australian tennis magazine - november 2011
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Roger Federer at 30: Passion still burnsTRANSCRIPT
NOVEMBER 2011A$7.50 NZ$8.40 US$7.50
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Your Game • AlternAtive sports
Advice• BAckhAnd Boost• trAin with purpose• strength secrets
DeL PoTroWoZNIaCKITIPSareVIC
LISICKI
pArent trAps
Aussie JuniorSuPerSTarS
PASSION STILL BURNSroGer FeDerer aT 30
drugs & sport
IS TeNNIS uNTouCheD?
FEATURES
NOVEMbER 2011VOL 36 No. 11A $7.50 (inc. GST) NZ $8.40 (inc. GST) US $7.50
13 A Timeless Appeal Having celebrated his 30th birthday, Roger Federer can look back with pride and forward with optimism as he targets new highs in his playing career.
18 Top Priorities As she celebrates the one year anniversary of her world No. 1 ranking, Caroline Wozniacki also understands her career remains a work in progress.
26 Little Miss Sunshine With a recent debut in
the world’s top 20, the future seems bright for the sunny-natured Sabine Lisicki.
32 The Toughest Test Players work hard
to abide to strict anti-doping codes, but can they guard against accidental exposure?
23 Guiding Lights Tennis parents are
often maligned but many are successfully combining personal and professional relationships with their tennis-playing children.
20 A Legend’s View Roy Emerson, who has
claimed more Australian Open titles than any other man, keeps a careful eye on today’s top contenders.
AustrAliAn tennis MAgAzine | November 2011 3
4 AustrAliAn tennis MAgAzine | November 2011
NOVEMbER 2011
EDITOR Vivienne Christie
CONSULTING EDITOR Alan Trengove
ASSISTANT EDITOR Daniela Toleski
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Andrea Williamson
ADVERTISING MANAGER Jackie Cunningham
ADMINISTRATION &
SUbSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Ben Carenco
MY COACH CONTENT Mark Edney
PHOTOGRAPHS Getty Images, John Anthony (All photographs by Getty Images unless specified)
COVER PHOTO Getty Images
Australian Tennis Magazine is published monthly by TENNIS AUSTRALIA LTD, Private Bag 6060, Richmond, Vic. 3121. Ph: (03) 9914 4200 Email: [email protected]
Distributed by Network Distribution CompanyPrinted in Australia by Webstar
The views expressed in Australian Tennis Magazine are not necessarily those held by Tennis Australia. While the utmost care is taken in compiling the information contained in this publication, Tennis Australia is not responsible for any loss or injury occurring as a result of any omissions in either the editorial or advertising appearing herein.
FROM THE EDITOR
The late season can be a curious time. The year’s Grand Slam
questions have long been answered and many champions experience
an inevitable dip in intensity. As injuries take their toll on tired bodies,
others retreat from the tour completely.
Yet those final weeks of the year can also mark a turning point. Just
ask Novak Djokovic, who considers his role in Serbia’s Davis Cup victory
last December as the springboard to this season’s record-breaking run.
Caroline Wozniacki’s premier-level success elevated her to world No. 1 –
an honour she’s held for the best part of a year.
This season, Andy Murray’s hat-trick of Asian titles saw him seize the
world No. 3 ranking from Roger Federer while on the WTA Tour, Agnieszka
Radwanska returned to a career high No. 8, after claiming her biggest titles
yet in Tokyo and Beijing.
Matt Edben is another player who’ll likely count the late 2011 season as a
key period in his career. In October 2010, the West Australian claimed a
$US 15,000 Futures title in Glasgow, Scotland, before finishing his season
ranked No. 183.
At the same time this year, the likable Edben qualified for the Shanghai
Masters and upset a string of higher-ranked players before bowing out to
Murray. Armed with a new top-100 ranking, Ebden will now enjoy automatic
entry into Australian Open 2012. With a sense of belonging, there’ll also be a
surge in confidence.
As those players understand that timing can be a key to seizing on
opportunities, others, like Federer, can appreciate a timelessness of sorts.
Having recently celebrated his 30th birthday, the 16-time major champion
shows a sense of freedom that accompanies his remaining career plans.
Could that include a fifth Australian Open title for Federer? Roy Emerson,
the most accomplished man in that tournament’s history certainly thinks so.
Just as some players surge late in a season, others understand that late in
their career is the perfect time to make one last charge.
