Laurie's Tennis articles

The tennis world has applauded Great Britain making it through to their first Davis cup final since 1978, with the opportunity to be crowned champions for the first time since 1936!   Great Britain go in as favourites against Belgium with Andy Murray being the difference maker, while Belgium have chosen indoor clay as the surface of choice, rather unsurprisingly.   This intrigues me as the Davis cup final is littered with examples of a home nation choosing a surface to negate the opposition but backfiring spectacularly, let us look at some recent scenarios. 1995 Russia v USA 1995 was the year of the super squad, with the Americans boasting the two top players in the world who traded the number 1 position all year. Legend has it that at the start of 1995, Agassi and Sampras told Captain Tom Gullickson one would only play if the other was playing!   For back up, the Americans boasted Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Todd Martin and doubles specialists in Rich...

There has been a lot of talk about Novak Djokovic’s association with Boris Becker since his appointment as coach in December 2013. At the time of the appointment, fans on tennis forums and social media expressed surprise, many ex tennis players and pundits expressed surprise.   If appears that even Boris Becker was surprised that he was asked and then appointed to the job.   The main focus has been what exactly Becker has brought to the table in terms of improvement.   When I watch interviews involving Novak the focus tends to be on Becker being there, knowing what it is like at key moments in a grand slam final, and can provide positivity to him. Before Boris’ appointment at the end of 2013, Novak lost three grand slam finals, two semifinals and his number 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal in a twelve month period.   However, Becker must provide much more than what they let on in the media and what the press tend to report (we know the Press love to simplify thin...

Last Sunday we witnessed an exhilarating end to a great French Open, one of the best for many years.    The focus will be on Novak Djokovic and his missed opportunity to win the French Open and join the elite club of guys to win all four major championships in their career.   But for me, what made this the best tournament of the last decade was the champion being dethroned at a relatively early stage; with the remaining players thinking this is their best chance to win the title which eluded them for so long.   It is inconceivable that one player could win a tournament nine times at grand slam level, so when he loses early, it really is up for grabs.    The way Wawrinka was able to win the tournament was truly remarkable, and is rather fitting that he won the tournament in such a manner a day after Barcelona beat Juventus in the champions league final, a triumph for attacking risk taking sport over efficient if unspectacular play. Although it...