TENNIS ON THE COTE D'AZUR

Rafael Nadal ended his tournament title drought yesterday in resounding fashion.  Though he is generally on friendly terms with fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, he abused his countryman in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters, grinding him down and crushing him into the red clay, 6-0, 6-1.  Although Rafa hadn't won a title since the Rome Masters in 2009, almost a year ago, he took home the Monte Carlo trophy for a record sixth straight time.  That's not just a tournament record, that's a tour record!  No man had previously won any title six times in a row until Nadal made history yesterday.  All week, he looked like he was back to his phenomenal clay court self.  His movement was exceptional, he hit his usual heavy ball, and he did not drop a single set.  In route to the title, he had to beat three Spanish compatriots in a row -- Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarters, David Ferrer in the semis, and Verdasco in the finals.

Though he has won what he calls his home tournament in Barcelona five straight times, Rafa announced today he is withdrawing from the event due to the overloaded clay court schedule. Having previously logged several complaints about the ATP scheduling, Nadal is clearly disappointed that he won't be defending his title so close to home. But the man needs to give his body sufficient rest in order to make a run at reclaiming his dominance at the French Open.  Vamos, Rafa!

Sadly, after attending the last two ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami (pictured above), I did not make it to the French Riviera and the principality of Monaco for the Monte Carlo Masters. However, I did witness Andy Roddick's victory in Key Biscayne a couple of weeks ago and failed to report it here at Vamos!

Roddick dispatched Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in straight sets to take his first Masters 1000 title since 2006.  On the way there, he beat Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, playing some of the best tennis of his entire career.  As I've stated before, Roddick has been a frustrating player to root for over the years.  I love that he's been committed to representing the United States in Davis Cup, I love his sense of humor, I love his swimsuit model wife, and I love his gigantic serve.  But he's been stuck at a total of one Grand Slam title since winning the U.S. Open in 2003.  Some of that is obviously due to the juggernaut that is Roger Federer, and some of that is due to his inability to make adjustments during matches.  In the past year and half, Roddick has been working with coach Larry Stefanki, who has Andy in the best shape of his life and playing smarter.  He took Fed to the brink at Wimbledon, has improved his slice backhand, and now serves with a lot more variety.  While I may have soured on Roddick in the middle years of his career, he has won me over again.  It was fantastic to see him win in Miami, where I also saw him take the trophy in 2004.  In his speech, he thanked outgoing tournament director Butch Buchholz for giving him a wild card entry to the event (then called The Lipton) when he was 17 and won his first match as a pro.  For Roddick, things have truly come full circle.

After the men's final, I stuck around to watch the women's doubles final, won by the two lovely ladies pictured above, Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta.  All in all, it was a colorful day at the Crandon Tennis Center on Key Biscayne.  Always nice to revisit my favorite stop on the tour.  Though, when it comes to tennis, I'm greedy.  I now need to find a way to get to Paris and Roland Garros for the French Open in late May.  Anybody headed in that direction?  If so... Can I get a ride?

TENNIS IN THE TROPICS

On a cool and crisp Wednesday night on Key Biscayne, I watched Kim Clijsters take out Samantha Stosur before witnessing Rafael Nadal outslug Jo-Willy Tsonga.

Clijsters and Nadal have had different fates since then, with Clijsters winning a war against Justine Henin last night and Nadal suffering a three-set defeat to Andy Roddick just moments ago.  The all-Belgian women's semifinal was a roller coaster affair, with both players coming up with fantastic shots followed by unforced errors.  Roddick and Nadal played a much higher quality of tennis in their match, with Roddick surprisingly able to frustrate Nadal in the second and third sets.  To paraphrase Ma Kelly in "Johnny Dangerously"... Happy for Andy, sad for Rafael.

I'll be seeing Roddick in the finals on Sunday against the winner of the Robin Soderling-Thomas Berdych semi later on tonight.  Not exactly the marquee matchup I was looking for, but I'll take what I can get.

