Player of the Week: Dan - Lurking in the shadows??

Dan is the new and promising up and coming player. Previously, his game was to return as many shots as possible but this has changed tremendously last Friday.

He had increased his power in both forehands and backhands(esp) and is going for the kill more while still retaining his previous gameplay. As quoted in a recent interview with regards to which is his favourite shot, he replied "My backhand". Now the tour has two players with dangerous and venomous backhands in Tong and Dan. Though, I must say Tong backhand has massacred me many more times.

There is still plenty of room for improvements for our player of the week "Dan" (same goes to the rest of us) in terms of positioning but the increase in power in his rallies signal warning to the rest of the player. Will he rise to the summit of the ranking?? Stay tune to find out!!!

Passing Shot or Passenger?

After a long thought process for my new weapon of mass destruction, the next arsenal for me is a new pair of shoe which has been long overdue. Previously, my footware was reebok classic. After many long battles and rallies, it has finally worn out.

Prince whom I had "betrayed" previously was intensely trying to promote their wide range of footware. They recommended "Prince T22 black" which almost had me signed with them for their impressive design and colour. Fila was another choice but they no longer renew their contract and services in Singapore and Lotto was providing shoes for players with extremely small feet. Prince in their usual professional style prepare the contract which was awaiting my signature on the dotted line.

Lightning strikes twice they say, in a cruel twist of fate, reebok came with "passing shot iv" which was impressive in design but not colour. However, the monetary terms of the contract was too good to resist and thus I retained reebok as my footware provider. Tough luck for the guys in Prince.

I must say the passing shot shoes had been impressive in its debut but time will tell if it will enchance my passing shots or i will be a passenger aka spectator to admire my tour mates hits a winner down the line time after time. Adios!!

Nalbandian's 360 degree forehand

David Nalbandian defending against Roger Federer by executing a 360 degree forehand after getting out of position. I guess on this tour only Tong can execute such a great defensive turn attack kinda shot!!!

Top 8

The roster is out. top 8 ATP players battle for the year-end tournament at London O2.

Group A
Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic
Tomas Berdych
Andy Roddick

Group B
Roger Federer
Robin Soderling
Andy Murray
David Ferrer

Prince Tennis: Team Athletes - Juan Carlos Ferrero & David Ferrer 2010

My former Prince's mates Juan Carlos Ferrero and David Ferrer talking about the Prince Ozone Tour MP racquet and their respective goals for the year.

Gael Monfils new Talent

Looks like Gael Monfils excellent defensive play works well with table tennis too.

America has lost another sweetheart

This post might come a little overdue. But better late than never. So another player bites the dust. Another sad retirement. This is one man whom we like to reference to whenever there is a tennis joke. He is one of the last remaining serve and volley specialist in this dying genre of tennis players. I can't help but wonder, why does he always make it into video games, over higher ranked players? He never made it to the Top 20 ranking in his entire career. He has only managed a meagre 4 ATP titles and always gets his ass whooped by Federer. The answer is simple. Because he is YOUR AMERICAN SWEET HEART. He is TAYLOR DENT!

Soderling - Pretender or Contender

At the tail-end of 2010 ATP season, one player has made the headlines. He is Robin Soderling. No one could ever forget he is the first guy to beat Rafael Nadal in Roland Garros (not even the Great Roger Federer could do it) and he of course dispatched Federer in this year Roland Garros in the quarter finals. Federer has at least made it to the 23 consecutive grandslams semifinals before this.

So is this man with the vicious forehand and powerful groudstrokes and serve will be the next best big thing. After all, he recently captured his first 1000 series masters in BNP Baripas Paris and has risen up to the no 4 in ranking overtaking the talented Andy Murray.

No doubt, he is a good player and consistent and has the belief that he can go all the way. Yet is he suddenly going to be like how Federer and Nadal dominate the tennis world and to a lesser extent ala Djokovic and maybe Murray?

I doubt so. He sure can beat any of the players mentioned above but not on consistent level. He belongs to the second tier players (Nalbandian, Davydenko etc...) Nalbandian has won 2 1000 Masters Series title and a ATP world title and has been to at least the semi finals for all the grandslams, Davydenko has 3 1000 Masters Series title and a ATP world title. both players have proven that they can beat the big boys yet had not been able to dominate nor win a grandslam.

Additionally compare to Andy Murray, Soderling record against the top 3 player is a mere 4-24 while Andy Murray stands at 15 -17.

Like a tennis critic recently commented, he is ROBIN not BATMAN.

I say he will play great tennis and beat great players along the way but will not win a grandslam in his career but will finish with a great amount of cash winnings. However, stranger things have happen in tennis like Nizlan changing to Dunlop after pledging allegiance to Prince!!

