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Tuning up for Australia Posted: Monday January 06, 2003 1:37 PM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim will answer your tennis questions every Monday. Click here to send a question. Welcome back. A full boat of Australian Open tuneups: Paradorn Srichaphan beat the resurgent Karol Kucera to win the title in Chenai. P-Dorn didn't drop a set the entire week in capturing his third crown in five tournaments. ... At Gold Coast, France's Nathalie Dechy beat Switzerland's Mari-Gaianeh Mikaelian (remember the name) to win her first WTA title. ... Russian Nikolay Davydenko beat qualifier Kristof Vliegen of Belgium to win his first ATP title in Adelaide. Before last week, Vliegen had never before won a main-draw ATP match. ... Stefan Koubek beat Jan-Michael Gambill in the Doha final to take an early lead in the Champions Race. Gambill has to be pleased with his week, though. His defeat of Roger Federer is a mighty big scalp for the mantle. ... Led by Serena Williams and James Blake, the U.S. won the Hopman Cup in Perth. Though it is not an official ATP or WTA event, don't think that Blake's straight-set win over world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt went unnoticed by other players on tour. ... Tennis Australia announced the men's main-draw wild-card recipients for the 2003 Australian Open: 28-year-old Scott Draper, 2002 Wimbledon junior champ Todd Reid, 18-year-old Ryan Henry, Peter Luczak, the struggling Andrew Ilie, French phenom Richard Gasquet (remember that Tennis Australia and the French Tennis Federation have that reciprocity agreement) and Asian champ Goichi Motomura of Japan. This, of course, means that Australian prospects Greg, Anthony, Murray, Jeff and Captain Feathersword will have to try and qualify. (If you got that reference you have my deepest sympathies.) ... Do you want your TTV? That is, do you want the Tennis Channel to be picked up by your local cable carrier? If so, click here to "sign" an online petition on behalf of the network, then fire it off. From the rumor mill: Lindsay Davenport will be traveling with a new coach, future brother-in-law Rich Leach. Davenport's former coach, Robert Van't Hof, is staying off the road to spend more time with his family. ... Apparently, Monica Seles has hired former South African pro David Nainkin as her new coach. ... The Bryan brothers, Mike and Bob, will appear in an upcoming episode of the John Ritter sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter. ... A day of mourning is in order for the best tennis name of all time. The erstwhile Anna Smashnova married her coach, Claudio Pistolesi, last month and now goes by Anna Pistolesi. ... The truancy list for the Australian Open has grown to include Martina Hingis, Amelie Mauresmo, Jelena Dokic, Pete Sampras, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Thomas Johansson and Tommy Haas. ... The Maria Sharapova Watch: The 15-year-old Russian waxed top-20 mainstay Maggie Maleeva before losing to Seles in Hong Kong. ... Before the break, a reader asked which ATP players were the most skilled soccer (football) players. Here's how a mole at the ATP's Monte Carlo office ranks 'em: 1. Francisco Roig
(At the Masters Series Madrid several of the aforementioned attended a Real Madrid practice and got to kick the ball around with Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos.) Check in later in the week for Australian Open seed reports. Meanwhile, a few straggler questions ... During the actual playing of Davis Cup matches, are the team captains anything more than glorified cheerleaders or are they actually able to impart meaningful advice in the course of a 90-second changeover? Also, what are your thoughts on permitting coaches to sit courtside during regular tour matches? I think that it is a bad idea because it could give more successful players one more advantage, and because it could minimize the mental aspect of what can be the most cerebral of sports.
It depends on the player and the circumstances of the match, but Davis Cup captains/coaches can indeed impart meaningful advice from the sidelines. They often pick up on trends and tendencies and call them to the attention of their players. In addition to "cheerleading," they also take on the role of in-house counsel and argue questionable calls with the chair, allowing the player to preserve psychic energy and focus on the match. I'm with you in opposing on-court coaching for full-time players. First, you're absolutely right that one of tennis' great virtues is that it is the ultimate individual sport. (Golfers consult with caddies, and even boxers have corners to pump them full of encouragement and advice for a minute between rounds.) Players are (brutally) alone, left to their own devices to strategize, extricate themselves from crises, and block out fear and distraction. The presence of a coach ruins that whole dynamic. There is also a practical concern that we've mentioned in the past and that you touched on: Lesser-ranked players don't always have the resources to retain a coach. The professional deck is already stacked in favor of the seeds. How unfair would it be for the Kristof Vliegens of the world to sit alone on changeovers while their better-heeled opponents were conferring with coaches? I'm not that concerned about tennis not being in the limelight like it was 15 years ago; now I can always find a public court to play on, for one thing. So tell me, aside from profits for the tours, what would be some of the advantages for tennis fans if our sport were marketed better and regained some market share in relation to other sports (like golf)?
You mean, aside from the fact that you'd get to read about tennis more often in Sports Illustrated? Your question is interesting: So what if tennis becomes (remains?) a niche sport? Money and jobs obviously have a lot to do with it. If tennis went by way of horse racing or boxing or track and field, there would be fewer events, far fewer players, fewer sponsorship dollars and less coverage. (One salient example: Notice that CNNSI.com is not paying someone to write a weekly boxing column.) Beyond the dollars and cents, philosophically, there are reasons we should want tennis to improve its market share. Don't you want as many people as possible to recognize what a great sport we have? What exceptional athletes the players are? The rewards and unadulterated fun you get from playing a few sets? Seems to me that there's a better solution for preserving your court time: the demand for tennis grows and your municipality builds more public courts. I'm a fan of Gustavo Kuerten, and I think he's a great player and an all-around good guy. Yet he does not seem capable of going one step further -- achieving the consistency of Lleyton Hewitt, for example. Is it Kuerten's nagging injuries? Or is he a head case like Marat Safin?
