Dear Members,

On behalf of the Club’s Executive Board, I would like to wish all of you a healthy and prosperous New Year as well as an enjoyable and successful upcoming season at Forest Hill Tennis Club. Every week, I’m going to bring you up to date with all the results from both the ATP and WTA Tours with the emphasis on performances by our Canadian players. I will also share with you my personal opinions on any issues that may arise in the past week’s competitions.

2014 Season officially began on December 30th, 2013 with a joint WTA and ATP tournament in Brisbane (Australia) and 2 ATP events in Doha (Qatar) and Chennai (India). Here are the results:

 

Brisbane International: Final Rounds.

Men’s Singles: Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) defeated Roger Federer (Switzerland)   6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

Ladies’ Singles: Serena Williams (USA) defeated Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)   6-4, 7-5.

Men’s Doubles: Daniel Nestor (Canada) and Mariusz Fyrstenberg (Poland) defeated Juan Sebastian Cabal (Colombia) and Robert Farah (Colombia)   6-7(4), 6-4, 10-7.

Ladies’ Doubles: Alla Kudryavtseva (Russia) and Anastasia Rodionova (Australia) defeated Kristina Mladenovic (France) and Galina Voskoboeva (Kazakhstan)   6-3, 6-1.

 

Qatar Exxon Mobil Open in Doha: Final Rounds.

Singles: Rafael Nadal (Spain) defeated Gael Monfils (France)   6-1, 6-7(5), 6-2.

Doubles: Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) and Jan Hajek (Czech Republic) defeated Alexander Peya (Austria) and Bruno Soares (Brazil)   6-2, 6-4.

Canadian Participation: Florent Serra (France) defeated Filip Peliwo (Canada)   6-3, 6-2 (Qualifying 1st round).

Aircel Chennai Open in Chennai, India: Final Rounds.

Singles: Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France)   7-5, 6-2.

Doubles: Johan Brunstrom (Sweden) and Frederik Nielsen (Denmark) defeated Marin Draganja (Croatia) and Mate Pavic (Croatia)   6-2, 4-6, 10-7.

Canadian Participation: Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) defeated Vasek Pospisil (Canada)   6-4, 5-5 retired (semi-finals).

The following week, players continued their preparation for the Australian Open with an ATP/WTA Tour stop in Sydney (Australia) and an ATP event in Auckland (New Zealand) both starting on January 6th, 2014. Here are the results from these tournaments:

 

Apia International Sydney: Final Rounds.

Men’s Singles: Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) defeated Bernard Tomic (Australia)   6-3, 6-1.

Ladies’ Singles: Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) defeated Angelique Kerber (Germany)   6-4, 6-4.

Men’s Doubles: Daniel Nestor (Canada) and Nenad Zimonjic (Serbia) defeated Rohan Bopanna (India) and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan)   7-6(3), 7-6(3).

Ladies’ Doubles: Timea Babos (Hungary) and Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) defeated Sara Errani (Italy) and Roberta Vinci (Italy)   7-5, 3-6, 10-7.

Canadian Participation: Shahar Peer (Israel) defeated Stephanie Dubois (Canada)   6-1, 6-3 (Ladies’ Singles Qualifying 1st round). Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukraine) defeated Frank Dancevic (Canada)   6-3, 6-2 (Men’s Singles Qualifying 2nd round).

 

Heineken Open in Auckland (New Zealand): Final Rounds.

Singles: John Isner (USA) defeated Yen-Hsun Lu (Chinese Taipei)   7-6(4), 7-6(7).

Doubles: Julian Knowle (Austria) and Marcelo Melo (Brazil) defeated Alexander Peya (Austria) and Bruno Soares (Brazil)   4-6, 6-3, 10-5.

 

On January 13th, all tennis fans turned their attention to the first Grand Slam Tournament of the year: Australian Open held in Melbourne. The Final Round results are as follows:

Men’s Singles: Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) defeated Rafael Nadal (Spain) 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Ladies Singles: Li Na (China) defeated Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) 7-6(3), 6-0.

