How McEnroe Solved The Lendl Puzzle

Budge sounds awesome. What great advice.

JMac will never admit it, but Lendl( and BG) sent him into a hiatus..Couldn’t beat Lendl, and the loss to BG at the Masters at the Garden drove him nuts.

Watched that French Open final in a bar in Negril Beach, Jamaica…cameras clicking made JMac lose his mind…what a monumental collapse..they should show Kyrgios that tape

Wow Budge is amazing. He even knew inside information about the Seles knife guy, according to Scoop. I wonder if the guy had connections to the mob.

Here is a great discussion in which Lendl actually brings up this topic to McEnroe. Those two with Becker and Wilander.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuoAknS29pA

Jeff – that Budge/Seles story is hoo ha. Why would the mob be involved in two girls playing tennis ? It’s rubbish.

I suggested to Scoop when we got mired in this dicussion before that some serious research needs to be done if you want to go beyond airy speculation and that would involve fluency in German and a lot of time.

Bouchard’s game isn’t exactly the same as it was in 2014. You need supreme confidence to pull off her high risk style, and she no longer has that confidence. She can play well for 1 set, usually the first, and will lose the other 2 sets because she starts making a lot of UFEs.

She has said she needs a lot of practice time to play well. I imagine that is one thing that is necessary for her confidence. But she has had a string of injuries over the past few years, particularly abdominal issues, so that has interfered with her practice time.

Michael Joyce, who coached Genie for a while, talked about players who would put in some good work, but if they did not see strong results right away, sort of gave up. I wonder if that is true of Bouchard.

re Jeff Osaka, who knows. To the outside observer it looks like player was tired from winning back to back slams (mental exhaustion) and wanted out for a while.

I’m surprised because it’s a perfect time for a player to grab slams. She had the intimidation fact and everything heading into the US hardcourt swing in March, and then her season collapsed.

Could be the Naomi Osaka the superstar is defeating Osaka the player. Or a money grab, let’s make money off our fame (the gushing from reporters was way off at the US Open – we know this because Bencic beat Osaka in straight sets and this is the second time this season. That’s not improvement, that’s getting whooped).

It looks like a little bit of a tank. Agassi talked about that, playing just well enough to hide the fact you aren’t interested in playing well enough to open up a match. Andreescu of course didn’t do that, she was more of the pedal to metal let’s make history now and forever.

So Osaka…wasn’t a “too good” thing. It was Osaka heading back towards the habits of a top 70 player. As Scoop said and I have no idea if this is true, but if Osaka fired Bajin for training hard or for Bajin personal issues because she wanted “happiness over success” (fine…go back to number seventy!), and then fired Jenkins because she couldn’t respect a hitting partner (possibly recognized her strategy became see ball hit ball and don’t prepare for an opponent, or that Jenkins needs to be a better coach fine, fire him)

All kinds of adds up to what Jeff says sadly. Osaka messed up her own year. I’m sure top coaches would have met her on her demands.

Happiness over success. That’s what someone says when they no longer have to work for their sweet deal. Bouchard is all happiness over success…

While not on the level of McEnroe v Lendl or Sampras v Agassi (although isn’t it interesting, I think both Lendl and Sampras had the same advantage in match wins, 21-15 against Mac and Agassi), a very interesting match played out last night in the Cary (NC) Challenger between Rubin and Eubanks.

Firstly, there is the height separation; Eubanks is almost a foot taller than Rubin. Apparently, the two are very good friends. They’re both 23 and although Rubin is a New Yorker and Eubanks is from Atlanta, they’re both at similar stages of their careers; Rubin being ranked # 177 and Eubanks #188. Eubanks has won two ATP matches this year and Noah nil.

It’s interesting I find when two friends play each other. We’ve seen this before on the tour where players will indicate to their friend/opponent that a shot was indeed, just out. But sometimes you see that friendship start to fray when one player might not fully believe the other, his friend. And in a Challenger event like the one in Cary, where the lines people were obviously missing some calls and a couple of times the umpire didn’t overrule, this puts even more pressure on the players.

Eubanks is one of these giraffe players of recent years best personified now by Medvedev and Zverev and big man staples like Izzie and Dr. Ivo. He has the requisite big serve of the big man in tennis, but it’s not big or good enough to rain down multiple aces in a game very often. Rubin is a small man cut in the vein of Schwartmann or Ferrer, and while he’s as fast or faster than those two iconic players, at this stage, he doesn’t seem to have any weapons besides his speed.

