One hundred years ago on April 15, the most famous shipwreck in history claimed the lives of over 1,500 passengers in the North Atlantic. Two of those who were rescued were tennis players Karl Behr and Dick Williams, whose story is told in the novel Titanic: The Tennis Story. They were not traveling together, but instead happened to meet on the rescue ship, Carpathia, where they became friends. While aboard Carpathia, Williams resisted a doctor's urging to amputate his heavily frostbitten legs, insisting he would instead revive them with continuous exercise. His legs saved, Williams quickly returned to tennis, amazingly winning a tournament just six weeks after the sinking. Behr and Williams would meet that July in a tournament near Boston, and then again in 1914 in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Nationals (which later became the US Open).

Each man lived a remarkable life, boding well for a compelling biography to tell. Behr's granddaughter recently wrote his biography, titled Starboard at Midnight. Their paths did cross in a short series of interesting coincidences, and while this makes for some useful trivia to be shared amongst tennis fans, it would be difficult to stretch it to feature-length.

ONE: Earlier this week, the "Indian Wells virus" dominated the headlines. But this weekend, all eyes were on the skies. Cold, windy and rainy conditions rolled in to challenge the men's semifinals. John Isner and Novak Djokovic managed to get their match in, and it was a huge, crowd-pleasing three-set win for Isner. But just as the men were shaking hands at the net, the first drops of rain began to fall. After a few hours of rain delay, the courts were dry enough for the second semi. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal took the court for their 28th meeting, with swirling winds and ominous clouds overhead. Conditions meant that tennis wouldn't be great, but the crowd didn't mind. There was a short rain delay partway through the match, and then, with Federer serving for the victory, yet another rain delay on match point. This drew a huge round of boos from the crowd, but the umpire had no choice. Five minutes later, Federer rose from his chair, walked to the service line, bounced the ball a few times, and then finished the match with one final serve, an ace.  

Hawk Hunting

Juan Martin del Potro could only laugh today. A challenge he was confident would go his way was not available due to an "internet problem." When that happens, the call on the court stands. Federer's next challenge, which suddenly worked just fine, also went against “delPo.” Juan Martin turned his racquet around, aimed it at the replay screen, and fired. When told after the match that Federer had agreed with his first challenge, del Potro laughed and said, "He saw it out also? Don't tell me that!" Though frustrated with the technical problem, del Potro conceded that Federer was outplaying him today and the call was not that important.

 

ONE: Many big names were out on the practice courts early Wednesday AM. The morning's entertainment was provided by the always smiling Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who was cracking up the crowd with his Victoria Azarenka impressions. Azarenka was hitting a couple courts away, and we are not sure if she heard or saw the teasing or not.

I arrive at the grounds early on finals day, taking the long way around the outer courts. As I walk past Court 4, my mind flashes to the night Rebecca Marino went down in three sets to Ekaterina Makarova. She's now the World No. 58 and another great Canadian story that's usually forgotten with the Milos Mania in full swing. I guess I've played my part in that now, sorry Becs! Soon I pass Court 2, where my hopes for an interview were dashed the night Milos Raonic fell to Ryan Harrison in an epic three-setter, in front of a rowdy full house. I don't mind losing the interview anymore. I'm glad we got that match because it turned out to be my favorite of the tourney. And finally I make it around to Court 3, where I got to see the Bryan Brothers for the first time, taking out Raonic and Feliciano Lopez.

As I walk through the practice courts, I realize why the grounds seem different today. There are normally players out there, making some noise on court, maybe playing soccer on the grass. But today there are no players. It's quiet. Many have flown on to Miami, some are probably golfing nearby. A few of the doubles players will be in today for a Pro-Am tournament; doubles players can always use a little extra cash. But now there are only four players in the tournament, and they have the run of the place. I sit on the patio to have a coffee and look over some photographs and await the players. Marion Bartoli is the first to arrive. She walks past me, headphones on and staring straight ahead. Her father is walking a few steps behind, talking on a cell phone. Five minutes later, it's Caroline Wozniacki. Her entourage is slightly larger, but the scene is the same. Caro walks in front, listening to music. She looks the more relaxed of the two. She makes eye contact with me, and smiles. I nod.

Tennis is a tough sport to shoot. I've tried to do it well, a few days here, a few days there, but it wasn't until I was working in "the pit" for a full eleven days in Indian Wells that I really felt I got a handle on it. There are a lot of challenges that are unique to this sport. Horses go faster, but you know exactly where they're going to go. Race cars too, and if you miss them once, don't worry, they'll go around another 499 times. There's a lot going on in a football game, but it's pretty easy to follow a QB and catch him mid-throw (or the receiver mid-catch). Golf? Please, they stand in one spot!

Tennis players move fast. They change direction on a dime. They all have different swings to time, different motions, and their swings change based on a number of factors. I spent my first couple of days with players jumping out of frame, racquets in front of faces, and mostly too early or late to get the ball in frame. But I adapted. I learned from my mistakes. I met some amazingly generous agency photographers who gave me some tips, and I worked hard to hone my skills. Hopefully, you can see my progress in the TennisPhotographs.com 2011 BNP Paribas Open Gallery.

I can't tell you how many people have seen me walking or shooting around the grounds and asked for some advice, which I happily gave (sometimes too much I imagine - I do love to talk shop.) Since we'd all like to improve our tennis shooting skills, I thought I'd pass on my best tips - hopefully you find something helpful in here.

