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Eddie Herr, the biggest tennis tournament in the world?
8 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Over 1,200 entrants from all over the world. Singles and doubles, 12s, 14s, 16s, 18s, boy and girl, all held in one week on one site. The Orange Bowl has spread out over different dates for different age groups and it’s played at several different sites.
Eddie Herr is played entirely at the IMG Academy in Bradenton. You can’t imagine the size of this site. It’s too far to walk from end to end, there are non stop shuttle trains to transport people.
The number of matches being played is almost dizzying. And every single player looks like a potential winner. I still haven’t seen any kid that really really stands out but the fifteen year old Serbian, who I will see tomorrow, is one that’s getting buzz.
Michael Mmoh is another player who has hype though I haven’t seen him yet either. Trying to find certain players without a schedule is like trying to find a tennis ball in a cornfield.
I did manage to see some renowned players. Martin Damm was waiting for a match with his son. He told me just ran a half marathon last week in Sarasota and cut about twelve minutes off his time from last year. He also practiced once with John McEnroe and shared those memories. He’s also working with Martin Klizan, who beat Nadal this year, and Klizan is here training now.
Paul Goldstein is here scouting players for Stanford where he is the head coach of tennis. He said he can’t actively recruit or talk to any players, just watch. Paul also played McEnroe in doubles and a practice set at Stanford about six years ago when Mac was in town.
Sorana Cirstea is also here training, she was standing talking to her coach on the walkway and nobody recognized her. She trained on a back hard court and then gave the court to the Colombian Alejandro Falla who is here with his pregnant wife. I saw Falla practicing serves. On the clay courts next to Falla, Brian Gottfried was doing training drills with a bunch of juniors from Ray Benton’s academy in Maryland.
Gottfried is 60 but he hustles and runs around the court like a kid. He was the one running to pick up the balls while the teenagers kind of loafed around looking tired. How much he still loves to play tennis is clearly evident. He was nice enough to talk after about his McEnroe memories.
Red Ayme told me Andy Roddick played the Herr tourney and was beat in the first round. The roll call of former Eddie Herr champions includes: Dimitrov, Cilic, Ivanovic, Sharapova, Rios, Jankovic, Tomic, Kudla, the list goes on and on…
I was told Sharapova is training here now and took a photo with all the kids at once, a group photo. Just one. Hey one is better than none.
Petr Korda was on site again today but his son Sebi lost in the second round to a high seed 61 76.
Cici Bellis is playing 18s, she’s number one seed.
As immense as this event is, the media coverage is pretty simple. The two local papers – Sarasota Herald Tribune and Bradenton Herald – do stories just about every day. Collete Lewis is here for Zoo Tennis. And yours truly. There are also local interest stories for the various international players, where the IMG media staff sends quotes and photos to the federation of that player and then distributed out to their media.
This is one heckuva massive tournament. I will try to keep the reports coming. Stay tuned for more and maybe a couple of junior player Biofiles.
Also, there is a huge senior event about ten miles away on Longboat Key, some of the best players in the world are competing there, like Larry Turville who is #1 in the world in the 55s or 60s. A couple of my friends are playing that event, which I’m going to check out also.
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Dan Markowitz · December 2, 2014 at 9:22 pm
Scoop, you are in tennis mania. I like your description of Brian Gottfried. He always seemed very fit and exuding a love for the game. Wow, Michael Mmoh and CiCi Bellis, what about Tiafoe? It’s amazing your contacts in the game when you talk in one day to Aymes and Korda and Damm. You’re one of the most visible media members in the sport. Well done.
Scoop Malinowski · December 3, 2014 at 7:49 am
Gottfried is a super cool nice guy. I didn’t realize he was #3 in the world, won 25 or 26 titles and some major doubles. Said he was proud to play in the Auusie great era, the Borg Mac Connors and then Edberg Becker Lendl eras. I couldn’t believe his hustle and energy on the court doing all these different drills and games with the kids, at 62 by far the most vivacious on the court with the most spring in his steps. Should have done a Biofile with him, maybe today. It’s funny, I just met a great USTA player Eric Friedman who said he was a nieghbor of the Gottfrieds and was on the HS team with Larry. Eric is playin the national 55s event on Longboat Key this week. He told me Winitsky and Larry used to be able to double bagel Evert when she was #1 in the world when they were just 14, that’s how good they were.
Dan Markowitz · December 3, 2014 at 8:36 am
Yes, Brian and Larry Gottfried are one of the few sibling pairs around along with the Mac brothers, where the older sibling was much better than the younger. Because usually, think Williams, Blakes, Rochus’ and Roddicks, the younger sibling is the much better player.
Ask Gottfried what he does to stay so fit.
Scoop Malinowski · December 3, 2014 at 8:57 am
BG hits a lot of balls Dan, high intensity workouts on the court, he had these volley games, quick fire, a lot of action. Plus he runs to pick up every ball and it seemed like he was the only one picking up balls. BG is all over the court. he was by far the oldest but had the most youthful spirit out there. Plus the team of kids took the shuttle back to the main part of the facility – and he opted to walk with me and do the interview as we walked which was a good half mile.
Andrew Miller · December 3, 2014 at 3:38 pm
Go Cirstea! Hey match vs. Eugenie Bouchard made me pro Cirstea, like the game. Must be something in the water in Romania.
Scoop Malinowski · December 3, 2014 at 4:19 pm
Cirstea is dating Santiago Giraldo of Colombia who is due here this week to train with the Colombian Davis Cup team.
Candace Carryer · December 5, 2014 at 10:00 pm
Wow, great ‘prose’ blog updating all the scoop wonderfully. Where else can I learn who’s wife is expecting and who is dating and who is SO in shape at 63–Brian Gottfried! and yes I saw him play live back when and now I know he drills his students with enthusiasm and gathers balls too as a model for this, and that he has a club in Maryland! And Sharapova poses with kids for photo and training there now. And then, here I am in Hawaii waking myself up to watch live stream ( yes 3 am here for that 8-9am match). Now who else here does THAT? Give a shout! I appreciate all the stats updates and reporting from what 7,ooo miles away. Moving to Florida I suppose:) Thank you. I will enjoy your blog from here on in. great!
Scoop Malinowski · December 6, 2014 at 7:32 am
Thank you and welcome Candace, we’re happy you found us and look forward to more of your comments and observations. Some great SF matches are coming today with players I haven’t even mentioned yet or seen yet. There’s a Polish boy in the 18s and Dominique Schaefer in the 16s is tall silky smooth and has every shot in the book, crazy spins slices bit can also rifle the ball too. Beautiful service motion too.