Welcome to Tennis Canada’s first month-to-month mailbag of 2025. This month, esteemed tennis journalist and Canadian Tennis Corridor of Famer Tom Tebbutt solutions questions submitted by you, the followers.
Play the commissioner of tennis for at some point. What’s one rule change you’ll implement?
All of us have pet peeves about tennis. This isn’t precisely a rule, however for a few years my essential pet peeve was that two weeks was not sufficient time between Roland-Garros and Wimbledon. For a number of of these years, that significantly utilized to Rafael Nadal, who was in so many French Open finals. I felt he, and customarily all of the gamers, wanted one week to get better and get accustomed to grass, one week to play a grass-court prep event, and one week to kind of fine-tune within the relaxed ambiance many gamers choose the week earlier than a Grand Slam event.
Consider it or not, once I first went to Wimbledon in 1975, there was just one week between Wimbledon and Roland-Garros. That was modified just a few years later after which a 3rd week was added in 2015, which lastly made sense.
I assume now what I might change is bouncing the ball earlier than gamers serve. I see no cause why they shouldn’t be restricted to 5 bounces. I keep in mind a state of affairs a few years in the past once I was enjoying and late within the match, my opponent out of the blue began bouncing much more earlier than serving. I assumed, and nonetheless do, that it’s unfair to returners as a result of they are often distracted, questioning precisely when their opponent is lastly going to serve. If a participant desires to have ‘a assume’ about serving ways – do it earlier than beginning to bounce the ball. In different phrases, not whereas the receiver is poised and questioning when the server will ultimately cease bouncing and begin the ball toss.
If Canada have been to realize extra tournaments on the ATP and WTA essential excursions, what cities would you wish to see host tournaments?
I’ve been round for some time and have listened to complaints for years in regards to the too-long and too-crowded yearly schedule. I at all times use the phrase ‘intractable’ to explain it.
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Match sanctions are fastened and it’s very arduous to alter them. It was unhappy to see the Quebec Metropolis WTA event go. However, contemplating dimension and markets, Vancouver could be the plain selection. Calgary and Edmonton is likely to be potentialities, in addition to Halifax. Nevertheless it’s unlikely there could be a spot accessible on the already over-crowded calendar.
Which of the brand new faces that we’ve seen make noise these days impresses you probably the most?
Jannik Sinner is a very good participant however Carlos Alcaraz is the man that I take pleasure in watching. After Roger Federer retired many people questioned if one other participant along with his sort of selection would ever come alongside. Then – growth – Alcaraz fell from the sky. It was similar to Federer did within the early 2000s when extra one-dimensional gamers like Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt seemed like they have been taking up as all-court champion Pete Sampras was winding down.
I additionally like Holger Rune. He’s exasperating and might be tough, however he has an athleticism that’s enjoyable to look at.
Among the many girls right this moment there are just a few. Coco Gauff and Jasmine Paolini are a deal with to look at as is Karolina Muchova, though she’s been round a bit longer. The identical with Jelena Ostapenko. She’s a ridiculous drama queen however the explosiveness of her photographs is nice leisure. Sadly, they don’t at all times land in.
Who’s an upcoming under-the-radar Canadian participant that individuals ought to find out about?
I’m not likely superb at this as a result of I’ve largely focused on the professional excursions. I at all times thought Gabriel Diallo was spectacular and would break via before he now has. In the intervening time, Liam Draxl looks like a fairly decided younger man on the rise.
However Filip Peliwo received the Wimbledon and US Open juniors in 2012 – the 12 months Genie Bouchard received junior Wimbledon – and completed No. 1 within the ITF year-end rankings. However you by no means understand how issues will play out. Genie made a Wimbledon closing and reached to No. 5 on the earth. Filip is about to show 31 and at present ranks No. 586 with a career-high of No. 161 in 2018. Now representing Poland, he is an effective man, good and a tough employee. However the actuality is that not everybody makes it to the highest ranks – and in his case it isn’t for lack of making an attempt.
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Among the many girls – Marina Stakusic has an enormous recreation and may make a whole lot of gamers uncomfortable. She’s simply 20 and has a excessive ceiling however her hard-hitting tennis includes extra danger and she’s going to most likely take just a little extra time to mature.
