The Onset Of The Hardcourt Season
The tennis season 2010 seems to have flown by with half the year already played out. The past six months have seen plenty of action on the various courts around the globe and produced some of the most enthralling tennis games of all times.
Many players have risen to the top while some have perished on the way, but the winner in the end of each tournament has been the game of tennis. Now with the clay and grass court season over, fans are looking forward to the hardcourt season ahead.
It is not only the fans who are eagerly awaiting the onset of the rest of the season but also those players who have disappointed in the last six months. Hardcourts provide them with an opportunity to bounce back into the game and rekindle their winning ways.
Whereas the difficulty here is that the courts also create an opening for the victors to march on with their winning streak. But one thing is certain; it will be the fast hard hitting players that will look to gain a slight advantage over their opponents during the next six months.
One tournament to watch out for is the Toronto Masters in Canada. These tournaments are played as a precursor to the final grand slam of the year, the US Open. While hardcourts are known for their speed, the courts in Toronto are famous for being the slowest hardcourts on the circuit.
However, players eye the prestigious title as it is one of the oldest tournaments in tennis history. It is one of the most challenging season openers as most of the top players would be found in the draw.
The top contenders for this year are, of course, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Robin Soderling and Roger Federer. Pundits, however, are picking this years Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal as their favourite due to his victorious resurgence on the tour. He has won the title twice before in 2005 and 2008, but this year he will be looking to capitalise on this win and go on to win the US Open, which he has never won before.
All eyes will be on Roger Federer to see whether his decline in tennis has actually come to fruition. An early exit in this tournament could be a portent for times to come that his losses are not due to any injury but a downward trend in his career.
Wimbledon maybe the oldest and most prestigious tournament but the US Open does not lag far behind. It is the second oldest tournament in tennis’s history and the final grand slam of the year. The acrylic hardcourts at Flushing Meadows makes the ball whiz by faster than any other surface thereby providing a great challenge to all the contenders.
World number one Rafael Nadal would be looking to enter the elite group of players who have all won the coveted career slam. This would be the motivating factor behind Nadal’s performance at the Open along with the fact that he has been on a winning streak ever since Madrid and that his physical strength has never been better.
This year is probably Nadal’s best chance of winning the final grand slam of the year. However, there will be those players in the draw that would be looking to put the breaks on the Spaniard. Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic could trouble Nadal. However, two players to look out for are Andy Roddick and Marin Cilic.
Roddick’s only grand slam title was won here in front of his home crowd. He will be looking to rekindle the same magic as he did seven years ago. Cilic on the other hand is a seasoned hardcourt player. With every passing year he is getting closer and closer to the final spot, but only time will tell how his form will play out for the rest of the season.
The year will finally end with the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. The tournament belonged to Novak Djokovic last year and predictions are that if he can rise above his weaknesses this year, this could be his second consecutive win in Paris.
With the onset of the hardcourt season this is just a preview of all the action that is to follow in the world of tennis over the next six months.
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