Caroline Wozniacki has been left heartbroken by Rory McIlroy – just before the French Open and Wimbledon.
How will the former world number one cope with so much personal trauma just before the biggest tournaments of the European summer?
On February 10, in our “Happily Ever After” feature, we warned the couple that they had “better hurry up and marry before they split up again!”
It was said partly in jest, but now that playful analysis has come painfully true.
Just after the wedding invitations were sent out, Rory realised he “wasn’t ready for all that marriage would entail”. In fact, since the couple have promptly split up, the suggestion must be that he was never going to be ready with Caroline. They have separated before, of course, so let’s not entirely rule out a reunion. Yet it seems unlikely. When a woman’s wedding plans are torn asunder like this, it must be hard to cope with the public humiliation.
They were engaged on New Year’s Eve and in the end they didn’t hurry up and marry before they split up again. Perhaps Rory’s brave decision is just as well, though it may not seem like that right now to poor Caroline.
Rory would not have wanted to heap this much pain on someone whose company he has enjoyed for so long. He is a nice guy, as anyone who saw him at Wimbledon last year would confirm. Those who asked him to pose for a photograph with them were never disappointed, he was more than polite, he was warm and friendly.
We all know what a live-wire Caroline Wozniacki can be, so bubbly and full of life.
It is all such a shame, though perhaps not for Rory’s golf and Caroline’s tennis in the long run. Both saw their professional levels dip as they enjoyed their time together.
In the short term, however, it is hard to imagine how Wozniacki could get herself into the right place mentally in time for Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Time will tell.
Comments Off on Best Coach-Player Combo Of All Time?
What is The Best Coach/player combination of all time? It’s a hard one to judge. Is it someone who pushes you to the extremes, both physically and mentally? A person who is there to love and pick you up after a fall? The ability to squeeze the last drop of sweat from you on the court?Is it something you can measure in titles?
Brad Gilbert and Andre Agassi
Remember, Agassi was the showman who for years couldn’t quite become great. But with Gilbert he landed six Grand Slam titles, including the 1999 French Open, when a rain-break allowed Agassi to take on board Gilbert’s advice and overturn a two-set disadvantage. ‘Brad Gilbert is the greatest coach of all time,’ Agassi claims.
Lennart Bergelin and Bjorn Borg
Further back in time, Lennart Bergelin took charge of a young Bjorn Borg in 1971. Borg already had the basic components to his game, put together previously with Percy Rosberg. But what Bjorn also had was a suspect temperament. The adolescent Swede would let himself down with tantrums – and looked so fiery that some thought he might burn himself out ridiculously early.
Under Bergelin’s careful guidance, Borg learned to control himself. He became the ice man of tennis and won five Wimbledon titles in a row, eleven majors in all. They stayed together twelve years, one of the very greatest player-coachpartnerships of all time, only ending in 1983.
And that was the year another partnership was born. Martina Navratilova was already number one when she asked Mike Estep to coach her.
Martina Navratilova and Mike Estep
‘Why do you want me to do it?’ he asked. ‘I want to win a Grand Slam and become the greatest player who ever lived,’ she replied.
He taught her to attack the net. He trained her like a man – and 250 push-ups became part of her daily routine. In their three years together, Navratilova won ten majors and did indeed write her name in history.
So which player-coach combo is your favourite? There will be many not even mentioned here. That’s the beauty of it. Hard to measure. Hard to define. But a fascinating backdrop to our beautiful game.
Comments Off on Italy Prevails in the Davis Cup against Great Britain
Was Italy’s comeback one which should have been allowed to happen?
GB led 2-1 against Italy going into the final day in Naples. It looked as though they had already done the hardest part in their bid for a first semi-final spot in 33 years. Then the wheels fell off. Andy Murray lost to Fabio Fognini, who had been troubled by James Ward on the opening day. Then Ward was brushed aside by Andreas Seppi, who sent the Italians through.
Should Dan Evans have played instead of James Ward?
Some will point the finger at GB captain Leon Smith and argue that Dan Evans – ranked 28 places above Ward – should have played. Tough call, and the feisty Evans might well have been just what the doctor ordered in Italy – even if he does generally do better on hard courts.