So in Rubin and Eubanks you’ve got two friends; one who doesn’t have any weapons and the other who misses too much. Eubanks is the only really tall, 6-foot-6 and above, player who hits a one-handed backhand. And while he can strike some fluid beauty winners off that wing; too often his backhands also find the bottom of the net on rally balls. Rubin capitalized on this throughout the first set by just hitting the balls deep and staying in rallies.

But in the second set, Eubanks started playing 1-2 tennis, bombing in big serves and hitting big groundie winners. And Rubin’s flaws or liabilities as a player started to surface. I can’t see how Rubin will be a top 50 player; Eubanks maybe if he shores up his baseline game and plays a more aggressive 1-2 game. Rubin ended up winning 7-6 in the third. but these two very different players, friends, played it right down to the nitty gritty.

Nobody solved Hingis. Big Babe tennis solved Hingis. She lost to bigger girls, that hit her off the court, and they destroyed her second serve. Nobody can add 10 miles to their serve( except Nadal who hit 134 in USO years ago, then never again). Feds bigger stick did not add mph’s to his serve

Jeff your take is very good. Osaka’s performance has been bad. I’m not sure how strong a coach Jenkins is, my hunch is he’s a fall guy and that Osaka needs a better coach at the same time. But given she’s firing coaches quickly without a view to the long term, I don’t know. Seems too much for me.

If Osaka wins the Australian fine, she proves she needs only Osaka. But I’m not sure, Serena beat her badly last time, and Osaka had owned Serena.

That statement by Osaka about choosing happiness over success was very telling. I wonder if she truly understood that she could be putting her success in jeopardy.

Of course the other thing that happened to Naomi was huge endorsement deals. And fulfilling those sponsor obligations takes time and energy.

Andreescu, as a Canadian, won’t be offered endorsements on the same scale. She has one non tennis-related sponsor, a small restaurant chain in Ontario and Quebec. Apparently she signed with them a few months ago for $50,000 for a year. Now there will be a lot more interest, but Canadian companies just aren’t on the same scale as Japanese ones. Although a watch company from outside Canada seems likely. That is very common for top players.

Her coach has made it clear she needs to focus on her tennis, and not get distracted by other stuff. Hopefully her parents and Tennis Canada will give her the same message.

Osaka must hate Bajin. Look at this on Bajin book, which apparently mentions Osaka only four hundred times.

“I haven’t read it,” she said. “Don’t plan on reading it.”

I can only imagine that for all Bajin talking, and as earnest as he seems, he let Osaka down.

Either that or Osaka is a total basketcase.

Take your pick because the Osaka bubble has popped for now.

Andrew -I don’t think Bajin let Naomi down – if it was indeed the issue of his personal life then Sascha probably thought it was his own business and Naomi thought the opposite and this clash of personality, and maybe culture, couldn’t be sorted out, partly because of Naomi’s youth and immaturity.

‘Giggling’ – I’ve always been under the impression that giggling in some Asian cultures doesn’t meant quite the same as it does to Europeans, for example. Doesn’t necessarily mean something isn’t taken seriously. So this could be a cultural misunderstanding.

Are we so sure on Bajin and the conflict of interest aka chick? Osaka seems to fire coaches abruptly, though her language on Bajin was cold in February 2019 and on Jenkins marginally warmer.

If it is, it is. Bajin’s Twitter picture was inappropriate for a top coach to a top player – Wertheim didn’t say that on SI Mailbag but he suggested Bajin may have wanted to think that one through. Catherine mentioned Japan is businesslike and it is, they don’t mess around when it comes to money (and IMG doesn’t seem to either).

But whatever it was Osaka was ready to fire him and had no problem dumping Jenkins (though for Bajin, the results were there and for Jenkins, the results were not there. Jenkins couldn’t get his player to respond).

Listen if Osaka wants happiness over success that’s fine. Just don’t expect those results to be up there, or for those endorsements for the big bucks to stay there as the ruthless Andreescus of the world decide to carve up your tennis empire. It’s just a fact.

Sharapova was smart to make tennis the focus of her career. But Sharapova was not smart to dope it, however unknowingly. So maybe players are learning some things aren’t worth it.

