Fed Wins Big- Guaranteed #1 Spot in Semis of Barclay’s World Tour Finals 2011

Roger Federer put a hurtin’ on Rafa Nadal 6-3, 6-0 in their round robin match at the ATP Barclay’s World Tour Finals (Masters) 2011. With that convincing win, Federer was guaranteed a berth in the semifinals whether he wins or loses tomorrow against Mardy Fish (6am pst Tennis Channel). In the semis, he will face the #2 player from Group A, which is still undecided. David Ferrer leads that group with two convincing wins over Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. Djokovic suffered only his fifth loss of the season today versus the tenacious Spaniard 6-3, 6-1.

Dynamic Stretching for Tennis this Winter

The weather’s getting cold, so make sure you warm up before your matches during the winter months.  Pre-match warm-up should consist of dynamic stretching, some light jogging around the court (3 laps is ideal), and some footwork exercises so you are ready to move from point one.  Arm circles, trunk rotations, and knee bends are just some of the excellent dynamic stretches you can do.  For a visual on these exercises, check out Gene’s latest video on youtube called, “5 Dynamic Stretches for Tennis.”  See you on the courts!

Marina City Club’s Annual Palm Desert Trip 2011

Dinner at The Nest

November 11-13, 2011 marked another trip to the beautiful Shadow Mountain Resort in Palm Desert for the Marina City Club faithful. Friday was beautiful, with casual doubles played by members and the pro, Gene, in the late afternoon in balmy desert weather under clear skies. Saturday morning, the skies opened and kept the courts wet all day, preventing us from playing a much-anticipated match with Ironwood Country Club. Members went to movies, casinos, The Living Desert, and relaxed by shopping. Saturday night was a wonderful four-course dinner at The Nest, a desert hot-spot, with live music and dancing. Eighteen members attended the dinner and a wonderful time was had by all.
On Sunday morning, we played mixed doubles against Shadow Mountain and our team won all but on match. It was a beautiful day and everyone was thrilled to get some tennis in, before returning to Marina Del Rey that afternoon. Although the weather did not cooperate completely, we had another memorable trip to the desert with friends.

Dinner at The Nest

Federer wins Paris!

In the last 1000 level atp tournament of the year, Federer finally left his mark, winning the Paris Indoors with a 6-1, 7-6(3) victory over Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. Amazingly, despite Tsonga being French and playing the Paris, the crowd showed great support for the ever-popular Swiss legend as he won this title for the first time in his illustrious career. It is Fed’s 69th professional title and he topped the 800-win mark for his career earlier this week.

Fed Impresses at Swiss Indoors Basel

Federer returned to his winning ways, ousting Kei Nishikori, 6-1, 6-3 in the finals of the Swiss Indoors Basel.  The 21-year-old Japanese sensation who took out Novak Djokovic in the semis to face a solid Federer in the final and move to No. 24 in the world, the highest ranking ever by a Japanese male tennis player.  Federer secured his spot in the London Masters months ago, but this year had only one title in Qatar, back in January, so this hometown victory brought tears to the great player’s eyes.  Congrats to both athletes for making their countries proud.  Nadal did not play and Andy Murray pulled out of Basel with an injury.

Andy Murray Wows in Japan Open Final

Andy Murray looked like he was on his way to a 14th loss to world no. 2, Rafael Nadal as he dropped the first set of the 2011 Japan Open final, 6-3.  However, Murray decided to hang in there and force the future hall of famer, Nadal to close out the match, rather than giving up.  His tenacity and emotional stability allowed Murray to play two outstanding sets and defeat Nadal, 6-2, 6-0 in the final two sets, including a three break third set in which Murray only lost 4 points.  That’s right, 4 points against Rafa.  Murray has set a goal of finishing this year ahead of all-time great, Roger Federer at no. 3 in the rankings and with play like this, that goal seems reachable.

Nike Responds To Gene’s Statement: “Make line of products made in the usa!”

Hi Gene,

Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns about Nike’s corporate responsibility practices with us. We appreciate the opportunity to share our approach with you.

We see corporate responsibility as a catalyst for growth and innovation. It is an integral part of how we aim to use the power of our brand, the energy and passion of our people, and the scale of our business to create meaningful change.

With the release of our last corporate responsibility report on May 31, 2007, we announced a series of business targets that more deeply integrate corporate responsibility goals into the company’s long-term growth and innovation business strategies. The targets set benchmarks to improve labor conditions in contract factories, create a climate stable company, drive sustainable product design and innovation, and unleash potential by giving youth greater access to the benefits of sport.

Our priority is helping the people who make our products by playing a role in bringing about positive change for workers within our own supply chain, and in the industry overall.

