The Eye's Roland Garros - The Dirt Files Day 1

Well day 1 starts in a few hours time and I will have some updates news and other various posts as the tournament progresses.So I guess the major news is that it will not be a Djokovic and Nadal final, Nadal with his time spent out due to injury was seeded 4th,the French powers that be that could of seeded Rafa higher elected to go with the current rankings. The player with the biggest smile after the draw which landed both the Djoker and Nadal in the same half was the GOAT Rodger Federer.
For those that are not familiar with the term GOAT it stands for Greatest Of All Time.Now for those that did not know Rodger has now joined Twitter .So Twitter followers Rodger has tweeted that Fans can choose what colour bandana he wears for his first match.Yes you could choose White or Violet!

 Lets just hope readers Rodger is not wearing Red after the match as Rodger and his opponent features in one of my Matches of the Day

His opponent is Spanish Player Pablo Carreno-Busta.He is the best qualifier and started the year at 654 and is now around 133.He has won 7 out of 8 futures and obviously can play on clay.This will not be a walk in the park for Federer and he cannot be affording to tweet too many times during the match.Oh by the way I think he will be wearing Violet, I just checked the poll! The other match up is The little Aussie Battler Lleyton Hewitt up against the Local and 15th seed Giles Simon.Sadly being an Australian and knowing the battles Hewitt has fought Simon will be burying Hewitt in the Red Clay and probably will mark his last match here at Roland Garros.The dim light at the end of a dark tunnel is Simon is in the worst form of his career.Whilst on the Aussies Marinko Matosevic will also be joining Hewitt and on the plane( he plays Ferrer),I want to say to no where but it will be to the Grass courts and they will have plenty of time to practice before Wimbledon starts.James Duckworth another Aussie has come through qualifying and has the best but slim chance to make it to the second round.

THE YOUNG GUNS : Who are the next grandslam winners? Alas my opinion is whilst Nadal,Djoker,Murray and Federer are playing I don't see any of these pretenders holding the Cup.Young Gun 1 playing today is 14th Seed Milos Raonic from Canada. I don't think he can win this tournament ,His mobility on Clay is a huge question and he will be found out in this area. He plays Veteran Xavier Malisse in a good match up also on Day 1. Raonic is 23. Just an Interesting stat is that World No 1s such as Fed,Sampras,Nadal,McEnroe have all had their best year at around 24 or 25.This maybe a good gauge for players .I would class Busta in the Young Guns category also so readers keep an eye on this guy.I will add more as they play , for me that's it for today in this catergory no other worthy entries playing on Day 1.

LOVE 30 - Paris and Love what a couple.So everyone says that Serena Williams and coach Patrick Mourataglou are more than just player and coach, I have to say that Serena starts Favourite and my Pick for the title.I have never seen Serena look fitter and she wont be losing first round today.In fact Serena has a great draw with Agnieszka Radwanska seeded to meet Serena in the Semi's.She does have Caroline Wozniacki in her quarter but since her and Rory have been an item there has not been too much major success on the court. Another Victoria Azarenka and in her Corner REDFOO will be screaming her way through matches ..would hate to have the hotel room next to them!The other screamer Maria Sharapova complete the top 4 super couples with player Grigor Dimitrov , who has been suffering with cramps recently and yes I mean the leg ones! So which one of these 4 couples will make it to the final.Will they be overpowered by love, can they put lust to the back-burner for the two weeks.
This is a DAY 1 DIRT FILE REPORT!

Posted with Blogsy

The Eyes 2013 French Open Competition - Ladies

You can enter the ladies competition as well as the men's.Just put your entry on this post in the comments section.Same rules as the Men's.

How it works : It's easy , you pick the winner but their is a twist ! From round one you must pick a ladies winner in that round , so for example Round 1 you may pick Serena Williams to progress......logic says that's a sure bet , however the twist is you cannot pick the same player again as the draw progresses in the following rounds! So if Serena wins the tournament after you picking her in Round one... unfortunately you will not! So use your tennis knowledge and hopefully your last pick will be the winner.

How to enter : You will see the comments section on this post so for example all first round picks must be lodged in the comments section.You must make up a nickname that you keep for the whole tournament.(comments at bottom of post click on)
So for example   Nickname or ID : The eye     My pick R1 Steffi Graff I am just giving an example *I would not be that stupid to select Steffi as she has retired long ago and not in the tournament .Each day winners will be updated and you will enter your next pick on the update post.

You must have your entry in prior to the start of the days plays for the round you are picking.(For the start of the tournament Each round is usually played over two days, the top or bottom half of the draws will be played) Your first round pick must be from Round 1 matches.

