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Kyrgios Crowned King of Sarasota Open
7 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Nick Kyrgios was challenged to summon his best tennis by Filip Krajinovic in the final of the Sarasota Open ATP Challenger and the eighteen year old phenom did just that.
It was an unforgettable duel. Kyrgios, who plays with a Monfils like flashiness, surged to a 3-love lead. But the poised Serbian did not flinch at all. He kept his composure and suddenly it was 3-3.
Kyrgios, dug in as well. At 5-4, Kyrgios had triple set point on his opponent’s serve. But, the tough 22-year-old won five straight points to level it at 5-5.
Kyrgios held easily for 6-5 and again had two more set points on Krajinovic’s serve. But, again, Kyrgios was defied. To the tiebreaker it went.
Kyrgios had two or three more set points but was thrwarted again. Krajinovic also had a couple of set points but double faulted and missed a backhand wide.
Kyrgious, playing in his first event in two months because of an injury on his right side/shoulder/elbow, finally won it l2-l0. He finished the job with a solid, smart second set 6-4.
After the match Kyrgios said, “I really felt I was on top of the match from the get go. A couple of loose errors and a couple really good shots from him got him back in the match. I was really lucky to get the tiebreaker. It could have gone either way and whoever got that tiebreaker was really going to step on the match and take it. He made three finals in three weeks and I think he’s really confident out there.”
Krajinovic was a big time IMG prospect at sixteen and reportedly had a lot of cash thrown his way by eager sponsors wanting to hitch a ride on a rising star. But his development stalled and a shoulder injury forced him to miss a year. He’s just finding his way back. Based on what I saw this week, Krajinovic can be a top 50 player. He has excellent form, defense and a calm but uncanny fighting ability to dig his way out of danger. He looks natural and comfortable in the big match situations. Also, he has one of the best drop shots in the business, he must have won at least five points on droppers.
Kyrgios impressed in his own ways. The Greek/Malaysian/Australian has the big tall body and the big weapons, he has firepower and the patience to play long points, as well as a Monfils type showmanship. He loves being on the big court and sharing his emotions with the crowd as well as his effervescent personality. After earning yet another set point in the tiebreak, Kyrgios implored himself – and also the crowd – “Please take it now.”
After another spectacular Bryan Brothers like net exchange, which Kyrgios seemed to win most of – he posed his arms out wide, as if to say, “Oh that felt GREAT. How did you like that?”
Kyrgios also is a good sport, telling Krajinovic “nice shot” three times after the quiet Serbian converted his clutch plays.
Unseeded and barely making the main draw, the future is very bright for this rising young King of the Court, who dazzled the Sarasota Open in all the right ways this week with his stylish singles wins against Jarmere Jenkins, Donald Young, Daniel Kosakowski and Krajinovic, all of which were contested on the center court stadium.
Notes: Kyrgios, ranked #22l, is again unseeded at the Savannah Challenger this week, where he is lined up to play a rematch with Donald Young in the second round.
The “completely sold out” final started play at the unusual time of 6:30 pm because of a Longboat Key Club members only afternoon luncheon. The doubles final started at 4:30 featured #2 seeds Henri Kontinen and Marin Draganja def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo/Franko Skugor 57 75 and a tiebreaker.
Attendance for the final was over l,400. Tickets were priced at $l00 for box seats and $60 for grandstand.
Kyrgios earned $l4,400 for the title, while Krajinovic got $8,480.
Josh Meiseles wrote an excellent piece about this event at the atpworldtour.com site. I contributed some player quotes about the tournament to the article (Bozoljac and Kyrgios).
Kyrgios played four matches on center court
Dan Markowitz · April 21, 2014 at 11:25 am
Nice reporting, Scoop. Really surprised they can first charge a ticket price at a Challenger and then second, charge $100 for a courtside seat. Tennis must be alive and well in Florida.
I watched a replay of Roddick playing Blake in Denver last night on the Powershares Tour. And Jimmy Arias, who is my new favorite tennis announcer, the guy actually gets me to watch more tennis when he’s commentating, he’s that good company, said Roddick if he came back today, at 32 and heavier than when he retired, would actually be the #2 American and win lots of matches on tour.
