A total solar eclipse

A Tennis Players Eclipse Experience

All tennis players have an eclipse experience every time they play a match. They either experience the umbra (the fully shaded inner region of a shadow cast by an opaque object, especially the area on the earth or moon experiencing the total phase of an eclipse), the penumbra (the shadow cast by the earth or moon over an area experiencing a partial eclipse), or don’t experience the eclipse at all.

Umbra

A unique experience is coming to residents of Oregon August 21st, 2017. A total solar eclipse will be visible across a specified swath that falls across Oregon. From  Lincoln City to Newport the umbra will be experienced by residents and visitors from all over. A million plus visitors are expected in Oregon alone to view this awe inspiring two minute blackout.

How does this relate to tennis players? I was watching the Western and Southern 1000 ATP Masters held in Mason, Ohio (close to Cincinnati). The match up of the day was Nadal and Kyrgios. Nadal, seeded number one and due to take over the number one position in the world rankings, was the favorite going into the quarter final match. Both players had played previously in the day. This was their second match, which was testing in itself. Kyrgios had called the trainer on a previous match due to a hip/muscle acting up. It looked to favor Nadal.

Looks can be deceiving. Kyrgios came out playing in the ‘umbra’. He totally eclipsed Nadal to a point where, early in the second set, he played a ball with a trick shot(between the legs) that was insulting to a player of Nadal’s calibre. That is how good Kyrgios was playing. He didn’t take into account the crowd’s adverse reaction to his ‘trick’ shot. In his mind, he was playing in the zone(umbra), was in total control, and having fun. He must have thought the crowd would be understanding of the ‘fun’ he was having. He underestimated the crowd’s reaction of his seeming lack of respect for a player of Nadal’s calibre. The crowd turned against him. It didn’t disturb his awesome level of play for long, and he won the match.

Penumbra

There are many matches a tennis player has where they are in the penumbra of an eclipse. In a penumbra there is a percentage involved. For example you can be in the 96 percentile of the eclipse, which means you experience only 96 percent of the total eclipse. It could also be 50 percent, or 25 percent.

Applying that same percentage to your ability playing in a tennis match, you could be playing at a high level with small gaps of unforced errors. You could also be at a 50 percent level where half your shots are well thought out and half are not, or at 25 percent, which would not be a winning percentage.

Outside of the Umbra and Penumbra

This is definitely not the place to be in when you want to win. There are days when, no matter how hard you try, you cannot find the right combination to win. Thing just don’t go right for you.  

While none of us wants to be in that position, there is an up side to those days. Based on 55 years of playing and coaching experience, when approached with the right attitude, those outside the penumbra days, can provide a positive outcome. If a player works harder on those days at raising the level of their game; maybe a day, maybe two days, maybe a week later, they take a jump up in their level of play. It is as if they forced their way to a higher level by working harder when faced with adversity.

Conclusion

With the advent of the solar eclipse to be seen August 21, 2017, in parts of the US, new terminology can be used by tennis players to categorize their level of play. While all of us would like to play in the umbra, you will be fortunate to have that happen twice a year. For those of us who play outside the penumbra of the eclipse that, too, will fortunately happen approximately twice a year. For the rest of the time we all have to play in varying percentages of the penumbra. Welcome to the human race. Has that been your experience?

Ilie Nastase-Ion Tiriac

Romanians are known as passionate people. None seem to show more passion than Ilie Nastasie and Ion Tiriac. Both are more than willing to speak their mind, with no regard for the repercussions.

Ion Tiriac was born May 5th, 1939. Growing up playing ice hockey and tennis, tennis became his outlet to the world. It gave him freedom. In 1970 he won the French Open doubles title with Ilie Nastase. Watching Tiriac, I always thought of him as a player that used 100% of his ability. He was not nearly as physically talented as Nastasie, but mentally, there were few players that were as wile. Ilie Nastaste was born July 19th,1946. He was one of the most physically talented players on the tour. Nastase turned pro in 1969 and won 58 career titles. I always thought if he had had Tiriac’s mental ability, he would have been at the top for a long time.