The Eyes 2013 French Open Competition - Mens

The second Grand-slam of the year is commencing Readers are invited to participate in this competition.Its easy and you will enter the draw as a player and just like the competitors you win or you go home.
How it works : It's easy , you pick the winner but their is a twist ! From round one you must pick a men's winner in that round , so for example Round 1 you may pick Nadal to progress......logic says that's a sure bet , however the twist is you cannot pick the same player again as the draw progresses! So if Nadal wins the tournament after you picking him in Round one... unfortunately you will not! So use your tennis knowledge and hopefully your last pick will be the winner.

How to enter : You will see the comments section on this post so for example all first round picks must be lodged in the comments section.You must make up a nickname that you keep for the whole tournament.
So for example   Nickname or ID : The eye     My pick R1 Bernard Tomic I am just giving an example *I would not be that stupid to select Tomic given the recent slam bam and thank you man events*.
Each day winners will be updated and you will enter your next pick on the update post.(comments at bottom of post click on)

You must have your entry in prior to the start of the days plays for the round you are picking.(For the start of the tournament Each round is usually played over two days, the top or bottom half of the draws will be played) Your first round pick must be from Round 1 matches.
.
The First Days Scedule can be found here
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/schedule/index.html

The men's full draw can be found here
http://http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/draws/ms/index.html

So GOOD LUCK!

Yes their will be a women's contest also just look for that post if you want to enter the Ladies Contest Also.

Transition Balls are They Really The Cat's Pyjamas?

The eye asked Clem Apted The Piako Tennis Coach about what he thought of transition balls... here's what he said...For some time now I have been using Transition Balls in my Coaching Programme and I find them invaluable especially for beginners. Naturally a ball bouncing lower suits a child who is naturally lower! Just get on your hands and knees and hit a few yellow  balls and you will see what I mean. It’s difficult for kids to hit a ball around their shoulders. Naturally for the more advanced kids the sooner they start hitting the yellow balls the better, another point is it’s difficult to hit hard heavy balls with little Racquets. I realise that Coaches have to fork out a lot of money to purchase the different grades of balls when yellow balls are generally much cheaper or even free!. Coaches these days are expected to spend a lot of money on balls, mini nets and kids Racquets, on top of traveling etc. I can appreciate why many Coaches don’t bother joining NZ  Tennis, together with the cost of a first aid certificate and then equipment it’s a big outlay before they even start.  Getting away from Transition Balls , it would be great to hear what other Coaches think about what is happening with Tennis in NZ, how things could be improved, should we have an Association of Coaches independent of NZ Tennis to protect our lively hood?. Coaches are very vulnerable, you could loose your coaching position in an instant , and the Contract with the Club or employer means absolutely nothing.  If only NZ Tennis valued the contribution of Coaches in NZ. I have been critical of NZ Tennis and have offered some suggestions of how they could improve the relationship between Coaches and them, but it seems any criticism levelled at them, has resulted in me being ‘blacklisted’.   I have read Steve Dries Blog and have seen negative criticism of Steve Johns CEO of NZ Tennis, perhaps Johns and people that  make anonymous comments could be more public, the more dialogue the better for our sport, Regards Clem Apted. The Photo, is Clem’s cat who is a big fan of Prince balls!

Nadal is ready to Defend French Open - Smacks Federer once Again

Nadal although seeded 4th for the upcoming French Open is again the favorite after beating Rodger Federer yesterday in Rome. The above picture says it all with Nadal increasing his Head to Head to around 21- 10.

Rafa- I dont like it when someone checks my balls!

Rafa interviewed today in Rome after beating Gulbis in 3 sets: "Gulbis is an amazing player but he needs to calm down because he asking the umpire to come down to check my balls too many times, and I don't like it when somebody checks my balls....

Its not just the Parents ---Crazy Crazy Crazy

I have sympathy however for Victor ...

There're Creepy and there Spooky- Tomics father in Jail for assault on hitting partner!

There're Creepy and there kookey
Mysterious and Spookey

JOHN Tomic is likely to face court in Madrid today after allegedly assaulting French player Thomas Drouet (pictured with Tomic above middle)as reports emerge the infamous coach might also have attacked his son Bernard in Monte Carlo last week.

John Tomic is said to have been held in custody after his arrest at a Madrid hotel for allegedly attacking Drouet, who is employed by the Tomics as Bernard's regular practice partner.
The shocking news comes after a Monte Carlo news outlet claimed John Tomic had struck Bernard during a public practice session in Monaco last Tuesday.


