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zacreturncraigreturnguestguest1 Meridian Tennis Group
News from the Pros
 
April 2010
  
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Meridian Tennis
858.754.1160
  
 
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Winners Tennis Club  
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Hello  :
 
Our summer camp schedule has been finalized (see below). We will have postcards at the club as well as in a mailing. Please pick them up for yourself or pass them on to others who you feel might be interested. We appreciate your help in spreading the word.
 
Update on our USTA junior teams: Meridian's U14 coed team is showing good promise. They are practicing together and playing with more confidence in their matches. We expect that they will continue to improve as they get more match play experience. The girls U18 team is currently 4-1 and playing well. They are playing with good focus and seem to be enjoying the camaraderie of the team. We expect they will continue to have strong performances as we move into the mid-season.
  
Many of you know, or have at least met, Landon Hilker, one of our tennis pros. Here is a little more about him: PLNU senior, 4-year honor roll student with an Accounting & Business Administration major; originally from Englewood, CO; loves movies, concerts, sushi, and all the Denver sports teams. And between all his studies & being a part of the PLNU men's tennis team, he has also agreed to be our Guest Columnist. We're lucky to have him! Read his column (below).
 
Greetings from Matt           alex's backhand                            
The Tennis Ranking System
Do you know how the best players in the world obtain their positions in the tennis world ranking system? How is it that Roger Federer is more than 3300 points ahead of his nearest competitor?... (read more)
 
Greetings from Zac 
zac headshotSimple, but Effective Singles Strategy
I have talked before about different strategies to be effective in your play but I thought I would highlight a few of my favorite game plans to use in your next match...(read more)
 
 
Greetings from Craig
craig headshot
 
On hiatus... (read more)
 
 
 
 
 
 
landon2 
Guest Columnist
Landon Hilker, PLNU & Meridian Tennis Pro
Keeping It Simple
Tennis is one of the most difficult sports on the planet.  If the match is lost, who is to blame but yourself?...(read more)
We look forward to seeing you on the courts!
  
Sincerely,

Matt . Zac . Craig
Meridian Tennis Group
 
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       New Clinic Schedule          
(as of 03/01/10)   
 
          Please call or go online to confirm 
               (www.meridiantennis.com)
 
                                   . Adults .
        Tues      6:30-8:00pm       Adult workout
        Thurs     8:30-10:00am      Adult clinic
        Fri         8:00-9:30am       Adult clinic
        Fri         8:30-10:00am      Adult clinic
                   
            (modified schedule due to tennis leagues) 
 
TBD  Beginners clinics 
Additional clinics can be added upon request!
 
 Note: Adult clinics will be theme-based, rotating from week to week with topics such as doubles strategy, mixed doubles clinic,
 serve & volley training, etc.)
 

   Minis . Juniors . High School . Tournament 
Mon.Wed.Fri   3:30-4:30pm      Minis
Mon.Wed.Fri   4:30-6:00pm      Juniors 
Tue.Thurs      4:00-5:30pm      HS.Tournament
Sat               3:00-4:30pm      HS.Tournament
Sun              10:00-11:00am    Minis
 
Additional clinics can be added upon request!
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postcard
 
Summer Camps
 
$300, 11am - 4pm
call or email to register:
858-754-1160
info@meridiantennis.com
 
 
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matt 
  Greetings from Matt
  
The Tennis Ranking System
 

Do you know how the best players in the world obtain their positions in the tennis world ranking system? How is it that Roger Federer is more than 3300 points ahead of his nearest competitor?

This year the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) and the ITF (International Tennis Federation) have modified the world ranking system. Last year, players were involved in the ATP tour race, where players added up ranking points from the beginning to end of the calendar year. The top eight players would then be involved in one additional tournament, the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which was held in London. They also had a ranking based on the previous 52 weeks, which highlighted their results in tournaments for the whole of the previous year. Having two ranking systems became very confusing for tennis fans to follow, and as the fans are essential for the success of the tour, this led to changing the system.

