Christina McHale's way back to the top

After a difficult 2013 when injuries and the recovery from mononucleosis held her back, Christina McHale is finally bouncing back in this 2014, looking as determined as never before.

A small injury slowed her preparation for Wimbledon, as in the last training session before the ITF event of Nottingham, she slipped during sprints, falling heavily on her hand, which did not let her play for a couple of days.

The healing took a few days, but she managed to compete the following weeks, coming to Wimbledon with a bunch of matches played on green.

“It is definitely going in the right direction,” she said: “I think it was the right decision to pull out of Nottingham, because I was in quite a lot a pain, but I think it’s slowly getting better again.”

Having proved to be an all-round player with several good performances in each slam and on every surface, the girl from New Jersey has her worst wins-losses ratio on grass.

 

© Carine06

“I mean, I think part of the reason is ‘cause there are not many tournaments on grass,” she explained: “So I feel like by the time I get really used to it, it’s over.

“But, well two years ago, I did make a third round in Wimbledon, so I do feel I have had good matches on the grass, probably just not enough matches.”

Since that 2012 when she reached the third round in three consecutive slams, she had been struggling with a serious form of mono, that seemed to arrest her improvements.

“It was tough…it’s really like something some people don’t really realize, that once you actually get over it, then the time you need to get back in full strength takes a long time,” she said with a slightly trembling voice, a sign of how hard it has been for her.

“So, I think I’m so happy to be over that and I think also I’m back now working with my old coaches again it is making many differences as well.”

And the difference is that this year she came very close to capturing her very first WTA title, as she reached her first final in Acapulco, losing in three sets to Australian Open runner-up, Dominika Cibulkova.

“ I think I’m getting closer, that was definitely a very close match, it was a really good week for me,” she acknowledged.

“And then, you know, like in Strasbourg, I made the semis and almost made the final as I had a match point. I’m putting myself in more opportunities and I think the more I’ll do that, it’ll just naturally come on its own.”

Not only the first title is coming closer, but her old habit of upsetting big names –she has wins over Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova- is about to come back too, as testified by her match against Maria Sharapova in Madrid, when she was a break up in the decisive set.

“I definitely took a lot away from that match even though I lost,” she admitted: “It was disappointing. But it reassured myself that I can compete against the top girls, and it gave me confidence and in my next matches in Rome I carried that over.

“So I took a lot from that and hopefully, yeah, I can just keep building and improving my game and hopefully get there, one day.”

After her big battles this year and the surprising results of many up and coming youngsters at Roland Garros, more and more players believe that beating the top names is not impossible after all.

“I think, when you see someone, you know, like the top seeds pulling out against players that are around my age or that I’ve played against. So you think, if they can do it, then I can do it too. So it’s really inspirational to see them doing such things,” she said.

 

© Christian Mesiano

Moreover, the new wave of American youngsters doing well is a great support.

“I definitely think so, there is a lot of us, who are trying to push through right now,” she admitted: “A lot of the Americans girls we practice together in Boca, in Florida…so it’s really a competition, we push each other every day, so I think that has really helped us and, yeah, I think especially Sloane, she is really doing well a lot, Madison, Lauren, me… so I think it’s like kinda pushing each other.”

But it is not just a matter of training, there is also a good relationship that grew stronger with the years.

“I think that American girls in general get along really well,” she said: “I think we, you know…obviously if we play each other it’s a different story, we are rivals. But I think that off the court we get along pretty well, I mean, we see each other all the time, so it’s nice to have, you know, friendships with them.”

Having achieved the same success in all the slams and so in all surfaces, one would expect her to find it hard to pick a favourite one, but she has no doubts about it:

“It’s hardcourt. I just feel the most comfortable on it cause I grew up playing on hardcourt. But I mean, yeah, I’d say clay it’s my second and then maybe grass is my third for right now, but it could change.”

Also tournament wise, the choice was easy:

“The Us Open! Yeah, I don’t have to think about it. I actually live really close to that, like 20 minutes away. So I used to practice there all the time, so for me it’s like my home tournament. I really love it.”

Around the world is very common for players whose native language is not English to communicate with coaches in that language, but not so for the 22 year old, who speaks a beautiful Spanish during the changeovers.

“My mum is Cuban,” she explained: “My physio is Argentinean and my coach is also Argentinean, so yeah, I speak Spanish a lot to them and to my mum.”

She also told me that speaking Spanish, even in the world of tennis, can come in hand very often:

“Yeah, I mean, it was useful in Madrid, like, I just communicate in Acapulco and Mexico, like I just communicate with everyone and all the people there or also many players speak Spanish, so that’s really helpful and all in that aspect.”

