Hello, tennis enthuisasts! This is how I started my first official blog post for behindtheracket on February 3! That seems like forever ago. And the semester is winding down and classes are ending on this Friday the 10th. With the semester winding down that means the class that I have been writing this blog for is ending therefore bringing the question of to continue this blog or not. It has been absolutely amazing this semester being able to blog about my love of the game of tennis and seeing how many people have actually come to this blog to hear what I have had to say about it has been overwhelming. As I sit here and write this I currently have 835 views! That’s incredible and I owe it to all y’all! Therefore with that being said I plan on continuing this blog! With three majors left there will be plenty of new story lines that I will be writing about maybe not as often as I have done throughout this semester but I will continue to write and it is because of all of you. Thanks for reading everyone hope you all continue! Cheers.
Rafael Nadal Takes Barcelona Final
The hardwork and dedication that Rafael Nadal put into the last 6 months are finally starting to show and Rafa is finally reaping the benefits of it.
These benefits can be seen in today’s result of the Barcelona final where Rafa took on his fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro. Nadal was able to beat his fellow country man 6-4, 6-3 to capture the Barcelona final trophy and make that his fourth title of the year. Pretty good for someone that had been out for quite some time now.
With a little more than a month away from the second Grand Slam of the year Nadal looks to be coming into form at the perfect time. Take into consideration that the next grand slam of the year is the French Open which Nadal absolutely dominates and it looks to be coming all together for Nadal. Nadal has not officially lost at the French Open since 2005. If you take out the 2009 year where he had a severe knee injury Nadal is spotless when it comes to Roland Garros.
With the red clay of Roland Garros quickly approaching the question now comes can any person beat Nadal on the red clay of Roland Garros? Roger Federer has tried and failed numerous times and many others have as well. But last year Novak Djokovic was able to meet Nadal in the final at Roland Garros and he even managed to take a set from Nadal. Looking forward to this year Novak has been playing very consistently and I believe is going to give Nadal a run for his money this year when Roland Garros rolls around in a little over a month.
That’s all that I got for today y’all hope everyone has a good week coming up.
The Tennis Schedule
Hey everyone, hope your week is going by somewhat fast!
Today I thought I would talk about one of the most controversial topics in Tennis the schedule. The tennis schedule each year is always ridiculed for being to tough and not having enough of a break for the players to rest. Many top players have come out and said that they think that the schedule is terrible. Rafael Nadal one of the most recognizable tennis players on the planet is also one of the biggest names to come out and say that he does not like the schedule and hopes it changes. He has voiced his opinion often along with many other top tier players. The result being that if they had more time to rest the quality of tennis would be better. I can see where they are coming from maybe if this did happen we would have more major upsets in the Tennis world. I want to know what y’all think about the schedule should they cut it down and help out the players or keep the schedule as is?
Clay Court Season
Hey everyone, sorry for not posting lately I’ve been so busy.
But today was a huge day for men’s tennis. Their was a rivalry that was re-sparked at the Monte Carlo tournament. World number 1 Novak Djokovic took on an old foe Rafael Nadal. Djokovic was able to defeat Nadal today in straight sets by a score of 6-2 7-6 (1). Entering Monte Carlo Djokovic was nursing what was believed to be a pretty serious ankle injury that he suffered in a Davis Cup match against the USA. But today Djokovic showed no signs of slowing down as he romped Rafa in straight sets on Rafa’s favorite surface clay.
When I first saw this result I was pretty stunned. Djokovic was playing Nadal on his favorite surface with a bad ankle. I thought Nadal would have been the one that had won in straight sets today not Novak. Today’s win for Novak was a statement in my mind. Novak sent a message not only to Rafa but to everyone else on the ATP tour that he is going to be a force to be reckoned with when the French Open rolls along soon. Today he beat the best tennis player to ever play on a clay court and he did it in a dominating fashion.
Novak looks strong heading into the French and looking deeper at the French this year its really a three man race for the trophy in my mind. Novak, Rafa, and Roger are the three who most likely have the best chances of winning the French. Novak and Rafa are obviously the two heavy favorites but Rafa could end up on Novaks’ half of the draw which means they would meet in the semi’s which opens a slot in the final for Fed to come for since Andy Murray routinely struggles on the clay of Roland Garros. Ultimately Rafa has won every French Open title since 2005 besides 2009 when he was out hurt with his knee injury but I expect Novak to finally break through and win this years French Open and people will start talking about the Novak slam soon enough.
That’s all I got today everyone hope y’all have a great week coming up.
Foot Fault Friday’s
Hey everyone hope you all had a good week. It’s Friday thank god! You know the deal so let’s get to it.
1) Hey ball boy? The point isn’t over.