As you can see, the Crandon Park Tennis Center is a stunning setting for tennis.  I've been going to this tournament for a long time now, dating back to when it used to be called the Lipton.  I feel at home there. It was extra special this year, as it marked the first time I was able to attend back-to-back Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Key Biscayne.  Now if I can just find a way to get to Europe for the clay court season...

THE TENNIS PLAYER AND THE GYPSY

Unquestionably, Rafael Nadal is a phenomenal tennis player.  And while he may not show quite the same level of skill in his acting debut, Rafa steams up the screen with Shakira in her video for "Gypsy." The song is catchy but pretty silly, leaning heavily on the lyric, "I might steal your clothes and wear them if they fit me."  To illustrate the point, Rafa spends the majority of the video with his shirt off.



No doubt the two make a smoking hot couple, though they've both denied rumors of an affair.  And I'm happy to see Nadal branching out and doing his part to bring tennis to the mainstream, but I'd much rather watch him strut his stuff on the tennis court.  Which is exactly what I will be doing this evening at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, as he takes on the formidable Frenchman, Jo-Willy Tsonga.  Now that's a hot match.  Vamos!

TENNIS IN THE DESERT

The next best thing to Grand Slam tennis is Masters Series tennis.  I was lucky enough to attend the BNP Paribas Open yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.  I'm not exactly sure what a tennis garden is, but I like the sound of those words together, and the complex is pretty fantastic.  Seconds after stepping foot on the grounds, my friend V and I noticed a crowd gathered by one of the practice courts.  When we got closer, we saw that it was none other than... Rafa!  Vamos!

I've seen Nadal play live before, but never got the opportunity to watch him hit from a few feet away. What struck me most was the unique sound of the ball coming off his racket.  Controlled violence.  I have to say, it was a real thrill to watch him even during a casual practice.

While we were waiting to get into the stands to watch Jelena Jankovic and Shahar Peer in action, we turned around to see that The Mighty Roger Federer himself had stepped foot onto the practice court next to Nadal.  However, the side-by-side practice sessions only lasted for a few minutes, as Rafael wrapped up fairly quickly after Fed's appearance.  But I caught Roger in a relaxed moment with his hitting partner, a mere hour or so before his night match.  Accessibility to practice courts is part of what makes a tennis event special, and the tennis garden has it in spades.




Bored by the Jankovic-Peer match, which was one-sided in favor of the Serb and extremely lacking in energy, we took our seats in the stadium, which happens to be the second largest tennis stadium in the world next to Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows.  We saw some of Andy Roddick's routine win over a young Dutchman, and watched a set of Nadal's doubles match, before hunkering down for James Blake vs. Nicholas Almagro on one of the outer courts.  Blake looked sluggish and a bit hobbled most of the match, but fought hard.  Almagro, clearly the cleaner hitter (and surprisingly, the bigger server) of the two on this night, lost his temper a few times over some horrendous line calls.  To be fair, the umpire was at least consistently bad, so the calls probably evened out at the end.  After losing the first set and toughing out the second, Blake looked to be playing for a third set tiebreaker.  But Almagro managed to break him and hold on for the victory.  While it's always difficult to play against someone on their home turf, Almagro's demeanor and behavior certainly didn't win him any fans last night.  Hopefully, J-Blake can get himself back to 100% and compete with the big guys again.

