The journeyman
Yan Zi and Mark Knowles
Chan/Chuang vs Mattek/Mirza
Those two doubles/mixed doubles matches at Louis Armstrong stadium were more interesting than the singles at the center court, not all baseline. I first saw Mark Knowles in Dec 1992 when he turned pro, at the Bahamian Open (yes, there’s a such thing), Aaron Krickstein was there too. Over the years, Mark never rose higher than 96 in singles but #1 in doubles, made over $5.5m in prize, the epitome of the term journeyman. They lost last night, netting like $15k or $30k. Mixed doubles get paid the least since they only play 2 sets. If it’s a tie then they play a super tiebreak 10 points to decide.
A suite deal
I got a suite at the US Open, watched half Djokovic‘s match against Monaco yesterday afternoon – too boring, all baseline, like an identical twins. Not sure how often the center court is used throughout the year, but the decor at their suites are decent, I’d say better than the MSG, the Gardens’. The forceful sunlight and cool air con made it just so much more desirable and enjoyable.
The first thing pops into my mind when I entered is the round table: perfect for a card game, baifen or bridge 🙂
US Open .. the girls
.
Do girls dress up at Flushing Meadow? My random takes, missed few Park Avenue princess, :). Serena was like sleep walk, as if she didn’t want to be there. But managed to win in 2 sets. Justin Gimelstob won his doubles in 2 sets too. The crowds loved him. The fun part of the doubles is players are sort of entertainers, less serious than singles players. The network should broadcast doubles more!
Golf
I once heard that golf stands for gentleman only lady forbid. It’s been a long time since I step onto a golf course. As King’s camp winding down, they played their finale at the Clearview public course. The weather was beautiful with refreshing gentle breeze, the surrounding is serene (even adjacent to the highway), the grass and trees are as essential to the game as tonic to the eyes. No wonder Golfer spends every awakening moment on a course, the tranquility sure beats his screaming n yelling wife (can you image if I was fluent in Chinglish, how much louder would I have been?) .. .. Now, am I risking of losing King .. .. away from nagging mom?? Sweet.
US Open 2007
I saw Yan Zi in Toronto when she wore the identical same multi-color shoes, rather odd strokes, but out played Ana Ivanovic sharply. Sizable buddies turned up there, few of them I haven’t seen in years! Lord. Group of them went to lunch with her last years, and said she only speaks Sichuan dialect and English. Mao had made Mandarin the nation language once he took up residence in Zhongnanhai. I haven’t met anyone who’s educated and under the age of 60 doesn’t speak Mandarin. They said her coach is from Sichuan too. Even athlete needs a balance life. I’m provincial, but I do consider my yardstick of standard Mandarin and passable calligraphy still holds truth of one’s education background.
What’s equality?
Last week’s Time has Nadal answering 10 Questions from the fans, one asked his opinion on female players earning the same salary as men. He replied, “I don’t have much opinion about that. I totally agree that women and men are the same in all areas of life, but my opinion is that, well, if we are the same, then women should have to play best-of-five sets [instead of 3] if they want to earn the same amount of money.” Well said. I often wonder those women’s right advocates are doing a service or disservice to us. Yes, men and women are the same, but No when the girls getting paid the same but doing less. Best-of-three sets some times lasts only an hour, that’s how long girls final often is. How could you ask for the same pay with much less effort? Are we just a bunch of whining babies seeking an easy ride under the guise of equality? And expecting to be taken seriously. Silly and sissy.
Pete Sampras 桑普拉斯 1971
On the eve of US Open, Pete gave an rare interview with FT, in which he mentioned that his era was different from current Federer’s where there is much less real competition. I agree. It gets so boring that we see FedEx plays on Sundays and wins all the time. Thanks god he doesn’t grunt, and moves fluidly with impeccable form, especially single hand backhand. The only player who has an edge over him is Rafael Nadal, but it’s only limited on clay, so FedEx ends up with other 3 slams. In no time, he’ll surpass Pete’s 14 slams record. Sampras still has bit fire in his belly, for he said IF he gets in shape, he’ll still be a force to reckon with on grass. WTG, Pete! Yuan Meng’s practice partner Ras said he saw Pete from time to time in LA, “he plays 3x a week, keep in shape … plays with everyone ..” page
- 2010.08.26, Making of a Champion
- 2008, A Champion’s Mind
- 1991, unfairness of the commentator in Europe
Blink … and my new style of serve
I played with new serve over the weekend – without any practice – did well. Only couple of more doubles than usual, which surprised me. (I had many doubles on Sunday afternoon when I played at a party, after 3 serious hours of playing in the morning – I was so poppped.) So years ago’s advice actually blossomed, although I never thought of making use of it.
Couple of weeks ago, there’s book review on Gerd Gigerenzer’s Gut Feelings by Catherine Arnst (Business Week 8/20). It sounds very familiar with a book I read few years ago – Blink. No coincident, by 3rd paragraph, the reviewers mentioned that Blink‘s author Gladwell drew heavily on Gigerenzer’s research. Every time when I committed a double fault in tennis, I thought of Blink: we all develope an innate and unconscious rules that govern our negotiation in life – most of those doubles are made when I thought of making it, not I wanted to make it. Like telling myself, oh no, don’t double fault. And I was not flexible (or quick) enough to avoid making it. Is this the thin line distinguish a good player from a great player? This theory not just applies to tennis.
Nothing is right
Last Thursday I took my first lesson with Barry. He’s trying to correct my strokes, not just one, but basically all of them, from forehand to serve. Shhishe, I’ve been taking lessons on and off over the years, group or private. None of the coaches tried this hard. They all say how good I played 🙂 guess not. I didn’t like it – IF indeed I’m good, than how come I don’t improve much, stagnate at 3.0? Well, I never gone out of my way looking for one that can pick my game either. Hopefully Barry is the man. He first worked on my forehand. My problem is I don’t shift my weight, and hit short, hooves around the serve line, which isn’t good, baseline is the target. Simon had said it hundred times. So was Lou, so’s Barry. After a while, tired of telling me to hit it deep, he said my lacking of power is due to my skinny arms. Hey, I eat lot of spinach, will it mean that I’ll get my popey’s arm, soon? 🙂
Right before ending of the session, he showed me how to serve .. the right way. I remembered one of the coaches years ago, who said, “your serve is great, but you should consider adding more varieties, like twist the grip when you’re up 40 love..” I was lazy, and my serve has always been very dependable with very few double faults. If I could force errors and gain points here and there, there is very little incentive for me to add anything to my repertoire.
I told Pumpkin how did I learn to serve when she asked: that for the first few times, I felt totally lost of control and the ballet movement. Ya, the ballerina, the metaphor coined by Gerald at Queens College. Barry showed me how to do it, which I thought that’s the way I’m doing it.
“Oh no, you don’t” he replied.
Geee, now I see the purpose of mandatory continuing education in many industries, to refresh and to improve. Many things I thought I’m doing it the right way, but after years of doing it, I somehow found a way to do it incorrectly, cutting corners, out of laziness. Same with swimming. Once a girl asked me to teach her, did I realize how badly had I been swimming.
