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James Blake
(courtesy www.powersharesseries.com

World-class men’s tennis returns to Northern California tonight with the Champions Shootout: the next stop on the PowerShares Series 12-city tour.  Featuring a roster of tennis icons and legends, the PowerShares Series combines the best of competitive tennis and fan appreciation in a condensed format that’s fun for both the players and fans alike.

The last PowerShares visit to the Bay Area saw Jim Courier, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, and Todd Martin battling it out for supremacy (and rankings points) in San Jose. This time around, Sacramento is the battleground. And stalwarts Courier and McEnroe are joined by Pete Sampras and series newcomer, James Blake.

McEnroe currently leads the rankings, followed by Courier and PowerShares newcomer Andy Roddick. Blake, however, is quietly making a run for the top spot after picking up his first PowerShares title with a 7-6 (5) win over McEnroe in Salt Lake City.

It’s hard to believe that Blake only just retired from the pro ranks this past fall at the ripe old age of 28. Hard to believe, maybe, but understandable given the toll that injuries have taken on his body over the years.

After struggling in qualifying rounds through most of the 2012 and 2013 seasons, Blake made his official retirement announcement at the 2013 US Open, after a first-round loss to Ivo Karlovic.

With pro tennis seemingly behind him, Blake looked ready finally enjoy some quality time with his wife and young daughter. But the lure of competition proved too strong, so five months later he’s back on the courts: hitting blistering forehands as though he never left, and having a good time with his old friends.

Blake’s first outing in Denver ended in a finals loss to Andre Agassi. His second was another finals loss to his good buddy Roddick in Houston. The third time definitely proved to be the charm, however, with his win in Salt Lake City. At this rate, McEnroe had better watch his back in Sacramento!

The Champions Shootout begins at 3PM with a special “Play with the Pros” on-court hitting session with Sampras and Blake, followed by a second session featuring McEnroe and Courier at 4PM. Semifinal match play begins at 6PM, with the winners advancing to the finals immediately afterward.

Hope to see you there.

Getty Images/AFP, Matthew Stockman

First, it was Marion Bartoli who caused me to have flashbacks with her surprise retirement in Cincinnati. This time it was James Blake whose retirement announcement, and subsequent remarks after his loss, brought back the intense emotions that go hand in hand with a final career goodbye.

True to his typical US Open form, Blake lost a 5-set heartbreaker, 6-7 (2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2), to Ivo Karlovic in the first round. In his on-court speech with Mary Jo Fernandez after the match, Blake was quintessential Blake: humble, unassuming, and appreciative of not only the moment, but also what tennis and its’ fans had given him over the years.

“There are a lot of people here that supported me,” Blake said, “And it’s hitting me now that I’m never gonna have this again in my life, and I need to appreciate every single one of you for being here.”

The crowd gave him an extended ovation for the acknowledgement. He continued:

“That ovation makes me realize that everything I did, every bit of hard work, was worth it. To play in front of you guys, and to do this for 14 years… If I’d just been playing in my backyard it wouldn’t have meant anything. But to do it in front of you guys — I had so many highs and lows in front of you — it really means… it’ll never be forgotten.”

When Marion announced her retirement, I understood the reasons why she chose to step away because of similar feelings I had when making the decision to retire as a professional dancer.  The same was true as I listened to James on-court statement, particularly when he said “I’m never gonna have this again”.

Those words transported me to ’98, and my final dance performance. After the last piece of the night was over, we prepared for the final bow. Since I finished in the center, I initiated the bow sequence. I looked to my right at all the dancers with whom I’d created such special bonds, years of memories flooding my senses, and joined hands with the dancer on my right. The only thought I had was, “I’ll never see this again.”

I did the same with the dancers on my left, and proceeded forward for the bow. I looked out at the audience, many of whom were cheering loudly because they knew that it was my farewell performance, and bit my lip in a futile attempt to hold back the tears. It was a surreal mix of relief and loss that’s still with me to this day.

Like James, I’d practiced my profession for fourteen years; with many highs and lows along the way. Through it all, I knew that I could always count on the support of the audience. Their presence gave me, and my art, a sense of purpose. Through the good reviews and the bad, the injuries and the excitement, they helped me more than they will ever know.