Despite the young age, she has had a great deal of experiences, but there is one that so far is her most memorable.

 

© Aleksandr Osipov

“I would say I go with the Olympics. That was really really cool, like nothing has compared to that, like the opening ceremony and just being with all the other athletes, it was unreal, yeah.”

So after a look back, it is time to look ahead and what lies in her future plans.

“I mean, I definitely would… I want to try and win a WTA tournament, that would be a good goal for me.” She admitted: “But I mean, if I just keep on working on the same way I’ve been working, just really focus on what I need to improve and get more power in my game, things like that.

“I feel like naturally the results will start coming. So, yeah, that would be like my tournament-wise goal, but on a more day to day basis it is just doing the right things, my fitness, my tennis every day.”

Postmatch interview with Marcos Baghdatis - Nottingham QF

-How are you feeling today?

Great, I mean, I’ve had to good matches today, the first was not as good, but the second was the one that I have got the rhythm after the first one. So now I am feeling great.

- Is everything alright after your fall in one of the last few games? You slipped on the grass and then hold your thigh…

I was only scared a bit, but nothing serious and now I am feeling good, so that is the most important thing.

- After going through many physical problems in the past few years, how are you feeling right now?

Great, you know, I’ve had some troubles lately, in the past year…and a half I can say, you know, some health problems, but now I am feeling good and you know, what is in the past is in the past, so I am looking forward to the future and I am feeling everything is fine with my body, so it is great!

-How does it feel to be back in the ATP Challenger tour after having been at the top of the game?

Well, you know, matches are matches. For sure this is a tough challenger, one of the toughest, but I decided to come here at the last minute, just to play matches, especially because on grass we don’t really have that many tournaments on grass. So, I can’t but say I am happy because I am winning matches.

-So what is coming next for you?

Queens!

Post-match interviews with Melanie Oudin and Michelle Larcher de Brito

 

Post match Interview with Melanie Oudin

-Congrats for your win today! How does it feel to be back on grass, where you have done so well in the past?

It’s good, I mean, I love the grass. Obviously I’ve done well in past but every year it is tough…this is the first tournament of the year on it and I have never done well here actually. I had some tough rounds here in the past, plus I played Heather (Watson) last year in the first round.

I think I’m really solid so far, I’m serving really well and returning well, I mean that’s the most important thing on the grass. I’m so far so good, I mean, I’m really happy with how I played my past two matches, so hopefully I can get some momentum and be able to play the same again tomorrow.

- Obviously it is not easy for you after the bad injury during the off season. How are you feeling right now?

Good, I mean, it was a long time out so I just need to play a lot of matches. I mean, this is the best consistent I have played, these past two matches, like I just need the match to play, you know, I mean for being out for so long, I mean, everyone is playing the whole year so I’m pretty fresh and I’m definitely looking forward to playing a lot of matches in this grass season.

-What is next on your schedule now?

Birmingham and then Wimbledon in the qualies, so, you never know, I mean if you win this tournament or you do well on the grass, like I know Wimbledon has WCs to give away. So yeah, I mean, it would be awesome if I could do well enough to get one maybe, but if not playing Wimbledon qualies is fine, like I said, I just need the matches.

-What about the goals for the rest of the season?

Right now I just need to be patient with myself and, you know, getting into tournaments, like really get my focus back, because I played so up and down lately, but, yeah I mean, my goal is to get back in top100 again, you know, I want to try by the US Open to be top100 again.

 

-Are you optimistic about a WC for the home slam?

I don’t know, last year I didn’t get one, so I’m not sure, I mean, I think honestly for me right now it’s better to play qualies, like I need to earn my way again and just get those matches, you know, and might be ready for those top players in the main draw.

Post match Interview with Michelle Larcher de Brito

-Congratulations for such a big fight today, how are you feeling?

So far so good. I’ve had two tough matches and I am just glad I’ve past two rounds and, you know, it gets better every day and I start feeling more comfortable on the grass.

- You have done well on this surface in the past, do you like it a lot?

Yeah, it’s nice and fast, so it really suits my game, you know, I play very flat and it helps me, playing on the grass. It is little tricky obviously cause you are kinda nervous about falling and getting injured. I once fell and I was out for three months, so it’s a little scary to play but it’s very nice surface and I think it suits my game.

-After breaking through so young, like you did, how hard it is to confirm your status and stay on the top of the game?

