World Tennis Magazine

Unique Tennis Perspectives

tournament directors

ROBBIE KOENIG BLOGS FROM MADRID!

by

Day two in Madrid…not a lot to talk about. The big news, I guess, was the loss of American Sam Querrey to a player ranked No. 315 in the world, qualifier Daniel Munoz-De La Nava. But all these Spaniards can play on the dirt, especially when playing “at home!”

Defending champ Roger Federer looked OK in beating Ben Becker, but for that sitter of a forehand he missed on his first match point. He served well today and that’s always a good starting point for Roger.

But today I’m gonna vent my frustration on the tournament directors who scheduled two singles matches from 8pm (or even 7pm) in a night session!! Tuesday night, I did commentary during both matches, the first was great, played in a good atmosphere, where local boy Fernando Verdasco ensured the crowd was great…all positive.

But by 10:15 pm, the fans have had enough! Everybody leaves and no one stays for the second singles match. There’s zero atmosphere for the players and grossly unfair they should have to come out and play at that hour. Mardy Fish ended up winning, beating fellow American Michael Russell 6-2, 7-6 (1). It was unusual since both players were lucky losers and replaced the original scheduled match of David Nalbandian and Tomas Berdych – both players withdrawing from their match with injuries.

Fish finished his win just after midnight and he’s gotta come back and play Wednesday. That’s ridiculous! Get rid of those second matches. It’s such a bad advertisement for the event and the sport when you see the stadium empty, especially off the back of a good match with a good atmosphere!! Surely that’s a no-brainer?

The scary thing is all this info is relayed to the tournament directors from the ATP. Players don’t like it, it looks rubbish on TV etc. Yet some events still persist….

Hear it from me…LESS IS MORE and QUALITY over QUANTITY

Hopefully more talk about the tennis tomorrow.

Rob

Rob Koenig is a former ATP World Tour pro who won five ATP doubles titles and reached six other ATP doubles finals. He is now an internationally renowned tennis commentator. He and fellow commentator Jason Goodall run bespoke clinics and corporate tennis events around the world that provide fans with unique and unforgettable experiences. Contact Rob at: rlkoenig71@gmail.com to find out more.

NADAL IS LIKE MY SISTER NANCY: CLIFF RICHEY BLOG

by

By Cliff Richey

There has been a lot of buzz about Rafael Nadal winning the title in Monte Carlo for the sixth straight time – the first time a player has won six straight ATP titles in the Open era. Roger Federer almost won his sixth straight US Open title last September, falling a set short in losing to Juan Martin del Potro in a five-set final. Bill Tilden, of course, won six straight U.S. singles titles from 1920-1925.

When I think of players who have won six straight titles, the first person I think of is my sister Nancy Richey, who won the women’s singles title at the U.S. Clay Court Championships six straight times from 1963 to 1968.

Nancy Richey
Nancy Richey

The recent U.S. Clay Courts in Houston brought back memories of a day in August of 1965 when Nancy, played the women’s final and I played the men’s final at the same time! Not only that, but we played our respective finals on courts that were side by side.

Nancy played Julie Heldman. I played Dennis Ralston. It had to be the most difficult day either one of us spent on a tennis court. I would be in the middle of a point and suddenly hear advantage Richey — from the umpire on the other court.

There would be a sudden gallery roar right in the middle of an important point!  It was bizarre.  Nancy won her third straight U.S. Clay Court title that day. Unfortunately, I lost to Dennis.

Of Nancy ‘s six straight U.S. clay titles, she says that day was the most memorable. As anyone can understand, we always thereafter asked the tournament directors to never schedule us at the same time. And thankfully, we never had to repeat that wild day again. We both won the title the next year on the same day but not at the same time!

Cliff Richey is a former No. 1 ranked U.S. tennis player, U.S. Davis Cup hero and the author of the new book ACING DEPRESSION: A TENNIS CHAMPION’S TOUGHEST MATCH ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.CliffRicheyBook.com) written with his daughter Hilaire Richey Kallendorf. The book documents his life-long battle with depression. He and Nancy Richey, a former French and Australian singles champion, are considered greatest brother-sister combination in the history of American tennis.