Unlike me, James kept it together for his final moment. But I guess that doesn’t really matter, does it? What matters is the totality of the career you had while laying it all on the line in front of your fans. It’s an amazing (and overwhelming) feeling when you get to the end, and see it all in front of you… and then realize that you’ll never see it again.

Now that I’ve finally recovered from both my Hawaiian vacation and a weekend of provisional umpiring (that finished my volunteer requirement… YAY), I’m closing the book on this year’s SAP Open with an audio clip of Steffi Graf and Lindsay Davenport.

The clip was recorded during their post-match press conference after (an entertaining) mixed doubles exhibition match with Andy Roddick and Justin Gimelstob. Please accept my apologies in advance for the quality of the recording, and the incessant clicking of cameras any time that Steffi opened her mouth to speak. I was blocked from the front row by unruly photographers. You’ll have to turn up the sound at times to hear them.

The voice next to me is Bill Simons of Inside Tennis. He’s a great guy and a very knowledgeable tennis source. We made a pretty good team. If you have any questions on their responses, let me know and I’ll see what I can do to fill in the blanks.
Enjoy.

(click the arrow to play the audio)

“I play tennis for a living even though I hate tennis, hate it with a dark and secret passion and always have.“

Andre Agassi, Open.

It was a shockingly unexpected comment from one of the game’s greats, and a hero to many, me included. However, all things change with time. And if the huge smile on Andre’s face during the ‘BILT by Agassi and Reyes Champions Showdown’ (part of the PowerShares series) was any indication, he’s had a change of heart.

The final events of the PowerShares series are coming up this week in Denver and Anaheim, with Andre participating in both for a shot at finishing in the top three for a share of the $1M prize money. I had a chance to chat with Andre before his matches in San Jose, and one thing is certain: Andre is having the time of his life these days, and is wholeheartedly enjoying his association with a sport that was once the source of great turmoil and pain.

The 42 year-old Vegas showman lit up the arena with comprehensive victories over Jim Courier and John McEnroe. It was vintage Agassi: smacking backhands to the corners, crushing forehands, and blasting service returns winners at will past the net-charging McEnroe. When I asked Andre before the match how he was able to juggle his business ventures while still playing competitively in events such as this, he jokingly responded, “You’ll see tonight that I don’t spend too much time playing tennis anymore“.

To the contrary, Andre’s play was an impressive display of shot-making. Both Courier and McEnroe did their best to keep the ball out of Andre’s strike zone with high topspin, low angled slices, and deeply chipped shots with very little pace. It was a strategy that probably would have worked against most other players, but not against a guy like Agassi with the ability to hit the ball cleanly on the rise from both sides, no matter where he is on the court. It was inspiring tennis.

The best part of the evening, hands down, was seeing the joy on Andre’s face as he played. It’s a fitting reward for a guy who once hated tennis “with a dark and secret passion”. In fact, Andre’s current state of happiness with the game of tennis is palpable. It’s given him everything he holds dear, including his wife of eleven years, Stefanie, and their two kids, Jaden and Jaz. Steffi, in particular, provides the stability that allows him to pursue his passions.

“I have a strong infrastructure and great people around me certainly. But my wife is where it begins, because without that foundation at home none of this would be possible.”

The biggest slice of “this” is most certainly Andre’s work with his Andre Agassi Foundation For Education, helping disadvantaged kids get the education needed to succeed in life, and the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy. Andre’s continued efforts on behalf of the foundation have helped grow its’ endowment to over $550M to help build charter schools across the country.

“Am I a philanthropist? Yeah, I give a lot of money, but I feel there should be more to it. I came to the conclusion that what I am is a facilitator. I bring a lot of people together to create a vision, to get involved, to put leadership in place and get people to go above and beyond” (Bob Cohn, “Tennis no longer 1st in Agassi’s life“, TribLIVE, Oct. 14, 2012).

As if his foundation work wasn’t enough, Andre has created the ‘BILT by Agassi and Reyes’ line of training equipment with his good friend, Gil Reyes. The philosophy behind the BILT machines is one of maximizing training while also protecting the athlete’s body and joints. As Andre put it, it’s a bit “surreal” how it’s all come together – the culmination of their work together, combining all the knowledge they’ve amassed over the years of Andre’s time on tour.