I don’t know, it’s like, you come out and you are the underdog, nobody knows you and it’s kinda easy, you know, to win few matches because nobody really knows you at first, but once people get to know you, they study your game, they get to know you better so then obviously players come up more prepared knowing your weaknesses.

But you know, it’s ok, I mean, it’s part of tennis, a lot of people have ups and downs, and you know, I’m just trying to keep my best and stay happy . I’ve just got to stay positive and keep going and stay happy no matter what happens.

- The match was very tough, you’ve been up 5-2, Coco (Vandeweghe) seemed out of the match, but on every match point she came up with stunning winners. How hard is it to stay focused when such things happen?

I’ve just tried to stay as calm as possible, it was really hard at one stage. You know, even though you’re winning, you know, it’s tough to close it out, it’s always the hardest part of the match, the end, you know.

I’ve got really nervous but I’ve just tried to stay as calm as possible and keep fighting. And it was very nerve wracking but, you know, I’ve just wanted things start working, you know, tried to stay calmer. Sometimes you let out the frustration a little bit but, you know, I’m glad, I’m very glad… you know, I’m not happy that happened but sometimes I’m glad that such things happen because I’m teaching myself to remain calm, I don’t need to freak out ‘cause, you know, I’m in the winning end, so stay calm and walk through.

-What are your goals for this season on grass then?

I don’t know, you know, just win as many matches as possible, I was here trying to get as many points as possible before Wimbledon, also because I have so many points to defend there. So, you know, I’m just trying to get confident on the grass and feel better about my game and just do my best.

-What about the rest of the season?           

You never know what is gonna happen, I’m just trying to work on my game and trying to do my best,. You know, I’d love to… I’m really close to be in the top 100 so it would be nice to get back there but, you know, I’m just trying to work on everything and just, you know, do my best.

There’s nothing else you can do, you know, tennis is such a tricky game, so you have to just get, you know, remain as confident as possible and get out all you can do and that is it all.

The ITF Nottingham experience: Day 2

My second day at ITF Nottingham was absolutely great: a lot of action, some nice interviews and a bit of drama.

If by any chance you can read Italian or trust google translate for the job, you might find a more serious and longer piece on the day here.

Moore vs the rain

To summarise the day quickly, because it is well past midnight and tomorrow I have another long day to cover, the day was smashing. It started with the weather being a bit dodgy, but it definitely improved later on.

As for me it started with a nice chat-interview with Christina McHale, which will be out soon –I’ll keep you updated with that-, who told me that she had finally started hitting again and despite the pain, she is happy and confident for the upcoming weeks.

I then watched Madison Keys hitting with Lauren Davis and it was nice, though Keys was not very centred, but her forehand was absolutely stunning at times. Davis is also nice to watch as her shots seems to be always landing in the last 20cm of the court.

Cox has some great game for grass!

That was on some hardcourts, funnily enough, on the courts next to them, British Tara More was trying to dry the concrete with not much success, so that after some nice 15 minutes of work she gave up.

From actual tennis matches, I watched the first set between Daniel Evans and Daniel Cox. Though Evans won in two 7-5 sets, I was not very impressed by his game, not as much as Cox’s at least.

Cox could be the unknown underdog to make a (small) surprise if he is given a WC in one of the next grass events, including Wimbledon. Nice solid from the back, good serve and obviously very used to the surface.

Who really needs a lot more training on grass is Nick Kyrgios, who lost to Australian qualifier John-Patrick Smith in straights, looking completely unable to move nor adjust to the low bounces.

Johnson vs the net

Thumbs up for Steve Johnson instead. He won his opening match in two comfortable sets against crowd favourite James Ward.

The American has a massive serve, good forehand and his backhand slice works perfectly on grass, his movements need some work on, as he kept slipping and once even crashed into and almost over the net trying to get to a dropshot.

On the women’s tournament I will give just a few flashes for each of the match I followed.

Kristyna Pliskova is clearly finding wins again on grass because it is the only surface where she does not have to move much, nor use her backhand a lot. She generally needs to hit her first serve in and she can definitely do that.

Dunne and her Vika-vibe

Her opponent, the young Katy Dunne was a nice surprise: despite looking 15, she actually is 19. She reminds me of a young Azarenka, because of her look, her game and her on-court tantrums. 

Her biggest problem is that she is some 20cm shorter and way thinner, she has a nice game and could develop in the future.

Both Melanie Oudin and Sharon Fichman impressed me in a positive way: they both won their matches easily against good grass-courters and they both played some very inspiring tennis.