Birthday, Bali & Victory

Tennis beauty queen Ana Ivanovic celebrate her 23rd birthday (6 November) by returning to the top 20 after capturing her 2nd title in 3 weeks. She was ranked as low as 65th back in July.

She closes her season with a bang, capturing the Tournament of Champions final held in Bali beating Russian's Alisa Kleybanova in straight sets 6-2, 7-6.

We wish Ana a happy belated birthday and let's hope we get to see more from the sweet lady from Serbia next season!!

The End of the Road

Last week women's tennis has lost one of its most well liked player Elena Dementieva. She is offensive baseliner with powerful groundstokes from both wings as well as an excellent defender. She official retired on 29 October 2010 in the year ending 2010 WTA Championship.

She delivered a short emotional farewell speech after her last match against Schiavone. Zvonareva, fellow Russian player also added a short tribute speech. Many of her peers were quick to pay their tributes to her as one of the best player off court. This is a testament that she is well liked by the fans and players alike in a women's tennis world where not everything is sweet off court.

She has reached at least the semifinals in all the majors but failing to win any. However, she did capture the Olympic gold medal in 2008(she won silver in 2000). She is arguably one of the best player not to capture the grandslams. Many argue its her weak serve as one of the main cause.

Elena states that she plans to start her private family life soon. We wish her all the best and that she will be missed sorely by the players and fans alike.

Nizlan's New Weapons of Mass Destruction

Many have been waiting for me to unleashed a new weapon of choice. Previously, signed with "Prince" which had provided with the usage of triple threat slam ("TTS"). The TTS has helped me a lot in developing my offensive style of play in the beginning.

However, with fellow tour mates, Ben and Tong changing their racquets Head YouTek Radical MP and Babolat Pure Storm, I needed a new weapon to keep pace with them (currently, both ben and Tong are top 2 players). Shona also had change her racquet to Head Flexpoint 4.

Prince had recommended me with "Prince exo3 Black" while also offering the "Prince exo3 Graphite 93 mid" "Prince exo3 Rebel 95" and the other exo3 models at the same time. Prince exo3 Graphite almost became the new weapon of choice until...........

Dunlop came and offered me the "Dunlop Aerogel 5Hundred Tour ("Aerogel 500")". Apparently, they had been watching my offensive game for quite sometime which is similar to current Dunlop user N Almagro and N Davydenko. I finally agree that the Aerogel 500 will prevent me from slipping away from the top 2 players. Thus, it was signed on the dotted line that Dunlop will be providing me the weapons from now on. Many I guess are shocked by this turnaround after pledging the allegiance to Prince but I got to stay fresh in the stiffness of competition.

Prince however, still, sponsors with accesories such as bags. They are offering me shoes but at the current moment, Reebok seems the best choice.

Muchas Gracias to Prince for the years of excellent service who still believe I will return to the Prince Family. At the same time, Im excited toworkwith Dunlop which hopefully will propel me up the rankings.Special thanks mention to Tong for the 200 dollar contract for letting me clinched this deal earlier than expected.

Reebok and its shoes

What is Reebok famous for? Its shoes! At least 3 of our main players chose Reebok shoes as their choice on court. My favourite part about Reebok shoes are the way they are named - by tennis terms. Check them out...


L to R: Reebok Classic Ace, Reebok Pump Court Victory II

L to R: Reebok High Volley III, Reebok Pure Victory



L to R: Reebok Passing Shot IV, Reebok Club C



L to R: Reebok Serve & Return, Reebok Match Point



Reebok Rematch


Pros sponsored by Reebok: Nicolas Almagro, Iveta Benesova, Shahar Pe'er, Nicole Vaidisova

HEAD YouTek Radical Midplus Review

I've used this stick for 5 months now and my game has improved significantly ever since. Here are my thoughts.

Groundstrokes: 9
Comfortable groundstrokes, with precise placement for cross-courts angled shots. Probably the best part about this racquet.

Volley: 8
Flexible and maneuverable. However not as smooth as my previous Wilson racquet probably due to the tighter string tension. I prefer bouncier volleys.

Serve: 7
Gives me consistency during serve, but lacks pace and power. No aces here.

Return: 9
Great solid return. If the serve is hit to my forehand, I can almost return 99% accurately with this racquet.

Specs
Weight: 10.4 oz
Head size: 98 sq. inch
Length: 27 inch
String pattern: 18 / 20
Composition: Graphite, d30

Pros using the YouTek Radical series:
Andy Murray, Robin Soderling, Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Amelie Mauresmo