If that’s the lesson fine. And as Scoop says if Naomi wants to be in the 120s, 130s that’s her right. I don’t look forward to putting GenieB and Osaka in the same paragraph as their rankings approach each other 🙁

From February 2019

“Everyone thinks it was a money-related issue but it wasn’t,” the US and Australian Open champion told the WTA. “That’s one of the most hurtful things I’ve ever heard. I travel with everyone on my team, I see them more than my family. I would never do that to them. My reason is I wouldn’t put success over my happiness – that’s my main thing. I’m not going to sacrifice that just to keep a person around.”

Bajin, a former hitting partner of Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki, was named as the WTA’s coach of the year for 2018, after his success with Osaka.

Osaka said it was clear things were not right between them during the season’s first major. “It was kind of brewing in Australia. I think some people could see that if they saw how we interacted,” the 21-year-old added. “I would not want to split on really bad terms. I’m not going to say anything bad about him because, of course, I’m really grateful for all the things he’s done. During the Australian Open I was just trying to tell myself to get through it. I’m not sure, but I think you guys noticed.”

Osaka so strongly denied it was money. But if dad’s coaching, dad’s coaching. No worrying about raises or lodging or flirting with opponents or too much press for your coach. Dad’s coach and what dad says…

Andrew Miller, Francois is well known down here in Florida. He has a long history of getting what he can out of a coach, a tennis facility, etc. then moving on. Sometimes the sisters and dad would just suddenly vanish from a coach or tennis club that Francois had charmed into providing assistance with not so much as a text message. Same thing the way he pitted the USTA vs the Japanese Tennis Federation, and chose the one that gave him the most. Its up to any future coaches to realize who they are dealing with an decide whether the exposure of working with Osaka is worth the probability of being dumped after a short time.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/fl-sp-hyde-naomi-osaka-20190316-story.html

Jon King, the coaching situation makes me believe that no coach will last long with Osaka. And I do believe money factors into this, or control over the player. Osaka’s decisions from here on out will be telling. If a big sponsor foots the coaching bill, that will be telling also (and a relief for the coach).

I think Osaka is a very good player and she showed some signs of greatness with her ability to concentrate last year. That’s gone – it’s a myth that the confidence Osaka showed from early 2018 to the end of the Australian (about exactly how long the champ vibe lasted) will magically return.

I get it that any player could have a resurgence at any time – such as Dimitrov. But did Dimitrov get hot one tournament or is he officially back in the mix? Seems like it’s one great effort at a tournament, because we have nothing else to go on. We’ll see if he can pull it together consistently.

For Osaka, there’s a road back. I don’t think it goes through her dad at all. Anytime I see a smothering tennis parent back in the saddle I worry – because they were critical but have to let go of the reigns. I think Seles was a bit different, but Seles often had two, three hitting partners or a team to play against, and she trained in Florida, I think at Bolletieri, so if they wanted to work on something they could get the right kind of training as needed.

So far this doesn’t look as much like Bajin messing up majorly although that could be and Osaka seemed like she was upset with him in a significant way. But her decisions after that inspired zero confidence – Jenkins has the right training pedigree but not the stature so that Osaka pays attention. Her dad in seat, sorry to say when it comes to beating the players that got her this year they were obviously better prepared.

Example, Putinseva. Good player. Number one? No. No way. Just a good player.

On the outside chance her dad decided he’s better, let’s see Team Osaka prove it.

Coincidentally, they just said on the tennis channel that the lawsuit by Osaka’s former coach was dismissed. The judge said the contract signed when Naomi was a kid was not enforceable under state law.

Its always a strange dynamic about which coaches get or take credit for which players. Rick Macci is still salty to this day that he feels the Williams family never gave him credit for the time he put into the girls. But almost 30 years later he still uses the fact that he worked with them in his promotional material so who knows how much money he has made off them. Robert Lansdorp is the king of salty, he has a list of a bunch of famous players he thinks should credit him a lot more for their success.

Then there are so many coaches we have known who say they ‘trained’ this famous player or that famous player. Then you find out that they only spent an hour with them 10 years ago yet act like they developed them.

So the Osaka and Giorgi stories are examples of one side of the story. In reality, tennis coaches and tennis parents both use each other plenty.

As for acting like they develop them, probably true. Not for Lansdorp, Sharpie kept going back to refine parts of her game.

Lansdorp is funny as heck. He’s like seriously, players act like they own the world when they are on top! Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, I get the sense they pay up and are more earnest here – less cheap, more aware of the problem of not paying for coaches. They keep teams for a long time. But he’s like they believe they got where they got without any help.