Much more the former than the latter. At full health, Guga is as good as anyone, particularly if there's clay underfoot. It's probably a stretch to predict his reclaiming the top ranking, but we can look for vastly improved results from him in 2003. Long Lost SiblingsBoris Becker and Anthony Michael Hall.
Alexandra Stevenson and Josephine Baker.
From me: Steve Nash (he counts because he played competitively as a kid and still comes to the U.S. Open every year as a fan) and Jackie Earle Haley of Bad News Bears fame.
Bay Area bashingFinally, our friend Jenna asked for suggestions for finding a tennis venue in San Francisco. Thanks for your responses: Since I started the ball rolling (and got such an excellent response), it's my duty to respond! The main tennis clubs in the city are the Golden Gateway Tennis & Swim Club in the financial district and the San Francisco Tennis Club in SoMa. Both have lighted courts. Closer to the Richmond, clubs are organized around the courts in the Presidio and Golden Gate Park. The Olympic Club is a beautiful facility just south of the city. Chabot Canyon is a small club just over the bridge in the East Bay. Your best bet is to go to www.utsanorcal.com and see which clubs sponsor league teams and/or USTA tournaments.
The public courts at Golden Gate Park (probably not far from her house) have lights and are pretty nice. Dolores Park (also free) also has lighted courts. If Jenna is looking for a club, there is one south of Market, and another branch downtown, called Golden Gateway.
Hands Down, Heather Farms Park (public) in Walnut Creek has all of what Jenna is looking for (including lights) at $3/hour. The best thing about this place is you can always find a pickup game at any level pretty much at anytime of the day. www.wcrc.net.
There are about 130 free public tennis courts within the city, which work on a first-come, first-served basis. For $10 or less, you can reserve one of the 21 Golden Gate Park courts. As far as not being able to find players and leagues, I think the problem is more that she doesn't know anybody more than that these things are hard to find in SF. The USTA regional leagues are at least a place to suss out the non-club clinics and leagues. Once you find the people, then you can ditch your association with the USTA (if you were trying to avoid that). Also, SF has a great community-bulletin-board-type-thing, Craig's List (I can't explain it, just go there: www.craigslist.org). In the community section, many people find tennis partners. For lit/indoor/bourgsie/dog-doo-free tennis experiences, the San Francisco Tennis Club is in South of Market (far away from Inner Richmond, but close to downtown where Jenna might work). It's the biggest private club in SF, and isn't affiliated with a golf club or anything like that.
Tell Jenna that she can find excellent courts/leagues very near where she lives right in Golden Gate Park. There is a great tennis center there. Also, she could join the San Francisco Tennis Club, which is an awesome club for tennis enthusiasts. Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are at the club frequently. The courts in the Presidio are great, too.
Mt. Tam Racquet Club in Marin (Larkspur) is one of only two locations in the Bay Area with indoor courts (five). It also has seven outdoor courts, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and great health-club facilities (yoga, workout room, basketball court, etc). In addition, its tennis players are consistently among the top ranked in the Bay Area (the men's 5.0 team was the only team to beat the eventual 5.0 national champs). Great tennis for all levels, and a nice club to boot. Many players from the city make the 20-minute drive across the Golden Gate Bridge to play here.
For private clubs, I think your best bet is Golden Gateway Tennis & Swim Club, which is right downtown and along the Bay. It has nine lighted outdoor hard courts, a pool, a fitness center, a room for exercise classes, lots of league teams and clinics, and you can play pretty much year-round. San Francisco Tennis Club, near Pac Bell Park, has both indoor and outdoor hard courts, but I don't think the outdoor courts are lighted and you have to pay additional court fees for the indoor courts. The Olympic Club in the Outer Sunset has several outdoor, lighted hard courts, and I think a clay court as well. If you commit to playing on a league team you may be able to bypass the lengthy wait list to join the Olympic Club, but the membership fees are pretty pricey and the club is quite far from most areas of San Francisco. As for public courts, the closest ones to the Inner Richmond probably are at Golden Gate Park or at the Presidio. Both have league teams (the Presidio teams are through the Presidio YMCA), but I don't think either has lighted courts. Good luck!
There are two "real" clubs right in the city: San Francisco Tennis Club (SFTC) and Golden Gate Tennis Club. Both are expensive compared to (free) public courts, but not too bad as far as clubs go -- up to $1,000 to join and $100-plus per month in dues. It can definitely add up to a few thousand dollars a year. I used to be a member of SFTC, a great club, which has the only indoor courts in the entire city (very nice during the rainy season ... and the windy season ... and the foggy season.). It also has tons of clinics, USTA teams, match play, tournaments, etc., as well as complete fitness and weight facilities. If Jenna spends a little time doing Google searches, she can find tons of neighborhood clubs that use public courts. You can also find lists of public courts put together by interested residents, along with ratings and commentary.
Have a great week, everyone! Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim covers tennis for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send him a question or comment.
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