French David and Fed Cup team skipper Yannick Noah has asked that players connect to the crowd more in games. He fingered Swiss star Stan Wawrinka as a player that should develop in this regard.
Wawrinka won the 2015 Roland Garros but he faces a tougher task this year with the form of RafaNadal, NovalDjokovic’s clay dominance, Roger Federer’s comeback and Andy Murray’s consistency.
“He should relax a little bit. When he won a few years ago he had some bad shorts like if he had to go on the beach. It only missed the mouthpiece and it would have been great! No really, it wasn’t so great. Stan needs to make an effort and get closer to the crowd. Do something man,” the 1983 Roland Garros winner advised. Read more »
The next edition of the Davis Cup will begin next year, on February 3.
The 2017 edition of the competition, which would be the 106th so far, may not feature the likes of Stanislas Wawrinka, who wants to focus his energy on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) calendar.
The Tennis star will prefer to focus more on winning individual trophies than combining with the rest of the Swiss team for the 2017 Davis Cup. He therefore reiterates that his focus will be more on ensuring he has a successful season next year.
Wawrinka had an uneven pitch on the courts but came off with wins in four tournaments a total of 46 wins and 18 losses, including in the US Open title.
In an interview for a local media, Wawrinka had said,
“Right now Davis Cup is not one of my priorities. As I see it, it will be difficult to take part in that tournament.”
The first round of the Silver Bowl, which will commence on from February 3-5, will feature the Swiss side before their United States counterpart. Read more »
Today, most people are talking about the recent win that has happened between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in the finals of the French Open.
Stan Wawrinka had played the semi finals against Murray in the same tournament and that had been a match worth watching as well.
For Stan it had not been easy playing in the early rounds. There were several instances when he could have been defeated and would have lost the opportunity to move up the stages of the game. That had been the case with Murray as well. Hence, when both reached the last four positions of the tournament many fans were relieved and were anticipating the match between the two players. Read more »
Stanislas Wawrinka was feeling slightly empty following his win at Roland Garros.
According to Wawrinka, so much of emotion was there on that particular day that he had almost gone into a state of depression once it all ended. A sense of loneliness had crept in.
In the words of Wawrinka, “After a big triumph, it gets slightly difficult to recharge yourself and that’s because you had gone through such a high degree of emotions. You feel mentally weary once you get back home. But, that’s the kind of challenge professional sport brings to you. You don’t have too much time to let it sink in. There is a new assignment at next step and you have to be up for it straightaway.”
“Players who get into this habit of clinching titles right from their teenage, the likes of Roger and Andy, they deal with it a little better as they have had a lot of it. But, that hasn’t been the case with me. I haven’t been a superstar. It was my 10th season on the tour when I had my first Slam title. It takes a bit of getting used to.”
“However, I would like to believe I am adapting. This time around, I have felt it more normal to be a Slam winner. The previous season, it was absolutely surreal. It just couldn’t sink in.” Read more »
Andy Murray has proved to be almost unbeatable on clay off late, but, he refuses to admit that he is all comfortable on slower surfaces now. He reckons he’s a bit of distance still to cover in that direction.
However, he agrees to the point that he is probably playing some of his best clay court tennis at the moment.
Murray is seen as one of the hot favourites in the ongoing French Open.
He has been in absolutely majestic form playing in clay tournaments off late and the kind of dominance that he showed the other day to get better of one of the most promising youngsters in the circuit, Nick Kyrgios, it’s only obvious that people would rate his chances highly for the title at Roland Garros.
Clay was actually not one of Murray’s preferred surfaces some time back. But, with immense hard work, he has now been able to convert himself into a player who likes playing on clay.
According to Murray though, in spite of his red hot form, it’s still Rafael Nadal who holds the favourites’ tag because of what he has done in the French Opens in the past. Read more »
May 16, 2017 8:10 am | 