Great week at BNP Paribas Open

Great first week of quailifing at the BNP Paribas Open.
The BNP Paribas Plays host to the worlds best tennis players for an ATP WTA combined event. Watch Nadal, Federer, Sharapova and more courtside during thewir practice sessions.

The weather here can be any better. It is mid 70's and not a cloud in the sky. The players are all over the grounds from the practice courts, lunch room as well as walking through the square.

This is my favorite tournament of the year because of how much the fans feel they are apart of the tournament and can get up close to their favorite players.

Here are a few pics from today. Get exclusive pictures and video from www.firstserveace.com
Also follow us on facebook and twitter!

Nadal stands up for Contador

“The Contador news is incredible, there is no definitive evidence and they give him the maximum punishment…LAMENTABLE…keep your spirits up champion! All my support!”, said Rafael Nadal.

I'm not surprised Nadal would stand up for his countryman, thats the kinda guy Nadal is. However, coming from a protennis player is surprising since tennis players are one of the most tested athletes on the planet. There is no grey area in tennis, you get caught, you are instantly suspended. You can appeal but it takes a 1-2 months for a decision, not 2 years.
The Contador saga has been going on long enough. He either need to be suspended or left alone...they chose a suspension. I don't have an opinion either way. I believe cycling has a huge doping problem on their hands and the athletes are trying hard to look for new ways to beat the tests and the scientists are trying to find new tests to catch the athletes. One big game...why not just let everyone dope? Then you know you will have a level playing field. Have 2 sets of records, pre-doping and post doping. This would alleviate a lot of controversy. I mean baseball was a lot more exciting to watch when all the players were juiced.

Whats harder, running a marathon or playing 5 set to win the AU Open?

I have always said that tennis does not get the respect it deserves for being one of the most physically demanding professional sports one can play. Last year I was speaking with a baseball coach who had never seen a professional tennis match. "tennis is hard" he asked. This coming from a baseball player?? A sport where a hang nail can sideline you for a week. Luckily the French Open was starting the next week and I said, do me a favor and watch one match, only then will you understand.

Thankfully our sport has finals like the one we had last week at the Australian Open that went 6 hours and 5 sets. I was getting calls and texts from all my non-tennis fan friends asking "did you see that match!!". This final definitely changed a few minds about the demands of men's pro tennis and hopefully gained a few new fans at the same time.

But lets analyze this, what other sport puts 2 men through such agony that they can't stand through the trophy presentation? Boxing or MMA? OK I'll give you that one, although Nadal's forehand might feel like a punch in the face, fact is you actually can't get KO'd in a tennis match. Your ego can be badly bruised but no brain damage usually occurs!

But seriously, running a marathon? The pro's run those in their sleep barefoot. Marathons have a starting point and finish line. The runners are not reacting to the actions of another, their fate is in their hands, or feet if you will.

But lets take a marathon as an example. 26.2 miles run by a pro in about 2 hours.
Nadal and Djokovic had run 29 miles combined at 2-2 in the 5th set. This means by the end of the match each player would have run approx. 16 miles. Yes that's 16 miles of side to side sprints while at the same time stopping to hit a ball traveling at 70MPH and kicking off the court like and angry donkey.
Keep in mind each player had run approximitly13 miles just 2 nights before in their prior matches. Hard to determine the exact distance but using some basic math I estimate in the 7 matches needed to win a major, the finalist will run over 60 miles in the 2 week event. Impressive at every level. I'm not trying to get people to like tennis just respect it.

http://www.firstserveace.com/

Rafa and Fed having harder time then expected

Last night I thought we were going to get about 2 hours of tennis. Rafa would wipe Devvarman off the court in 45 minutes and Fed would punish the young American Ryan Harrison in about an hour or so. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Devarrman proved he was worthy of center court and fighting Nadal in every point. His spirited effort really earned the respect of the crowd as well as his opponent. However at the end Nadal's relentless vigor was too much for Devvarman losing 7-5 6-4.
Although Devvarman lost the match I could see his sense of belief. He knew he belonged. I think we will see him in the top 30 very soon and he will gain the support of the entire nation of India. \

Now lets talk Federer. How does an 18 year old wild card push Federer to 2 tough sets? Is the killer instinct gone? Harrison serving first dumps 2 double faults back to back and drops serve in the first game in 1 minute. I thought OK, deer in head lights, this match should be over in 45 minutes. But from that point forward Harrison, as did Devvarman, played fantastic tennis. He was aggressive and not intimidated by playing arguably the best tennis player ever to hold a racket. He served and volleyed, he took full cuts at Federer's second serve which came quit often. There was a moment where Fed seemed surprised and frazzled by the play of Harrison. We all knew Federer would ultimately win the match as a fan it made me wonder about his recent inability to put his opponents away. I know Im saying this after he beat Chela 6-2 6-0 but look at his other results and he seems to let players hang around in a set just long enough to give them a chance.

I am looking forward to seeing Djokovic, Rafa and Federer in the final couple rounds of the BNP Paribas Open. The results in the next few days will send a message to rest of the field on who really is the player to beat...it could be Del Potro!

http://www.firstserveace.com/