Alright, tennis fanatics, let’s get on to the latest news of our beloved sport. I recently saw the final of the Rotterdam tournament between Nadal and Murray. The level of play for the first two sets was outstanding. Then in the deciding set, Nadal succumbed to injury and lost 6-0. If my favorite comedian Jerry Seinfeld were to make a remark about the match he’d characteristically say, “that’s a shame.” And I’d have to agree. But it’s no laughing matter. It’s a terrible shame when a final, a championship match is decided by an injury. As I’ve felt for some time, the sport is becoming more and more of a season-long iron-man test of endurance. The year-round season scheduling does not allow for the top players to recuperate between tournaments. They accumulate injuries and eventually collapse in the final set of the tournament.
Posted by: drspartalis | 23/02/2009
Enduring the Season
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: iron man, murray, nadal, Tennis
I would concede that tennis might benefit from a more significant off-season (that is, more than just December), but many top players have learned to pace themselves too. All of these tournaments have benefited players like Nadal and Davydenko in increasing their ranking, but what kept Federer at the top for so long was pacing himself through the entire season and avoiding significant absences due to injury. In fact, right now, he’s sitting out a few tournaments so as not to risk a further injury to his back.
I think more players should select their tournaments strategically. Rafa doesn’t have to play every tournament to maintain his #1 ranking. And he should start making those decisions especially now that he has afforded himself that luxury.
By: George on 23/02/2009
at 23:10