Laurie's Tennis articles

Last Sunday I watched the Rogers cup final between Agnieszka Radwanska and Venus Williams.   Radwanska won the match in straight sets to claim her first title in Canada. However, it was the conversation between commentators Sam Smith and Anne Keothavong which got me thinking. Venus went for a bathroom break so to pass the time Sam and Anne had a “natter” as Sam put it.   The conversation focused on Radwanska and her skill on court.   Keothavong said that although Radwanska had grown up on clay, 10 of her 13 titles had come on hardcourt (11 by the end of the match) Keovathong thought that on clay Radwanska would be a “nightmare” to play against.   Sam Smith concurred by saying Radwanska won the junior French Open and destroyed the field but so far on the WTA didn’t have the power to contend with the other top players.   Sam Smith mentioned the quicker courts in Madrid and Rome didn’t suit her but went on to say that the court in Canada suited her beca...

Recently I watched a rerun of the 1993 Wimbledon quarterfinal on DVD between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.   After the great matches at Wimbledon this year including the semifinal between Dimitrov and Djokovic and the final between Djokovic and Federer, I was inspired to watch this match.   For some reason this is an often overlooked match in their rivalry, one of two which went to five sets at grand slam level. I was intrigued because even though this is a totally different era, we had the match up of the talented shotmaker against the talented baseliner, much in the way of this year’s Wimbledon semifinal and final.   The dynamics going into this match were also interesting for a number of reasons.   Sampras was ranked number 1 for the first time in his career two months earlier in April of 1993.   That proved to be controversial because the argument was how can a player who hasn’t won a major for almost three years be ranked number 1 in the world? ...

Pat Rafter at Wimbledon  I have been watching tennis for over 20 years and in that time the game has gone through tremendous changes.   Technological advances from racquets to strings, to the weight and size of tennis balls plus alterations of surfaces; it’s all happened since the mid 1990s.     And now, whenever I watch archive footage on YouTube or DVDs of favourite matches, I feel like I am watching something I shouldn’t be watching and it’s an odd feeling, something that has been banished or outlawed and you shouldn’t go there. That my friend is the short point.   It really shouldn’t be allowed, which seems to be an unwritten code in top flight tennis.   I for one absolutely love and have always loved short points.   Many of my favourite players over the years were masters of short points.   Some of my favourite matches since the early 1990s have been a study in the art of high quality short points.   Matches like the 200...

Ivan Lendl  With the French Open taking place over the next two weeks, it is the perfect time to take a look at some of the greatest matches that have taken place in the last 30 years.   This is interesting as far as I am concerned; because over the years out of all of the Majors, the French Open has had the least quality archive footage available, not as easy to really find those gems from years gone by as it is for Wimbledon. Lendl v McEnroe: 1984 final John McEnroe went into this match looking to make history by being the first American to win the French Open since Tony Trabert in 1955.   More importantly, it was an opportunity to show that a full time serve and volleyer on grass and hardcourts could also win at the French. In the final he faced Ivan Lendl who had previously lost the final in 1981 to Borg and also lost his first four major finals, so McEnroe fancied his chances.   McEnroe quickly went two sets up and was looking good fo...