In the First Round..

French Open starts this weekend and the draws are out. There is nothing trickier, and therefore more important, for a professional tennis player, than his or hers first round match in a major tournament. It can be said that this is the round in which underdogs have the greatest chances of stunning seeded players. Lack of rhythm, knowledge of the opponent, and feeling for the tournament are among the reasons an upset can happen in the early round.

Due to the large size of the draws, Grand Slam events have historically been protagonists of some interesting first round matches. This can mean not only an upset of a favorite player by a less known one, but also an early encounter of two “big dogs”.

Players and their coaches are particularly careful with their preparation for the opening match. It is not rare to hear a player saying, on a post match interview, that he or she is relieved for getting through the first round.

Click here to check out the draws.

French Open

The most charming of the Majors starts today (May 22nd) in Paris. In times when powerful shots and great athleticism are the predominant skills on the courts, it still seems like the best tennis in the world is played on the slow clay.

Clay court tennis is more demanding on the players, not only physically speaking. To be a good clay court player, one needs to have a very solid ground stroke foundation, otherwise he or she will not be able to handle the long rallies and the strategic play execution that is needed to be successful. Expecto to see a lot of that in Paris.

Open Stance Forehand

Tennis is a sport that has evolved tremendously over the past years. Players have become taller, stronger and fitter, turning a professional tennis match into a battle of powerful hitting. The now old fashion “serve and volley” game was replaced by powerful services and ground strokes exchanges. Slice shots are much less used than before and flat shots practically disappeared, giving place to modern and heavy top spins from both the forehand and backhand wings.

Perhaps the greatest symbol of modern tennis is the open stance forehand. The traditional “turn-step-hit” pattern that establishes a linear type of hitting with momentum coming from stepping into de ball, has given place to the modern “load–explode-land” pattern, which establishes an angular style of hitting. The open stance forehand helps a player generate more power and pace to the shot, in addition to facilitating recovery and direction changing after the shot is executed.

The Uniqueness of Coaching in Tennis

The relationship between a professional tennis player and his or her coach is definitely a unique one. While in team sports like football, basketball or baseball the coach is employed by an organization that functions pretty much like a company, tennis coaches are hired directly by the players. This creates a sort of ironic situation, in which the coach, who supposedly is the boss and should have a commanding position, is in fact the employee on the relationship. At the end of the month, he or she picks up the pay check from the player, and not from the Human Resources department or from a payroll company.

A team sports coach can get away with not being liked by every player in the roster. Team sports players have to follow coaches’ command so far as they are employed by their organizations. Tennis players, on the other hand, can fire their coaches at any time, if something is not going according to the their own expectations. And if this was not tough enough on the coaches, tennis is the only sport in which the coach is not allowed to work during a match, as instructions are not permitted, making life not easy at courtside.

Tennis Trivia: When and where was tennis invented?

The earliest form of the game of tennis is called “le jeu de paume”, which is French for “game of the palm” and was played in 13th century France, solely by people of nobility, who used to strike the ball with their hands.

By the start of the 17t century, racquets were introduced and “le jeu de palm” evolved into a game known today as “court tennis”. Like its predecessor, court tennis is played indoors, under very complex rules and restricted to nobles. Only seven of these courts exist in the United States, to this date.