U.S. Open ’11: First Week Wrap Up

Posted: September 5, 2011 by rjsays in Tennis, U. S. Open
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Rajat Jain
Head of Tennis, The CouchExpert
5 September 2011

Biggest Upsets

The first week of U.S. Open had everything to offer ... except Irene

The first week of U.S. Open had everything to offer ... except Irene

It was unfortunate (or does it further prove the presence of chaos in the WTA?) that the three women slam winners of this year all were out of the U.S. Open after the very first day. Kim Clijsters already pulled out with an injury, while Li Na continued to show her inconsistent form this year. She lost five straight matches after Australian Open, and has won only a couple of them after French Open. Of course, her run to the finals at Australian Open and the maiden Slam victory at French Open more than compensates for all her other failures. The Wimbledon champ, Petra Kvitova, is still looking for solutions to her hard court problems as she crashed out in the very first round.

Meanwhile, the men’s side has sailed pretty smoothly, barring the biggest shocker of the tournament, as the Mumma’s boy, Donald Young, finally became a man by defeating an ATP heavyweight in Stan Wawrinka. He came from two sets to one down, failed to serve out the set in the fifth, and then dominated the final set tie-breaker which brought the crowd to its feet. While such big upsets are usually followed by tame defeats, Young avoided that by upsetting the 24th seed, Juan Ignacio Chela in a very routine manner. Is this finally the arrival of the Donald?

Biggest Disappointments

Marin Cilic was a part in both of them. First he defeated the upcoming American youngster, Ryan Harrison, in a dominant fashion. What was disappointing was not that Harrison lost, but the tame manner in which he failed to put up any fight. All the hopes generated after his successful U.S. Open series were shattered barely two hours after the tournament commenced. Cilic continued his manhandling of youngsters, by surrending a mere five games to Bernard Tomic, who had raised a lot of hopes after his success at Wimbledon.

Biggest Positives

Donald Young, in all likelihood, will fail to win a set against Andy Murray in the fourth round (even though he has beaten him in their last encounter at Indian Wells this year), but the manner in which he held his nerves to beat a top seed in the final set tie-breaker was more than praiseworthy.

On the women’s side, the American teenager Sloane Stephens reached the third round of a Slam for the first time in her career. While she did not have a run like Melanie Oudin, she does not show signs of fading like her, either. At 5’8″, she is considerably taller than her compatriot and will go stronger with time.

Bakery at Flushing Meadows

NewYork is known for bagels and breadsticks, and for good reason. While bagels are common the women’s tour, this time it was prominent on the men’s tour too. Novak Djokovic almost created history when leading 6-0 6-0 2-0 against Carlos Berlocq, as the latter barely avoided the embarrasment of a triple bagel by winning a couple of games. Tomas Berdych also served a couple of bagels to Fabio Fognini. The others who served bagels includes Dolgopolov, Cilic, Tipsarvic (twice), Murray, Davydenko, Gasquet, Sela, Anderson, Hasse, Ferrer, Mayer, Mahut and … suprise surpise, Berlocq himself. In fact, it was pretty ironic for Berlocq, as he himself had a dominant first round victory that included a bagel and a breadstick to his opponent.

David towers Goliath

At exactly six feet, Gilles Simon is half a foot shorter than Juan Martin del Potro and a good 30 pounds lighter. Del Potro has the massive serve and forehand, while Simon is just a hapless counterpuncher. Del Potro is a champion having won here in 2009 (and how!) while Simon is a now a father, and a former top-10 player. And yet, when the giant from Tandil met the diminutive Frenchmen, the roles were reversed. Simon hit four times as many aces as Del Potro (thirteen against three), committed half the number of double faults, and hit 11 more winners than Del Potro marching towards a four set win. Del Potro was hitting bigger during most of the match, but Simon outhit him when push came to shove. David downed Goliath once again.

The Great Escape

After the disappointment at the Aussie Open, Andy Murray has been tentative throughout. He has dug a lot of holes for himself through the year, and got out of them in fine fashion as well. A lot of times he lost the first set and found a break down in the second, and came back to win the match. In a lot of matches, he routinely went 4-0 or 5-0 down, only to win the set 7-5 or 7-6. It seems he needs the fear of embarrassment or upset to bring out his best. Turns out, that exactly was required against Robin Hasse, as he pulled off another great upset after he faced a two set deficit against the Dutch.