A player's ranking is based on points which are allocated when they win matches in tournaments. The number of points increases the further a player progresses in the tournament, with the winner obtaining the greatest number of points. The new stipulation in the modified system is that the top 30 players have 18 tournaments to build their best ranking, but if they play in more tournaments they can discard their lowest points and replace it with a higher result in the same category.

These 30 players are required to compete in 4 Grand Slam tournaments and 8 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments. In addition, they must take their best results for 4 ATP World Tour 500 and 2 other events ATP World Tour 250 or Challengers tournaments.

If a player is involved in a Davis Cup match they are eligible to pick up points in the ATP 500 category if that player has not already achieved 3 ATP 500 results in the previous 52 weeks or if a player has 4 ATP 500 results and his Davis Cup performance is a better result.

The categories for all the tournaments and the points breakdown are below:

 

W

F

SF

QF

R16

R32

R64

R128

Grand Slams

2000

1200

720

360

180

90

45

10

World Finals

1500

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Masters 1000

1000

600

360

180

90

45

10(25)

(10)

ATP 500

500

300

180

90

45

(20)

 

 

ATP 250

250

150

90

45

20

(5)

 

 

Challenger

125-75

75-45

45-27

25-13

10-5

 

 

 

Futures

33-17

19-9

9-5

4-2

1

 

 

 


These points make up a player's ranking for the whole year and with the new 18 tournament rule in place it has placed an even greater significance on the Grand Slam and Masters Series events.

This year if a player misses an event they will have more difficulty adding points to their ranking especially in the big events, where they are only allowed to miss one of 9 tournaments. Unfortunately, this could promote more players playing when hurt in order to sustain their ranking.
 
Here are the tournaments played to-date from world #1, Federer, versus world #2, Djokovic. This illustrates the weight of the Grand Slams over all the other categories and how much a player needs to 'make up' in points if he does not fare well in the bigger tournaments.

ROGER FEDERER 2010 - Rank

ROGER FEDERER 2010 - Ranking 1

 

Points             YTD Won/Lost    YTD Titles         YTD Prize Money

10,690            13-3                 1                      $ 2,049,820

 

World Championship

 

Date                 Tournament                   Round               Points

11.2009            Barclays Finals   S          400

 

Grand Slams

 

Date                 Tournament                  Round               Points

01.2010            Australian Open             W                     2000

08.2009            US Open                        F                      1200

06.2009            Wimbledon                    W                     2000

 

05.2009            Roland Garros               W                     2000

 

ATP World Tour Masters 1000

 

Date                 Tournament                     Round               Points

03.2010             Masters 1000 Miami         R16                   90

03.2010             Masters 1000 IndianWells R32                   45

11.2009             Masters 1000 Paris           R                      10

10.2009             Masters 1000 Shanghai     -                       0

08.2009             Masters 1000 Cincinnati    W                     1000

08.2009             Masters 1000 Canada       Q                      180

05.2009             Masters 1000 Madrid         W                     1000

04.2009             Masters 1000 Rome          S                      360

 

ATP World Tour 500

 

Date                 Tournament                   Round               Points

03.2010            Davis Cup                      -                       15

11.2009            Basel                             F                       300

10.2009            Tokyo                            -                       0

08.2009            Washington                    -                        0

 

Best of Other Countable Tournaments

 

Date                 Tournament                   Round               Points

01.2010             Doha                             S                      90


NOVAK DJOKOVIC 2010 - Ranking 2

 

Points              YTD Won/Lost    YTD Titles        YTD Prize Money

7,390               18-5                 1                      $ 839,026

 

World Championship

 

Date                 Tournament                   Round               Points

22.11.2009        Barclays Finals               RR                    400

 

Grand Slams

 

Date                 Tournament                   Round               Points

01.2010            Australian Open              Q                      360

08.2009            US Open                        S                      720

06.2009            Wimbledon                     Q                      360

05.2009            Roland Garros                R32                   90

 

ATP World Tour Masters 1000

 