2) Hey ball boy, watch out!
3) Ball boy your job is to get the ball!
That’s all I got for you this week everyone. Hope you enjoy your long weekend. Have a good one.
More WordPress Blogs
Hey everyone hope all is well. Throughout this semester I have been linking other wordpress tennis blogs that I have come across that I thought are relevant and a good read. Today I came across onestoptennisblog which is a pretty sweet blog that covers all the events that happen daily around tennis. So I encourage all y’all to take a look at that one. A second one that I came across is thetravelingfangirl. This blog is much more personal as they travel around from tour event to tour event and get to blog and take pictures. It looks like so much fun so all y’all should also check this blog out as well.
Hope you all are having a good week stay tuned for Foot Fault Friday’s coming later on this week.
Fear the Fearhand
Hey guys what’s going on? Hope you all had a good weekend. Today I thought I would write about the people who I think have the best forehands or fearhands as Brad Gilbert likes to say so here we go.
1) Juan Martin Del Potro, Absolute monster forehand one of the most feared groundstrokes in the pro game today.
2) Jo Willy Tsonga, when his game is clicking its because of his forehand and his big serve
3) John Isner, Although he’s been struggling his forehand is still his second most feared shot behind his monster serve.
4) James Blake, When he was at his best no one wanted to hit the ball to James’ fearhand. One of the most devastating shots in tennis when he was at his best.
5) Tomas Berdych, Take a look at last years Wimbledon when he ousted Federer to see how good this forehand is.
(Obviously I excluded the great Roger Federer but thats only because everyone knows how dominate his forehand is.)
For the Girls,
1) Maria Sharapova, even though she tends to be quite loud when striking the ball her forehand is her best shot.
2) Victoria Azarenka, one of the reasons why she is on top of the tennis rankings is because of her consistently great forehand.
3) Serena Williams, couldn’t have a list without the number one player in the world right?
4) Kim Clijsters, she could beat anyone in the world thanks in large part to her consistent forehand.
5) Ana Ivanovic, This could be the biggest stretch on the list but when she was number one in the world her forehand was a force to be reckoned with.
Each and every one of these players have dominate forehands and because of them it has helped each one of them reach the top ten at some point in their career.
Hey Tennis Racket
Hello all, hope you had a good Easter break. Today I’m switching things up and I decided to interview my racket. Sometimes your racket needs to tell you things and I thought it would be interesting to get the rackets perspective of my tennis.
Here is my racket.
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Question 1: Hey racket I know I haven’t used you yet this year but I was wondering what are you most looking forward to this upcoming summer?
Racket: I think that I am most looking forward to seeing how many times I am going to have to get restrung. For the first time ever I had to be restrung at Christmas and it was an awful experience. Its like surgery on a racket without the pain medication.
Question 2: Very funny racket. Let’s see what is your favorite shot that I hit out there on the court?
Racket: The last one because then I get to be done.
Question 3: hahaha very funny racket. Do you like that you are blue or would you prefer to be a different color?
Racket: I think that being blue is the best. Haven’t you heard that song about being blue? I think that they made it specifically for me. Plus all the avatars are blue too.
Question 4: Ok racket. Since you are a head racket would you prefer to be any other brand racket. Babolat like Rafa Nadal, Wilson like Roger Federer, or Prince like David Ferrer and John Isner?
Racket: Head for life. I’m comfortable as I am constructed.
Question 5: Last question racket. Who would your ideal player be to use you?
Racket: Roger Federer. When he was dominate because he would win in the quickest amount of time. Definitely not John Mcenroe or Marcos Baghdatis as you can see in the evidence below.
Foot Fault Friday’s
Hey everyone hope y’all had a good week this week. It’s Easter weekend this weekend so I hope you all have a good weekend with laughs and family. I have my fantasy baseball draft this weekend so I’m hoping that goes well. It’s Friday so you know the deal lets get to it.
1) Hey Li Na the object is to hit the ball forward…
2) Hey Rafa watch out!
3) Even the great Roger Federer can screw up too. He’s human.
That’s all I got for today everyone have a good weekend see you next week!
Another Day without Tennis
With the winding down of the month of March it’s sickening to me that I have not been on the court at all this year. But there have been people elsewhere that have been hitting the court and you can check out some of the results on Adirondack Tennis. If you are looking for some tennis tips to help improve your game or to just read about different strategies about the game of tennis you can check out my new friend Marcus Cootsonas’ blog out here.
With the recent great weather here at Westfield State University I was hoping to write a review about my new Babolat hurricane strings that I got for Christmas this year but due to Stanley Park that cannot happen until hopefully next week. I hope you guys check out these other blogs and stay tuned for my next post. Thanks again everyone for checking out my blog.
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