Searching for Nails

The exuberance and charisma of Gael Monfils against the consistency of Juan Carlos Ferrero. The acrobatics of Monfils, the calm of Ferrero. The over the top winners of Monfils, the clay-feet of Ferrero. A spectacular eighty one winners and twenty one aces from Monfils. Eighty one unforced errors and ten double faults from the same guy. Only two aces from Ferrero, yet one of them when he was 30-0 up in the final game. Difference of just one point between the two players. Five tough sets over four hours and forty eight minutes. What not to love?

… And some Drama

Andy Roddick, when asked about how he handled criticism from the media, responded with this. Djokovic, tired of impersonations, showed some of his dancing skills. Nadal had no injury problems during his matches, but collapsed with cramps during a press interview. To top it all, Venus William’s outfit did not spark ant controversy.

Crystal Ball

Men’s Semifinalis: Djokovic d. Federer, Murray d. Roddick

Men’s Champion: Novak Djokovic

Women’s Semifinals: Serena d. Petkovic, Stosur d. Pennetta

Women’s Champion: Serena Williams

Phraser Bullets: Did they say that?

Posted: September 4, 2011 by thecognitivenomad in Fiction
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Chandrasekhar Jayarama Krishnan

Wick(et)Freaks – The CouchExpert

4 September, 2011

 

“Why is it that only when India are in a winning position, it rains here in England.”

Gavaskar’s idiosyncrasies resurface as the rain gods come in to play in Durham.

“Even Sunny-bhai couldn’t prevent Rainy-bhai from intervening during a good day for the Indians.”

Ravi “Tracer-Bullet” Shastri throws another grenade into the first ODI result.

“The Englishmen are jealous of the Indian slow-movers. What right does Nasser Hussain have in calling some of the Indian fielders’ donkeys? He could’ve called them a tortoise. Or he could’ve called them a snail. Or he could’ve called them the Mumbai traffic. Or he could’ve called them Inzys …”

Ravi “Tracer-Bullet” Shastri, once again, demonstrates his know-how on the slow moving objects of the world.

“Nasser complemented the Indians! He referred to them has Don Qui(xote)s – after the renowned Spainsh folklore legend Don Quixote.”

An ECB official with Spanish roots backs Nasser Hussain’s comments.

“I was watching the game in the hotel with Rob Key and he said Nasser did nothing wrong. He just referred to them as ‘Darn-Keys’, ‘cuz Rob was one of the slowest movers on the field. What is wrong with that?”

Swanny tweets as soon as the pundits start taking a swipe at Nasser.

“I think after 96 tests, and 196 visits to the Zoo, I am entitled to express my opinions on air. That is why Sky Sports and Animal Planet (whose contractual agreements with Nasser cannot be disclosed) are paying me to voice my opinion during this series. I think I’ve earned the rights to do so.”

Nasser explains why he had the rights to say what he ended up saying.

“At 50 years of age, I could get past those bouncers at the gates of Lancashire CC, even after they man-handled me. What is 23 year old Rohit going on about?”

David “Bumble” Lloyd isn’t too impressed with Rohit Sharma walking off after a bouncer sent him back retired hurt.

“Bumble was a great player, no hard feelings of course! Maybe I was scared, I’m sure I’ll meet him over a beer and resolve this.”

The party animal within Rohit Sharma uses the Bumble jibe to his advantage to drown a few pints as he clearly forgets why Bumble quit test cricket.

“@ImRo45 When and where are you meeting Bumble?”

Injured Indian World Cup star Yuvraj Singh quickly tweets after hearing Rohit’s comments.

“@yuvsingh09 hahahahahahahahahahaha!”

Kevin Pietersen, in turn, reacts to Yuvraj’s comments on Twitter.

“My dad reckons Dravid applied sun tan lotion on his bat instead, and it was cloudy in Durham.”

A former England captain’s son tweets after the Dravid dismissal.

“Michael Vaughan, once again, proves that he is an idiot. This time, he makes his son tweet on behalf of him.”

Saurav Ganguly war of words with Vaughan resume.

“I agree with Saurav. Vaughan is an idiot. He once told in public that my dad was hard to control as a player.”

The mystery kid, now revealed to be Flintoff Jr, agrees with Saurav’s comments, at least partially.