Nike-branded products are made by more than 800,000 workers in almost 700 contract factories in 52 countries around the world, from Indonesia to Canada, from Australia to the United States. When we look at our overall footprint in the world, the needs of those workers in our contract supply chain overshadow any other group.

We are continually evolving our approach – from establishing codes of conduct and establishing an internal team to enforce it, to working with independent organizations to monitor factories and engage with external stakeholders. What we’ve learned, after a decade, is that monitoring alone isn’t enough to solve the problems facing workers in our contract factories and in our industry in general.

Our focus now is getting to the root of recurring problems such as excessive overtime and worker’s right to freedom of association. Our goal is to create lasting change in Nike contract factories and in our industry.

We’re often asked about wages in contract factories and why we can’t pay more or disclose the wages workers are paid. We aggressively monitor compliance with our standard that workers be paid at least the minimum wage required by local law, and that workers are accurately paid the wages owed for the hours worked. In fiscal 2005 and 2006, we secured approximately $1 million in back wages for workers. We believe wages are best set by the market and by local public policy regarding wage minimums. Since we do not directly employ contract factory workers, we do not track wage data – such decisions are up to the factories.

Nike continues to be a leader in transparency and public reporting of supply chain issues and our efforts to improve conditions for workers. We were the first in our industry to publicly disclose our supply chain and regularly communicate with a diverse group of stakeholders on these issues. For further details on our Code of Conduct, overall approach to corporate responsibility and our business targets, we invite you to visit our website, http://www.nikebiz.com/responsibility/.

Sincerely,

Jeremy
Nike

Federer and Mandela Most Trusted Ambassadors

In an amazing study, Roger Federer was second only to Nelson Mandela as a respected and trusted personality. Read the whole article here.

Case for Nadal!

I received this email from an anonymous reader who makes great points about Nadal and why he’s done nothing untoward.  Enjoy another viewpoint and feel free to comment on anything tennis here:

Thanks for a compelling essay. I read it all and other stuff and there seems to be a case for both sides of the argument. I mean yeah, he beefed up, but that is pretty normal as he transitioned from teen to adult in front of the world’s purview and has an intense exercise regimen. Also, his playing arm is much more developed than his right arm and that kinda is anathema to steroid bulking. Both arms would bulk up the same.

 

As for his bio mechanics–that could just be his genes; his family is that of tennis players and football players and I kinda think a lot of it is genetic.

 

Yes, he said no to more testing. But so did Andy Murray and others and when I learned that they must provide a 24/7 hourly account for all their activities and how to reach them already….I kinda think on principle alone, I’d say no way too. It’s a privacy issue and from we know of Nadal, he is pretty private guy, and pretty much a family guy. I mean when his parents split he was devastated and took time off to regroup; we don’t hear of him hitting the party circuit like with so many other athletes–and what a lot of steroid users tend to do due to the inflated sense of ego and indestructibility that comes with steroid use.

 

Steroid users tend to be power offensive players–that’s across the board for all sports, but Nadal’s strength in my humble opinion is his defensive play. I mean even yesterday when he won the toss, he opted to receive instead of serve. I mean compare him to Serena (and I’d be more inclined to say she uses PEDs than Nadal and she too said no to the revised testing)–she wins because of her power and offense and her serve but defensively I’d venture to say that she is not the best; whereas defensively I would venture to say that Nadal is the best in the game but I would say that others such as Federer and Djokovich are better offensively than he is.

 

Nadal is defense. That is his gift–his intuition and his ability to almost psychically know what the opponent is going to do next and where the ball is going to land. That can’t be taught nor can it be enhanced with PEDs. It just is. And while his serve has improved greatly–and he doesn’t claim it is only because of his new grip, that would come with stringent practice and from all accounts I’ve read the guy is obsessive with his workouts and training.

 

I’d be more willing to bet that he has classic OCD than is a PED user, but again I could be wrong. I think he’s just obsessed with tennis and in fact my concern about him is what will he do when his tennis career is over? I mean he is gonna need to fill it with another obsession–maybe he’ll switch to golf as I hear he is great at that too. But people with OCD need that fierce competition and they need to win and they need to be in control–which again supports why defense is his forte–what better way to have total control over the game and the opponent than to be in control of THEIR offensive game.

 

And look at all his little rituals he has to do–I mean they say he is a very superstitious guy and has this whole routine that he performs prior to the match like lacing his shoes a certain way and if he makes a mistake he starts the entire routine over, and going to the bathroom at the same precise time. In fact during the rain delay he had to redo his whole routine before he went on to the court–even though he had already done it.