Recently Nastase has come under suspension by the ITF for untoward remarks that were outside the lines of sportsmanship. Because of this he has been denied a seat at the French Open and Wimbledon and seems on the edge of  having his name withdrawn from the Hall of Fame. In spite of this he did show up at the Madrid Open and even presented the trophy to the winner, Simona Halep, also Rumanian. Halep did not seem to have any problem with Nastasie presenting her the trophy, but the head of the WTA, Steve Simon did. Nastase came under fire for being allowed to attend the Madrid event. However, his long time friend, Ion Tiriac, came to his aid and called for the WTA to apologize for their criticism of Nastase.

Conclusion

If you were in a position of authority in this matter how would you deal with it. Would you criticize Nastase attending and presenting the winner’s trophy, as did the WTA,  or would you take the other side – he should not have been allowed to attend, and Ion Tiriac should certainly not have demanded the WTA apologize.

Tennis – Federation Cup – Ilie Nastase

Ilie Nastase, captain of the Rumanian Fed Cup tennis team, held true to his status as tennis’s ‘bad boy’. The Fed Cup is the premier international team competition in women’s tennis, launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The competition was known as the Federation Cup until 1995. The Fed Cup is the world’s largest annual women’s international team sports competition, in terms of the number of nations that compete.^[2][3]  Ilie Nastase, captaining the Romanian team against Great Britain in their 2017 Fed Cup face-off , got himself thrown out and suspended by the the ITF for his behavior.

Tennis – Ilie Nastase

Ilie Nastasie developed a negative image and reputation, in spite of his obvious talent.

When I was tennis director in Hampton, Virginia, back in the early 70’s, a series of tennis exhibitions were arranged by Bill Reardon between Illie Nastase and Jimmy Connors, primarily on the East coast. The unofficial word at that time was that these exhibitions were guaranteed money, even though they were promoted as ‘head to head’, winner take all matches. It turns out the money was guaranteed for both players, which, if promoted as such, would not have drawn the crowds. Granted the onus was on Bill Reardon as the promoter, but it also left a tainted image of the two professional players that they were part of a false promotion.

Subsequently moving to New Jersey I became tennis director at the East Orange Tennis Club. I was invited to the professional $10,000 tournament held at Orange Lawn Tennis Club, where Ilie Nastase was playing. The president of my club invited me out with himself and Ilie Nastase after Ilie’s evening match. As we were walking out of the club, three young ladies joined us. Not understanding the situation I asked about them. Ilie and Michael told me they were ‘company’ for the evening. Ilie had recently been married. I excused myself and went home to my wife and family, quite disappointed.

1979 US OPEN

In 1979 I was at the US Open when Ilie Nastase played John McEnroe in the second round of the evening match. Ilie always had the reputation as a player who was athletically gifted above the other players. In his mind though Ilie loved playing ‘cat and mouse’. If he was the better player he would literally play mental and strategical games on court to make fun of his opponent.  For example, instead of winning a point outright, he would hit a drop shot, or another shot, to give the player another chance at keeping the ball in play, just to play with him. Watching him athletically, he was so talented. He just could not focus 100% on being true to his talent. He opted for gamesmanship. He ruined Frank Hammond’s (a stellar official respected by all the other professional players) career in that US Open match. Ilie opted for a pathway in life that was outrageous at times, yet so gifted and talented at others.

Conclusion

Hopefully you have read the account of Ilie’s behavior at the Fed Cup? If you haven’t, please do so. If you were on the committee who suspended him what would your input be? Would you give him the benefit of the doubt and not suspend him for life, or, would you vote the game would be better served without him?

Withdraw or Play With Injury?

Retire with injury

In any professional tournaments there is prize money. The amount of the prize money is divided up depending on which round the player gets to, the final having the most money for winning.

There are a thousand players on the circuit who ‘need’ the first round money in a Grand Slam tournament to pay living expenses. When they make it through the qualifying rounds into the first round of the main draw, many times there is a price to pay physically. Even players who have qualified, through their ranking to be in the main draw, are playing with pain and injuries. Their bodies have had to stand up to the physical trauma of playing match after match under stress.

If they are injured and aren’t able to compete what should they do? Ironically, the right thing to do would be to withdraw and give their position to a lucky loser. That would mean they wouldn’t collect the first round prize money (around $40,000USD at the US OPEN).

However, if they should opt to play injured they risk that injury getting worse, which would take them out of competing subsequent events which would reflect on their world ranking. The answer, would be to retire after a few games, get the prize money for first round and have time to recover for the next tournament.

