Hey, Steve - Fun post. Nick has come to remind me of Rocky Balboa's coach, Mickey, as played by Burgess Meredith...
Posted by PC
06/22/2009 at 03:46 PM
Great write up. I love the insights (Nick B!).
When I was 15 I'd have stared at my feet while addressing a room full of people.
Go girls!
Posted by Ruth
06/22/2009 at 04:14 PM
I, for one, am happy to hear that de Brito was able to play and win without the grunting/screeching. We'll have to wait and see if she resumes her grunting when, as she implies, it's a choice between grunting/screeching and losing. Yeah, right. :)
Laura Robson seems to have her head screwed on right. Too bad she had to meet a Hantuchova who decided to play up to her level today.
Posted by Mr.X
06/22/2009 at 05:26 PM
WHAT? She didnt make a noise? That's enormously surprising, Steve, as she was the worst thing i've ever heard on a tennis court at RG. Well, i guess she explained it.
Those girls are still too young for us to be able to know what the future is gonna bring them, but it could be a nice contrats of styles between them in the future. The stylish, polite, "too nice" Brit (or half-Brit?), against the loud, in-your-face, wild Portuguese.
Very impressed by their answers in the press conference, specially Robson's smart ones and De Brito's "Stop grunting? No way".
I wonder if Bollettieri taught De Brito not to be "too nice"
Posted by Heidi
06/22/2009 at 10:19 PM
Nice analysis of two up-and-comers, Steve. Thanks! I look forward to seeing Robson in the future. Whether De Brito needs to grunt or not, she'll certainly find herself having to think and talk about it a lot more in future. Hope that alone doesn't psych her out, but she seems to have a pretty strong Bollettieri competitive spirit.
Posted by Heidi
06/22/2009 at 10:19 PM
Nice analysis of two up-and-comers, Steve. Thanks! I look forward to seeing Robson in the future. Whether De Brito needs to grunt or not, she'll certainly find herself having to think and talk about it a lot more in future. Hope that alone doesn't psych her out, but she seems to have a pretty strong Bollettieri competitive spirit.
Posted by Ryota
06/22/2009 at 11:20 PM
When did grunting become such a fixture in women's tennis? Do tennis coaches actually teach the young ones to grunt during their practice sessions?
Posted by ahhh_silence
06/23/2009 at 02:18 AM
"She said she was playing well enough not to have to do it today."
That sounds like the ultimate in gamesmanship! Blech! That smarmy over-tanned Bolletieri can probably single handedly claim all credit for ruining our eardrums and creating these self-absorbed adolescents!
Just speculating -- what would happen if all the tournaments suddenly got a spine and say "shut up or you can't play here?" I mean, wouldn't all the screechers have to zip it?
Posted by karmica
06/23/2009 at 06:54 PM
In response to Ruth, who said "We'll have to wait and see if she resumes her grunting when, as she implies, it's a choice between grunting/screeching and losing. Yeah, right."
Ask Monica Seles if it was choice between grunting and losing. Her only Wimbledon final the media made such a circus out of the grunting issue that Monica put all her effort into NOT grunting and lost the match. The ONLY slam final she ever lost before the stabbing. So, yeah RIGHT is right.
I say to Michelle, do what you have to in order to play your game and let all the whiners deal just with it.
For the record, where's the hoopla when Serena Williams shrieks like a banshee during some matches. Guess some players are just "off limits" eh? Nice double standards.
Posted by jai
06/23/2009 at 11:02 PM
re: karmica & "double standards"
Of course there are double standards. The tour would be devastated without the Williams sisters. De Brito's got no leverage, so umps should go after her while they still can.
Posted by jewell - Make tea, not war.
06/24/2009 at 01:29 AM
"After Robson pulled off one of her specialty shots, a swinging forehand volley from mid-court, he mumbled in surprised wonder, "Blimey. She can play, can't she?" Pause. "Is she really British?"
"No, she's Australian," came the chuckling answer from the reporter next to him."
LOL
*back to finish reading*
Posted by Paulo M
06/24/2009 at 04:32 AM
Finally I read a good report on the rookie ladies, not the paparazi stuff about the grunting and screaming and politeness, good job Steve, I am bookmarking your blog.
Cheers
Posted by skip1515
06/24/2009 at 08:49 PM
"De Brito subscribes to the Bollettieri theory that tennis is all about taking time away from your opponent."
If Nick really thought tennis is all about taking time away from your opponent, he'd teach his students to volley more often. After all, what could possibly give the other guy or gal less time to get ready than hitting the ball from 30' closer to them than from your baseline?
(And, by the way, what ever happened to simply saying, "rushing your opponent"? Where'd this "taking time away" come from?)
Nah, Nick's overarching theory is that there's no subsitute for power, more power is better, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Well, okay, perhaps he doesn't believe in the last one.
As far as the grunting/screeching/caterwauling is concerned, upon reflection it makes me think of nothing else so much as a young player trying to prove to their parents or coach how hard they're *really* trying.
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