When we returned to the stadium for Federer-Baghdatis after Blake's match ended, we had absolutely no idea we were going to witness the most shocking upset of the year so far.  Within minutes after sitting down at the top of the octogonal stadium, Fed held serve to take a 6-5 lead in the first and broke Bags to take the set.  Late in the second, The Maestro had two break chances against the Cypriot to take yet another 6-5 lead, but Marcos fought off both break points and held serve.  That's when the shocker really started. Everyone in the stadium assumed Roger would hold serve and force a tiebreaker, but he played a loose game, sprayed a couple of shots, and without much warning (or energy from the crowd), Baghdatis broke him to win the set 7-5.  Fed went up an early break in the decisive third set, but Bags refused to go away and broke to get back on serve.  That's when I reminded V that I had half-jokingly said late in the second set that Marcos Baghdatis would fight his way back from the brink and win this match.  But I was still shocked when Cyprus' favorite son actually pulled it off by taking the third set tiebreak.  Fed was stunned. The crowd was stunned. V and I jumped up and down and chanted Marcos' name.  Interviewed on court after the match, Baghdatis said that he had lost to Federer in each of their previous six meetings, but seven was his lucky number.  Awesome to see him back on the big stage with his big game and his big personality.  He made our night.  I still don't have a clue what a tennis garden is, but I know I like it.

TENNIS AT ALTITUDE

The future of men's tennis is really tall.

Juan Martin Del Potro, 6'6", broke through at the U.S. Open and pocketed his first Slam, and Marin Cilic, 6'6", served notice at this year's Aussie Open that he's going to be a tough out for a long time to come.  This past Sunday in Memphis, best friends John Isner and Sam Querrey played in the tallest final in the history of the ATP, with Querrey the victor, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3.  Out of the four giants, Isner is the elder at 24, Querrey is 22, and both Del Potro and Cilic are a mere 21 years of age.  It used to be that bigger guys didn't move as well and smaller players could offset the deficit in power with a decisive edge in speed.  But that's not so much the case with this new crop of racketed skyscrapers. Their movement is surprisingly fluid and yet they retain the force that comes with great size.  That combination is a game changer.  One that The Maestro, Rafa, The Djoker, Roddick, Murray, et. al., will have to contend with this year and many years to come.  And so will the rest of the world.

Last week, Patrick McEnroe chose Isner and Querrey to represent the U.S. in Davis Cup, replacing Andy Roddick and James Blake.  Thus, it's become quite clear that for men's tennis, and American tennis, things are definitely looking up.

TENNIS WITH PADDLES AND DEAD BALLS

Played Paddle Tennis yesterday for the first time in a long time.  In fact, it was the first time I played any variety of tennis in a couple of months.  Needless to say, I woke up this morning with some out-of-shape soreness.  If I had the energy, I'd explain the differences between Paddle Tennis and Tennis, but I'm beat.  So I'm taking the lazy way out and directing you to this video for a visual illustration of the game. While you do that, I'm gonna go stretch and try to sneak into someone's hot tub.

TENNIS ON ICE... SO NICE

To stave off depression and fill the void left by the conclusion of the Australian Open, I've been overdosing on the Winter Olympics. Tonight should be especially exciting.  The prospect of finally getting to see the much-delayed Women's Downhill featuring American skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn gives me warm feelings all over.  Of course, that warmth could be due to the 80-degree February weather we're currently experiencing here in SoCal.

Yeah, on second thought, maybe those warm feelings have nothing to do with the weather.  However... I'm also superstoked to watch Shaun White (aka The Flying Tomato) (aka The Animal) attempt to pull off his patented Double Cork and conquer the Half-Pipe for double gold.

But, witnessing all this intense competition, mostly in individual sports, has me aching for tennis once again.  Which got me to thinking... Why not add a new surface to the game and play Ice Tennis at the Winter Games?!  Genius, right?  I mean, Roger Federer already moves with the grace of a figure skater.  Think how beautiful he'll be gliding around the ice court.  And we've all seen Rafa slide on clay.  Imagine how much court he would cover on a frozen surface. Sure, there may be some logistical issues with proper footwork and the risk of injury and whatnot, but that's what the Winter Games are all about -- great skill in the face of potential danger!  Of course, like you, I have my doubts that tennis on ice will ever come to fruition, but at least it gives the Olympic Committee something to think about for 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

In doing some research, much to my surprise, the ridiculous concept of Ice Tennis already occurred to some folks back in 1916 and 1918. Even more surprising... it didn't catch on.