Withdraw with injury

Andy Murray has come up with a solution, which may, or may not work. If a player withdraws, instead of retiring, before the first round begins, he still gets paid the first round money. This would allow a lucky loser to take his place and have a shot at second round prize money if he won.

Conclusion

Playing injured, then retiring, is getting more and more attention from the tournament directors and spectators. It especially affects the spectators who do not get a refund of their ticket when a player retires due to injury. Perhaps Andy Murray’s suggestion should be put into effect as a test case in one or two tournaments. Feedback from both players and spectators would be beneficial in going forward.

What would you do if you had a choice between withdrawing and NOT getting the first round money, or playing 4 or 5 games, then retiring, so you are insured to receive your money?

Australian Open Tennis Prize Money

Prize money has increased 65% from 2012 to 2016 and has again increased another 14% from 2016 to 2017. Australian Open will pay out 50 million (Australian currency) in prize money in 2017.

Yearly Players Expense

Expenses can vary greatly on the pro tour depending largely on the players ranking and the location of the tournaments chosen. A conservative estimate would be in the range of $100,00.00 (US) per year. This would include entry fees, accommodations, food, travel, and equipment expense. A lower estimate would probably not include a coach, physical therapist, etc. The higher end paid out by the higher ranked players could enter the range of millions of dollars with their entourage.

Increase in Prize Money is Meaningful

This increase is more meaningful to those players struggling to meet the six figure yearly expenses. The increase in singles first round prize money from $34,500 (2016) to $50,000 (2017) does much to take the pressure off  by achieving one-half of their average yearly expenses. On the players side the more expenses are met the more focus they can put on their training and performance, relieving the mental anxiety of ‘having’ to win to make expenses. While the higher ranked players have higher expenses their reward is invested  more in actually winning the tournament.

Australian Open Leading the Way in Increase

The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam of the Year, thus setting a precedent for the following Grand Slam events; the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. As the amount of prize money increases year after year, I wonder where the ending point will be? Obviously it is worth it to the sponsors to continue to increase the bottom line.

Conclusion

There are about 1500 professional tennis players on each tour – men’s and women’s. Of these only two get to the final of the Grand Slam events. At the Australian Open the pay out that affects the first round players will be meaningful to more players in the early rounds.  Even the qualifying will be increased to singles first round qualifying loser receiving $6,250.00(Australian).  The Australian Open Singles Champion will be more about the title than the money, although the money helps to ensure the quality of the entourage going forward. Hopefully, this increase in prize money will make it possible for those lower level players to find a higher level of success.

Use Twitter or Facebook? Pro Tennis Players

When comparing professional tennis players statistics on Twitter and Facebook, it would seem personalities and lifestyles influence which one the player prefers. Some players have more followers on Twitter versus Facebook and some have more Facebook followers than on Twitter.

Twitter

Serena Williams and Andy Roddick have far  more followers on Twitter than Facebook. Juan Martin del Poltro and Stan Warinka have more Twitter followers than on Facebook, but not as big a difference as Williams and Roddick. It would appear the biggest reason is their lifestyle and personality. They prefer the interaction of Twitter over that of Facebook. Tweeting after winning or losing matches gives fans immediate feedback on their players experiences, which seems to suit these players personalities and lifestyles.

In a previous blog I referred to the betting crowd and how negatively they tweeted when their player lost. The players listed here would fall into the category of winning more matches and tournaments than losing, thus possibly not opening themselves up to large numbers of negative tweets. The personalities of these players are also conducive to tweeting more about what is happening in their lives. They seem to tweet much more often and their followers increase accordingly.

Facebook

Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Maria Sharapova dominate in their Facebook followers. versus their Tweet followers. They do update their fan pages on Facebook from time to time but their postings on these fan pages on Facebook are not as prevalent as those that tweet. This seems to provide more stability to their followers/fans. These updates, sometimes accompanied with video, also allow comments from the fan base and allow a longer interaction period than tweets. The players personalities and lifestyles would seem allow a more protective side to their private lives, while still providing interaction with their followers that supports their image and business interests.

Conclusion

Twitter has about one-fifth the users of Facebook. Facebook fans spend an average of 25-30 minutes on Facebook compared to approximately 8 minutes on twitter. Another point is that a tweet does not last as long. It is here and gone with the tweeter moving on with their followers leaving those present tweets in the past. In today’s age of social media interacting with professional tennis players, it is interesting to match up the statistics of player’s usage of either Twitter and Facebook. In most cases other than those discussed above, the followers almost even out with a slight advantage to Facebook.

