Berdych Blows Match Point, Ferrer Formidable, Shubert Blog

Written by: Staff on 22nd November 2011

Berdych Blows Match Point, Ferrer Formidable, Shubert Blog |

Tomas Berdych was playing great tennis until he got nervous and started flying all of his shots long, inevitably losing to world number #1 Novak Djokovic. It was disheartening to see because he had put in great effort all match, was beating Djokovic from the ground for about 2 hours, and would’ve created one of the best stories at the World Tour Finals on the second day of the event! Oh well.. This has sort of been the bane of his career anyway (getting nervous in the biggest moments), as most would agree Berdych has the tools (despite a suspect serve) to be #1 in the world. Credit to Djokovic for being scrappy in those final moments of the third set; I saw a champion who decided to become hyper-focused, run down every ball, and try to find Berdych’s backhand. He hit a few down-the-line shots that just seemed to curl in at the last second that managed to get Berdych off balance and keep himself in the points. I just want to mention one more time how impressive Djokovic was to be able to hang in there with all the pressure in the world to lose the match and just keep battling, making Berdych hit one more ball. Berdych was absolutely pounding Djokovic side to side at the end of that third set, I was inching forward each shot to see if one of Djoko’s shots would clip the tape because Berdych’s power had pushed the Serb too far behind the baseline. They didn’t, and the mediocre tie-break that followed from Berdych including a really bone-headed forehand from Berdych sealed his doom and Djoko’s slim victory.

Ferrer shocked many today with his victory over Andy Murray. Ferrer went out there and did his thing; He fought, he chased down balls and made Murray move/play. This was his first victory over the world #3 on a hard court, his previous wins came on clay. The bigger news of the day came as Andy Murray revealed he had injured himself in practice leading up to the World Tour Finals. Sounds like he’s been over training? Or maybe didn’t have a coach/manager to help him maintain his body to the level he needs to. At this stage of his career, that this can even happen, is completely unacceptable. I’m sure his sponsors, family, and team all feel this way. From what I saw, the ATP trainer was trying to loosen up his upper front leg area which means either a hip, quad, or groin. EVERY tennis player in the world stretches these muscle groups before, after, and throughout the day! Whatever he did to strain that area or not take care of it properly coming from the Asian swing to the European indoor season, is essentially his responsibility if his coach(es) aren’t around to supervise. He is traveling with his long time friend from Sanchez Academy but I wouldn’t necessarily call that fellow a coach considering their friendship ties of the past. I look at it more of Andy paying a buddy of his to travel around and keep him company. Sucks for the British fans of course and his quick exit from the arena after the handshake definitely showed how bad Andy felt.

Today I worked for about two hours with a promising young junior from Laguna Niguel, CA named Alec Dardis. We’ve known each other since the summer months when his coach (a friend of mine) introduced me. He has great potential if he keeps working and with the amount of hours he puts in daily into his game, I don’t see how he can’t progress into a great player in the next few years. We did a lot of groundstroke movement drills (called controls) where we’d hit two or three cross-court shots each before a designated player would change directions and go down the line of the next shot. The drill repeats itself on the other cross-court until the direction is changed again. It felt really good to get out there in the early morning to start off the week instead of waiting around until afternoon practice. Warm-up for me was very important, I used a band to warm up my shoulder, and made sure I had a little sweat going underneath my sweats before stripping down to begin hitting. I then coupled this workout with a light workout in the gym that included a light incline jog, core work, and balance work on the bosu ball. All in all, a good day I’d say!

Wish I could go home to Hawaii, spend a few days in the hot sun training, and eat some Turkey, Kalua Pig and Rice,

Shubert

Topics: David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych