Laurie's Tennis articles

Jo Wilfried Tsonga is one of the more talented players in the ATP top 10.   He plays a brand of tennis fans love to watch, particularly on the grass at Queens and Wimbledon. Recently Tsonga employed a full time coach for the first time in over a year.    His choice of coach was Australian Roger Rasheed, a man who has worked with Lleyton Hewitt and Gael Monfils and is considered to be a tough coach, one who works his pupils hard.   So it is an interesting choice for Tsonga at this stage of his career. That’s because Tsonga has suddenly reached middle age in tennis terms, teetering on veteran status.   At the age of 28, there are not that many years left to be had in the top 10, and now would be as good a time as any to try to win a maiden grand slam title.   Tsonga’s final appearance in the 2008 Australian Open showed what he is capable of as an attacking force.   Injuries and inconsistency have slowed Tsonga down slightly, and he...

It is spring 2013 and we are finally escaping the heart of a prolonged winter.   Traditionally at this juncture of a decade, a new generation has fully emerged and taken over the top of the world rankings. This has certainly happened over the last 3 decades.   In spring 1983, John McEnroe was the clear number 1 and Ivan Lendl was close behind challenging for major titles.   In spring 1993, Pete Sampras had just taken over the number 1 position from Jim Courier.   And in spring 2003, Lleyton Hewiit was clear number 1.   Hewitt would lose that position later that year to Andy Roddick who then ceded to Roger Federer. However, in spring 2013, the rankings have a familiar feel to them, a different man is at the top but it feels like a shuffling of musical chairs.   That’s because the same guys have been top 5 since 2008.   Now you can argue that Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are the new generation who are set who are set to dominate...

Over the past 18 months I have written a few articles on the speed of the courts and how that has affected the game. The areas where the game has changed in particular are the prominence of return of serve and the reign of the counterpuncher. On the mens side, this has allowed the players who combine consistency and athleticism to stay at the top.   However, the mens game is often the focal point and we have rarely looked into the effect the slowing down of surfaces has had on the womens game. In fact, the slowing down of surfaces has had as dramatic an effect on the womens game as the mens.   At the turn of the millennium, the top 20 was populated with players who played a variety of styles. For instance the top 10 in 2000 comprised players like Nathalie Tauziat who was a serve volley specialist and Conchita Martinez, an old fashioned player with a one hand backhand who possessed a big forehand and a played with a lot of variety.   In the top 3, Mart...