Analyzing your personality and lifestyle, would you rather interact with Twitter or Facebook in your social media presence?

Facebook-Affects Professional Tennis

Facebook has a huge impact on professional tennis – on the players, on the fans, on the professional tournaments, and on the various businesses associated with the sport. In the third quarter of this year Facebook listed 1.79 billion active users on a monthly basis in 2016.

Facebook and the players

Any tennis professional can create a player page.

The professional tennis players with the most likes on Facebook are:

#1 Maria Sharapova 15,497,777 likes

#2 Rafael Nadal 14,693,292 likes

#3 Roger Federer 14,552,388 likes

#4 Novak Djokovic 7,216,289 likes

#5 Serena Williams 4,953,674 likes

Interesting how at #7 is Anna Kournikova with 3,419,774 likes. She had to retire in 2007 due to injuries, but has still retained a high visibility with her Facebook page, thus showing the impact Facebook can have on a players career, even after retiring.

Facebook and the Fans

When a player such as Roger Federer has a Facebook page fans can link up to it and participate in the time line as well. As the player posts about a tournament or a ‘cameo’ in his/her post the fans can take note and share it with their friends and family. Fans become a part of the player they are identifying with. It brings a ‘luster’ to their own lives as they see their hero succeed or fail in their endeavors. Without this facebook interaction fans could not have the in-depth knowledge facebook provides.

Facebook and Profesional Tennis Tournaments

Professional tennis tournaments such as Indian Wells Tennis Garden can also have a facebook page which gives them wide exposure to the tennis population. Having this provides a venue to publicize players coming to the tournament and the businesses associated with the tournament. Players post about the tournament on their own timelines. This only adds to the excitement and participation of the fans in the tournament. The more successful the tournament the better it is for the players, fans, and the tournament sponsor as well.

Facebook and the Sponsors

Sponsors such as Nike can also have a Facebook page. This serves to publicize the tournament, the players equipment, and only adds to their exposure and sales. When they post pictures of the player(s) endorsing their equipment it is amazing to think of the population Facebook reaches.

Conclusion

There is no comparison with present day Facebook and non-Facebook days. Facebook provided visibility, in terms of a player’s profile, fans interacting with their favorite players, tournament publicity and sponsors selling their product. It is available to all and can even be used to ‘set up’ a player’s career after their playing days are over.

If you were a world class player would you manage your Facebook account yourself of hire a management company. Remember, once it is open to the public there is no taking it back.

Twitter Affects Professional Tennis

Twitter affects professional tennis in both a positive and negative way.

Positives

Signing up for a twitter account immediately gives the player access to the outer world of spectators and fans, which affects their image. For example, with the recent Hurricane Mathew, a player who tweeted a donation, either in money, or time, or ‘siding with the victims’, would be perceived in a positive light. To better illustrate this, more in line with a players ‘on court’ matches, a player who exudes a positive attitude towards the ballboys, chair umpire, and spectators would further his self-image and possibly, develop a larger following. A tweet with positive vibes for the athlete’s sponsored clothing, shoes, or racket would go far in attracting other sponsors and be positive publicity for his own sponsors. Along with twitter is a players picture. The picture alone can elicit positive reactions, with the player looking athletic, alert and personable.

Negatives

The latest negative result of how twitter can affect a players image is Nick Krygios. Not only was he suspended for 8 weeks (so far he has not agreed to the counseling offer which would drop it to 3), but he lost approximately $40,000.00 in fines, and a Malasia Airlines sponsor.  Krygios is such a talented player and fun to watch, but not when he is disrespectful to spectators (who pay to watch), and his sponsors (who pay for his endorsement of their product) by displaying unattractive character traits. Even after apologizing with a tweet his ensuing behavior did not seem to indicate a ‘humbler’ Nick Krygios. He is still only 21 and after two of these ‘sanctions’ hopefully will respond and turn to a more positive image on court and on Twitter.

Conclusion

Twitter is a force to be reckoned with when professional athletes sign up for an account. Tennis players are perceived as both intelligent and informed. How they word their tweets (picture included) ‘to the world’ can improve their publics and sponsors perception of them.

How would you handle your twitter account if you were a successful professional tennis player (athlete)? Would you hire a publicist or do it yourself?