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YOUR GAME • SMARTER SCHEDULING • BUILD A NET GAME • PRESSURE PLAYS

US OPEN:BRIGHT LIGHTS,BIG SUCCESSES

KIM CLIJSTERSTHE STAR RETURN

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FEATURES

OCTOBER 2010VOL 35 No. 10A $7.50 (inc. GST) NZ $8.40 (inc. GST) US $7.50

AustrAliAn tennis MAgAzine | October 2010 3

18 Sheer Class Having claimed her third US Open title, can Kim Clijsters now continue her domination at other Grand Slam events?

14 The Impossible Dream In completing his Grand

Slam collection at the US Open, Rafael Nadal staked a serious claim on becoming the greatest player of the modern era.

28 Reyes of Hope Gil Reyes, trainer and father figure to Andre Agassi, continues to inspire athletes from his Las Vegas base. 32 Davis Cup: 10 reasons

why 2012 could be Australia’s year After falling in the World Group Play-off tie, Australia will have to wait at least another year for Davis Cup glory – but 2012 could be the one.

46 Stepping out of the Shadows Led by the giant killing Yen-Hsun Lu, Chinese Taipei is emerging as a contender on tennis’ world stage.

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OCTOBER 2010

EDITOR Vivienne Christie CONSULTING EDITOR Alan Trengove ASSISTANT EDITOR Daniela ToleskiART DIRECTOR Naomi O’BryanADVERTISING MANAGER Jackie CunninghamMY COACH CONTENT Travis Atkinson, Karen Clydesdale PHOTOGRAPHS Getty Images, John Anthony (All photographs by Getty Images unless specified)COVER PHOTO John Anthony

Australian Tennis Magazine is published monthly by TENNIS AUSTRALIA LTD, Private Bag 6060, Richmond, Vic 3121. Ph: (03) 9914 4200 Email: editor@tennismag.com.au

Distributed by Network Distribution CompanyPrinted in Australia by Webstar

The views expressed in Australian Tennis Magazine are not necessarily those held by Tennis Australia. While the utmost care is taken in compiling the information contained in this publication, Tennis Australia is not responsible for any loss or injury occurring as a result of any omissions in either the editorial or advertising appearing herein.

REGULARS7 Topspin

13 Your Serve

40 Rankings

42 Scoreboard

43 Court Talk

49 My Game

58 My Coach

70 Club of the Month

FROM THE EDITOR

With Kim Clijsters continuing her US Open dominance with a

third title and Justine Henin winning that title on two other

occasions, we’ve come to expect that Belgians will factor in

Grand Slam titles. So too will Spaniards, given Rafael Nadal’s enormous

success on every surface in recent years.

Woven within Nadal’s latest history-making performance of becoming

only the seventh man in history to win every Grand Slam was the fact

he was only the third Spanish man to achieve victory in New York in the

Open era – but in 2010 Nadal was one of several men from his country to

take a serious run at the title.

There were in fact six Spanish men among the tournament’s final 16 –

and even more would have progressed to the final eight if they hadn’t

competed against each other for the honour.

The final rounds of Flushing Meadows could have been a lesson in

European geography, with Serbia, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark,

Slovakia, Estonia and Italy all represented alongside Belgium and Spain

in the quarter-finals of the men’s and women’s draws. Sam Stosur and

Venus Williams were the only non-European players to progress so far.

In December, Serbia, led by Novak Djokovic, will compete in the Davis

Cup final (against France) for the first time. Once powerful tennis

nations like America and Australia (who failed to qualify for the World

Group, with Belgium winning last month’s Play-off tie in Cairns) no longer

dominate this world team event for years on end.

It highlights the increasingly global nature of tennis, and the harsh

reality that competition for the game’s biggest prizes is more intense

than ever. This doesn’t mean, of course, that Australians can’t compete

on the world stage – it simply makes the wins more special when they

manage to break through.

VIVIENNE CHRISTIE, Editor

564 AustrAliAn tennis MAgAzine | October 2010

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14 AustrAliAn tennis MAgAzine | October 2010

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It might have been the one that got away. Instead, in claiming the US Open title after five frustrating attempts, the peerless Rafael Nadal staked his claim on becoming the greatest player of the modern era. By Kristina Moore

Faced with the trickiest dilemma in his story-book career, Rafael Nadal could have been excused for letting

the US Open slip. After all, he already had records that other players of considerable ability would only ever dream about. And this punishing major, occurring at the end of a long season in which he’d already added to his Grand Slam record in each of the past five years, was hell for a man who played so explosively, a style that’s partly to blame for knee injuries that have threatened his career in recent years.

But most of all, Nadal could, if he chose to, relax in the knowledge that he wouldn’t be the first Grand Slam great to end his playing days with unfinished business at one elusive major. Bjorn Borg claimed six French Opens and five Wimbledon titles, and was a four-time US Open finalist, yet never held the trophy aloft. Pete Sampras was a multiple titlist at every major but the French Open. Stefan Edberg was similarly denied on Parisian clay, while Ivan Lendl never conquered the All England Club grass.

In claiming his ninth major in a rain-delayed men’s final at Flushing Meadows, however, Nadal showed he is a more complete player than any of those men. In fact, in progressing through the tournament without dropping a set before overcoming a surging Novak Djokovic in a quality four set final, there was every sign the Spaniard could become the greatest player of all time.

Rather than revel in the accomplishment of becoming one of just seven men to win

every Grand Slam title, however, Nadal firstly delighted in the fact he’d finally found form at his most difficult event.“It’s a dream, have the career Grand Slam, but this is more dream (to) have the US Open,” he said. “In some moments it’s an unbelievable feeling because I worked a lot all my life, in all difficult moments to be here, but I never imagined have the four Grand Slams. I think for the first time in my career I played a very, very good match in this tournament. I played my best match in the US Open at the most important moment, so I am very, very happy for that.”

And certainly Nadal needed his best to outlast Djokovic, who was physically exhausted but emotionally exhilarated after saving two match points in his marathon semi-final against Roger Federer. The Serbian tested the eventual champion with relentless attack, staving off an incredible 20 breakpoints before he finally succumbed after three hours and 43 minutes on court – a gutsy performance that only made Nadal’s historic feat even more spectacular.

“That’s what’s so frustrating. He’s getting better each time you play him,” Djokovic surmised. “He’s so mentally strong and dedicated to this sport. I don’t know how long he’s going to play. He has the game now for each surface, and he has won each major. He has proven to the world that he’s the best in this moment.”

Tempering that frustration was the fact that the final had been played in such good spirits, each man congratulating the other on their ability to withstand the

pressure and bring their best to the

high-stakes encounter. As Nadal pointed to the near certainty of

Djokovic adding

to the lone

AustrAliAn tennis MAgAzine | October 2010 15

The Impossible

Dream

Novak Djokovic is looking up to a brighter future.

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