|
Chat Reel: SI's Jon Wertheim
Hingis' Wimbledon woes are largely mental
Posted: Friday June 29, 2001 4:13 PM
Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim joined users on June 29 to talk about the first week of competition at Wimbledon. A transcript follows.
CNNSI Host: Welcome to our Wimbledon chat with Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim. Thanks for joining us, Jon.
Jon Wertheim: Thanks for having me.
From Christopher: Explain how Chris Evert made it to the finals of 15 grass Grand Slams (Wimbledon and Australia), winning five times, while Martina Hingis is so up and down on the surface. What is the difference between Evert's groundstrokes on grass and Hingis', since they are both considered superb baseliners?
Jon Wertheim: The stark comparison to be made is not between the players but between the respective fields: Evert contemporaries were not nearly as powerful and aggressive as the players Hingis faces today. There is one significant difference between the two, however: Whereas Evert had nerves of steel and played bloodless tennis at Wimbledon, Hingis has been a mental absentee twice in the past three years.
 From Marty3: How surprising was Andy Roddick's loss to Goran Ivanisevic?
Jon Wertheim: Moderately. There's not much you can do when a guy serves 40-plus aces. On the other hand, I half-expected we might see a redux of Lleyton Hewitt-Taylor Dent, where one guy comes out firing, but as the match progresses he cools off and the more complete player prevails.
From Al: I can't figure Todd Martin out. The guy is always a dangerous floater in Slams (except maybe the French) but usually doesn't do that well in the few tournaments he plays during the year. Please enlighten us with Martin's secrets, o guru of the Tennis Mailbag.
Jon Wertheim: Martin is at the stage of his career where he has to ration his energy and save his best efforts. It's hard for him to get up for a third-round match in Memphis -- and that's understandable. With Martin, part of his success rests on the opponent. Against a Jiri Novak or a Magnus Larsson (basically, poor man's versions of himself), Martin will prevail. Against flashier, younger, more athletic players, he runs into trouble. Martin plays Tim Henman next, so I'd assume his run at Wimbledon is coming to a close.
From Patrick: There seems to be too much hype about Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt. Aren't we overlooking Roger Federer? That kid might be the next Pete Sampras.
Jon Wertheim: Absolutely. Roddick has the pyrotechnics and the American provenance; Hewitt has the shtick, the fist pumps and the higher ranking. But I'm with you: Federer is a future champ. He needs to break out at a Slam (and unfortunately he plays Pete Sampras next), but there's no doubt he's a future champ.
From Kevin: A lot of people are saying that Amelie Mauresmo will take out Venus Williams in the quarters. I don't even think Mauresmo will get past Tamarine Tanasugarn in the third round. How far do you think Mauresmo will advance?
Jon Wertheim: She'll win her third-round match, but I can't see her beating Venus. Mauresmo has big strokes, but they're almost too big for Wimbledon. I saw her lose her first-round match last year, and she looked utterly out of sorts on grass. Playing far from her best tennis, Venus beat Mauresmo in the fourth round of Australia. I don't think the result will be much different on grass.
From Farrell: Do you think Martina Hingis' shocking first-round loss might in fact be a good thing for her?
Jon Wertheim: Last time she lost in the first round of Wimbledon, she repaired to Switzerland for some R&R and took five or so weeks off to get her house back in order. There are clearly some issues she needs to work through -- and she still needs to improve her fitness -- so perhaps a break is in order. On the other hand, her confidence -- even by her standards -- has to be in the gutter after that first-round debacle. In 1999, at least her conqueror, Jelena Dokic, made it to the quarters. This time, Virginia Ruano Pascal lost her very next match, underscoring just how dismal a performance Hingis gave.
From Paul: When is it or would it be possible to e-mail/talk to individual players between their games?
Jon Wertheim: I would recommend trying between the odd games, since they'll be on the changeovers. Not sure I get your question, but I will say that tennis players are serial e-mail checkers. Every players' lounge features Internet access.
