Tour’s funny guy Llodra focuses on his career

New emphasis on tennis is paying off

FROM THE ABN AMRO WTT IN ROTTERDAM – There was a time when Rotterdam champion Michael Llodra was thinking more about what kind of practical joke he was going to pull next than he was focusing on which tactics he’d use in his upcoming match. “I give my best sometimes,” the Frenchman said about his attitude. “Like one match here, one match there, but not every time. And that’s the difference when you want to be in the Top 20, or something like that, or you want to be like 80, 90.”

But when his coach Olivier Marcor came up to him one day in August last year and said it was time for Llodra to start thinking about what he wanted to get out of the rest of his career, he became a different man. “My coach said, ‘Now you are 27, and you have two chances. One: You can be Top 100 at the end of the year. You play good, you win some money, you win some doubles, and that’s all. Or you have the second chance and you fight more on the court, you try to do your best everyday and we see what’s happening.”

Llodra went for the second choice, and his new season couldn’t have started in a better way. Before 2008, Llodra had captured only one singles title in his career, at '04 ‘s-Hertogenbosch. By posting a 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-6(4) win over Robin Soderling in the Rotterdam final on Sunday, he already claimed his second crown of the year after winning in Adelaide in January. Llodra moved up 21 positions in the rankings to his new career high of No. 37.

“Every time I go on the court I do my best and it’s working,” he said. “When you start the match and you know you’re going to fight until the end, you feel much better in your body, and I know during the match I can have an opportunity to win. Sometimes you can change a match. It’s only mentally. I think last year, I couldn’t win this match.”

Soderling was in control of the encounter after winning the first set, but he failed to convert one of two break points in Llodra’s opening service game of the second set. Slowly but surely, the momentum shifted. Llodra said he saw it coming. “It was predictable before the match. He can be very nervous, that’s why he’s not in the Top 10. He has such a big serve and very good strokes so I think he can be much better than his ranking at the moment.”

In the Ahoy-stadium, all the past champions of the event are listed on the boardings surrounding centre court. Llodra said he was honoured to join those big names such as Jimmy Connors, Björn Borg and Roger Federer on the walls, claiming that winning this tournament was the best achievement of his career.

“When you came here and you see all the superstar like [Goran] Ivanisevic, [Richard] Krajicek, I thought, ‘Whoah, it would be nice if I can put my name there’, but it was a dream. When you see the draw it’s amazing. Finally I won five matches in a row. Nobody knows me, they say, ‘Llodra, what is it’? I hope I’m going to play more like this week and maybe I can become a superstar like all the players [on the boardings].”

FEELING HOME AT THE NET
He’ll never reach superstar status, though Llodra might be remembered as one of the last natural serve-and-volleyers in the game. His style is still effective and great to watch, and it makes you wonder if there really isn’t a future for serve and volley. “I don’t know if there’s a future but that’s the way I play and I’m going to stay like this,” Llodra said. “If I have to play from the baseline I’m not as confident as if I play serve and volley.”
“If I have to choose, I prefer to play like 20 years ago. When I was young it was my dream to play serve and volley. But the conditions now, the balls are not so fast and also the court.

Now they build new courts, to see play more from the baseline.”

“Now nobody wants to make serve and volley. Even Tim Henman, the last two years that he played, he tried to mix it up. Little bit serve and volley and come to the net from the baseline. It’s tough to do it but it’s the only way I can win the match.”

Llodra gets his confidence around the net from his success in doubles. He’s won three Grand Slam titles: The Australian Open in 2003 and 2004 with Fabrice Santoro, and '07 Wimbledon with his close friend Arnaud Clement. He now believes that he can also win matches on his own, by using his lefty serve to an advantage in setting up easy volleys at the net. “My career in doubles was amazing. I was confident in doubles, but not in singles. But it’s the same, when you’re serving doubles, singles, it’s exactly the same. You just have to believe it.”

If Llodra plays as well as he’s done so far this year, his ambition of reaching the Top 20 is not out of reach, though he really needs to stay committed and play his best to get there. He mixes up his lefty serve well, though he doesn’t hit 130-plus-mph bombs. His one-handed backhand is at times a joy to watch, but it’s not consistent enough in long rallies. Consistency is also a problem on his forehand wing, which explains why Llodra loves to play at the net, where he’s undoubtedly one of the best in the game. He’ll likely crack the Top 30 at some point this year, maybe after the clay-court season.

LLODRA: THE TRUE JOKER
Despite easing up a little on the joking off court, Llodra still likes to have fun in his own way. After winning the title in Adelaide, he jumped into a river and dragged his coach with him.

One of his better known pranks involved an incident with Ivan Ljubicic some years ago. During a tournament, Llodra hid naked in the Croat’s dressing room closet and jumped out when Ljubicic entered the room. “I love to make some jokes,” Llodra said. “I promise you, if you spend one day with me you’re going to see that I’m a good joker.” He and Novak Djokovic should hang out someday.