Drouet and John Tomic are alleged to have clashed in the street outside the hotel.Drouet was knocked out and left with a broken nose, fractured vertebrae and stitches after the alleged attack which was witnessed by leading players, including Alexandr Dolgopolov and Janko Tipsarevic.


Drouet was said to be bleeding from the nose, lips and face. An unnamed witness said police and an ambulance were called.
European media reported said a man - believed to be John Tomic - was arrested at the hotel and had blood on his face when taken into custody.
It is understood he spent a number of hours in custody before being released yesterday evening (local time).
Bernard Tomic subsequently lost to Czech veteran Radek Stepanek 6-3 6-2 in the first round of the Madrid Masters.
Ok its time to go John ....Goodbye you are the weakest link. I first came across Tomic's father at the Australian 14s Winter Nationals in Brisbane which my niece was playing.I was watching Tomic then 14 playing another boy , there was one supporter clapping loudly each time Tomic's opponent won a point..I said to some one is that the boys father they said no its TOMICS! My niece made the final as did Tomic of that event. Hopefully the ATP will take action ...Tomic Snr must go ..somethings up as the Bernards clay court season has been ordinary so far.

Read Full article HERE

Update Tennis in turmoil --- Yep New Zealand

With interest I listened to Radio Sport with Brendon Telfer discussing the move by Norrie to Great Britain with Lee Radovanovich . I have included the link for you guys to listen to.

http://content.radionetwork.co.nz/weekondemand/radiosport/21115.mp3

Radovanovich made some good points. The chat starts around 6.32 into the time slot posted.A great point was made during the discussion ,which I have advocated on this blog that juniors can get higher rankings that sometimes are inflated depending on where they have picked up points.He says that Norrie has played twice as many tournaments than most juniors inside the top 10 and a lot of points have been accumulated in the Asia Pacific region....He said this was ideal for gaining a USA college scholarship that most New Zealand junior tennis players aspire too. He also was critical of the current standard of Junior tennis in this country and went on to say that New Zealand had missed the boat about 10 years ago.He did say that Norrie had made the right call.Alan Chester from the Seed Foundation approached the Norrie family offering whatever they wanted funding wise for Cameron, they declined. Radovanovich said even if New Zealand Tennis had the money they do not know how to use it! Telfer then asked Radonanovich had New Zealand Tennis learned anything from this...he said no ...they have not learned anything in the past 15 years.He went on to say that the best place for promising juniors was not New Zealand!

Yep sadly it makes sense to me!

Another Defection Hits New Zealand Tennis Hard

New Zealand's leading junior tennis player, ranked No 10 in the world, has defected to Great Britain due to lack of funding.Auckland's Cameron Norrie is considered our best tennis prospect in years, but the 17-year-old played his first tournament as a Brit in Scotland last week.Norrie qualifies for Britain through a parent being born in the UK, and follows Sacha Jones, who defected to Australia last year.Tennis NZ says the switch of allegiances again highlights the lack of development funding for top players, with CEO Steve Johns saying he will again raise the issue with Sport New Zealand. Norrie went to the UK six weeks ago to trial with Britain's Lawn Tennis Association.

This is a slap in the face for tennis in this country on top of Sasha Jones and the Rubin Statham Debacle with their top ranked player making himself unavailable for Davis Cup over issues with TNZ. Norrie has had some support from TNZ to deny that is wrong, but the grass is greener on the other side of the world and British Tennis is cash ladened. In saying that they have not had much success outside Henman and now Andy Murray in mens Tennis.In fact Tim Henman just recently labeled British Men's tennis as embarrassing .Goodluck Cameron I hope you have researched all the components of tennis in GB after all we all know Murray went off shore to Spain at a very early age.

So the signal is loud and clear junior tennis players from New Zealand ,check your heritage there is hope , or like Jones did migrate to Australia , although she hasnt actually set the world on fire since her move. Their coaches (Great Britain)deemed (Norrie) good enough to be part of their development programme and he has automatically become the UK's top-ranked junior. That sort of sounds funny ,Norrie learning all his tennis locally now is the top ranked junior player for Great Britain!Dont worry juniors Mr Steve Johns  is on to !be it a defeatist statement that will not inspire local juniors "Johns said New Zealand couldn't compete with Britain's funding."As it was when Sacha left us, these guys are out there wanting to make a career in tennis, and there is no way we're ever going to be able to match the resources of a Grand Slam nation," he said." Well Mr Johns if you want some homework why not look up the budget of other Tennis Nations who have top 20 ranked players.They dont spend half on what Great Britain has spent over the last 20 years and some dont have a budget equal to New Zealand!.So you really need to know that money helps but its not always the key ingrediant at the end of the day.

