Has anyone noticed that the names of winning players on today’s professional tennis circuit continuously change. More noticeable on the Men’s Circuit; and to some degree on the Ladies Circuit.
Have you noticed that the names of the players lately seem almost fictitious and your attempts to pronounce them lead to an embarrassing speak malfunction- and you belch out a slur of vowels: Kafelnikov, Ivanisevic, Siemerink, Berastegui, Majoli, Spirles, Hubsudova.
And I ask, why isn’t there a single outstanding winner that comes to the tip of everyone’s tongue? You know what I mean. Even the most uninterested citizen can recall roughly which years a Connors or a Lendle, a McEnroe or a Borg were dominating the game of tennis.
At this juncture, I must mention that each of the just listed players were clearly dominant in their time, and could have even gone further had it not been for that “one” other player that always seemed to get in the he way ofunchallenged domination. Connors had to contend with Lendle, Lendle had McEnroe and Borg was a nightmare for them all.
"I'm extraordinarily patient provided I get my own way in the end."
Margaret Thatcher
Just recently I was involved in a conversation with a tennis fanatic who professed his disappointment of the Russian star Yevgeny Kafelnikov, loss in the first round of the Gstaad-Swiss Open in June. And further dismay due to his losing to a lower ranked player.
It was then that I realized that few amateurs fully comprehend how much the strenuous tournament calendar demands perpetual physical excellence of the players and/or just how many skilled players currently contend for the best possible ranking on the professional tennis tour, worldwide.
Top ten players covet their rankings, for ranking is everything. Highly ranked players are extremely attentive to the accuracy of the draws in each tournament.
A typical professional tournament draw will contain 128 players. The placement of Seeded players, of which there are typically 16, is crucial. For it statistically allows the highest ranked players to meet only after the first couple of rounds of match play have proceeded. This formula is considered to lead to a crescendo that attracts the largest number of spectators on those days.
Yet, I suggest that it is no longer a given that the top four seeded players will reach the semi-final. I feel that the semis do provide the most exciting moments for the spectator, I just contend that the names of those final four have begun to show an unprecedented infusion of new and unknown talent. In most tournaments of this size, it is customary to provide positions for those who achieve a certain round of competition in a qualifier or pre-qualifier. In addition, a wild card position, or even (2), in the draw are filled with any player the tournament committee feels is worthy. Usually, it is offered to a favored local professional or promising junior.
Initially, the wild card players and those who are in triple digit rankings are the most dangerous of opponents to a seeded player. These players have no record to speak of, there is no video tape to consult in the hotel room the night before the match. Even your coach/training hasn’t seen this guy play. Let me emphasize, that it is an advantage to know how your opponent plays. This applies to almost every level of play.
It is fair to say that a match against a known rival of closer ranking is more comforting that to discover, too late, that the unknown wild card that you’re playing is just eating up your best serves. You, as the ranked player, don’t adjust quickly enough—just three little breaks of serve later and it’s over.
The highly ranked players do typically win in the first rounds against lower ranked players but less and less is it predictable to whom will advance each round to the finals. The expanding pool of tennis talent worldwide has allowed the game of tennis to achieve a new “depth”. Tennis has finally dug its heels into unlikely points of the globe like Brazil and Chile. The current tennis sensations that have recently surfaced from these countries: Gustavo Kuerten and Marcelo Rios, respectively, represent huge new populations that are now developing waves of new young players.
Tennis now more than ever before in its history is inexpensive and has become accessible to the masses. Just wait until the Chinese population starts developing players in earnest.
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