U.S. Open ’11: Hanging out with Serena Williams

Posted: September 4, 2011 by rjsays in Tennis, U. S. Open
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Rajat Jain
Head of Tennis, The CouchExpert
4 September 2011

Late in the second set, Serena was 0-40 up on Azarenka’s serve with three match points. The match looked like a routine 6-1 6-3 win for Serena (she was also a break up at this point) in the hottest match up of the first week. This would have established the supreme dominance of Serena on the women’s tour. Yet, somehow Azarenka managed to save all those match points in a display of some of the best high octane baseline tennis that I have seen. Unable to rally against the champion, Azarenka started taking the ball on the rise and made the American rush for her ground strokes. She took the return early and cracked some great return winners. Two of them were on Serena’s favorite serve out wide. Serena was so annoyed after this that she had to crack an ace and a service winner down the T after that.

From a miserable state at 3-5 0-40 down in the second set, Azarenka managed to hold, and broke Serena right in the next game, even though Serena had a match point (her fourth). For the first time in the match, Serena was under pressure as she served to enforce the tie-breaker. Once the tie-breaker started, Vika confidently marched to a 5-4 lead after going 0-3 down. Throughout the last 15 minutes, I was wondering if Azarenka could pull off a Serena’s houdini act, that is, putting herself into an impossible position and somehow scrambling a win.

Serena justifies why she is the favorite for the U.S. Open

Serena justifies why she is the favorite for the U.S. Open

And there was the catch. Azarenka could have pulled off a “Serena,” but unfortunately for her, it was Serena herself on the other side of the court. Serena hit 12 aces in the match, two of them when she was a break point down late in the second set, one of them in the tie-breaker, and another one of them when she was 0-30 down. Serena has played miserably on numerous occasions at the start of a match, but this was a rare occasion when she was unable to close out a match on her own terms.

For this fact alone, Azarenka should be given enough credit. She did not give up on watching a monstrous presence on the other side of the court, and kept going for her shots even when it seemed all over. The fact that she matched Serena shot to shot at the baseline the second set says something about her shot making skills. I have said before that Azarenka, while having no particular weakness at the back court, lacked a strength, a go to shot that she can use at full confidence and scramp winners out of it. It did not look like that today. She hit big from both her wings, bigger than what I have seen her hit in the past, and she was not hesitant to approach the net–she saved her third match point with a deft volley on Serena’s running forehand.

As well as she played today, she should consider herself unfortunate on being paired up with the greatest champion of this era so early in the tournament. She has lost in the semis and quarters in the Slams before, but this loss must have hurt, because unlike the previous encounters, she was outplayed today in all departments despite playing well above her best. The biggest positive for her was gaining the knowledge that she could hang out, at least for a while, with the very best. And Serena knew it herself. After the victory, she raised her index finger towards the sky. It was a declaration as to who is still the No. 1.

Mahela Jayawardene is Sri Lanka’s finest batsman

Posted: September 4, 2011 by The CouchExpert in Cricket, Opinion
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 Goutham Chakravarthi

 4 September 2011

On Saturday, Mahela Jayawardene scored his 29th Test hundred to draw level with Donald Bradman. It was a spiteful pitch and runs were hard to come by. It was an innings in a losing cause against a team that no longer is the best going around. Yet, runs against Australia don’t come easy at the best of times. Ricky Ponting turned the ball square on this wicket and Mahela himself would have fancied his chances bowling spin on a wicket that had more turn in it than all the head turns a pretty girl would manage in a lifetime. It was Mahela at his best – playing late, with soft hands and precise footwork and impeccable judgment.

Mahela has drawn level with Bradman on 29 Test hundreds

Often, Aravinda de Silva from the emerald isle is talked up as its best batsman. Sanath Jayasuriya is the darling of the masses in the shorter format. Kumar Sangakkara, a contemporary, is widely regarded as Sri Lanka’s best batsman recently. Even with all the runs Mahela has conjured up wafting his bat like a wizard would his wand, he has churned close to ten thousand Test runs in a remarkable career. He must be the most stylish right-hander in the game even as the world is obsessed with Ian Bell and VVS Laxman.

