Djokovic Plots His Rise To No. 1.

Novak Djokovic might not have added another Grand Slam championship to his 2008 Australian Open title as he had hoped in 2009, but former and current members of the Serbian’s coaching team believe he has taken a step closer to becoming the next player to rank No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.

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Some numbers for Federer. Top 4 NBA point leaders.

Player	Points per game	Minutes played per game	Age
Kobe	30.4	38.5	31
Carmelo	30.0	37.6	25
LeBron	28.9	38.3	25
Durant	28.4	39.8	21

Photos.

Is it a good idea for Roddick to play on despite a problematic knee?

Aren’t there enough precedents on that to learn from by now? Geeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!

Just because you ended the year with disappointment and that a Slam is approaching doesn’t mean Jack for your knee. Considering that the season in itself is capable of crippling a perfectly healthy clown even midway through it all, how freaking stupid do you have to be to go in with already a major strike against you?

Shouldn’t Nadal’s camp be doing cartwheels right about now to gain Roddick’s attention? Oh wait, they are still waiting for someone to do that to them yet.

How many promising careers have been cut short in the sporting world only because the criterion to return to the field was anything but the complete recovery of the injury? You may be sending some message somewhere if you are a NFL player but you are playing freaking tennis where the only contact you have with your opponent is a bow and a handshake. Sometimes even more and that may need a whole new display and dance.

Just freaking rest your freaking knee until it heals COMPLETEFREAKINGLY instead of being another stat on the cutting board just because you have the need to look tough. You gave that claim up the moment you picked up the racket – remember?

With Tsonga already out, it appears there should be a mandate for all players to get clearance from an ATP appointed doctor before each event to cover both bases:

-If the player is shaming it or,

-The player should sit out instead of ruining it for everyone involved.

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Can you locate the four down under ATP event sites – Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland and Melbroune?

Who is this? From Barbara. Thanks.

BARBARA

TP,
today is my birthday. As I wrote above (post nr 69)I would like tennisplanet people to guess who is on the picture and where and when it was taken. Here is the link:
http://i49.tinypic.com/2cf2lc3.jpg
Thank you!

Thread for Abu Dhabi.

SOL

TP, since it’s almost the new year, could we have a thread for Abu Dhabi please?

Is that backhand volley Roddick may never forget here?

Ready to see if your Sun sign will shine in 2010?

Click here.

Which matchups at Slams will corner most attention this year – other than the obvious one?

AO:

Federer vs Djokovic.

Nadal vs Verdasco.

FO:

Nadal vs Soderling. Duh!!!!

Nadal vs Djokovic. Djokovic nearly beat Nadal this year – on clay – more than once.

Wimbledon:

Federer vs Murray.

USO:

Federer vs Delpo.

Federer vs Djokovic.

Nadal vs Soderling.

You got more? No, you don’t!!!!!!

Tennis on clay.

Happy New Year to all you cheap, lazy freaking freaks.

Do yourself a freaking favor while wasting your time drafting those resolutions this year – pick just ONE.

Yeah. You know how it worked out when you went for multiple targets.

How about your physical health? That’s it. This itself has so many offshoots that if you lazy toddlers can achieve even half of them you will have done more than you have ever done in your entire miserable life.

And don’t even attempt to start with that stupid gym membership or some crazy crash course to go ballistic, only to fall back even further. Start something as benign as simple walking. And if you can keep that going past the second week, then think of building on it.

Who will most surely win at least one ATP title before the AO?

Nadal on new season. Another ‘underdog’ attempt? Excuses?

“My preparation has been short but good and three weeks later I am ready to start again,” Nadal said in an interview published in Wednesday’s As sports daily.

“I believe that this year (season) I’ll arrive a little bit less prepared than for the start of last season.”

“The results will be what they are but right now my hope is to win everything,” he told As.

“Because that’s impossible you have to try to do what is possible in each tournament.

