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If there wasn’t already enough controversy about the blue clay of the Mutua Madrid Open that just ended, Serena Williams had to get the spotlight back on her.

After her victory in Madrid, Serena Williams told the press, “Women are way tougher than men. That’s why we have the babies. You guys could never handle kids. We ladies don’t complain, we just do our best. On the WTA we are real performers, we are not about going out there and being weenies.”

Uhhh….what? Read the rest of this entry

Is it me or did the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open seem much more exhausting to watch than normal? I personally liked the blue clay, I thought it was a nice addition to the surface colors, though not everybody was a fan. If you watched any of the tournament, you saw that the blue clay seemed pretty dry, speeding up the court, dust would kick up on serves and the players seemed to struggle with their footwork.

The bigger surprises were that both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic lost in earlier rounds of the tournament, Rafa losing to fellow countryman Fernando Verdasco in the third round, and Novak also losing to a fellow countryman Janko Tipsarevic in the fourth round. Both matches were exceptional, Verdasco and Tipsarevic played extremely great matches. Read the rest of this entry

Might as well go for broke

I’m sure we have all been there, at one point, at a loss for tennis. That moment in you game, that moment where you have no idea what you are doing. That moment where your forehand could not hit the broad side of Mt. Everest; or where your backhand feels so off that you can’t seem to get the racquet to meet the ball. At this point, you are probably better off serving underhand.

All of this is extremely infuriating, that feeling of being lost in the middle of the woods and nowhere to turn. What can you do? Is there anything you can do to turn your game around in an instant? Without having to review some sort of lesson? Your coach is not there and you have your opponent on the other side of the net laughing his or hers ass off, waiting for you to continue your ride on the downward spiral. I’m pretty sure that ranks high on the worst feeling during competition.  Read the rest of this entry

I rarely every make two posts in a single day; however, I just have to share this with you. Turns out that Prince Sports has officially filed for bankruptcy protection.

This comes to me a shock, Prince has always had quality products, especially with their tennis racquets and their tennis shoes. Apparently, Prince has some major debts and has struggled to pay the debts back. Bloomberg reports;

Decline in market demand “combined with increased competition over the past five years” and a decrease in “consumer discretionary spending” led to the bankruptcy, said Gordon Boggis, chief executive officer, in court papers.

He said the company plans to cancel secured debt in exchange for new equity as part of its reorganization plan.

It’s really a pity if Prince actually does go out of business, they have made products that have been a staple of tennis since the very beginning. I’ll update you all when I have more information.