Oudin was radiant as we talked after her match. After the physical problems she is truly enthusiastic of winning matches again, playing some nice too.

“I think I’ve been really solid so far,” she said: “I’m serving really well and returning well, I mean that’s the most important thing on the grass. I’m so far so good, I mean, I’m really happy with how I played my past matches so hopefully I will be able to play like this again tomorrow.”

Fichman, who is the highest seed left, played very well as well and it looked very confident out there in dealing with the powerful shots of Vesna Dolonc.

The Canadian closed in two showing how her flat strokes can do a lot of damage on grass, despite their speed may not be as high.

Fichman vs  Dolonc

The lowest quality, but one of the greatest intensity was reached by the match between Irina Falconi and Eleni Daniilidou. The American easily got the first set for 6-0, then she suffered the return of the Greek and finally disappeared mentally especially. 0-6 6-4 6-0 the final score for the former champion.

The last match of the day for me was an epic three set battle between Coco Vandeweghe and Michelle Larcher de Brito.

I did not write that, but Kontaveit looks like young Masha!

It was epic in many senses, but ultimately for the horrible and yet entertaining attitude showed by the New Yorker in the third set, when things were going in favor of the Portuguese.

Let’s make it clear, I like Vandeweghe and I do believe that her strokes are genuinely among the most beautiful of the WTA tour in terms of smoothness and aesthetics. But in the third set, she would have got a good use of a cold shower or alike.

She played very erratic and brainless points just for the sake of implementing her negative aura, just to save several match points with sensational winners.

very nice to see Mel back!

She came back from 5-2 down despite throwing tantrums including a smashed chair, a flying visor and a out-of-the-blue second serve ace probably faster than any other serve of her match, just after she had netted the slowest of her second serves.

As said above, she came back to 5-5, but then surrendered again, this time for good, especially in the last service game, where she hit two double faults and basically refused to chase the other two returns.

Massive credits to Larcher de Brito though, she was the only one believing she could turn the match around after the first set and so she did, playing a very solid and yet aggressive game.

Larcher de Brito

After the match she said: “I’ve just tried to stay as calm as possible, it was really hard at some stages. You know, even though you’re winning, it’s tough to close it out, it’s always the hardest part of the match, the end, you know.

“I’ve got really nervous,but I’ve just tried to stay as calm as possible and keep fighting. And it was very nerve wracking but, you know, I’ve just wanted and tried to stay calmer.”

Tomorrow it will be a big day with both the quarters and the semis being played. Stay tuned!

A nice tantrum by Coco

The ITF Nottingham experience: Day 1

The grass season is finally to kick in. I have been waiting for this moment ever since I moved to London in September. Why? Because it means five weeks of tennis and tennis only for me.

Furthermore, it is my first time watching grass tennis live and there absolutely is something magical about.

The venue in one, rare, rain-free moment

Reaching Nottingham was not bad, or better, once I managed to travel across London it was very fine, but before that I had to face what Londoners call the “morning commute”, or as I call it, the first nightmare of the day.

For the ones who are not familiar with it, at around 7.30am everyone in the city goes out of his homes and starts his trip to whichever place they have to go. 

The natural results are crazy traffic jam and extremely packed trains and tube.

In all these months, I came to accept it, but I think there will be no way I will ever stop hating Vauxhall station in these moments.

But in the end, after the morning tradition of having my name massively badly spelled on my Starbucks’s coffee, I got on my train to Nottingham and the journey finally became pleasant.

Sadly the dark clouds travelling with me were not promising anything good for the day outdoor and even more miserably they kept their promise and it stopped raining for good only about now, 10pm.

My “debut” on grass will be postponed to tomorrow, but my day did not go wasted, because the tournament officials decided to play as many doubles’ matches indoors as possible.

Very pleased by how Sanchez plays

The funniest and most intense match of the day was surely the continuation of Coco Vandeweghe-Olivia Rogowska against Sharon Fichman-Maria Sanchez. The second team was leading one set to none when the match was resumed, but it was clear that the American-Australian duo was not to give up easily.

On 5-4 the New Yorker faced a match point behind her serve, but she was gutsy in saving it with a tricky second serve, that found Sanchez off the balance.

The shadow of the wasted chance bothered the Californian, who was broken for the first time in the set to give Rogowska the chance to serve it out.

The Australian did it with personality and the match went to a deciding super-tie, where Fichman fired up, showing great personality and charisma. The Canadian led her mate into a comeback, which resulted in the final 13-11 for them.

The winning team later on played again, but this time their win over Saisai Zheng and Magda Linette was easier: 6-4 6-4.

