Novak Djokovic says he needs to work on his physical strength

Novak Djokovic believes the main obstacle standing between him and the No. 1 ranking is physical strength.

“Physical strength is something I’ve been trying to focus on lately,” the 21-year-old Serb.

“I’m aware that this has been one of my issues in that I haven’t been recovering well from long matches and long tournaments.”

He said his tall, lanky frame uses up a lot of energy when running on the court and puts him at a disadvantage against players like the muscular Nadal and the smooth Roger Federer.

“My game is based on the base line, so I’m running all over the court, stretching, with quick moves, putting a lot of pressure on the body,” he said.

With Federer, in contrast, “it’s just beautiful to watch the way he plays, the way everything goes with ease.”

Djokovic, who was eliminated from the Madrid tournament by Ivo Karlovic on Thursday, said his energy-draining style is one of the reasons he has struggled with injuries lately.

“I don’t like how I have got a reputation as a guy who asked for medical timeouts to intimidate opponents,” he said.

“It’s not me trying to provoke my opponent. It’s me trying to win.”

That issue came to the fore at this year’s U.S. Open.

He took offense when Andy Roddick joked about the series of medical issues that afflicted Djokovic earlier in the tournament.

Djokovic’s reaction did not sit well with the crowd at Flushing Meadows.

“One of the worst moments of my career was when I gave an interview after the Roddick match on the center court and 20,000 people whistled at me,” he said.

But while his physical abilities may be lacking, Djokovic said he has developed the mental strength to deal with such setbacks.

“The mental ability that I have at the moment is one of my advantages,” he said.

“What divides top players from the rest is mental calmness and an ability to cope with pressure in certain moments. That’s why you see Rafa, Roger, myself and a couple of other guys at the top."

"If you are mentally able to play the right shots at the right time, then your place is at the top. That’s the key of this game.”

Djokovic attributed some of his toughness to having grown up during trying times in Serbia.

Along with Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, he has helped make tennis one of the most popular sports in his country and is now trying to bring an ATP Tour event to Belgrade.

That could happen as early as next year, after his family bought the license to the ABM Amro Open.

“We had two wars and lots of economic problems; the image of Serbia was not good. Coming from there made it difficult for me but it made me stronger,” Djokovic said.

“It will be good to see top level tennis there after so much unrest."

(Via AP, Image by AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Tickets for Kings Cup is up for sale!

Before you head to Stadium Putra in Kuala Lumpur for Showdown of Champions, I suggest you to go up north during the weekend (Nov 14-16) to Penang to catch the Kings Cup.

The tickets for Kings of Tennis' Big Bang Penang are now up for sale at Axcess outlet (offline and online).

Please take not that the price is RM203 per ticket per day. So, for 3 days it's going to be totalled up to RM609. Still worth it to see the first King Cups with all no.1 players in one place, huh?!

During a press conference in New York recently. Notice the lady in the middle is Arianna Teoh, the organiser, former Miss Malaysia and wife of Alex Yoong (former F-1 race car driver).

Eight former world No. 1s, including Americans John McEnroe and Pete Sampras and Swedes Bjorn Borg and Stefan Edberg, are to square off against each other in a new Ryder Cup-style competition.

Team America: Roy Emerson (Captain), John McEnroe, Marcelo Rios and Pete Sampras.

Team Europe: Ilie Nastase (Captain), Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg and Mats Wilander.

Called the Kings Cup, Team America and Team Europe will battle over three days in Malaysia in a singles and doubles format.

"Let's just say I'm glad that Sampras is on my team," McEnroe, who topped the rankings for 170 weeks, said at the competition's launch in New York back in August.

"For us it's a great concept. 'Kings of Tennis' sounds awful nice to us because slowly but surely we're becoming legends in our own minds, so the fact that we're going to be going to Malaysia and treated as kings is quite exciting," he said.

"It's easy to say yes to this kind of thing. To get together with a very small group of people who you have mutual respect for because of what we were able to accomplish - there are not a lot of people who can say that," he said.

Borg, who was No. 1 for 109 weeks, will be joined by fellow Swedes Edberg, Mats Wilander and an as-yet unnamed wild card for the inaugural event, which will be held annually.

"I'm delighted to play with these guys once again and to play with John - everyone knows the matches we had in the past," Borg said.

"I believe this could be a very big thing in the future. Just to get all the No. 1s together in the same place has never happened before, so it's going to be a lot of fun.

"Stefan is playing a lot. Mats too, and the same with me. We play because we enjoy playing, but you have to be in good shape, otherwise there is no point. For us Swedes, we are looking forward to it," he said.

Chilean Marcelo Rios, the only men's No. 1 never to have won a Grand Slam, will join McEnroe, Sampras and one wild card in the Team America side.

"I think there really is a place for the team tennis format," McEnroe said.

"The team tennis format would be a very interesting format for the Olympics, for example."

In the 35 years since the inception of the world rankings, only 24 men have had the distinction of being No. 1 including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Tournament organizers said that in future years, other members of the 24-strong No. 1 gang are expected to take part.

(Excerpt from ESPN)

Updates
Click here to read about the event which is now officially cancelled.

Kids battle it out at Mini Tennis event at Tashkent Challenger

The reason why I'm covering a bit of the Tashkent Challenger this week is because Rendy Lu, one of Asia's top 100 player is the top seed here.

