Quantcast
nodot nodot
Pro Tennis Showcase
May 26, 2010

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
French Open - Roland Garros 2010, Paris, France
May 26, 2010
Editorial by Jane Voigt

 

Jane Voigt Photo
Jane Voigt

Young and Old Play at The French
 
May 26, 2010 -- Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai, the 19th seed in women's singles at The French Open, learned at a young age to hit the ball hard. Her father taught her.
 
"'I push hard and it's easier to play like that,'" Rezai said in an interview last year in Toronto at The Rogers Cup. "'I practiced six to eight hours a day growing up like that.'"
 
At that time last year Rezai wore braces on her teeth and she cracked groundstrokes with the intensity of a man. She certainly enjoyed beating Dinara Safina in Toronto, too. The victory was Rezai's first win over a number one player. (Safina is ranked #9, currently.)
 
"'I'm happy because I take revenge from French Open,'" Rezai said excitedly remembering the fact she lost earlier in 2009 to the Russian on home turf... Rezai's terre battue. "'It was very important to me.'"
 
Last year was Rezai's breakthrough year. She won two WTA Tour titles. Two weeks ago in Madrid, Rezai won her first Mandatory WTA Premier event, the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. Along the way she defeated Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic. In the final, she defeated Venus Williams who, literally, couldn't keep up with the speed of the ball. That's saying a lot because Venus and Serena and the two biggest power players in the women's game. They ushered in power tennis.
 
You might remember Rezai's match in Paris, last year, against Michelle Larcher De Brito. The Portuguese teen had, by far, the shrillest 'grunt' of any player to come up through a draw. The shrieks bothered Rezai to the point she implored the chair umpire to intervene. The only time a player can be addressed for a cacophony of sounds, like the ones belting from the lungs of De Brito, is if an opponent complains, which Rezai did. Chair umpire El Jenetti decided not to rule on Rezai's complaint so Rezai called in Donna Kelso, the Grand Slam supervisor, to voice her objections.
 
Rezai beat De Brito, which ended all the noise except it didn't because the media ran with the story for weeks. Experts chirped in on the topic. Martina Navratilova was the most vocal, emphatically saying that grunting was cheating.
 
"'It really did upset me because it was really unpleasant,'" Rezai said after the match.
 
The unpleasant fact this spring in Paris, as contemplated by her competitors, is the threat Rezai poses in the draw. She sits in Venus's quarter, where they could meet in the round of sixteen. However, let's not get ahead of things. Rezai must first get past Nadia Petrova who is no slouch when it comes to power, passion and experience in majors. Petrova (#19 seed) has a powerful serve and a variety of strategies in her tennis toolbox. She is an accomplished tour player in singles and in doubles.
 
Venus, too, must defeat Dominika Cibulkova (#26 seed) before Rezai comes in view. Cibulkova is very comfortable on red clay and scrambles for everything. It's her speed that makes her dangerous.
 
Rain delays spotted today's schedule. Some players were on and off court a couple times during their matches, as was Rezai. Her opponent, Angelique Kerber of Germany, challenged Rezai and took one set. However, as soon as Rezai saw the finish line in the third Kerber was all but done for, even being a lefty. She fell toward shots that zinged off Rezai's racquet, looking much like Venus Williams looked in Madrid as she dove for shots.
 
One drawback of Rezai's game -- she doesn't slide. All good clay court players slide, even the Americans who are skittish on the slippery red stuff. Rezai doesn't look off balance. She doesn't seem to have trouble changing direction. But, it should be noted that her balance could be affected by not sliding. If she's off balance, her power will be mitigated because her pristine timing will be thrown out of whack.
 
Going out on a limb, Aravane Rezai could be the French champion this country so dearly would like to see on the podium a week from Sunday.
 
On the men's side, Roger Federer -- who cruised through his match against Alejandro Falla today -- will next play a qualifier: Julian Reister. Reister is ranked 165 in the world; however, everyone has a breakthrough tournament. This isn't to say that Roger should be shaking in his Nike Air Vapors. Reister will probably pack his bags on Friday after his match with the #1 seed and head back home to Germany.
 
Nonetheless, Reister's performance in Paris is noteworthy. To make the main draw, he won three rounds of qualification matches. Then, he first defeated Feliciana Lopez, the #27 seed. Next, Reister beat Olivier Rochus -- a feisty player with enough game to beat any top 20 player. These are two solid wins for a man ranked 165.
 
By the time Reister sees Federer across the net, he could be tired (it will be his sixth match of the tournament). Or, he could be all charged up, full of confidence and raring to go. He has nothing to lose against the Swiss, like all players. They come out swinging, hunting the glory of a win over the man who holds sixteen major titles.
 

Earlier Columns from this Event:
 
May 25, 2010 French Open: Young and Old Play at The French
May 24, 2010 French Open: Coming From Behind
May 23, 2010 French Open: Some Things Endure
 

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.
 
SAI Team Tennis Tournament Tickets
 
Dallas Open Tickets
 
Delray Beach Open Tickets
 
ATX Open Tickets
 
BNP Paribas Open Tickets
 
Miami Open Tickets
 
Credit One Charleston Open Tickets
 
US Men's Clay Court Championships Tickets
 
Wimbledon Tickets
 
Infosys Hall of Fame Open Tickets
 
Atlanta Open Tickets
 
Mubadala Citi Open Tennis Tournament Tickets
 
National Bank Open Women's Tennis Canada Tickets
 
National Bank Open Men's Tennis Canada Tickets
 
Western & Southern Open Tickets
 
Winston-Salem Open Tickets
 
US Open Tennis Championship 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