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Building the perfect player
Sports Illustrated staff writer Jon Wertheim will answer your tennis questions every Monday. Click here to send a question. Straight to the questions this week ...
If you were to build the perfect tennis players (male and female), whose forehands, backhands, serve, net game, mental toughness, etc., would you duplicate -- i.e., who has the greatest strengths ever?
Good question. Let's keep this to the Open era: MEN
Forehand: Ivan Lendl
WOMEN
Forehand: Steffi Graf
Please tell me all about Dmitry Tursunov, the 18-year-old Russian. Everybody is talking about this guy after his matches in Dallas and Memphis.
I have yet to see him play, but Tursunov is a good story. When he was 12, he moved from Moscow to train with a coach in California and to escape a temperamental father. Having lived in the U.S. for six years, he is a typical backward-baseball-cap-wearing American teen who drives a Corvette and makes liberal use of the word "dude." As I understand it, he's interested in becoming a U.S. citizen. If he's successful, Tursunov will join with Andy Roddick, Taylor Dent and Mardy Fish to the give the U.S. a solid core of young prospects.
What do you make of Pete Sampras' loss to Chris Woodruff in Memphis last week? Another case of Pete breaking down? Is this the beginning of the end?
Let's not write the epitaph on Sampras' career just yet. It's only one loss at a February indoor event. Even though you can bet that Sampras got a fat guarantee for showing up, this is the rare instance in which a top seed loses early and the promoter isn't necessarily pulling his hair out. A native Tennessean, Woodruff is probably just as a big draw in Memphis as the defending Wimbledon champ. Meanwhile, I'm relying on you guys to help me solve this conundrum: Two out of every three correspondences I get regarding Sampras are brutally negative. He's a wuss, he's always hurt, he's boring, he never wins on clay, he bags Davis Cup, etc., etc. A number of you royally roasted me a few weeks ago for ranking him higher than Navratilova on the all-time list -- it was as if I'd predicted the L.A. Clippers to win the NBA title. So I'm genuinely curious. What gives? Here's a guy who's won seven Wimbledon titles; his consistency is unmatched insofar as remaining a top-five player for a full decade; he played Davis Cup in the past; and he's hardly a controversial personality. How come he engenders such loathing among many of you folks, far more than any other male player? Do tell.
I've been enjoying the resurgent Maggie Maleeva of tennis' original sister act. I don't know if anyone fully understands how remarkable it was for three Bulgarian sisters to reach the top 10. Had they been raised in Western Europe or the U.S., they may have outdone the Williamses years ago. Realistically, I give Maggie no shot at a Grand Slam, but it would be a well-deserved prize for the whole Maleeva clan. Your thoughts on her chances?
I'm not sure the Maleevas are the original sister act. Maud and Lilian Watson played one another in the Wimbledon final in 1884. In any case, I agree that the Maleevas deserve some sort of collective Irving Thalberg Award. Alone, none had the ability to win a major; put together, their contributions to tennis are considerable. As for Maggie, she's a real long shot to win a Slam, but she has quietly made an awfully nice comeback from a series of injuries. She even beat Venus Williams two weeks ago. She's in that class of crafty, dangerous veterans who inspire fear and loathing when other players see them in their draw.
I would love to know once and for all the correct pronunciation of Marat Safin's name, which is conspicuously missing from your pronounciation guide. It is driving me nuts!
As long as your sanity is riding on it ... the ATP Tour media guide says to pronounce it "mah-RAHT SAH-feen."
You are overlooking an essential point when you say Andre Agassi beats John McEnroe in their primes. Think about the extent to which Agassi has been consistently psyched out by Pete Sampras (at least until last year). Multiply that a dozen times when McEnroe's personality/tantrums/etc. are factored in. Because of the psyche-out issue, McEnroe eats Agassi for breakfast on any surface except clay. (Incidentally, for similar reasons and again equalizing for racquet technology, Jimmy Connors handily beats Agassi, too). I beg you, Jon, reconsider and recant!
A few of you weighed in on this. With passion fairly dripping from his e-mail, Ari Orenstein of Arlington, Va., wrote: "To say that Agassi would handle Mac's serve is preposterous! It's just an example of the 'what have you done for me lately' syndrome in sports. You've simply forgotten that Mac could serve up aces at will whenever he needed them. Shame on you!" I'll reconsider, but I'll stand my ground on this one. Remember, we're talking players in their prime. In his prime -- that is, as a self-possessed adult and not a rat-tailed punk -- Agassi would be immune to head games and psyche-outs. If Agassi gets psyched out by Sampras, it's only because of Sampras' seemingly effortless excellence. It's not because of stall tactics, momentum-breaking moves or ethically dubious gamesmanship. Remember, too, that Agassi's coach and shaman is Brad Gilbert, who made a career out of getting in Mac's kitchen. If anything, Agassi might have the mental edge. As for Ari's point, Mac had a knack for clutch serving. Agreed. But we're talking Agassi here. Ask Sampras about Agassi's ability to return and he'll tell you Agassi is in a different league than any other player he has faced.