Besides that I'm pretty impress with the efforts put in by the organiser and media to make Tashkent Challenger a successful one.

Here's the press release shared by Esther via the media team in Tashkent Challenger.

It was an interesting battle to witness as 32 selected children in the age group of 6-10 years came out to play in a mini tennis tournament coinciding with ongoing Tashkent ATP Challenger in an event organized by the Uzbekistan tennis Federation (UTF).

Akhliyor Abduraimov, Umar Akhmedjanov, Diana Borisenko, Yasmila Karimjanova, Jamila Akmedjanova, Dariya Kungurova, Kamil Dautov, Sitora Kamilova won prizes in their respective events.

Tournament Director of the Tashkent Challenger S. Uthrapathy gave away racquets as prizes for winning the event, which also meant that graduated from the mini tennis courts to the mains courts.

A small gift was also given to all the participants on behalf of the UTF.

The top seed of the event and Asia’s top ranked player Yen- Hsun Lu of Taipei commenting on the kids day event said,

“It’s important to have days like these as it helps to inspire the kids."

According to Andrei Kornilov Coordinator UTF, these programmes involve bringing children from different schools to the courts and expose them to the atmosphere of the event and the sport.

"We will have another few kids coming in tomorrow," he said.

Uzbekistan Tennis Federation Junior Tennis has initiated the event to popularize the sport among children.

“It’s not about teaching them to play tennis but to show them the fun side of it,” Kornilov added.

Almost 17,000 youngsters all over the country are a part of the mini tennis programme initiated by the UTF.

(Credit to Sunder Iyer @ Tashkent Challenger)

An interview with Rendy Lu Yen-Hsun at Tashkent Challenger

Again, thanks to Esther via the media team at Tashkent Challenger for providing this interview.

Rendy Lu Yen-Hsun of Chinese Taipei currently ranked 77 in the world and Asia’s second top player (after Kei Nishikori who is positioned at 66).

Once ranked as high as 69, Lu twisted his ankle last week, but now he is much fitter and raring to go at the Tashkent Challenger where he is seeded No 1.

The media team spoke to him about his aims, tennis in Asia and his preparations after he put out India’s Rohan Bopanna in a three set encounter 3-6,7-5,6-0.

Q: How has been the year for you so far?

Lu: It’s not bad, I played for my country at the Olympics, though I lost some points and the ranking, I have four more events two in Korea and two in Kazakhstan where I hope to make more points and get into the bigger event. Probably I’m looking at playing in more tour events from the beginning of next year. I had a twisted ankle last week, but I’m okay now and want to do well at the Tashkent Challenger.

Q: You are Asia’s topmost player, isn’t it lonely up there to be the only Asian?

Lu: (Laughs) What I can say that we have so many talented players in Asia who could be the top 100, may be 50, maybe even 10, but we players in Asia should higher goals for ourselves. Asian players are looking positive and are getting close. I surely wish there are more players in the top bracket this will do tennis in Asian countries a lot of good.

Q: What do you think is lacking in Asia?

Lu: I can tell you for my country, we should have more tournaments, so players can get points. We also need to have more professional trainers / coaches. We need quality than quantity.

Q: What about tour events Asia has four of them do you think it is enough?

Lu: ATP was talking to us players as they are also seeing potential and growth in the continent. We told them that Asia should have more events. As of now we have Four Tour events slotted in two weeks. They need to decide and separate the events, as Asian players are comfortable playing in the region due to the food, hotels, language and the people. If we can have four events in four weeks it will easy for Asian players rather than to miss two events.

Q: Coming back to your country the girls’ tennis is doing much better in terms of number of players you have in the rankings?

Lu: I agree that the women’ tennis results have been better; we have 2 players in top 100. The government is supporting us and now we have very good junior boys coming out of the country.
Also one has to remember Men’s tennis I much tougher that the women’s, but in the last 5 years men’s tennis has surely improved in our country. But like I said our federation should have more events for men’s.

Q: Your country is playing with Kazakhstan, but now they have many players who have come over from Russia in their team?

Lu: I know they have imported players in order to make their team strong, last time we defeated them, and I know this time will be tougher outing. Importing of players is also good sign for federations to make their respective team stronger.

Q: How are Asian’s doing compared to the Europeans in terms of fitness?

Lu: Now, everybody realizes importance of fitness and employ trainers on the tour. I’m more fit today than I was 2 or 3 years ago. I’m giving a lot of importance to my physical conditioning. Now when I play it’s a different feeling and feels much stronger. I feel in Asia we are still in a learning process, but we have to get there fast.

Q: What are your thoughts about the Tashkent Challenger?

Lu: It’s a good event, there are players from Europe and Asia have come together because of the geography of the country, as it in the middle of both continents. Also it’s a very strong event with top 4 of the 100 players and a lot of top 150 players from 24 countries participating. Also we have around 10 or 12 players who were earlier in the top 100 here. It’s a tough event for sure. There is great need to focus and fight out every match.

Q. How do you compare the Tashkent challenger to other events?

Lu: Compared to other challengers the tournament is really very nice, the hotel, the people, the courts, the organization is very nice and I have no complaints. I’m enjoying it and also hope to do well.