I lost my Game in the Bermuda Triangle -

Vamos! -

Thankyou! -

Davis Cup Contest! -

Oze Open Rap Up! -

What a great final to finish up one of the best Australian Opens I can recall. The emergence of Jo Wilfred-Tsonga
was truly something special. The flashy frenchman posesses all the weapons neccessary to win a Grand Slam and
I look forward to seeing him on that stage again. Noone can ever know for sure, but I think he was a cross court forehand pass
away from winning the Australian Open. Djokovic's fitness looked in question when he was able to guess correctly and stave
off a break point at 5-5 in the 4th set. After a shaky first set Djokovic was able to get his forehand back in check
and use his backhand down the line which I beleive is the best backhand in the game.

As this is a forum I wanted to run a few ideas by you and see where everyone stands. The first is the Djokovic pre service
ritual of bouncing the ball up to 20 times. Personally, I have three problems with it. First, the time between points rule exists to
prevent players from regrouping physically after a demanding point. It doesnt seem fair that you can add an extra 15 seconds
onto the clock whenever neccessary if you are feeling the pinch from a tiresome rally. Second, it makes it very difficult for the returner to prepare for the incoming serve. It can come after 1 bounce or 20 and
to me it seems an additional mental drain that may not seem significant for one point but becomes relevent over the course
of a five set match. Finally, fans want to see tennis played without interuption. As a sports fan I get frustrated at the conclusion
of a NFL game or NBA game when the other team is calling time outs and nothing seems to be happening. This is not quite
the same thing but after a great point in tennis I want to see more. I don't want to watch a ball bounce 20 times.
Having said all this, the question is what to do about it? Umpires need to start taking a stronger stance with this and hit djokovic
with time violations. The rule is as follows "b) Time Violation or code Violation. A Time or Code Violation must be assessed if
the ball is not struck for the next pointwithin the twenty-five (25) seconds allowed,
except if the Chair Umpire extends the time for special circumstances defined by
the ATP."

Another event I found interesting during the Open was when an umpire gave Djokovic a time violation at five all in the first
set against Federer. Jim Courier was commentating and was appaled by this intervention calling it poor timing.
I did not agree with Courier and believe the rules are there to be followed regardless of the scoreline. I believe the
closer a match is the more the rules need to be adhered to. One thing that constantly amazes me is how players react to
being foot faulted. A linesman is taught to sit on the baseline and call a foot fault if the players foot touches the line.
As players, we are taught not to touch the line with our feet. We know the rule exists, know what the linesman will do
if we voilate the rule yet still seem to act like some hardship has been placed upon us. Maybe it's because I have never
had a foot faulting issue but I think if players cannot learn to stand behind a line then they have noone to blame but
themselves. Again there is no wrong time for the linesman to call a player out on this. If a server is touching the line
then he/she has an unfair advanatage and must be penalized.

Please Respond to these issues I have wrote about. Fans are often going to have
a different perspective than players so I would like to know what everyone thinks.
 

Tennis in Good Hands -

Fish's week in Adelaide! -