What are your ideas about being talked about in Pete Sampras’ autobiography?
I’ve by no means thought of it. I assume it took place as a result of I had the inside track that Pete had Thalassemia Minor, which took place after he vomited on courtroom and seemed utterly out-of-it throughout a 1996 US Open quarter-final towards Alex Corretja. He received the match and went on to win the US Open for a fourth time.
Right here’s how I described it in a 1996 Globe and Mail article – “it has been realized that Sampras has an inherited situation that’s nearly actually thalassemia minor, a congenital type of anemia widespread amongst individuals from the Mediterranean. Sampras’ mom, Georgia, was born in Greece, and his father, Sam, is of Greek ancestry.”
Pete was No. 1 on the time and it was large information. The inside track kind of fell in my lap after which I linked the dots – with assist from a few docs. Thalassemia Minor (Thalassemia Main – the unhealthy genes from each mother and father – is far more severe) did considerably restrict his potential to coach. However the situation doesn’t have an effect on his life expectancy. He was 25 on the time and I assumed for certain it could be a problem in some unspecified time in the future throughout the remainder of his profession. Nevertheless it actually wasn’t. There might have been just a few different incidents (the 1997 French Open semifinal on a sizzling day towards Yevgeny Kafelnikov) – however nothing once more ever got here near being as horrible as that 1996 US Open match.
Have you ever ever been star-struck by a participant you bought to talk to? If that’s the case, who?
At my first Canadian Open in Toronto in 1974, I discovered myself sitting on a patio round a desk with just a few different individuals and Jimmy Connors, who had simply received Wimbledon. I couldn’t fairly work out how I bought there.
I additionally as soon as did an interview with Arthur Ashe throughout a automotive experience when he did a promotional look in Toronto. And in 2003 in Montreal, Journal de Montreal journalist Mario Brisebois and I interviewed just-crowned Wimbledon champion Roger Federer informally down on the courtroom after one in all his pre-tournament follow classes.
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I assume I used to be a bit star-struck a few years earlier once I interviewed tennis greats like Fred Perry, Alice Marble, Pancho Gonzales, Rod Laver, and extra lately Yannick Noah and Mats Wilander – each nice guys. The nicest participant ever was, simply, Kim Clijsters.
What’s the coolest interplay you’ve had with somebody within the tennis world?
One 12 months throughout Wimbledon, most likely 1980, I had an interview scheduled with Arthur Ashe and in some way discovered myself driving in a London taxi with him, and American legend Jack Kramer, on the way in which to his lodge – The Westbury.
Additionally, I labored at a WCT (World Championship Tennis) occasion in Montreal in 1979 and took then four-time Wimbledon champion Bjorn Borg of Sweden to a Canadiens hockey recreation on the Discussion board. After he completed a match, we travelled by Metro from the Maurice Richard Enviornment within the east finish of the town. There weren’t many individuals round us on the subway and nobody acknowledged Bjorn till we bought contained in the Discussion board.
Heading into week two, who WERE your picks (males’s and girls’s singles) to win the Australian Open?
Individuals assume since you cowl a sport, you’re some kind of an professional with inside data about what’s going to occur. I’m normally no higher at predicting than the common tennis fan.
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I keep in mind proper earlier than the 2019 US Open girls’s closing, I used to be interviewed by Radio-Canada. They requested me who I assumed would win between Serena Williams and Bianca Andreescu. I had no clue. However within the seconds I had to consider it, I made a decision selecting Bianca could be a more sensible choice as a result of she’s a fellow Canadian, and I’m on Canadian tv. I suppose I ended up trying like a sensible man nevertheless it was only a calculated private choice – not one based mostly on any deep analytical evaluation of who truly was going to win.
If I needed to decide originally of the week – I might have picked Swiatek and Alcaraz.
Tickets for the Davis Cup Qualifiers 1st Spherical tie between Canada and Hungary are actually on sale. Be a part of us February 1 and a couple of at IGA Stadium in Montreal, because the Canadian staff begins their quest for the 2025 Davis Cup Remaining 8. To entry tickets at early-bird pricing, click on right here.