“If you have reached the semi-finals of almost every tournament without playing well, which is what happened to me (last season), when you are feeling better and maintaining a rhythm sooner or later your luck will change.”

_____________________________________________________

The beast has left the cage and is so far away from the box that not only resetting the plug appears nearly impossible, Nadal himself, for the first time has no freaking idea how he will perform this year.

In other words, his own woes which really determined the scale of his conquest in years past have been so overwhelmingly eclipsed by what’s happening outside his circle of influence, that there’s no certainty of any kind as to where Nadal will land – with a thud.

If post Wimbledon is to be looked at as his gradual return to form then a cursory look at the players who beat him and how (straights) can form a very reasonable platform where Nadal is coming from:

Soderling.

Djokovic – three times.

Davydenko – twice.

Cilic.

Del Potro – twice.

Bottom line: Nadal’s reluctance to add ‘more than obvious freaking pieces’ to his arsenal like the serve, flatter ball etc. for seven freaking years has finally caught up to him. Competition has recognized the hole and has blown it out of proportion to make any sustainable return almost impossible.

Or is that what Nadal needed to finally work on those missing pieces AFTER hitting rock bottom?

Time to revisit this?

Daily schedule for Abu Dhabi starting in about 11 hours.

Day 1 schedule: December 31.

Day 2 schedule: Jan 1.

Day 3 schedule: Jan 2.

Prediction thread for 2010 Grand Slam winners.

KITTY

TP, do we have a prediction thread for 2010 grandslams winners yet?

________________________________________________________________

Nobody won last year’s. For rock people here’s how it works:

Predict winners of all Slams and get on the Wall Of Fame. If you can do that AND predict the runner-up too, you ALSO win a 2010 Mercedes Benz.

Example:

AO: Winner – Verdasco, Runner up – Nadal.

FO:  Winner – Roddick, Runner up – Nadal.

Wimby: Winner – Nalbandian, Runner up – Djokovic.

USO: Winner – Nadal, Runner up – Federer.

Geeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!

Who has the most genuine persona – on and off the court?

Federer? Are you freaking kidding me????? He is as fake as they come. But he does a first class ‘better than anyone’ job of masking it though.

Nadal? Just that naive ‘please don’t kill me today’ eternal look on his face gives it away.

Djokovic? He matches Federer but lacks the skill set to mask it like the big cat.

Murray? He is really mean but at least makes very little effort to hide it.

Roddick? You got it. Guy goes about with a very ‘grass root’ matter of fact way. Either he is a master of disguise or he comes as close to a genuine persona – on and off the court – that you can get today – maybe forever.

The press conference showing is as clear a message you can get pointing to the transparent and genuine personality he owns. It’s so intoxicating that it far overshadows his cockiness and other arrogant leanings. Heck, at times they even align to strengthen the genuine image.

What you see is what you get. Roddick’s got that. No one else even comes close. OK, maybe Safin.

Will Nadal stand alone next season amongst the top five with a dubious distinction?

Nadal won five titles this season – all of them before Wimbledon. He had a total of 14 losses the entire year – 9 of them after Wimbledon – in straight humiliating sets.

For the mentally challenged ones amongst you, that’s zero titles and 9 losses (out of 14) after Wimbledon.

Even though he beat a 20th ranked and a 102th ranked player- on clay – at home – at Davis Cup – to close the season, it doesn’t even scratch the surface with respect to even remotely denting the downward spiral momentum.

And if the theory that Nadal needs an overly excessive number of matches to return to form, this break in his march to stardom isn’t helping matters, is it?

Translation? Likelihood of this southward trend suddenly changing course next year, just because he is the defending champion at the AO or this a fresh start or any such BS is very slim, giving birth to a strong possibility that, like Federer this year, Nadal may reach the doorsteps of the clay season without a single title.