Did you ever think we would see the day when Anna Kournikova was ranked higher than good ole Serena Williams? I know Serena hardly plays, but she's about 64 million times more accomplished than Anna. Any thoughts?
Given how the rankings are configured, it's not at all surprising. Kournikova, to her credit, plays frequently -- she did, anyway, before this latest foot injury. Both Williams sisters play with the low frequency of whale sounds. The Williams sisters are starting to remind me of my roommate in college. He would slack through the semester, blow off the midterm, and get a reasonably good grade on the final. Then I -- wait, did I say that? I meant my roommate -- would complain he might have gotten an A had he only applied himself. Fact is: Rules is rules. And until the Williams sisters abide by the "cumulative GPA" ranking system, they won't ascend to the head of the class.
Before Sebastien Grosjean's meltdown in the semifinals of the Australian Open, he was playing some great tennis. Does he have the potential to be one of the New Balls, or was that tournament the highlight of his career and the only chance he will ever have of making a Grand Slam final?
No, not at all. Grosjean was understandably crushed by his inability to seal the proverbial deal in Melbourne. But he's no one-hit wonder. He was thoroughly impressive in Melbourne until the final three sets against Arnaud Clement, an indefatigable baseliner who has a good court sense and is ridiculously quick. At 22, Grosjean not only is a prime New Ball* but he has plenty of time to atone for/build on his bittersweet Australian Open. *Note to the ATP: To the extent that the Mailbag is any indication, this New Balls business has really caught on among tennisheads.
I remember you wrote a few months ago that James Black (the former No. 1-ranked college player from Harvard) was nothing special. Well, considering his recent great results (winning challengers at the end of the year), care to make a reassessment?
"Nothing special" sounds uncharacteristically harsh for someone as instinctively charitable as I am. You sure I said that? Anyway, Blake is to be commended for some encouraging results on the challenger circuit. But let's be realistic: He finished last year outside the top 200, and if my math is right, he has won one ATP Tour match in his career.
Where do you think the level of play on the men's senior tour stands? Having seen only bits and pieces on TV, I think John McEnroe, et al. would have a hard time playing competitively against even competent college players because of their poor fitness, lack of foot speed and limited power. Despite this, I do, however, think that they could handle any WTA opponent. I'm interested in your opinion.
That's probably about right. A good college player beats a player on the "geezers tour," as Richard Williams calls it. These seniors play on mostly clay, I believe the third set is a tiebreaker, and for some reason I doubt Johan Kriek and his ilk are running wind sprints and doing Tae Bo on off days. A senior man would beat a run-of-the-mill WTA Tour player pretty handily. But if Mel Purcell or John Lloyd is playing a Williams sister, I may be inclined to chose Door No. 2.
Looking forward to the Fed Cup, whom do you think Billie Jean King will choose since Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, the Williams sisters and now Jennifer Capriati have all won Grand Slam trophies?
"Looking forward to the Fed Cup" is a phrase one seldom hears. But your enthusiasm is to be commended. First, if the Williams sisters both play Fed Cup, my name is Bruno Rebeuh. Second, chastened by the Olympics debacle, BJK should simply say she's following the rankings and appoint the team members accordingly.
Please, please, please tell us what is happening with Mary Pierce!!! We know about the shoulder, the eyes and no more Charleton Eagle as her coach. Which is causing the biggest problem? Or is there something else? What do you think are the chances David Pierce will go back to coaching her?
The answer is simple. Before winning the 2000 French Open, Mary Pierce made a pact with devil. She'd win the title and, in exchange, she'd never advance beyond the second round of another event. Pierce is in the throes of a serious schneid. Not only is she injured -- tendinitis in both ankles is the latest malady and will keep her out of Scottsdale this week -- but she is woefully out of shape and her confidence level is subterranean. Charleton Eagle is a nice guy, but not the last of the disciplinarians. As you note, he's already out of the picture. Mary could use another run with her brother, who was plenty tough on her. But at last check, David Pierce was allegedly training to be a masseur.
Click here to send a question or comment to Jon Wertheim.
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