Often his record at the SSC is held against him. Even otherwise, he would be the modern day giant that he is. He averages over 50 in the 4th innings. They say 20 of his 29 hundreds have come in Sri Lanka. In a career spanning over 14 years he has played only 4 Tests in Australia (1 hundred, ave: 34.25), 4 Tests in New Zealand (1 hundred, ave: 27.71), 4 Tests in West Indies (1 hundred, ave: 42.00), 5 Tests in South Africa (highest: 98, ave: 31.40). In a similar time frame, VVS Laxman has played 11 Tests in Australia, 5 in New Zealand, 10 in South Africa and 16 in West Indies! It is a shame that such a remarkable talent has had to play so less in these countries. Agreed his record isn’t the best there, but he has hardly been a failure. He has Test hundreds in all Test playing countries barring South Africa. He cannot be faulted for not being given more opportunities to better his performances. If scoring hundreds across the world is the barometer for judging batting greatness, he is up there with the best.

The disadvantage of coming from a smaller Test playing nation is the lack of deserved recognition a player should get. If he were an Australian or an Englishman, he would be constantly referred to as a modern day great. Chanderpaul, Mohammed Yousuf and Kallis have suffered the same fate over the years. But more important than the media space and public opinion, it is the respect of fellow players and opposition that counts. No cricketer or sane cricket scribe would have less than the highest regard for Mahela.

Mahela’s all round game makes him truly remarkable. He reinvented himself as a limited overs player after pushing himself to open the innings in T20 cricket. He is a player in the classical mould, but he has come to the realization that he can now paint modern art too. There is as much colour in his cover drive as there is in his imagination that can pull out a scoop to a fast bowler. He is the writer who has not only mastered long hand writing but someone who can tell an epic in a tweet. He has got it all. He is the master who not only knows all the tunes, but knows when to play them. He is Sri Lanka’s finest batsman. He’s done it with tremendous grace and dignity.

1st ODI: Rain robs India their best chance of win

Posted: September 3, 2011 by The CouchExpert in Cricket, India in England 2011
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 Goutham Chakravarthi

 3 September 2011

 

Finally a day where India had the better of England and the game was called off! The end result is not that India are yet to beat England but may have lost another player, Rohit Sharma, to injury. It is a tour that simply won’t go right for India. And for DRS!

India were jolted early with news of Tendulkar pulling out after complaining of pain on his big toe. He is to consult a specialist on Monday and knowing the history of the injury, he might be advised rest. It seems there is nothing India can do to stop injuries. Putting eleven fit men on the park seems a bigger issue for the team these days.

Rahane and Patel have given India good starts in successive games

Amid all the chaos, India has stumbled upon an unlikey opening pair who have kept the English seamers at bay for two matches in succession. Rahane is highly rated in the Indian circuit and is a man coming with runs behind him in Australia recently. He has looked confident and in the company of the very gritty Parthiv Patel countered the conditions and the English quicks with aplomb. It was not a quick wicket but did offer enough nip for bowlers with the new ball.

If you looked at the highlight reel of Parthiv Patel’s innings a few years from now, you would think he played a pull or hook to each of the 107 deliveries he faced! England were convinced for whatever reason that he couldn’t play the short stuff for the second game in a row and kept bouncing him and Patel kept pulling them for fours. Closing in on a deserved hundred, he nicked a wide half volley that Anderson bowled which looked like the first delivery they pitched up to him in two games now. All this makes you wonder why he wasn’t chosen as the back-up wicket-keeper and opening batsman for the Tests.

Another positive for India from this game would be the form of Raina. He seems comfortable in this format. He looked confident throughout and controlled the batting powerplay. An astute slow bouncer by Dernbach ended his innings. But he looked in control while he was at the crease.

Rohit Sharma’s loss will be a blow forIndia. It might do India good if Dhoni pushes himself to no.4 for the rest of the series. Once he is in, he controls the middle overs like few can in world cricket. Batting at no. 7, he is doing himself and his team a great disservice. India are out of options and Rohit’s injury might force him to bat at 4.

India looked good with the ball too with Praveen Kumar continuing to mesmerize English batsmen with his swing and nip. He accounted for Cook, who looked ill at ease in his brief stay, and Kieswetter, who couldn’t pick Praveen’s swing. When rain intervened, India had had the upper hand and looked poised to finally put one over England this tour. The long batting line-up would have been tested to chase down the Indian score after a slow start.

India finally look to be hitting their strap with the induction of a new personnel. They will do well to put a couple of people who have played well in Australia recently on stand by even as a final call the injuries of Rohit Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar will be made shortly.

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