“This particular time in my life is really special because it’s a full-circle kind of journey for me to see the sport give a platform and allow me to do some of the things I care about off the court. To watch what Gil did for me… and see it turn into a business that will help others like it helped me.”

Even with his loaded schedule, Andre still finds time to enjoy the current generation of top players. When I asked if he thought his best play could match up with that of the “Big Four”, his answer was a quick and decisive “No”. He went on to say, “The game has gotten better, and it keeps getting better. What these guys do now is they have as much offense as I ever thought of having, and their defense is far superior.” But when asked if he can still take a good rip at a ball like the old days, he smiled and said, “Oh yeah.” Having witnessed his demolition of Courier and McEnroe, I agree.

Andre has always been one of the greatest ball strikers to ever play the game. But six years removed from his dramatic retirement at the US Open, he’s that and much more. Andre is a man who’s driven to give others the opportunity for education that, ironically, he never had. And he’s gone from hating tennis to realizing its’ potential to help others achieve success and personal happiness.

We should all be so lucky.

That is certainly a mouthful, right!

I went into this demo process knowing that I wanted to make a decision quickly in order to get the new racquet and start going through the funky transition process.  Already feeling pretty good about the Head racquet I had demoed the previous weekend,  I knew I had a good starting point for any new demo variations.  I went back to SFTC to pick up the Head again for more testing, and also to give the Wilson K Blade 98 a try.

I had reservations about the K Blade.  If you read my last “demo” post you might remember that Wilson racquets and I don’t tend to play nicely together.  And of all the pros I would ever think my game could favorably compare for racquet use, Roger Federer is definitely the low man on that mini totem pole.  But there I was, on Saturday, hitting with the K Blade 98.

The  racquet felt really good in my hand.  The head seemed a little small, but overall the feeling was a good one.  After some “shortball” warmup, we moved to the baseline and started hitting.  The first shots came to my backhand.  WHOA!  Hitting backhands hadn’t felt so nice and sweet in quite some time.  These were some of most solid backhands I have ever hit.  The sound off the racquet, the pace and depth.  It was very nice.  Then I tried to hit forehands… and the budding love affair quickly vanished.

I hit my forehand with a fair amount of topspin.  I need a racquet that allows for that kind of sweep up the ball without also needing pinpoint accuracy in order to hit the sweet spot.  THIS is not that racquet.  The sweet spot is just about the size of a tennis ball (or at least it feels that way).  If I hit the ball squarely it was okay.  If I hit the ball slightly off, it was a shank of epic proportions with shock down my arm to match.  Back to the racquet bag.

I picked up the Head and was immediately back in love, but with a slightly different twist.  The Speed MP 315 I demoed the previous weekend was a 16×19 string pattern.  This time, Lynnette at the SFTC pro shop gave me the 18×20 so I could see the difference, however slight, between the two.  It was pretty much perfect.  The 16×19 string pattern was good but this one felt ‘just right’.

Serves, forehands, backhands… all good.  It’s still a pretty big adjustment from my current heavier and more head-heavy Volkl racquet, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  This racquet requires technically sound and relaxed strokes.  As soon as you attempt to “hit harder” or go for the kill shot, it’s easy to over-swing and either shank the ball or meet the strike-zone ridiculously early (sending the ball straight to the bottom of the net).  With only a good relaxed stroke, all the rest falls into place.

Sold.
I never imagined having something in common with Novak Djokovic’s tennis game, but I guess I do.  The millions of dollars and grand slam titles would be nice, but I’ll settle for a good racquet instead!  Now to order them, get them strung, and start getting ready for the 2012 USTA season. 🙂

I typically suffer in silence when going through the process of demo’ing racquets (wherein as you are trying to find your next racquet your game slowly starts to deteriorate because of all the changes until you can’t even hit a decent shot with your old racquet). But one of my hitting buddies persuaded me to share my experiences here on my blog so that it might help someone else who is also suffering through this process (thanks Patrick). 😉

I’ve used a Volkl Tour 10 V-Engine since it first came out several years ago. Back then I needed a racquet that would force me improve my stroke production and technique. It was perfect. Well-balanced and good power/control with proper stroke production. It was the racquet for becoming the better player I wanted to be. But as I have gotten older (almost 48) with shoulder/knee surgeries in the past 4 years (both on my dominant hitting side) plus other various injuries, I need a racquet that suits my current game and body. I find myself struggling with both power and control as soon as I lose even a single pound of tension in the strings. After a rough USTA season I decided to suck it up and start the process of finding my new “The One”.

