovic was beaten 6-4 6-3 by Jamie Hampton while another American, Vania King, saw off 13th-seeded Russian Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-4. Jankovic, champion in Indian Wells in 2010, had reached the semi-finals in her last two tournaments but her exertions in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur seemed to catch up with her. She was broken five times in total by Hampton, who had already caused something of an upset by getting past Polona Hercog in the opening round. “It was a bad day of tennis for me,” the Serb said afterwards. “I just did not feel the ball. My legs felt so heavy on the court, so I was moving very badly out there.”

Victoria Azarenka’s return to action proved a tough one on Friday but she managed to scrape into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open. The world number one, playing for the first time since an ankle problem forced her to miss last month’s tournament in Dubai, was pushed all the way by Germany’s Mona Barthel before winning 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 7-6 (8/6). Azarenka squandered a 5-1 lead in the second set and then had to come from 4-1 and 5-3 down in the decider, eventually taking it 8-6 in a tense tie-break. In winning, the Australian Open champion moved to 18-0 for the season and afterwards claimed the victory had been one of her more pleasing. ”It’s a good feeling to come out from a match like this with a win,” she said. “I could be beating myself up somewhere in my house after losing, but I got through and I’m here. That’s a good sign. To win when you’re not playing your best, it’s more joyful.”

Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova and Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer were also ousted, Czech Klara Zakopalova defeating 19th seed Hantuchova 6-3 6-7 (7/9) 6-3 and Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova overcoming 22nd seed Wickmayer 2-6 6-2 6-4. However, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova eased past Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-1 6-3, and fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska was a comfortable 6-2 6-4 winner over Sorana Cirstea. Ninth seed Vera Zvonareva and 25th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova were also victorious on Friday, while there were wins for Angelique Kerber, Flavia Pennetta, Jie Zheng and Christina McHale.

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One of the biggest shocks in recent Davis Cup history was completed on Saturday afternoon when the US doubles team of Mike Bryan and Mardy Fish beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka in four sets to see the Americans through to April’s quarterfinals. The reverberations from John Isner’s stunning win over Federer on Friday night carried through to the doubles, which followed a very similar pattern to the Isner-Federer singles. The Swiss won the opening set and looked reasonably comfortable for a set and a half, but once the Americans had broken, the balance of power shifted, and Federer in particular fell away at the end as the US pair won 46 63 63 63 in 2 hours 18 minutes. Because so much was made of Federer’s return to the Davis Cup first round for the first time in eight years, it’s easy to see this result as a disaster for the Swiss. A disappointment it certainly is, but to view it as a disaster would be to take too much credit away from an American team that seems finally to have lost its fear of away clay.

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