The New Evolution in Tennis

Federer, Nadal and Sampras

Men’s tennis has gone through many changes and evolution over the last few decades. The 70s saw Bjon Borg and his mesmerising topspin that bedazzled nearly every person who dared him at the net. The 80s saw power and professionalism in tennis through Ivan Lendl- the tennis version of “Terminator”. This set the tone for a quicker game and more merciless champions. Most of what we see today in terms of game is as a result of that change in topspin, focus on power rather than touch and stern professionalism to meet the demands of the game through the year. 

However, somewhere along the way another change had happened that seemed to go away unnoticed. No more do you see multiple champions winning slams, over the last 17 years, three men namely Sampras, Federer and Nadal have won nearly 55% of all slams that have been played. This is a dominance that is unprecedented and if one were to look at slams played between 2003 and now nearly 75% of slams have been won by the duo Federer-Nadal and neither man seems done. This is a telling fact and one that reveals a hidden evolution in the game.

It’s long been recognised that tennis and other sports at the highest level are determined by mental toughness rather than talent. The new evolution in tennis champions is not as much in terms of their game as much as their mental edge. The new generation of champions are far superior in terms of mental toughness vis-a-vis their peers as compared to champions from the past. They truly seem to be a completely different animal in the head!

MS Dhoni and the Indian Cricket Evolution

Indian Cricket teams in the past have had great captains like M A K Pataudi (more on Pataudi) and more recently the “Maverick” Sourav Ganguly who led through force of personality and some others who’ve led by example like Kapil Dev and Mohammed Azharuddin, the latter also possessed a cool head. Leadership skills, a cool head and individual ability have rarely been captured through a single player donning the Indian cap consistently. It’s a rarity to see such cricket captains in India although the Aussie’s are accustomed to it. It’s that combination which we are seeing through MS Dhoni, he’s unshackled his players, outthought oppositions, kept up his performance and rarely lost his head!

The ongoing India-Australia tie is testament to Dhoni’s leadership and the evolution of Indian cricketers. Yes, we do carry with us the legacy of poor fielding but such things as counter attacks, disciplined bowling and method over madness are unusual characteristics for us as well. But that’s clearly in the past, how’s this for a counter attack - 7 wickets down, Bhajji and Praveen maul the Aussies for some 40 runs in the last 4 overs and thus turning a defeat into a near victory. In the very next game India smashes 354 their highest ever ODI total against Aussies but it’s what happens next that indicates a genuine evolution.

Prior to a discussion on the team’s evolution, it’s time to rewind back over ten years to reminisce our flawed instincts, an India-Aus tie where India’s 300+ was getting chased hand over fist by a rampaging Gilchrist and Hayden (Sachin’s 5 wkt haul saved the day). Aussies lost despite scoring over 7 in the first 15, a splendid start and one that did highlight India’s bowling indiscipline on batting pitches. Jumping the reel to the current day there was no such hiccup by the bowlers in Nagpur as they tied the Aussies up from the word go, a master class of pitching the ball in the right areas and dominated as they’ve never done before.

There’s a certain maturity about this Indian team which translates into better consistency than other teams in the past. The leadership has a huge part to play I'd reckon but there are people who disagree. They feel maybe Dhoni was lucky to get today’s batting and bowling effort. Maybe he’s lucky to be the most successful Indian Test captain at this stage. Maybe the “lucky” captains of the past weren’t exactly lucky or maybe just maybe… they weren’t Mahendra Singh Dhoni!

The Curious Case of Jenson Button

It’s official, Jenson Button has won the F-1 crown for 2009… Jenson who?  He’s the bloke who’s been around in F1 for nearly 10 years now with just one GP win till this season, that’s who! Jenson’s winning season is not bad when you look at the victory column, which reads an impressive 6 victories, the typical number that has brought championship wins over the years. However, a closer look at the reasons behind the champ’s success tells us a much different tale. The prime reasons for his victories have been (A) Significant technology edge (B) Only a single retirement (c) Driving the car home within the points. Solid performance no doubt nevertheless it begs the question-would other championship contenders have performed as well with similar cars?
 
Jenson’s victories have all come through the first 7 races till which time the team enjoyed a distinct speed advantage through their unique double diffuser system. Therefore, the race wins were expected of Jenson. But as soon as that advantage vanished the Brawn car was on par with the other cars and maybe a shade down on a couple of cars in a few races. This still meant that an average performance of around 4-5 in qualifying would have been a par performance for a champion driver. But while Jenson’s performance in qualifying across the first seven races was a commendable 2.14 the next nine races shows a dismal average of 8.56! That number is over 3 points down on the par score expressed earlier. Jenson simply doesn’t have the speed to compare with other great drivers on the grid like Kimi, Felipe, Alonos, Lewis and Vettel. This lack of qualifying pace indicates how dismal Jenson’s pace has been and it’s only through a reliable car with a distinct early advantage has Jenson managed to win this year. Enjoy the moment Jenson but although you’ve paced yourself well, you’re not quite on the pace!

Rafael Nadal Will Be Back in Force

As Robin Soderling completed his now famous victory over the undisputed king of clay Rafael Nadal, stories of the spaniard’s crumbling aura began to surface. However, with Nadal’s lengthy injury break the stories turned into odes signaling the end of Nadal era at slams. These stories largely belly a common notion that Nadal cannot keep up the frenetic pace of tennis and his body will likely capitulate. While a crippling injury might happen, the odds that Nadal would go through one are no more than a Djokovich or a Murray. Here one must remember that Rafa has a natural tendency to gain muscle mass and that’s been the secret to his power at a young age. Therefore he does have a strong body and one that can take a ton of punishment. As he grows older Nadal as many other greats before him will take precautions in terms of the tournaments he competes in yearly.

Ok so Nadal’s body can hold but can he get back the aura of invincibility that he enjoyed over his peers and in particular Federer? The answer for this is yes he can get back “an aura” but perhaps not “the aura” he’s used to. One must remember that Nadal has had the best run of any clay court player in history at slams including Borg and such an achievement reflects a superlative peak that is rarely surpassed. Federer has struggled to repeat his 81-4 record of 2005 and almost as surely Nadal will struggle to win 3-4 titles consecutively at the French. But make no mistake about it given the man’s determination and talent he will be better at the US open in years to come and needless to add reclaim the crown of King of Clay.