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| 07 Feb 2010 - Sandra Harwitt, Nick Lester, Adam Lincoln & Craig Gabriel (aka CG) | |
| Blog: How do you say it? |
Today’s bloggers
> Sandra Harwitt – France v USA, Lievin
> Nick Lester – Ukraine v Italy, Kharkiv
> Adam Lincoln – Poland v Belgium, Bydgoszcz
> Craig Gabriel – Australia v Spain, Adelaide
Photo: Melanie Oudin (By Corinne Dubreuil)
French not got right lingo
You would think that in France of all places they would know how to pronounce Melanie Oudin’s last name. Why? Well, because it is a very French name as her father’s ancestry is French, although way back in the olden days.
Not the case it seems.
Oudin, who admits to having no command of the French language, certainly knows how to properly pronounce her name – it sounds more like Ou-dan rather than as written Oud-in which would suggest a strong ‘‘i‘‘ sound.
‘‘Here, they don’t, I mean I thought they’d pronounce (my name) correctly but they haven’t,“ Oudin said, somewhat perplexed about the situation.
‘‘They keep saying Oud-in. I really haven’t told them how to pronounce it right because it’s not a big deal. But I’m starting to like France better. I had some bad experiences in Paris (being sick) at the French Open, but this experience has been really nice so I’m looking forward to being in Paris next week.“
Merci beaucoup, Nathalie
It turned out not to be a successful weekend for France, who couldn’t take the home court advantage to triumph over USA in Fed Cup.
But one bright spot for France came on Sunday when the French Federation of Tennis (FFT) honoured the recently retired Nathalie Dechy for her constant commitment to Fed Cup competition during her career.
Dechy played in 18 ties during a 10-year period from her first Fed Cup outing in 2000. She put together a 17-15 overall Fed Cup record, which broke down to 13-7 in singles and 4-8 in doubles. She competed on the 2004 French squad that lost in the Final to Russia 3-2 in Moscow.
‘‘Fed Cup gave me my best emotions, biggest moments of my career,“ Dechy told the crowd when she was honoured on court.
Dechy, who turns 31 later this month, had a very important reason for announcing her surprise retirement last year – she was pregnant. Dechy and husband, Antoine Maitre de Vallon, welcomed son, Lucas, to the family late last month.
‘‘I wish the girls good luck today,“ Dechy said. “I‘d like to be with them, but life has chosen to make things to be different for me.“
Personal coaches: To have, or not to have?
Every nation approaches Fed Cup competition in their own way, which was easy to ascertain this week in Lievin.
The French prefer to keep things closed during Fed Cup – Nicolas Escude should be the solid coaching voice of authority.
In contrast, USA is open to allowing a player’s private coach to accompany their player with the thinking that while Mary Joe Fernandez is the captain of the weekend, it isn’t so bad having someone who knows the player really well available to offer some imput if necessary.
Julie Coin: ‘‘It’s like if you asked the handball team to come with a different coach for each player. If everyone comes with their own coach it is very difficult to manage a team. We need to come on time, it’s impossible to manage a team when there are too many people so I agree with this decision of the French Federation.“
Melanie Oudin: ‘‘It’s really nice to have Brian (de Villiers) this time because all of last year he didn’t come to any of them. This time he really came because I’m going to Paris tonight for the next tournament, but it was really nice to have him for additional help since I know him so long.“
Learn to play like a Bondarenko
When it comes to tennis, Ukraine is Bondarenko country and that fact is hard to escape.
Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko even have a tennis academy named after them – the "Bondarin" academy has been open for four years.
The facility, which caters to indoor and outdoor tennis and has living quarters for players on the ground, is operated by the Bondarenko’s mother, Natalya, who coached her own successful daughters. Alona and Kateryna’s older sister, Valeria, is the main coach at the academy.
On the romantic front, Alona is planning to tie the knot in a summer wedding with fiance, Nikolay Dyachok, a former ATP Tour pro and Ukraine Davis Cup teammate. The twosome have been dating since 2007 and Nikolay travels with Alona as her hitting partner.
But this weekend it’s worth noting that Alona was inseparably coosome with her dogs.
Bydgoszcz: Poland's sporting playground
The appointment of Bydgoszcz as host of this Fed Cup World Group II tie might have had the Belgians hitting the web for info, but among Poles the city is well-known for its sporty inclinations.
One of the country’s biggest sporting icons, football legend Zbigniew Boniek, hails from Bydgoszcz. In a nifty historical twist, ‘Ziggy’ – who is now 53 – scored three goals against none other than Belgium in the 1982 World Cup, held in Spain. Poland won that game, 3-0, and went on to take home a bronze medal.
Unfortunately, Boniek could not be present to lend his support this weekend, as he is busy in Warsaw for today’s much-anticipated Euro 2012 soccer qualifying competition draw. But local fans have been able to spot a couple of other familiar faces in the stands.
Wojtek Fibak, a top tennis player in the late 70s and early 80s, is here. Fibak, a native of nearby Poznan, won 15 singles titles and 52 doubles titles on the ATP Tour. In 1980, he reached the quarterfinals at three of the four Grand Slam tournaments – Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open.
Also cheering the home team is two-time speedway world champion Emil Sajfutdinow. The motorbike rider is actually Russian but is a popular adopted son, representing Polonia Bydgoszcz in league competition.
And, in fact, Agnieszka Radwanska herself has fond memories of Bydgoszcz. Some eight years ago the Polish No. 1 won an under-12s event held here – and the reward was a trip to an international competition in the Bahamas. Life’s tough!
A postcard from CG in Adelaide
Phew, what a weekend it’s been in Adelaide, host city for the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group II tie between Australia and Spain, and most often noted as the capital city of the State of South Australia, which produces some of the truly great wines.
It’s been ages since I was in this city. In fact, the last time the airport didn’t have air-bridges to the aircraft door and you had to walk across the tarmac to get into the terminal building. Now there is a new airport... and, yes, jet aircraft do fly in.
However, it still didn’t stop one person at the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas tie to amusingly comment about Adelaide, “Ah... it’s a lovely place, but a bit far out of town.”
It’s been a warm, sunny few days here, the temperature has hovered between 28 and 34 degrees Celsius – so, everyone in the northern hemisphere reading this, eat your hearts out.
The first day‘s play started at 6pm and on the second 4pm so there was plenty of time to lay out at the beach at Glenelg, or have a leisurely lunch in a quaint town called Stirling, in the Adelaide Hills.
On the negative side of things, at least on the personal front, I misplaced $150 cash. There was a $50 note and the rest was in $20 notes, so if anyone locates the cash please send it back to me via the ITF office. It’s just so frustrating because the only places I went was my room or the hotel restaurant.
What a waste! It stopped me from buying anything other than a snow globe for a close friend. I could just about afford that. I really hate losing things.
Not much else to write back about, but hope you all are enjoying the coverage this weekend. Oh, did I tell you it’s quite warm in Adelaide?
~ CG
OUR CHIEF BLOGGER...
 Sandra Harwitt
Sandra, an American sportswriter for longer than she's willing to admit, has travelled the world to cover tennis for major publications, such as ESPN.com, The Miami Herald, and Associated Press. Her biggest problem of late is managing to pack worldwide purchases into suitcases and still meet the airline weight restrictions.
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