I know from watching Norrie over the past few years ,in fact I coached a junior that beat him in the National 12s final in Christchurch that he has the grit and will to win. His results since supports that.Norrie has been New Zealand's highest ranked junior since Marina Erakovic reached No 5 in 2005. The next best male Kiwi junior is Kyle Butters, ranked 209.  It really boils down to toughness and what you are prepared to do to go to the next level.Norrie has obviously made his choice ,what he has to do for the next level.Here in New Zealand he should of been picked for the next Davis Cup tie , sadly that wont be happening.I dont see him playing for GB either in the next couple of years.No doubt Norrie will focus on the remaining Junior Grandslams pointless really in the scheme of things. His success in the futures recently is promising be it they were in Great Britain ...oh dear a thought just ran through my mind the first tournament in GB Norrie reached the Quarter finals after coming through qualifying the tournament winner was 16 year old Borna Coric ( Croatia) who is the 4th best Junior in the world.Norrie....has had a win against him in the Junior ITFs in Manila recently. Coric beat the Brits in their backyard my thoughts are Timmy Henman Hill maybe right!This week Norrie was beaten in the qualifying by guess who Coric ...in three. Ok to cut a long story short the guys playing these events are from high 300s to 1000s plus.! As I write a Belgium ranked 478 takes on a Brit ranked  619 ( 24 years old) in the final of this weeks Great Britain challenger.Coric was beaten in the quarters by Aussie Jason Kubler 61 62 ranked 398 and 19 years of age.

Great Britain has not had a great track record especially in the Admin department , I guess probably a little more success than TNZ.Johns said High Performance Sport NZ's funding policy was limited to athletes capable of podium finishes at Olympics or world championships.

"We're clearly not there yet," he said. "But who's to say Cameron wouldn't have been a future Olympics medallist for New Zealand."

A spokesperson for HPSNZ said: "Athletes and coaches do move around the world. We benefit when overseas athletes choose to live in New Zealand."Cameron has identified an opportunity for him and we wish him well in chasing his dream. THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT HPSNZ .Unfortunately as many will talk about  the short comings of tennis in this country but few lack the WILSON balls to publically come out and criticize..I mean just attend a tournament here there is nothing positive said about TNZ. Norrie maybe had to do what he had to do......Time will tell if its the right choice..tennis has to change in the country  .One of the brain waves from TNZ was to move offices and rub shoulders with the elite of sport...Money could of been better spent on the Juniors maybe.Norries move did not happen overnight! did we have our Head in the sand once more? Must be a running joke out at the Millenium centers water coolers....if your looking to make it in tennis check your ancestory!

Would love to hear some comments on your thoughts of Norries defection and what it means for aspiring juniors here in NZ

National Juniors Teams Event a Positive

The Last few days I spent in Wellington with the Southern 14s Girls team at the National Event.I am not sure that the powers that be understand how important events such as these are for junior tennis players from the region.I know that this event for most Southern Juniors is a reason why they put that extra into the tennis ,following tournaments and having extra coaching and training.Its a great chance for regions to measure their region against others.The Southern Region does not get the exposure on a regular basis and this event is a highlight for juniors making the teams.We managed to pip Canterbury to finish fith and having three matches be decided by countback after rubbers were tied was a great effort for our team.

I hope that TNZ can put more into the regions financially for this event as the spinoff is invaluable in keeping players playing the game and to give other juniors something to aspire to.

Locally its been a good week with the 16 National girls team qualifying for Worlds.Cameron Norrie reached the quarter finals  of a futures in Engand.Lets hope that he plays a few more senior events rather than lingering in the ITF junior events for too long.The eye does have to report a couple of high ranking juniors being caught out after sneaking out of their rooms whilst on tour.If its good enough for Pat Rafter to drop his players from Davis Cup because of behavior then TNZ needs to keep a firm grip.

I also urge more fundings to the coach of top juniors allowing them to map out a plan and be able to travel with their players to major tour events. Farming them off to salary coaches is a disaster, give the individual coach access to funding.Where to get this funding....get rid of the babysitting coaches .

We need to stop nursing our up and coming juniors and getting them to play tougher events , I mean the top end junior ITFs and a few future events.

Last week 18 year old Aussie Nick Kyrgios took out the China futures event.He is the worlds leading junior boy but those events are well behind him.

The measure for New Zealand juniors are the Aussies start beating them in their backyard thats a start .

