Quantcast
nodot nodot
Pro Tennis Showcase
March 28, 2011

Subscribe to Match Reports

Pro Tennis Showcase Archive

Player Profile Index (Men)
Player Profile Index (Women)

Contact Tennis Server

Tennis Server
HOME PAGE

Do You Want To Be A Better Tennis Player?

Then Sign Up For A Free Subscription to the Tennis Server INTERACTIVE
E-mail Newsletter!

Tom Veneziano You will join 13,000 other subscribers in receiving news of updates to the Tennis Server along with monthly tennis tips from tennis pro Tom Veneziano.
 
Best of all, it is free!

Tennis Features Icon TENNIS FEATURES:

TENNIS ANYONE? - USPTA Pro John Mills' quick player tip.
 
TENNIS WARRIOR - Tom Veneziano's Tennis Warrior archive.
 
TURBO TENNIS - Ron Waite turbocharges your tennis game with tennis tips, strategic considerations, training and practice regimens, and mental mindsets and exercises.
 
WILD CARDS - Each month a guest column by a new writer.
 
BETWEEN THE LINES - Ray Bowers takes an analytical and sometimes controversial look at the ATP/WTA professional tour.
 
PRO TENNIS SHOWCASE - Tennis match reports and photography from around the world.
 
TENNIS SET - Jani Macari Pallis, Ph.D. looks at tennis science, engineering and technology.
 
MORTAL TENNIS - Greg Moran's tennis archive on how regular humans can play better tennis.
 
HARDSCRABBLE SCRAMBLE - USPTA pro Mike Whittington's player tip archive.
 
TENNIS EQUIPMENT TIPS.

Tennis Community Icon TENNIS COMMUNITY:


Tennis Book, DVD, and Video Index
 
Tennis Server Match Reports
 
Editor's Letter
 
Become a Tennis Server Sponsor

Explore The Tennis Net Icon EXPLORE THE TENNIS NET:

Tennis News and Live Tennis Scores
 
Tennis Links on the Web
 
nodot
Pro Tennis Showcase Banner
 
Green Dot
 
Tennis Warehouse Logo
 
Green Dot

 
nodot
Sony Ericsson Open 2011, Miami, Florida, USA
March 28, 2011
Editorial by Jane Voigt.


 

Jane Voigt Photo
Jane Voigt

The Grand Slam of South America
 
March 28, 2011 -- If you're a player of Spanish, South American, or any strand of the Hispanic culture you are a huge fan favorite here at the Sony Ericsson Open. So much so, that it's been nicknamed the Grand Slam of South American.
 
Of course this apt endearment reflects the obvious -- Miami-Dade's Hispanic population was 63% in 2009, according to the U. S. Census Bureau. Couple that stat with the love of being entertained by sports stars you could almost call kissing kin and tickets can sell as fast as icy limonadas on a hot, sticky day at Crandon Park.
 
Today on the Grandstand court, Tomas Berdych (#7 seed) had all he could handle with Argentine Carlos Berlocq, the man who took out a wiggy Ernests Gulbis in the second round.
 
Berlocq is not a familiar name on the ATP Tour; he doesn't have any titles. He is 28 and married, not that that should open the pasture gates for a player either. Roger Federer will be 30 in August, and he's probably not amenable to lazing about in a hay field scattered with cows given his reaction to the one Switzerland gave the 16-time major winner after he won his first major title at Wimbledon in 2003.
 
"'It was a total surprise,'" a genuinely shocked-looking Federer told swissinfo.com. "'Now I need to find a garage for a cow, although I have no idea what a cow garage looks like.'"
 
Argentine Berlocq had every fan that sat on the east side of the court in his corner. Dozens of people held Argentine flags, furiously waving them with each point Berlocq earned. Although the match only went two sets and in Berdych's favor, moments were tense. Berlocq went up a break in the first set, lost it, and then played his heart out to reach a tiebreak. There, too, he earned the upper hand, but doubled faulted on his first opportunity to win the set. Berdych didn't need much more of an invitation.
 
Berlocq looked South American, too. Not to say if you saw him walking down the street you'd think, aha... he comes from Argentine. He looked South American in his style of tennis, which was more reminiscent to clay court tennis than what you normally see on a hard court.
 
His game was very physical. He leapt at shots, twirling his racquet overhead the way Nadal whips his racquet. Berlocq had a delayed grunt, an afterthought more the sound of a dying idea than one to spur him on. However, his one-handed backhand and forehand penetrated the court with brilliance, leaving Berdych with nothing left to do than walk to the other side of the court at times.
 
Berlocq earned a well-deserved standing ovation as he walked off the court, Argentine flags in full view of television cameras.
 
The cultural bonds that link Hispanics begin with their common language, which is spoken in Spain, Central America, much of South America, the Philippines, parts of Africa, and the United States. Distinctions in dialect have influenced the culture's evolution although the people continue to share traditions, foods, music, religious beliefs, and literature.
 
