Amir Weintraub in Red Square
The excellent Amir Weintraub leads the way again this week and I assume will do so until he decides he’s had enough of blogging.
1. The lastest installment of of the Weintraub column, again showing the human side of the minor league grind. He resolves that if he’s going to end up unsuccessful and broke, he at least wants to have seen more of the world than tennis courts and hotel rooms.
The Amir Weintraub column: | Part 1 | |Part 2| |Part 3| |Part 4| |Part 5|
2. Michael Funke on the debt modern tennis players owe to Arthur Ashe
Fox Sports Southwest: Remembering a champion: Arthur Ashe revisited
3. A mammoth piece from Ash Marshal charting the global spread of ranked players from 1980 onwards. Complete with world map graphics.
Bleacher Report: Global Evolution is brining sport to new markets
4. Williams is penciled in for a return to action next month but don’t put your house on it. The always excellent Greg Couch analyses the whole fiasco.
Greg Couch on Tennis: Williams About to Come Back, but Notice Serena Clause
5. MTF’s resident statistcian, Voo de Mar, pays tribute to Nicolas Lapentti, leaving you in no doubt that the Ecuadorian was one of the mentally toughest players to ever set foot on a tennis court.
Mens Tennis Forums: The Statistical Tribute to Nicolas Lapentti
6. Rod Laver on the Australian Open final, handing out free lessons in avoiding knee-jerk reactions.
BBC: Rod Laver on the Australian Open final
7. Video highlights of a 17-year-old Nadal getting schooled by Paradorn Srichaphan in the the last 32 of Wimbledon in 2003. It’s fascinating to see Nadal charging the next so often. He looks utterly clueless doing so, but it shows that it was clear to him even back then that to be successful on grass he needed a more aggressive mindset.
