Preparing for the US Open

image courtesy of bloomberg.com

The 2o12 Olympics at Wimbledon were filled with performances both contrary and in line with how the pros have been playing throughout the year. A quick rundown:

Men’s Singles Gold (Best out of five): Brit, Andy Murray, (Gold) beats Swiss, Roger Federer, (Silver) 6-2, 6-1, 6-4

Men’s Singles Bronze (Best out of three): Argentinian, Juan Martin Del Porto, (Bronze) beats Serbian, Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-4

Women’s Singles Gold (Best out of three): American, Serena Williams (Gold) beats Russian, Maria Sharapova (Silver) 6-0, 6,1

Women’s Singles Bronze (Best out of three): Belarusian, Victoria Azarenka beat Russian, Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-4

After a disastrous start to the Grand Slam season, the world watched as Serena Williams took it all at Wimbledon in July, as chronicled earlier in this blog. (July Archives: “It’s Anyone’s Guess for Serena Williams”) Therefore, it really was no surprise to see her win on Centre Court again just weeks later – but the sheer domination of Maria Sharapova, (only winning one game against Williams) surpassed many who expected a close match. Sports Illustrated noted that it was “the most lopsided women’s finals in Olympic history.”

The medal secured Williams the “Career Golden Slam,” meaning she has now won every Grand Slam tournament, (though not in one season) in addition to gold in an Olympic Game. (Only achieved once previously by a female, Steffi Graff in 1988.) Williams also received gold in doubles with sister, Venus.

It was a sad day for Roger Federer, however, who would have also secured the “Golden Slam” for the first time had he defeated Andy Murray in the Single’s Gold match. History showed that he could have, as he has won over Murray in three Grand Slam finals, including last month at Wimbledon – the same grass where Federer has stood seven times victorious. (Read more: “You Have to Look Beneath the Surface, or Do You?”) BleacherReport called it a fluke, but a potential rematch in Queens at the end of the month will be a better teller. That rematch seems all the more likely since news broke that Rafael Nadal backed out of a recent Toronto tourney due to a knee injury.

But, no one should be so quick to count out Novak Djokovic, (“Novak ‘the Djoker’ Djokovic – Not Your Average ATP Second in the World” – August Archives). He has had an incredibly impressive two years He even skipped out of the Closing Ceremonies last night to travel to Toronto (where Nadal dropped out), and won his 31st tourney title.

The Olympics gave fans a lot to look forward to at the US Open – but we just have to sit back on our couches and stare at a television to see it. You can be sure, however, that the players’ celebration was short. They now have to train vigorously for the hard courts coming in a couple weeks, prepare for the effect of travel, new opponents, and a new venue.

Wishing them luck.

Clay. Grass. PlexiCushion. DecoTurf.

The latest secret weapons for Tempurpedic? Maybe, but today I’m only talking about The Grand Slam courts and their four different surfaces.

By now I have outlined the four tourneys for you. To recap, seated players go from Australia in January, to France in May, to London in late June, and New York in August. That’s enough travel to make the average person a little scattered – but in addition, these pros have to adjust to an extreme change in the conditions of their courts in each location. For some, it’s a minor shift. For others, it’s intimidating, and at times, a deal breaker.

While Roland Garros court in France has always been a clay one, the others were always natural grass, until ’74 when US switched to clay, then DecoTurf, and ’87, when Australia chose Rebound Ace, then PlexiCushion. Now Wimbledon is the lone remaining green – and no court is alike.

A brief outline of what to expect on each surface:

The clay at Roland Garros: First of all, you’re playing on what is essentially dirt. France in May can get potentially humid. Dirt + humidity = one sticky court. You have to be extremely agile and fit to handle that footwork. Second, the clay slows down the ball and lets it bounce higher, this means a great receiver will do well, while a power server will struggle. Legend, Pete Sampras, endured a famous career-long battle with the surface. In the end, he was never able to come out on top.

The grass at Wimbledon: Similarly to clay, weather effects the grass significantly. Uncovered games are stopped and delayed constantly, effecting and shifting momentum. (Clay games are also delayed for rain, but are NOT delayed for humidity.) Even with the delays and drying, the grass is naturally a little slippery. Unlike shock-absorbent clay, grass propels the ball forward at lightening speeds and at lower heights. Speed-wise, grass is the stark opposite of clay, and thus helps players with different strengths. The winners on grass? The ‘power server’ we talked about who uses the speed to their advantage. In this case, Sampras dominated, with seven Wimbledon titles, (matched by Roger Federer) and Venus and Serena Williams, with five apiece.

Plexicushion at Melbourne and DecoTurf at Arthur Ashe: Both are hard courts, and many players and coaches consider the surfaces to be not only very similar, but a friendly middle ground between clay and grass. The courts are considered slower than grass, but faster than clay. US is an “acrylic” hard court, while AUS is a “synthetic” hard court. The majority of players tend to enjoy both because of the reduction of extremes, however they are also regarded as the most dangerous due to the sand in the top paint, which can magnify topspins and bother, or injure, a players joints. Andre Agassi is indisputably the best on the hard courts, holding the record for the most titles: nine total, five in Queens and four in Melbourne.

I asked my father, Steve Calleran, long-time tennis fan and recreational player, which surface he preferred.

“My favorite? I’ve always loved playing on hard courts. There’s almost no clay in America. But a local gym has ‘Har-tu’, American green clay – it’s a bit more forgiving, and these days, that’s a consideration.”

I laugh and tell him he doesn’t look a day over twenty, thirty, forty.

There has never been an official admission from the US Open as to why they introduced DecoTurf at the conception of The Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 1978. Perhaps they were aiming to be “new” or “high-tech”. Many fans and observers however, believe economics may have been involved. The acrylic courts cost almost nothing to maintain – just a couple cans of paint for the bounds lines. In comparison, grass and clay can rack up monstrous bills in up-keep.

In any case, when it comes to The Grand Slams, the material your playing on will always have some effect on your performance. My Dad summed it up:

“The surface is VERY important.”

What a year.

Actually – what a couple years.

To say that it’s been smooth sailing lately for the player many call the best female to play the game, would be grossly incorrect. Serena Williams, after suffering from a leg injury and a pulmonary embolism that essentially took her out of 2010 and ’11, endured starting twenty-twelve Grand Slam tourneys that were nothing short of mortifying.

Flashback to January: Five-time winner of the tournament, Williams goes out in the fourth round at the Australian Open against Belarussian Ekaterina Makarova. Ranked 56th in the world.

Flashback to May: Add extreme insult to injury. It’s the French Open and Williams is knocked out in the third, second, FIRST round (ouch) by Frenchman Virginie Razzano – ranked 111th in the world. The New York Times calls Serena’s game “a meltdown as epic and complete as any in her career.”

Flashback to the beginning of July: Serena shocks the world when she walks away with TWO Wimbledon titles in ONE DAY. Her fifth singles title AND fifth doubles title with sister Venus were secured in less that NINE HOURS! WHAT THE HECK?

What happened to the girl who got demolished in Australia and France? She was nowhere to be found in London. Serena was at her best – proving once again why she holds 14 Grand Slam singles titles and is currently ranked fourth in the world by the WTA.

In an event one could only call serendipitous, Serena will play on that same Wimbledon green next week with her sister – battling for the Olympic doubles title. That gives us all one more opportunity to be impressed/confused/shocked by her performance before the US Open.

All we can do now is wait for the one major question to be answered:

Which Serena will we see in Queens next month?