Missing in Action- New Zealand Under 14 Junior Teams at Asia Zone Playoffs for World Champs!

The Australian 14-and-under junior boys’ team of Alexei Popyrin (NSW), Alex de Minaur (NSW) and Kody Pearson (NSW) have defeated India to finish in first place at the Asia/Oceania World Junior Tennis qualifying event in Malaysia at the weekend.In the play-off for first to eighth position, Australia saw off Korea and Thailand before beating India 2-0, with de Minaur beating India’s Alex Solanki in three sets before Popyrin sealed the win with a three-set defeat of Nitin Kumar Sinha.Australia, India, Japan and Thailand qualified for the World Junior Tennis finals in Prostejov, Czech Republic (5-10 August 2013) after reaching the semifinals of the Asia/Oceania qualifier, and thus finishing as the top four nations in the competition.So great result for Australia and the girls event is now being played as we speak. The question I have why this year have we no New Zealand 14 and under teams in this event. This would be the first time for a number of years New Zealand has not entered. These events are important pathways for National development.

The World Junior Tennis competition was started by the ITF in 1991. In the inaugural year, 12 nations were nominated to take part with Spain boys and Czechoslovakia girls emerging the overall winners.

The format changed in 1992 when regional qualifying events were introduced, a system that is still used today with the top teams reaching the Finals.

The Finals were held in Japan until 1998, but the following year they were moved to the clay court venue of TK Plus Centre in Prostejov, Czech Republic. This venue continues to be used today.

A number of the past participants have gone on to become household names on the ATP and WTA tours. Former winners in the boys' event include Rafael Nadal, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, David Nalbandian and Richard Gasquet, while Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Amelie Mauresmo, Daniela Hantuchova and Vera Zvonareva have all appeared in the girls' event.

To my surprise Tennis New Zealand has not sent teams for our Asia Zone qualifications.I feel sorry for all those hard working juniors that would have been selected for their National Team.They and their parents are investing huge amounts of money to their child's career and by not sending a team is a slap in the face to parents and juniors.

If there is a valid reason I would like to know, is it funding? Maybe instead of moving offices TNZ could of invested in the players of the future by staying put at Scarbro,and saving the expense to move . But of course they relocated to the Millennium Institute of Sport to produce top athletes!.One would of thought that while the powers that be congregated around the water coolers at their lush new offices they would make sure events such as these are on the Development Pathway.

There maybe a logical reason why no teams went.....I am one that would like to know the reason!

Below are the final standings ....looking at the countries that participated our juniors needed to be there!

Match overview of 13 April 2013

		Draw	Home	-	Away	Score	Court
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 1st-8th	Australia [4]	-	India [2]	2-0	Main Location - 8
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 1st-8th	Thailand [3]	-	Japan [1]	1-2	Main Location - 6
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 1st-8th	Hong Kong [6]	-	China [5]	1-2	Main Location - 7
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 1st-8th	Korea [7]	-	Chinese Taipei [8]	2-0	Main Location - 4
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 9th-16th	Vietnam	-	Indonesia	1-2	Main Location - 5
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 9th-16th	Uzbekistan	-	Malaysia	2-0	Main Location - 1
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 9th-16th	Kazakhstan	-	Singapore	0-2	Main Location - 2
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 9th-16th	Philippines	-	Pakistan	2-1	Main Location - 3

Picture of the Week - Trainer eases Djokovics Pain

BLOG CIRCULATION

The traffic on the blog has been for me surprising.It is increasing in readers and visitors world wide.It attracts comments far and wide. Kiwi Great Chris Lewis left this comment on the Tennis Player Pathway Article."Paul McNamee is 100 per cent correct. It should not be the role of a national body to sever successful relationships between private coaches and their students; the proper role of a national body should be to support and nurture those relationships. There is no surer way to minimize a nation’s chances of producing champions than to alienate the entire private coaching community by effectively declaring war on them. Tennis Australia’s divisive and, as Paul points out, fatally flawed approach to junior development does, though, have one redeeming feature; namely, it provides a superb model for guaranteed future success as all one would have to do is implement the exact opposite of every one of its failed and failing policies." 

New Zealand needs input from former players like Lewis , of course if you have success  as a player and a coach there is always a culture that is very much thriving here on the local scene and that is to get rid of individuals with strong opinions and a history of success.

I enjoy looking at the stats on my blog especially how visitors come to land on the site.It may be a word such as "Middle Finger"or it could be a name like Serena Williams. The search engines then display articles and often listings to The Tigers Eye.

It also shows stats for repeat visitors as well as unique visitors , country and city.