But what was Smith supposed to do? Ward had performed heroics by beating Sam Querrey to help see off the USA in San Diego. Evans hadn’t looked keen enough back then to do the job. He seemed too jaded to get sufficient matches under his belt in preparation.
Could Smith really have dumped Ward for the Naples tie, in favour of a revitalised Evans, simply because the boy from Birmingham was making all the right noises again? It would have been ruthless.
Psychologically Andy Murray Still Isn’t Right
Sometimes in sport ruthlessness is fine. Other times you need to look at overall attitudes and see whether you can help young players to learn the right lessons, to improve the consistency of their appetite in the long run.
Besides, talking of appetite, GB would still have gone through if only Murray had brought his best game to the key encounter against Fognini. Andy admitted he had his chances. Psychologically he still isn’t right. No doubt fatigue played a part, but for some reason he also lacked sufficient stomach for the fight.
That just isn’t like Andy, who normally relishes any team setting for his talents and thrives in the environment.
At least nothing more is expected of him on clay, which means the pressure is off from now until the summer. He has a chance to sort his head out at last.
Elsewhere…
Meanwhile the wider Davis Cup picture is overwhelmingly positive. Three of the weekend’s quarter-finals were decided in fifth rubbers for the first time in World Group history.
France pulled off the first comeback from 0-2 down in a World Group tie for 16 years against Germany in Nancy. Congratulations to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils.
Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka avoided a huge upset by coming from 1-2 down against Kazakhstan.
Only in Tokyo was the tie not left on a knife-edge until the climax. The Czech Republic whitewashed Japan 5-0 and they’ll be hard to stop again this time around, even though they have to travel to France for their semi-final from September 12-14.
The Italians will be up against it when they travel to Switzerland. That really should have been GB – but take nothing away from the spirited Italians or their impressive victory.
Comments Off on Murray Loses Miami Mind Games Against Naughty Novak
Andy Murray needs to start winning some mind games… and fast
If he isn’t going to rush into appointing a new coach, he had better consider working with a new sports psychologist – because his head, quite frankly, is all over the place.
We want Andy Murray back to his best form in time for Wimbledon. And it isn’t his back that’s causing Murray problems right now…or a twinge in his hip, which apparently troubled him earlier in the week… It’s all in his mind right now.
The defending champion is out of Miami
First, the facts. Andy Murray lost 5-7, 3-6 to Novak Djokovic.
At 5-6 in the first, Novak’s racquet crossed the net as he put away a point that he would have won anyway if he’d waited. Sure, Djokovic was a little naughty, he should have ‘fessed up – but he didn’t and the umpire was found wanting. Murray moaned as though his entire world had caved in, then he threw away the game, the set and ultimately the match.
Andy was a break up in the second set but every time his athleticism and talent drove him into a winning position, his mind let him down.
Why the lack of mental strength?
We all have our theories.
What are the psychological issues at play here? Some people say Murray has climbed his Everest by winning the US, the Olympics and Wimbledon. He has done it all and herefore he lacks hunger.
We disagree.
The fundamental issue is not hunger; the issue is self-esteem. Great champions in sport carry on winning beyond their breakthrough years because they know they deserve to be there, right at the top. Andy Murray doesn’t seem to believe that he deserves a regular place at the top table. He acts like someone who achieved what he did by punching above his weight, an impostor who pulled off a smash-and-grab raid and stole a hat-trick of honours in a relatively short space of time, then made off into the night.
That mindset has to change in order for him to continue to succeed. Murray is better than that.
Sure, Andy has had problems: the back operation, the recent split with his coach (though Ivan Lendl was there to see him fall in Miami). No one has ever suggested it is easy to stay at the top once you reach the summit, or simple climb back up to the highest peak after you take a tumble,but you’ve got to feel that you belong at the top. You’ve slipped down to number 8 in the world for a variety of reasons, physical and mental.
Andy Murray didn’t become US, Olympic and Wimbledon champion because of an outrageous period of good luck. You did it because that’s where you belong and what you deserve.
