Open Season Coming Soon

I am excited to report that the High School tennis season is about to start. Practices are to commence on Febuary 13th. I have been doing a lot of research on drills and excersies. If you have any that you recommend PLEASE let me know. I would be thrilled to hear about your favorite or least favorite training excersies. Happy Tennis.

Masters Cup

I am glad to see Roger has made a full recovery and is ready to defend his Masters Cup Crown. The Tennis Masters series concludes this coming week in Shanghai, China. Federer had been struggling with his fitness and was in danger of missing out on the event. If he had withdrawn I would have petitioned for them to cancel the tournament. It is my opinion that you MUST go through Roger to lay claim to the number 1 spot. I have my tennis racquet tie ready to go Monday morning.

Changing of the Guard?

Tim Henman and Andy Murray finally ran into each other in an ATP draw. And if you visit the BBC website it was the “heralding of a new era in British tennis”. That may be the biggest overstatement of the year. Tim Henman has had one of the worst years of his career. He has been battling injuries all season, the Basel tournament being only his second since sitting out a number of months to rest his back. Tim is obviously lacking matches and confidence. Murray is definitely on his way up; there is no denying that. I really like the kid too. He plays hard and with a lot of emotion. Murray did walk away the victor but he was quick to play down the British media’s urge to make this match into more than it was. I feel for Tim Henman and all he has endured through his career and I hope that these same burdens and stresses don’t dog Andy Murray throughout his. I guess that is what you get being born into a title-starved country that hosts the greatest event in sport.

Where does Federer's Winning Streak Stand?

I am excited to see that Roger Federer's amazing play is finally garnering mainstream recognition. If you did not know Roger Federer has now won an astounding 24 finals in a row. The last time he was beat in a final was in Rome in 2003. A recent ESPN poll asked the question "what is the most impressive active streak in sports?" Federer's accomplishment was voted the overwhelming winner. I must admit I was a little shocked by the results. His 24 match streak was up against the Atlanta Braves 14 divisional titles, Brett Favre's 227 starts and USC's 24 wins. Roger Federer's 24 match winning streak snatched up 53% of the 37,585 votes submitted, one of those being mine.

Which wine do you prefer?

I regret that I have not been unable to comment on the US Open so far. I fully intended and still intend to do so but have been so tremendously busy that merely watching the matches has been difficult enough. Until I am able to produce more I wanted to provide a very interesting link. Enjoy!

Changes

Hurricane Katrina is rolling in bringing with it lots of rain up here in Nashville. The rain has made it impossible to make it to the courts to practise but it has afforded me the opportunity to update this blog. There are some additions and changes I have been wanting to make recently. I wanted to support fellow tennis bloggers by offering links to their sites. I also had the idea to offer links to all of the grand slam events. These sites are loaded with information you cannot get anywhere else. They also generally host the most up-to-date scores, news and interviews. I certainly hope you take the time to support all of us poor tennis bloggers. If you weren't aware the US Open kicks off tommorrow in NYC. Enjoy!

Bracketology

Bracketology is the marketing name given to the studying and filling-out of the NCAA Basketball Tournament brackets, which is enormously popular in America. Four times a year I have my little version of bracketology. For the last 3 years I have filled out the draws for every Grand Slam event. It is just me so I never gamble or wager on the results, it is just for my own enjoyment. I feel like it gets me more involved in the whole tournament. I find out everyone that is in the draw. If I want I can research their previous play, look at pictures, view their results. It also gives me someone to pull for in the otherwise less-interesting matches. I have found and continue to find reasons why I enjoy doing this. All of this to say, I have filled out my bracket and am ready for the matches to begin. You can checkout the ATP's main draw preview if you need a little help filling yours out. Oh, If you need a few copies of the draw you can print from here.