Date                 Tournament                    Round               Points

01.2010            Masters 1000 Monte Carlo S                      360

03.2010            Masters 1000 Miami          R64                   10

03.2010            Masters 1000 IndianWells  R16                   90

11.2009            Masters 1000 Paris           W                     1000

10.2009            Masters 1000 Shanghai     S                      360

08.2009            Masters 1000 Cincinnati    F                       600

08.2009            Masters 1000 Canada       Q                      180

05.2009            Masters 1000 Madrid         S                      360

04.2009            Masters 1000 Rome          F                       600

 

ATP World Tour 500

 

Date                 Tournament                   Round               Points

02.2010             Dubai                            W                     500

11.2009             Basel                             W                     500

10.2009             Beijing                           W                     500

 

Best of Other Countable Tournaments

 

Date                 Tournament                   Round               Points

06.2009            Halle                              F                      150

05.2009            Belgrade                        W                     250

 

Non-Countable Tournaments

 

Date                 Tournament                   Round               Points

03.2010            Davis Cup                      -                       80

02.2010            Rotterdam                      S                      180

 

It looks to be another exciting season. Let's hope for all the players to stay injury free.
 
Thanks again for all your continued support.

Come by and say hi!
 
Matt Copland
 
 
zac 
baseball
Greetings from Zac
 
Simple, but Effective Singles Strategy 

I have talked before about different strategies to be effective in your play but I thought I would highlight a few of my favorite game plans to use in your next match.

One more ball. The secret to tennis is to hit one more ball over the net than your opponent. So rather than try for risky shots, just get the ball back into play. Never mind the spectacular 100-to-1 shot. Just get the ball over the net one more time. Most points in tennis are won because of the opponent's errors, not one's own great shots. Give your opponent one more opportunity to lose the point. This applies to the return of serve as well as ground strokes.

Wait for the short ball. If you are engaged in a rally from the back court, just keep the ball going back deep in the direction from which it came. Don't be the one to change directions. Be patient and wait for the error. The error can be either a point-ending shot into the net or out of bounds by your opponent, or a short ball which you can attack.

Don't go for the lines. Even the pros miss their targets, so give yourself some margin for error. Instead of aiming for the singles line on a cross court shot, aim a foot or so inside the line. If you are slightly off on your shot, chances are it will still land inside the line. This is true for volleys as well as ground strokes.

Hit cross court. On balls hit to you on a diagonal, hit it back cross court. The net is lower and you have more space in which to hit when you hit cross court. Going down the line is risky: the net is higher, the court is shorter, and you might also pull the ball wide. Further, changing directions on the ball is more difficult, due to the deflection of the ball off your racquet. It is physically easier to send the ball back in the direction in which it came. This is particularly true on the return of serve. Get it back deep cross court and your odds of winning the point have improved remarkably. 

Keep up the Practice!
 
Zac Markham
zac@meridiantennis.com 
 
craig
 
Greetings from Craig
 
On hiatus 
Taking a leave to go back to Phoenix.
 
Look forward to seeing you on the courts!

~ Craig Johnson

guestcolumn1Guest Columnist  

 broncos
Greetings from Landon
Keeping it Simple
 
Tennis is one of the most difficult sports on the planet. If the match is lost, who is to blame but yourself? Competing without any teammates to count on when errors begin to pile up can make tennis mentally exhausting. A couple double faults, a few forehands sailing long, one or two volleys dumped in the net...these mistakes can cause us to brutally examine why we are missing each shot. 
 
This here is the exact problem many of us are faced with. Often we need to sit back and realize that we ARE going to miss shots. No player is perfect and that is something we must accept. Thinking about each missed shot is a negative activity that can take us away from our enjoyment of the sport. 
 
So, to keep us from losing our minds on the court, it is important to keep things simple. Try to only think about 2 things during each point: great footwork and keeping our heads still. The vast majority of errors come from lazy feet and moving our heads during each stroke. Do this and you will be a better player and enjoy the game of tennis more than you have before! 
 
See you on the courts!
Landon Hilker
PLNU & Meridian Tennis Pro


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