Is it then possible that Nadal may not win a single freaking title the entire year – irrespective of the surface? Not very probable. But one thing may not be as probable – Nadal blasting through competition on clay like old times.

So far Nadal has been able to stay afloat as far as rankings are concerned largely due to the infighting raging right under his nose. But as peasants begin to consolidate with a far surer footing next season, Nadal may be looking at a very bleak future – instantly.

Solution? Nadal’s confidence is shot. The ONLY way to repossess that intangible booty is to WIN at least ONE title before the red season starts. Even a non-Masters Doha will work. Why? Because winning at even 50 percent on clay compared to his hay days will not reattach the broken piece(s) as much as a hard court title BEFORE clay will.

Even if Nadal duplicates his clay feats of past years including the FO title, it will still not move him forward. It may not even be enough to get even, given the fast changing landscape.

Things are about to get lonely all of a sudden for Nadal – at least at the top.

Ana Ivanovic visits Underwater World.

Have you tried flying without an airplane lately?

Click here.

Nadal and his problems. From Monique. Thanks.

MONIQUE

Isn’t a ‘steroid’ body easily distinguishable now?

After watching Barry Bonds balloon up, now you can easily pick out a steroid-ridden body from a regular one, don’t you think?

I mean there’s that usual bulking up that goes on when you start working out and then there’s that clear difference when drugs are added to that mix.

Woods is clearly in that category. You cannot get that mass and definition just with the dumbbells. I think LeBron belongs there too. Dwight Howard? It’s a close call.

How about Nadal? Those bulging biceps with so much mass to the near exclusion of any other muscle group – at this young age – is highly unusual. It’s very rare. At that age, the typical result is what Djokovic or Murray have.

And Federer needs steroids to just look symmetrical.

Your knees, running and injury.

Click here.

Why are the top five not playing a tune up in Australia for the AO?

OK except Djokovic @ Kooyong, but that’s an exhibition. Considering that plexicushion surface unique for the Slam is in place, isn’t it a no brainer to be running around on it – if you are planning to win the AO?

Or is everyone after money this year – over Slams?

Then there’s that heat you have to contend with. Are Doha and Abu Dhabi as hot? Even if they are, why not familiarize yourself with the Aussie brand of heat rather than some generic kind.

With the second half of the season most players had this year, just Djokovic and Delpo may be the only ones not in some great hurry to bag the first title of the year and get on the board. Federer, Nadal and Murray will be willing and ready to anything for it.

How about if Murray agrees to not waste his life on those stupid video games in return for the first title? Or Nadal willing to stop picking. Or Federer………oh never mind.

Or is this Davydenko time now, since he bagged the last laugh this year – after thrashing Federer, Nadal, Delpo and Soderling to win WTF?

For rock people, there are three ATP (not exhibition) events before the AO with no one amongst the top five competing:

Brisbane.

Sydney.

Auckland.

Which was the last shot Federer should have lost the championship on?

That Nascar knucklehead has competition for ‘Athlete of the decade’ crown.

Click here.

Agassi @ Ross.

Clijsters on winning the US Open.

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Djokovic to star in Serbian mini-series. From Bjornino. Thanks.

BJORNINO

Merry Belated X-mas everyone

I just saw this on http://www.tennis.com/ticker/index.aspx

December 25, 2009
Djokovic to star in Serbian mini-series

“A 10-part Serbian mini-series about Yugoslav king Aleksander Karadjordjevic is to feature Novak Djokovic as Aleksander.
The €3 million series, which will air in over a year’s time, tells the story of the monarch who united Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia under the kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I. Djokovic’s younger brother Dordje will play Aleksander as a young man.”

I for one will get my DVD recorder ready for when this airs
/B

Justine on her return.

Click here.

Where are the top five playing before the AO?

Federer: Abu Dhabi and Doha.

Nadal: Abu Dhabi and Doha.

Djokovic: Kooyong.

Murray: Doha.

Del Potro: ?