VIVIENNE CHRISTIE, Editor
REGULARS7 Topspin
35 Court Talk
43 My Game
48 My Coach
66 Rankings
68 Scoreboard
69 Your Serve
71 Tennis Talk
7
18 AustrAliAn tennis MAgAzine | November 2011
TOPPRIORITIES
As she celebrates the one year
anniversary of climbing to
world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki
also understands her career
remains a work in progress.
By KristiNA Moore
Caroline Wozniacki is rarely without her trademark smile – and predominately with good reason too. At just 21 years
old, she’s already claimed 18 career titles and more than $US 10.5 million prize money. Last month, she celebrated the first anniversary of achieving the world No. 1 ranking – an honour interrupted only briefly when Kim Clijsters rose to top spot in February.
And yet, even as she beams her way through press conferences and generously gives time to her fans, sponsors and tournaments, there’s no denying that not all the news surrounding the top-ranked Dane is positive.
That Wozniacki is yet to claim a Grand Slam title to validate that No. 1 ranking is hardly news – in fact, it’s not even new given that Amelie Mauresmo, Kim Clijsters, Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina are other women who earlier reached the top spot without claiming a major first – but after some topsy-turvy late-season results, the pressure may be starting to show for the good-natured Dane.
While premier-level titles in Tokyo and Beijing fast-tracked her rise in 2010, it was unexpected losses at those same events that became the talking point of Wozniacki’s 2011 campaign. Were upsets
to world No. 43 Kai Kanepi and the 26th-ranked Flavia Pennetta taking the shine of the world
No. 1’s renowned sunny outlook?“My season has been good: I won six tournaments and I’m still No. 1 in the
world,” she insisted in Shanghai. “No, it’s still a good season.”
As she approached the year-end WTA Championships in Istanbul, though, Wozniacki knew her world No. 1 ranking was technically at risk – and she admitted that surrendering top spot so close to the coveted season-end would be hard to take.
“If you’ve been No. 1 pretty much the whole year, you want to finish the year No. 1 as well. It would be a little bit bitter if you would lose it in the last week of the season,” she said. “We have to see. I mean, what happens is going to happen. 1 or 2, it still has been a good season for me.”
As critics point to the lack of a big weapon in the Dane’s game, it’s sustaining form in the longer term that might be a bigger challenge – particularly amid the pressures of a Grand Slam, when the top-name players are so intensely scrutinised.
While semi-final performances at the Australian and US Opens marked progress
for Wozniacki in 2011, her collective performances were undermined by a third round loss to Daniela Hantuchova at Roland Garros, which was followed by a fourth-round upset to Dominika Cibulkova at Wimbledon.
Could a packed schedule be partly to blame for those major losses? By mid-October, Wozniacki had already contested 21 events for the 2011 season
but she scoffed at suggestions she should put quality ahead of quality. “Everyone is an individual,” she said. “I play the tournaments I feel like I want to play.”
Wozniacki is clearly unafraid of hard work and she’s apparently not afraid to experiment either. Having been coached by her father, Piotr, for years, she was also advised by a more independent figure throughout the US hard court season – a situation shrouded in mystery when that other coaching figure remained unnamed.
If Wozniacki is fretting about any inconsistencies on the court, it’s not
affecting her personal life. Shortly after her Wimbledon loss, the rumour mill started buzzing with the news that she was dating PGA golfer Rory McIlroy – which the couple happily confirmed when McIllory supported the world No. 1 in New Haven.
“It’s great to have someone who understands,” Wozniacki said of her relationship with the Irishman. “Rory has achieved something very remarkable and great already, winning the US Open at such a young age in golf. It’s something unheard of … you know, it’s nice to have him here.”
Encouragement from a major-winning boyfriend must surely provide some impetus as Wozniacki works on adding Grand Slam success to her own sporting record – not that she appears to need much assistance in the attitude department.
As recent history shows a trend towards older Grand Slam winning-women, the 21-year-old knows that the one thing she has on her side is time.
“I’ve said it before: pressure is when you’re put in a spot where you feel you don’t belong,” she said. “I feel like I belong here, and my time will come.” n
“Pressure is when you’re put in a spot where you feel you don’t belong. i feel like i belong here, and my time will come.” – CAroLiNe WozNiACKi
AustrAliAn tennis MAgAzine | November 2011 19
Six career titles mark a career-best season for the 18-time titlist.
An off-court opportunity with punch.
Major-winning boyfriend Rory McIlroy provides support.
Sweet success for the world No. 1.
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