First up was the Wilson Blade 98 BLX. It’s the racquet seen in the commercials with Federer, Venus, and Serena. They push a couch onto court to help counsel a struggling player, telling them this racquet will help them get more feel. It’s great advertising! I especially like the Roger commercial. Who doesn’t like a commercial with two cute guys, right? Anyway… it was a no-go for me and my game. The racquet gives a solid feel on groundstrokes, but is much more head-heavy than my current Volkl. So I felt a distinct lack of control on all shots when I was pressured, especially coming in for short balls. Serving was difficult as well. Too much vibration, and no control on serve placement. If the serve landed in it was usually a good one with lots of weight behind it, but I couldn’t tell you how I did it. Not the feeling you want in a racquet. NEXT!!!

Next demo test racquet was the Wilson BLX Pro Tour. I was told it is the racquet used by Juan Martin del Potro. A quick trip to Wikipedia showed that he switched to The Wilson K Factor 6.2 after coming back from his wrist injury. I won’t give any commentary on the reasons why he may have switched from this racquet, but after hitting with it for 5 minutes I hated it on all fronts. Bad for my backhand, forehand AND serve. NEXT!!!

I’ve never owned a Babolat racquet, but after hitting with a friend’s last week I decided to demo one. I picked up the Babolat GT Pure Storm, and I hated it. Racquet felt pretty lackluster on the backhand, and every forehand hit the back fence behind my hitting partner. I didn’t even bother attempting other strokes. NEXT!!!

After round 1 of demos, I went back to the pro shop to get some more demos based on my feedback from the first batch.

I came out with two Volkls and a Head. The Volkls were updated versions of the racquet I have been using. They were the PB9 and PB10 racquets. I had high hopes for these. The pro at the shop mentioned that most people who play Volkl don’t really find satisfaction with other brands. So I thought these two sticks would follow in the same tradition and work perfectly on first contact. Result: not so much. The PB10 felt heavy from the first ball strike…much more than my current racquet. And stiff.

My hitting partner could only focus on how bad the vibrations felt from this racquet more than any other aspect. Also, if my goal was to find a maneuverable and forgiving racquet, this was not going to cut it. Didn’t even wait to try serves before switching to the PB9. It was better than the PB10, but still didn’t feel right. Forehands were tough to control, backhands had no feel. The weight didn’t feel good in my hand. It went back into the bag. NEXT!!!

Having suffered a major Volkl letdown (my last 3 racquets have been Volkls), I tried the last of the demos: the Head Youtek IG Speed MP 315. Novak Djokovic uses Head racquets. I wouldn’t pretend to think that my game is anywhere near comparable to his game. And I have never owned a Head racquet. So my expectations were pretty low for this racquet.

However, on first strike it felt surprisingly good. Really good. I have a long but quick stroke (too quick at times). This racquet allows for that kind of wind-up and still keeps the ball on the court. It feels good off both sides, and gave me good feel and depth on both wings. Serves were a dream. I felt like I could maneuver the ball all over the box with a ton of added slice. Volleys felt solid with good control, short balls felt good too. It didn’t take long to make up my mind on this Head racquet… I pretty much had what I was looking for.

Of course rallying is a very different experience from set or match play. The weight difference between my current Volkl and the Head is significant. The light weight caused some problems. Playing a set was a challenge in slowing down a swing speed that’s been programmed over 7 years. When the adrenaline starts pumping during match play, it’s easy to swing too fast putting the contact point way far in front of you (which sends the ball straight to the bottom of the net). That’s okay though. I should be able to adapt with time, right? 😉 Bottom line: I’m still stoked by the potential of this stick!

I will demo a few more models and report on those within the week. But the Head Youtek IG Speed MP 315 is definitely the frontrunner!
(SPECIAL THANKS to Lynnette and Keri at the San Francisco Tennis Club pro shop for their help in finding a racquet that suits my game.)