____________________________

Abu Dhabi: Dec 31.

Doha: Jan 4.

Kooyong: Jan 13.

AO: Jan 18.

Abu Dhabi starts Dec 31st.

Field:

Federer.

Nadal.

Davydenko.

Soderling.

Tsonga.

Wawrinka.

Format:

Six of the world’s top men’s players will compete in a single elimination series of matches with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer being granted the top two seeds and therefore being given a bye from Thursday’s first day matches. Semi-Final matches will take place on day 2 with the final and consolation (3rd & 4th place) matches taking place on Saturday.

Stadium capacity:

5000 seats.

Click here for more.

Why is the basic freaking requisite in selecting a clown for TV violated so freaking often?

If you are to pick someone for a TV news anchor job or anything on TV, there are just two basic freaking rules you need to follow:

-Person should have a decent looking face.

-Clear deep voice.

That’s freaking it. How much of a lost soul do you have to be to miss on both – repeatedly?

Have you seen some of the jokers on TV lately? Every time you watch someone without either of the two basic requirements you have to wonder how long ago did the sexual contract start and how long will it last?

Then there’s this BS about the person not just being ugly, they also have a prominent face defect that’s impossible to ignore. You mean to say that’s the last person with a pulse and that voice on the entire freaking planet today?

How freaking difficult is it to match the two requirements so we can concentrate on what’s being said instead of what’s been shown on the freaking face? Geeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!

How do you explain this?

-If you study honor roll classes across the country, you will find a very generous sprinkling of certain races / countries and a conspicuous absence of some others.

-Go further and analyse prestigious professions like medicine, engineering etc. and you will face the same picture.

-Then try the prisons and these very races / countries will sometimes not even have a single representative there.

-How about welfare rolls?

Are you getting the freaking drift? I suppose if this is how it is in the US, the melting pot of the nth degree, then it’s logical to assume that this trend exists across the board amongst every developed nation.

Are these people more intelligent? Hard working? Resourceful etc? Maybe. Maybe not.

While there must be a litany of factors contributing to the lopsided demographics, is there a way to single out ONE predominant reason for this skewed result?

Sure there is:

Dual parent household with a stay at home mom.

Don’t believe it? Just check the ‘target’ audience a little more closely and you will find that they have the lowest divorce rates and a mom completely dedicated to raising her family – the right way.

Just visit your local library and you will instantly find out which race / country is most eagerly utilizing the resources there to ensure a brighter future for their kids.

Or visit any day care center and notice the conspicuous absence of these races / countries.

Irrespective of how advanced we get technologically or any other ‘ally’, the laws of nature will remain immutable through the end of time. Translation: A momentary fad or trend may appear to be the best course of action just because the herd is at it, but if it’s at loggerheads with these ‘set in stone’ laws – someone will pay the price.

And that someone is you and the society at large. You must have heard of those days when people did not even lock their doors, even while leaving for a vacation. Now we are constantly looking for the next burglar alarm system to keep a step ahead of the thieves.

It’s not because people in years past were honest etc. It’s because they had an intact home with the above two requisites – mainly.

Do you know what the research indicates as to how a girl or a boy reacts when his father is not living under the same roof and only visits his children on weekends like an Uncle?

Girl: Without a father a teenage girl becomes sexually active much early and more vigorously. These are the girls who typically end up marrying a man almost twice their age in their never-ending search for their father.

Boy: Boys become overly aggressive in absence of an authority figure / alpha male in their life resulting in numerous run-ins with the law.

Someone decoded ADD as Absent Dad Disorder. Researchers were able to correlate the student’s grades to absence / presence of a father figure in his / her life.

It’s the proverbial ‘foundation’ argument on full display.

Sure there are exceptions that only prove the rule even more authentically. Bill Clinton, Obama, Woods etc. But they will carry this virus strain almost certainly to the detriment of principles society holds dear – not to forget harm and injury to their own psyche.