Recalling the Ivanisevic-Woodforde Feud

Steve, Fav athlete of all time? Who was the other co fav? I always like Ivanisevic too, to see him finally win Wimbledon was a fantastic thing, will never forget him talking to and kissing the balls before serving on his match points. And his reaction at finally winning was beautiful to see, though it was sad to see such a great champion as Rafter have to lose that epic match. Can’t believe the harsh words by Woody and Goran here, you rarely see such outspoken bad blood, you usually see diplomacy but these two just went after each other. Can’t imagine what triggered this feud, which seems to have started on Woodforde’s end. Today I reckon there are some feuds like this one but the players keep it underwraps or settle it amongst themselves. I know Djokovic and Roddick got pretty hostile against each other, particularly from Roddick’s side but they patched it up. From what I was told they were thisclose to throwing down. Which are some other tennis feuds you enjoyed? I like Hingis vs. The Williams family. Hewitt vs. Coria and Chela was very intense as was Almagro-Berdych.

Steve you have to renew your old school fued with the chessmaster ) I’m going to go over there soon and try to hit with him. The Connors finger wag in McEnroe’s face was classic, wish incidents like that happened more. Seems players today are too smart to get caught up in anything like that with how the media will blow it way out of proportion. Hewitt and Corretja had a classic fued, Hewitt crushed Corretja like 0 0 and 1 in Australia and Corretja did not like it one bit. Then they played indoors later and Hewitt broke him the first game and Yelled a huge COME ON. THose were the days.

Steve, definitely play better mad. This match is the perfect example: I was down 3-5 in the first set. The court was cracked up pretty bad. Two of his balls his cracks and took crazy bounces which I lost both points. Then the next court opened up and I said let’s move over there. But he didn’t want to and was snide about it. The Tourney director said we both had to agree to change courts so we stayed put. Then I thought I hit a baseline and he called it out, my friend saw it and said it was dead on the line. Then I got totally fired up to a different level, yelling Come on! after winning certain points and it just changed the momentum of the match. I just went on a roll on adrenaline and fire and won every game from that point on, from 3-5 down, I won 7-5 6-0. That’s when I really realized that emotional adrenaline can change a match for you. Also, in stressful matches, when the feelings of pressure and nervousness come in, I block them out and replace them with arrogance and fighting spirit. Like, instead of feeling scared and weak from the pressure, replace that negative emotion with something else, walk around feeling like a wild animal, hunting and capturing prey, actually clawing and tearing them up with your fangs. Sounds crazy I know, but I learned this approach from a former boxing champion Mark Breland who told me before fights he used to imagine himself and visualize being an animal chasing and catching prey. LOL. Try it, it works )

Pete was ultra cool but he said he had a fire inside that people didn’t recognize, they thought he was lackaidasical. Pete was like a machine, or a panther. I think Pete played possum by hiding his fire, you know he must have had a tremendous burning desire to be the best and to stay on top six years in a row. I think Pete tricked people with his cool exterior, it was a deception. I try that too sometimes, mix it up, sometimes conserve all emotions and energy, like Borg. Good to mix it up. Being unpredictable on the court is important part of tactics.