 

Men’s Doubles: Lukasz Kubot (Poland) and Robert Lindstedt (Sweden) defeated Eric Butorac (USA) and Raven Klaasen (South Africa) 6-3, 6-3.

Ladies’ Doubles: Sara Errani (Italy) and Roberta Vinci (Italy) defeated Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) and Elena Vesnina (Russia) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

Mixed Doubles: Daniel Nestor (Canada) and Kristina Mladenovic (France) defeated Horia Tecau (Romania) and Sania Mirza (India) 6-3, 6-2.

Canadian Participation: Li Na (China) defeated Eugenie Bouchard (Canada) 6-2, 6-4 (Ladies’ Singles semi-final). Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) defeated Milos Raonic (Canada) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(10) (Men’s Singles 3rd round). Benoit Paire (France) defeated Frank Dancevic (Canada)    7-6(12), 6-3, 6-4 (Men’s Singles 1st round). Ruben Bemelmans (Belgium) defeated Filip Peliwo (Canada) 6-2, 6-2 (Men’s Singles Qualifying 1st round). Illya Marchenko (Ukraine) defeated Peter Polansky (Canada) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 (Men’s Singles Qualifying 1st round). Rhyne Williams (USA) defeated Steven Diez (Canada) 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-4 (Men’s Singles Qualifying 1st round). Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) defeated Sharon Fichman (Canada) 6-3, 6-1 (Ladies’ Singles Qualifying 1st round). Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan) defeated Stephanie Dubois (Canada) 7-5, 6-3 (Ladies’ Singles Qualifying 3rd round).

 

The Australian Open ended on January 26th, 2014 after 2 weeks of incredible tennis action played, for the most part, in extreme heat. TSN did a very good job covering all matches played by Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic even though one of Eugenie’s wins was shown on delay because of (what else?) a hockey game. One major dislike in regards to TSN’s coverage was the decision not to cover the mixed doubles final involving Daniel Nestor. The match started at 4:00 p.m. local time which was exactly midnight Toronto time. Definitely there were neither hockey games nor curling matches (I think they’re called “matches”) scheduled at that time, so there was absolutely no reason for the final not to be shown on television. I was fortunate to find the match on one of the live streaming websites and enjoyed watching the most successful Canadian tennis player ever win yet another Grand Slam. Congratulations Daniel!

And so, 2 weeks of insomnia have come to an end with an uneventful men’s final caused by Nadal’s back injury. Even though the match did not have the usual drama we have grown accustomed to over the years of watching Australian Open Finals, there was one educational/coaching advice that I would like to share with you. When playing against a visibly injured opponent (keep in mind: you really don’t know the extent of the injury or even if it’s real) continue to play your game regardless of your opponent’s body language. What was clear in last night’s final was that Wawrinka assumed a very cautious and, at times, tentative style of play in the 3rd set which ultimately allowed Nadal to be more aggressive which led him back into the match by winning the set 6-3. Fortunately, Wawrinka was able to weather the storm and overcame Nadal 6-3 in the next set to claim the Australian Open crown. Brad Gilbert mentioned Wawrinka’s dilemma by making an analogy to a “wounded warrior” that must be put down before he has a chance to recover. Bottom line: in tennis, when you step on the court for a competitive/tournament match, the only 2 things that should concern you are: YOU and the BALL. The condition of your opponent should have no bearing on your game style or decision making process. The fact that your opponent appears to be hurt is not a reason to be less aggressive, but rather to continue playing and applying the same tactics that you would use if the opponent was perfectly fit.

 

Next week our attention shifts to team competition as the first rounds of the Davis Cup will be played around the world. Canada travels to Japan for a difficult encounter against a team led by Kei Nishikori. Please read my blog next week for all the updates. In the meantime, I welcome your questions or comments; please feel free to email me at mctennisacademy@hotmail.com or call/ text me at (416) 821-5555. Have a great week and catch up on your sleep!

Kind regards,

Michael Czerwinski

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