From the ATP Challenger, I had the chance to watch the practice and later the doubles’ match of one of the most intriguing American promises: Ryan Harrison.

After the very first few minutes of his training, one can see why he has received so much attention: all the talent is there, but what really impressed me was a much calmer attitude and a great dedication to his training.

Harrison showing courage, also for the clothes wearing in practice

His volleying was by far the part with the biggest need of work, but overall he looked very focused and centred. Unsurprisingly a few hours later I’ve seen him and his partner Kevin King upsetting the third seeds.

I was not the only one watching him, as sitting next to me there was Christina McHale, who was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to an injury occurred while training in Nottingham on Sunday.

She told me that she slipped on the grass doing sprints and fell badly on her wrist. She said the x-rays showed no fracture and she is healing fast, but up to date she has not hold the racked yet.

She told me she is confident she will be ready for Birmingham anyway and she might even do a hitting session tomorrow.

The funniest moment of the day award goes definitely to Fichman, who in the middle of her match against Zheng-Linette was forced to hit four consecutive volleys, but the last one never left her racket as the ball got stuck in the V.

Fichamn looked very determined in both her doubles

She looked around for a second and then commented very loudly “seriously?!”, which provoked a general laugh.

The loudest of the day award goes to Naomi Broady, who in the last 10 minutes of her doubles’ loss to Anne Smith and Jocelyn Rae completely lost her cool and start to shout at the umpire after every single dubious call.

My day ended with a great interview with Fichman and then a massive pizza, which in all honesty was not that great, but I was hungry.

The interview will be up as soon as possible. Good night and good tennis for tomorrow, with the hope that sun will shine and finally I will see some grass tennis!

Romana Tabak and her new faith in future

Romana Caroline Tabak is a name that does not sound new to tennis experts and many fans.

The Slovak, born in 1991, is a former junior Wimbledon semi-finalist, her career best ranking as a professional player came a couple of years ago, when she reached the number 240, but ever since she has almost disappeared.

Having conquered the hearts of many fans –and not only, as many remember a rumoured story with Grigor Dimitrov- thanks to her beauty and aggressive tennis, Tabak played her last ITF match in September 2012, but her problems had begun way before.

The 23 year old had struggled with injuries in her first few years as a pro and when things started to pick up, she contracted a severe form of Lyme disease during a successful series of tournaments in America.

The fall in the ranking and the struggle to heal properly left her with no sponsors and so playing tennis became more and more hard for her.

“As I was forced to deal with a high stage of Lyme disease and no sponsors, my parents have been more for studying on college after all those injuries,” she told me.

All Pictures credits to: Martin Halik

“I am currently studying in New York, where I play college matches against other schools and we travel a lot, so I had time to explore New York and other states.”

She was not too sure when she left for the States, but she told me how things suddenly changed in her life.

“Now I feel great,” she said: “I see life from different perspective. After I stopped playing tennis, God blessed me and I started to believe in Jesus Christ for this blessing.

“I’m so thankful my life is so much easier and full of joy. After studying maybe I will return to professional tennis, depends on how I will feel and how the situation will be.”

She added: “With God everything is possible, sky is the limit. I was really surprised how many successful people such as Michael Chang, Bono from U2, American football team Seattle Seahawks, who won Super Bowl this year, Johnny Cash and many others are true believers...it’s amazing!

“To all my friends who are coming to visit New York, I recommend to come to Times Square Church and see the amazing sermons.”

She used her free time for charity too. She said: “I had the chance, last year in India, to be part of a mission trip, where we served and helped sick and poor people.”

Does that mean that we will never see her fighting for her childhood dream of becoming a top tennis player? Maybe not.

“I am missing competitive life and co-operation with my coach Martin Zathurecky,” she said: “Tennis is pure joy for me since I was a young girl.

“Tennis taught me what love is, tennis gave me the ability to travel around the world and explore other cultures. Tennis keeps me living my dream and kept me from living the life that any other teenager did.” 

She know that a comeback would be hard, after many injuries she knows what it is like: “The hardest thing is the lack of confidence and on top of that you are scared that you may get injured again.”

It is not a comeback, but the past weekend she came back to Europe and played in the German Regional-liga for the LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin, where she won her debut match over Carolin Schmidt, world number 1263,  6-1 6-1.

“I enjoyed every moment in my tennis career, even when I was up or down,” she said: “So now I would like to graduate and after my studies, maybe, I will return to tennis, but for sure at some point I would like to be in charge of charities, serving and helping people and for sure one day to have a big family.”