If you want to see Andy Murray in action at this year’s Wimbledon then get in touch with the team today. Email us to buy your Debenture Tickets today office@wimbledondebentureholders.com
Comments Off on Grand Slam Tournaments: The Run Down
Grand Slam History: Wonderful Wimbledon Aces Them All
All the Grand Slams have their history – but nowhere has quite as much as Wimbledon. You can feel it when you walk in. That magic took many years to create. You can’t feel it anywhere else, for all the qualities and diversity of the world’s other venues.
Who would have thought, when the newly-named All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club held its inaugural Wimbledon Championship in 1877, that it would be the start of such an incredible journey?
Spencer Gore was the first winner, though Britain’s William Renshaw was the first 19th-Century tennis star, with his seven Wimbledon wins in the 1880s.
Pete Sampras and Roger Federer repeated the feat in the Open era and their task was somewhat harder. Once he became champion, all Renshaw had to do was to turn up for the next final to see off his latest challenger. How times have changed!
The “Other” Opens
It might surprise some to know that the USA started its own national championships as early as 1881, at the Newport Casino, Rhode Island.
The French weren’t far behind in setting up their own national tournament in 1891. And the dawn of the 20th century saw one of their greatest stars – Max Decugis – dominate the scene. Between 1903 and 1914 he won the French title eight times and might have continued his amazing run were it not for the outbreak of the First World War.
By then the Australians were up and running too, their first tournament having taken place in 1905.
The Tournaments Find Their Home Grounds
So which was the first championships to move to its current home? Wimbledon of course, in 1922. The French followed six years later when Roland Garros was established. The US Open didn’t move to Flushing Meadows until 1978, while the Aussie Open only found its current home in 1988.
But the French can boast the first true superstar of the game – SuzanneLenglen. The world marveled at her grace and talent. She took six top titles in France or Belgium and six more at Wimbledon to capture the hearts of just about every sports fan around.
Then the Brits came up with a superstar of their own. Fred Perry won Wimbledon three times in the 1930s. As we all know, it took until last year for a Brit to win it again. But Perry did something Andy Murray can still only dream about. He became the first player to win the French, Australian and US titles too, all in that same decade.
Amazingly, an American called Maureen Connolly Baker achieved the same feat while she was still a teenager, between 1951 and 1953.
Each country or tournament has its giants. Home-grown Roy Emerson won the Australian six times in the 1960s, while in the Open era Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic managed such glory four times Down Under.
The Tennis Giants
Wimbledon’s true giants of the Open era haven’t been British. Pete Sampras has won it seven times, along with Federer. Martina Navratilova won Wimbledon an extraordinary nine times. Each champion has been hailed by an adoring British public, which became very used to putting nationality aside during the many years when a Brit couldn’t quite cut it.
US champions William Larned, Richard Sears and Bill Tilden may not be mentioned very often these days; but they took seven singles titles apiece on that side of the Atlantic. Jimmy Connors, Sampras and Federer managed five in the Open era.
It was in 1968 that professionals were finally allowed to join amateurs and do battle at the “Majors.” That’s when the Grand Slam era really began. Few who were already alive will ever forget Arthur Ashe taking the US title and striking a fresh blow for racial equality.
The increased intensity of competition can’t diminish the achievements of someone like Margaret Court, whose career saw out the old and welcomed in the new. She won 24 Slams including eleven Australian, five French, three Wimbledon and five US Open titles. Yet perhaps Steffi Graf’s 22 titles, all won in the Open era, are even more admirable, given the new physical demands of the game.
And Rafael Nadal’s eight Roland Garros titles between 2005 and 2013 had everyone shaking their heads in awe, and wondering how many more he could win.
We know how wonderful the modern era is. We know we are currently watching giants who can be compared favourably against champions of any era. Wimbledon has welcomed these giants down the years, and been enriched by their magnificence. That’s what makes Wimbledon so very special.
You step back in time when you walk through those gates, you can almost touch the all-time greats; yet you are always invited to embrace the present and future too.
The new Number One Court arrived in 1997, the retractable roof on Centre Court is even more recent and spectacular. Beautiful modern architecture somehow blends perfectly with the traditional feel to the venue. How has Wimbledon moved so stylishly with the times? Either there are some very special people behind the scenes, or it’s magic!
The other Grand Slam venues are great in their own way, of course. But history tells us Wimbledon is the home of competitive tennis. Always was, always will be. In fact we don’t need to be told, because we can feel it.
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