Take a walk around any part of the grounds here and dozens of different languages could draw your attention, but Spanish would be the dominant one as well as English. Search radio stations, as you wait in thick traffic along the Rickenbacker Causeway. It won't be long for rhythms of salsa fill your senses. And, it's rhythm that drives a good tennis game, too, according to Maria Sharapova's take on her defeat of #4 seed Samantha Stosur 64 61.
 
"Sometimes you come out, you feel you're swinging away, and things are going well," she began searching for the right words. "You have a good rhythm on your shots; you're moving well."
 
The country of Argentina caught the rhythm, too, as it posted an ad on the jumbo-tron high above center court: Argentina -- "Beats to your rhythm."
 
Perhaps the beats that set apart salsa, tango, and the Caribbean merengue glide through the air here. Sharapova is about as Hispanic as Andrea Petkovic, but who can really prove that the rhythm Petkovic discovered during her 75 36 63 victory today over the #1 seed Dane Caroline Wozniacki wasn't influenced, just a bit, by the Latin flavor of south Florida.
 
Even the revered Roger Federer was at the wrong end of fan support, today, especially when Argentine Juan Monaco threatened. However, the photographers only had eyes for the #3 seed Federer. They clicked away as he squandered three set points, forcing a tiebreak which he eked out.
 
He defeated the Argentine 76(4) 64. As Monaco left the court he waved at a few avid supporters who relentlessly yelled, 'Pico, pico, pico," whatever that means. To Monaco, though, it warranted his salute.
 
But the place shook as the Spanish King Rafael Nadal and his friend, turned opponent for the moment, Feliciano Lopez appeared on stadium court, a double dip of Spanish athleticism fans had anticipated for hours.
 
Lopez is a lopsided 2-6 against Nadal, head to head. The last time Lopez beat his countryman was in 2010 at Queen's Club, a straight set victory on grass. Lopez has always preferred the quickness of grass, where he performs best. The courts at the SEO are slow, very slow, which favors the clay courters, Nadal the most famous one.
 
"This is as slow as it gets out on the hard court," Federer told the press today. "It's a bit of clay almost except that you can't slide."
 
Nadal wasted no time, sending his friend Feliciano out of the draw 63 62. Lopez began strong, winning the first dozen points on his serve. But as Nadal warmed up, finding his rhythm, the tables turned. Nadal will next face either the hot Alexandr Dolgopolov or Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga.
 

 

Earlier Columns from this Event:
 
March 27, 2011 Sony Ericsson Open: Is Bigger Better?
 

Green DotGreen DotGreen Dot

Player Profile Index (Men) | Pro Tennis Showcase Archive | Player Profile Index (Women)

SUBSCRIBE TO THE TENNIS SERVER PHOTO FEED

join our mailing list
* indicates required

All Tennis Server photography is copyrighted by the photographer and/or the Tennis Server, and all rights are reserved. You may not copy these images without permission. While you are welcome to create hyperlinks to Tennis Server web pages, you may not embed these images into other web pages or blogs without permission. To request permission, please use this contact form. Please be sure to clearly indicate exactly which photograph(s) you are requesting permission to use, as terms and conditions will vary depending on the photographer and the photograph.


 

nodot
nodot
Google
Web tennisserver.com
nodot nodot
The Tennis Server
Ticket Exchange

Your Source for tickets to professional tennis & golf events.
 
Terra Wortmann Open - Halle, Germany Tickets
 
Wimbledon Tickets
 
Infosys Hall of Fame Open Tickets
 
Atlanta Open Tickets
 
Hamburg Open Tickets
 
Mubadala Citi Open Tennis Tournament Tickets
 
National Bank Open Women's Tennis Canada Tickets
 
National Bank Open Men's Tennis Canada Tickets
 
Cincinnati Open Tickets
 
Winston-Salem Open Tickets
 
Tennis In The Land Tickets
 
UTS - Tennis Like Never Before Tickets
 
US Open Tennis Championship Tickets
 
Laver Cup Berlin Tickets
 
Erste Bank Open - Vienna, Austria Tickets
 
Dallas Open Tickets
 
BNP Paribas Open Tickets
 
Miami Open Tickets
 
Laver Cup San Francisco Tickets
 

 

Popular Tennis books:
 
Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis-Lessons from a Master by Brad Gilbert, Steve Jamison
 
The Best Tennis of Your Life: 50 Mental Strategies for Fearless Performance by Jeff Greenwald
 
The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey
 
Most Recent Articles:
 
October 2022 Tennis Anyone: Patterns in Doubles by John Mills.
 
September 2022 Tennis Anyone: Short Court by John Mills.
 

 

 

 

"Tennis Server" is a registered trademark and "Tennis Server INTERACTIVE" is a trademark of Tennis Server. All original material and graphics on the Tennis Server are copyrighted 1994 - by Tennis Server and its sponsors and contributors. Please do not reproduce without permission.

The Tennis Server receives a commission on all items sold through links to Amazon.com.

 

Tennis Server
Cliff Kurtzman
Editor-in-chief
791 Price Street #144
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
Phone: (281) 480-6300
Online Contact Form
How to support Tennis Server as a Sponsor/Advertiser
Tennis Server Privacy Policy