From Gail: I have been watching Wimbledon ever since I was 10 years old and have often wondered why they never put a roof over each court, given the number of weather problems that surface each year. Any insight?
Jon Wertheim: Wimbledon, as you might have noticed, doesn't embrace change too easily. Also, I know that there are a million specifications for growing and watering the grass (that's why the matches used to start so late in the day). My guess is that putting a roof over the courts would wreak havoc on the grass maintenance.
From indiot: What do you think of Goran Ivanisevic's chances now that he is in the second week? Wouldn't it be fitting if he goes on to beat Pete Sampras and win the title?
Jon Wertheim: Easy there. Remember that the guy did need a wild card just to get into the main draw. Then again, provided Ivanisevic remains armed with that elephant gun of a serve, who knows? Your instinct says that eventually he comes up firing blanks and starts playing like a guy ranked outside the top 100.
From David: What do some of the players do on the Sunday off?
Jon Wertheim: Harrod's.
From priyank: What do you think are Yevgeny Kafelnikov's chances of winning Wimbledon? And how do you think Gustavo Kuerten would have fared this year?
Jon Wertheim: Kafelnikov is like Forrest Gump's chocolates: You never know what you'll get. But he usually plays his best tennis in the Slams. Kafelnikov has a finite number of Wimbledons left and certainly has an agreeable draw. He won't win, but he could certainly sneak into the semis. As for Kuerten, it's really a shame that he didn't play, but he's hardly been conspicuous in his absence. On sheer talent alone, he would have been a threat. But as we saw in Friday's Juan Carlos Ferrero loss to Greg Rusedski (an inferior player, but one with a bigger serve who knows how to navigate the green stuff), surface matters.
From Mike: Will Venus Williams ever get a coach to modify her forehand, and will she start approaching the net more? With her length and speed it's a mystery to me, and many others, why she refuses to go to the net.
Jon Wertheim: she doesn't even need a new coach; she merely needs to listen to her current one. To his credit, Richard Williams has been saying for years that both Venus and Serena need to do a better job of moving forward when they play on grass. Further, she is the defending champ, so she has to be doing something right. But I agree that she'd be far more effective if she emulated a Justine Henin (never mind Pat Rafter) and went into attack-attack-attack mode.
From TJ: What happened to the Indian Express in doubles? What a disappointment. Do you think Leander Paes' qualifying for singles burned him out a bit?
Jon Wertheim: I didn't see the match, but they were blown off the court by David Adams (who's gearing up for the seniors tour) and Michael (double L) Llorda. Surely not how the French Open champs envisioned Wimbledon going. My guess is that it didn't help that Paes played a few rounds of singles. But during their glory years, it wasn't rare for him to enter singles draws. Let's see how they perform this summer, at the U.S. Open and at the Davis Cup tie against the U.S.
From Ziad: What do you think about Andre Agassi's chances?
Jon Wertheim: What is Bill Clinton's travel schedule for the next 10 days? Seriously, Agassi seems to be in a groove. Meanwhile, Hewitt, the most dangerous player remaining in Agassi's half of the draw, was shaky Thursday. I have a hard time seeing Agassi winning the whole shebang, but it wouldn't totally shock me.
From Guest: Care to revise your picks, or are you sticking with Pete Sampras and Venus Williams?
Jon Wertheim: The hot pick is that Federer will take out a sluggish Sampras. I'll stick with Pete. I'm starting to think that I may have picked the wrong Williams sister, but it's lame to take a mulligan when both players are still in the draw. Thanks for the out, though.
CNNSI Host: That's all the time we have for today. Thanks for joining us, Jon.
Jon Wertheim: Thank you. Enjoy the second week, everyone.
|
Copyright © 2001
CNN/Sports Illustrated
An AOL Time Warner Company.
All Rights Reserved.
|
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.
|
| 