Somdev Devvarman started the 2011 season ranked World No. 108 but is having a good run, going into Indian Wells as World No. 84, boosted by his run to the final of the ATP World Tour 250-level tournament in Johannesburg. His ranking is going to jump even higher after he came through Qualifying to make the Fourth Round at the BNP Paribas Open here at Indian Wells.

The Indian native was something of a phenomenon in college, playing for the University of Virginia. In 2007, he played a tenacious NCAA championship match against John Isner, winning with a final score of 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-6(2). In 2008, he had an unprecedented record of 44-1 and won a second consecutive NCAA Championship. 

Devvarman went pro after that, but had an uninspired first couple of years on the ATP World Tour. Asked this week if he was frustrated with his progress while Isner, a guy whom he had beaten in college, rose into the Top 25, Somdev answered that, actually, the success of Isner and other fellow collegiate players, Kevin Anderson and Jesse Levine, inspired him and gave him confidence. He said he felt that, "if they can do it, I know I can do it, 'cause I beat those guys!"

On Wednesday night, Devvarman put up an amazing fight in a thriller of a match against World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, and won himself a lot of new fans in the 7-5, 6-4 loss.

ProTennisNews.net sat down with Somdev that night to get his take on the match:

I'd be lying if I said Milos Raonic isn't a big part of why I looked forward to the 2011 BNP Paribas Open. Even if I were not here doing coverage, I would have been here just to see Milos. As a long-time fan of Canadian tennis, it's been really exciting to have a singles player in the mix for titles on the ATP World Tour.

Raonic first came to the world's attention at the 2011 Australian Open, running through qualifying and reaching the Fourth round, knocking out World No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny on the way. He followed that up by winning the San Jose title (beating World No. 9 Fernando Verdasco in the Final). The next week he played in Memphis, where he lost in the Final to World No. 8 Andy Roddick (he beat Verdasco again in the opening round). After starting the year ranked right outside the Top 150, the Canadian entered the BNP Paribas Open as the World No. 37, but because entry cutoff was six weeks prior, he needed a wildcard to avoid qualifying.

I find Raonic on the practice courts early in the morning and watch his entire session. Having never seen him outside of a match, it isn't obvious at first if Milos is just a very relaxed, efficient kind of guy, or if he is dead tired. I now think it was the latter. He drags himself around the court, looking pretty lazy in the 83-degree heat. Raonic has logged a lot of miles this year. Now, it's one thing to play a lot of consecutive tournaments when you only get one or two matches at each, but Milos has been playing deep into the draw in many weeks. It has clearly taken its toll. He hits at half-power for about five minutes, then sits and talks with his coach. Then he hits a few weak serves and rests again. But the amazing thing is that when his coach asks for energy, Milos summons it up. I watch as he starts practicing his first serve at full power. First he serves into the deuce court: five out wide, five up the middle. Then he does the same into the ad court. Then back again. Raonic is absolutely crushing the ball. He hits 30 serves, about 80% of them in, and all within a foot and a half of the corner he's is targeting. After he's done, he slumps his shoulders, hangs his head and shuffles to the bench. It is the same routine for forehands, backhands, and volleys. I'm guessing this guy is simply on autopilot. He plays his tennis, and his people and the ATP manage everything else.

Wrap Up: Monday, March 14 and Tuesday, March 15

With yesterday's special feature, I guess I owe some catch-up reporting. There were no matches that I felt compelled to watch on Monday, so I went for the buffet approach to tennis viewing. First, I watched the match between Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. Martinez Sanchez might have been a challenge to the person who fits the names on the scoreboard, but not so much for Caro. Wozniacki took a 3-0 lead and I headed out to the grounds.

Relaxing with a cold drink in front of the giant triple screen, I saw that Agnieszka Radwanska was also blowing away Maria Kirilenko 3-0. The day was not looking promising. Earlier this week, I had promised a fan I would send her daughter's boyfriend a nice picture of Makiri because he's "totally in love with her." I briefly considered sending him a note on "things to never tell your girlfriend" instead, but I'll probably just send the picture. Looking at the 5-0 score, I figured I better get some shots while I could. And I'm glad I did.

By the time I got inside, it was 6-0, 2-0 and I wasn't sure I'd get my gear set up in time. But then it got interesting. Makiri finally held serve. And then broke and held again. Whatever she was missing in the first, Makiri had clearly found it. Aggie was serving better, but Makiri appeared to be dialed in. She was pounding the ball deep, shouting and fist pumping on big winners. When the set was over, Makiri had won six in a row and the match was all squared up.

They may look cute and innocent, but don't let that fool you. Behind those sweet smiles lie the minds of a pair of predators. And they're out for blood. Well, ink anyway. Their prey today will be the stars, both big and small, of the ATP and WTA. And make no mistake, they mean business.

I watched Benjamin and Alexis on the hunt, and they have quite the system going. Much like lions or velociraptors, they hunt in a team. There's a lot to keep an eye on, and this way they can cover more ground. If a choice target is spotted, the closest of the pair will stake their territory and then help the other to get in close. It doesn't always work out though. Benjamin is the proud owner of the highly coveted Roger Federer signature, while Alexis sadly missed out. But she won't give up; they're here for a few more days yet. And so, probably, is Roger.

I sat down with these pros of the autograph game to learn about their success and maybe pick up a tip or two. Today was their third day at the BNP Paribas Open, and they're already running low on real estate on their oversized tennis balls (available at Tennis Warehouse - hey, can I get a free racquet for that plug, guys?). They've had to start incorporating t-shirt signings, and Rafael Nadal himself was relegated (or is that elevated?) to headband space. I wanted to know how many they had collected, but they laughed me off and said, "We lost count a long time ago!"