Scoop Malinowski · April 21, 2014 at 11:56 am
Longboat Key is a very wealthy area Dan, every day there were an abundance of Ferraris, Bentleys, Rolls Royces and Porsches in the parking lot. It costs $25,000 just to join the LBK Club, not counting the monthly dues which are over $300. First class place with a LOT of tennis loving and supporting members. I bet there are over 200 courts all over Longboat Key which is roughly ten miles long. It’s a perfect site for an event. A lot of fans come in from nearby Sarasota, Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch too. You have to get down here one year and experience it.
Scoop Malinowski · April 21, 2014 at 11:59 am
Jimmy Arias is as good as any TV tennis commentator, agree with that. He’s smart, funny, always a pleasure to listen to because he makes the match even more enjoyable to watch with his comments and breakdowns. He’s underused by ESPN and Tennis Channel. He’s also a good guy to chat with in the press room, always has some funny stories to share about experiences playing or practicing with various players.
bjk · April 21, 2014 at 12:42 pm
Love Arias. Toss-up between him and Robbie Koenig, who’s pretty much the opposite of Arias. Tennis has some of the best announcers in sports, Gilbert and Martina N. and even Chris Evert are also fun.
Looks like it might be lights out for Bogomolov. He dropped down to 116 this week and I don’t see him winning matches against good competition again. He had a good run for a couple years there, excellent overachieving for a guy with no serve.
Scoop Malinowski · April 21, 2014 at 1:42 pm
I saw some of Bogomolov in Sarasota. He won his first round vs. Gianni Mina of Italy then lost to Krajinovic in two good sets. He beat Krajinovic in Miami qualies comfortably. Krajinovic is a clay courter. I wouldn’t count out Bogie just yet. Harrison won Savannah last year and he’s not playing this week because of his back so he’s going to drop a bunch of points. I think Harry’s at about l20 right now.
Andrew Miller · April 21, 2014 at 2:02 pm
Arias and Koenig are premier announcers, alongside Stolle and Drysdale. It must have been Arias who had said he can’t see U.S. players making a dent without a backhand and who saw steve johnson hit through his backhand once and said “look, he can do it – he just isn’t” or something like that in Johnson’s match with Kevin anderson/delray semis.
All that said – U.S. tennis is doing better. Roddick would definitely be the #2 player and so would Fish if he came back tomorrow. Brian Baker based on his strokes too, but for what it’s worth I think the legitimate #2 and #1 are already in the U.S. pipeline. They’re already fighting over Querrey’s Davis Cup spot. I think we’ve seen other players are believing they can do this.
that’s why to me Courier was brilliant. By choosing DY he showed he’s choosing on ranking – if you’ve earned the spot, it’s yours. Not this “best team dynamic” b.s. where if you get along in the locker room and play paintball together you’re in.
I think the powers that be in U.S. tennis are realizing the need to look beyond Harrison and Sock for motivated players. They have evidence enough in the surprises from players in the #200-300 range, who are as of today showing better form and grit than their #100-200 counterparts. In the 100-200 range, you have the players that are talked about (Rhyne Williams, Harrison, Kudla), the misfit (Odesnik) and the vets that put up some strong results for parts of the season (Smyczek, Kuznetsov).
Rankings time.
#10 Isner
#64 Klahn
#67 Johnson
#69 Querrey
#74 DY
#79 Vesely
#80 Thiem
#87 D Brown
#88 Sock
#93 Russell
#94 TIPSAREVIC
Seriously, don’t underestimate the power of Courier’s giving every player a fair shot. Courier I think was motivated by the style of coaches like Pat Riley in basketball who knew how to inspire players. He’s smart and I think he’s more open to any idea that signals to players that they always have a shot at the Davis Cup if they prove themselves.
Bryan · April 21, 2014 at 5:03 pm
Isner dropped from 9 to 10 after losing at US Clay and I haven’t heard what he’s up to. Didn’t go to Monte Carlo and not in the Barcelona draw. What’s he doing? No reports of injury.