 

Also, look at how he fidgets and fusses between points……and how after the match (win or lose) he has to go change his shirt (into exactly the same shirt he was wearing only a clean one) and put on his warm-up jacket and zip it up before he talks to reporters. And he’s not doing it to be arrogant or to show off to the girls, he is doing it because that is his routine. So if I had to make a call–I’d say OCD. In fact I’d say he’s the poster boy for OCD.

 

And the bottom line is tennis is a mental game first and foremost and no amount of PEDs can affect that. You’ve either got it or you don’t and Nadal is mentally sharp and he is not a quitter and when he is down, he fights even harder to come back. He’s a closer and that is what is I would venture to say is paramount above all else. Again, this all supports my OCD claim. As people with OCD are like pitbulls; they are relentless.

 

Tomorrow will be an interesting match as he even said that Djokovich is in his head and while I’d still at this point say that Nadal is the better all-around player between the two; it’s all gonna come down to the mental game and I am not sure that Nadal will win.

 

So my point is I think–steroids do help and give an unfair advantage to lesser talented players. I’ll agree with that. It gives them more physical advantages; but PEDs cannot help with the mental, strategic, and intuitive aspect of the game and as such I think the player who is stronger mentally, strategically and intuitively will ultimately in the long run always beat a player who is on PEDs. It all comes down to guts and nerves; discipline and drive.

 

And fact is–Nadal is one of the classiest pro athletes in all of the sports. He and Federer are pretty much beyond reproach in that department. Nadal is just way too humble and gracious–he was almost apologetic when he beat Murray yesterday and it is evident that he has much respect and a close friendship with the guy–if he was a roid freak, there would be arrogance in his personality as that is what the drugs do.

 

The drugs not only changes your body chemistry performance-wise–they change your brain chemistry and affect your personality too. Just how it works. There is always a body/mind connection and based on his personality alone, either he is the world’s greatest actor (which he isn’t as while he is skilled speaker he is basically pretty shy) and pulling off a nice guy scam, or he is just a guy who really loves what he does for a living.

 

As I said bottom line is–he wins the way he does do to his discipline, his drive, his defensive game, and mostly his intuitive ability to read opponents and where the ball is landing and his mental game and the fact that he just won’t ever give up. Tomorrow will be interesting that is for sure as I think he is gonna lose–because I think Djokovich is the one player who affects him mentally and messes up his head and without his head game he will lose, steroids or not. So, again, to bring up the OCD theory–if he has it set in his head that he can’t beat Djokovich, and unless he can switch that thinking pattern, the obsession over that fear that he can’t beat him will cause him to lose. And if he does lose tomorrow–it won’t because of power or lack of power or the use or lack of use of PEDs….it will be due to mental and strategic errors.

 

But again, as I said you make an interesting case for PED use. But I think I made a just as compelling one for OCD. Either way, both are moot points as he is a fascinating player to watch and a stellar human being who brings much to the sport for all.

Are all the tennis tournaments getting too slow?

The game, especially women’s tennis, but men’s as well has become too uniform.  Two-handers and baseliners fill the ranks of both the WTA and ATP tennis tours.  Two men have won the career slam in the last couple years, when in the entire history of tennis before only a handful had done it!  Does that mean this era is so weak that both Nadal and Federer could win all four when in the hundred previous years, only five guys accomplished the feat?  Does it mean that both men are just that good when viewed historically?  Nadal lacks the versitility to have won all four tournaments in the past, but then again, three of the four majors were on grass when Laver won his grand slams in 1962 and 1969.  Back then, there were too many serve-and-volleyers, now there are too many baseliners.  All eras have their favorites, and this era favors the Rafa Nadal style of play.  The problem with this style is that it is brutal on the body, shortening players careers and shortening the season one way or the other.  Look at how many players pulled out of this year’s U.S. Open so far (through the 4th round):  Soderling, Berdych, Conor Niland (versus Djokovic in Round 1), Kei Nishikori, Marsel Ilhan, Louk Sorensen, Karol Beck, Marinko Matosevic, Radek Stepanek, Nicolas Mahut, Marcel Granollers, Petra Cetkovska, Alla Kudryavtseva, Venus Williams (special illness), Jamie Hampton, Misaki Doi, and Ayumi Morita (whew!).  I count seventeen players between the men’s and women’s draws with a total of 256 players.  This means that 6.6% of the singles players in the 2011 U.S. Open.  I consider the difficulty players have ending a point to be one of the primary factors in creating this injury stream.  It also contributes to a boring uniformity in the game:  baseliners with heavy topspin.  If Wimbledon and the U.S. Open sped up the courts and balls, then we would see more of a mix and get more contrasting rivalries like McEnroe / Borg or Sampras / Agassi.  That is what makes fighters and tennis players interesting to watch, contrasting styles and personalities.  Let’s get back to four different surfaces like the 1980s, where we had a healthy mix of styles and personas.