If Courier said that, Chris, he probably did not speak what he really meant. As far as I know, Fed was not playing with mono the whole season. In fact, I'm sure of that; I've heard Roger talk about it more than once. I think what Courier probably meant was that he was playing with the effects of mono, which would include lack of strength training, maybe some muscle atrophy, etc.
Now, on to other matters...I think that Roger's terrible time with Andreev is exactly what the doctor ordered. He had to work hard and he prevailed--for whatever reason. Afterwards, he looked so happy, and I think we're about to have a big confidence boost. I hope so!
I want to say Fish is on a roll, but that sounds like a sandwich--but you know what I mean. I think he might give Rafa some trouble, too, especially with his net play.
I can answer all of your Dementieva questions, Chris. Elena finally broke away from mother long enough to go to an academy for a while. While she was there, the instructors fixed her serve.
What most people don't remember is that years ago, her serve was fine. Then she had a shoulder injury, and she had trouble with the ball toss. Someone--I think Pam Shriver--theorizes that by the time she was well, she had done a strange ball toss for so long that she couldn't break the habit.
This is a sound theory. Anyway, she then began serving beautifully during practice, but not during matches--nerves. Now, however, she is doing extremely well with her serve, which makes her very dangerous, since she is such a great defensive player. (A related note--Jankovic has significantly improved her first serve, a badly needed improvement.)
The proper pronunciation of Elena's name is indeed de-MENT-ya-vuh. American commentators are way too lazy and ignorant and nationalistic to give a damn about how to pronounce a Russian person's name.
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