Iron Mike Russell lucky losers into the main draw after Rajeev Ram pulls out. He has to face the hard hitting Argentine Renzo Olivo. Struggling with confidence issues, a falling ranking (he’s outside the top 200 now) and a new Head racquet, Russell is up 2-0 in the first but loses the set. Then he’s up a break in the second and loses that one too. 63 64 was the final score.
Michael Mmoh vs. Francis Tiafoe was a thriller. A battle between US Open doubles partners last year. There were lots of exciting, action points, sliding, angles, drop shots, cat and mouse. Tiafoe took it in a second set tiebreak 62 76
The best match of the day was a dinner time battle between veterans Austin Krajicek vs. Frank Dancevic. The big lefty American with the big serve and forehand broke Canada’s Dancevic in both sets at 45 to close it out. Krajicek is an interesting player to watch, he’s got two huge weapons in that lefty forehand and serve and a solid flat backhand. Despite a bit of a belly, Krajicek manages his fitness and gets the job done. It seemed he would wilt in the heat which was in the high 80s but it didn’t happen.
Dancevic had a Montreal coach supporting him, and his wife and then Germany’s Frank Moser, exhorting him on with “Bravo Fran, you’re the man, first serve here, it’s there Frank, Good patience Frank, Way to fight…” But Krajicek’s weaponry was too much to handle.
Krajicek doesn’t look much like a tennis player, he’s tall, wide around the middle, with a beard, and a 50’s style short pompadour hairdo. He’d fit in more in the cast of the ’78 classic movie Grease with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, than winning matches on the ATP Challenger circuit. But the pro tennis landscape has always enjoyed a cast of unique and oddball players like Karsten Braasch, Fabrice Santoro, Ivo Karlovic, John Isner, Taylor Townsend, Ons Jabeur, Gael Monfils, and remember that Argentine who used to dye his hair blue? Add Austin Krajicek to the list. He’s fun to watch and he’s got a heavyweight game.
Tim Smyczek told me he foolishly missed the entry deadline but the Sarasota Open was kind enough to let him in as a wildcard. At a career high #63 in the rankings, Tim took on an Argentine bull Facundo Arguello on center court but went down 64 62. Right after the match Tim was out on the practice court hitting returns with coach Billy Heiser.
Hyeon Chung got blown out by Horacio Zeballos, the lefty from Argentina. Though Zeballos shanked the very first ball he hit in the match over the fence, he regrouped to give the eighteen year old Korean a Har Tru lesson in straight sets.
I didn’t see any of the early matches but young Alexander Zverev blew five match points to Facundo Bagnis, losing 63 67 16. Devastating loss for the youngster from Germany.
Kei Nishikori made an appearance and signed posters for a swarm of fans. Kei won the title here a few years ago.
Bjorn Fratangelo was down 03 vs. Paolo Lorenzo of Italy but battled back and won the match 36 76 63. Lorenzi may have run out of gas at the end, I watched his footwork/running/sprinting warmup routine on the next court during Russell vs. Olivo and he was doing his drills for almost an hour. It’s amazing that he actually played a match after all that running work he did before the match. ATP writer Josh Meiseles told me Lorenzi is just a few wins away from winning his 300th career ATP Challenger match, which would match the remarkable achievment of Spain’s Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo.
Dick Vitale in the house again enjoying all the action.
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Dan Markowitz · April 15, 2015 at 9:45 am
Why isn’t Nishikori playing Monte Carlo?
JG · April 15, 2015 at 6:27 pm
Scoop, I had Lleyton Hewitt toe surgery today to repair a bad big toe joint, how long was he out?
Scoop Malinowski · April 15, 2015 at 8:05 pm
That was months JG, you better be ready for when we hit at Citi Open in July ) Speedy recovery mate,
JG · April 15, 2015 at 8:37 pm
My doc says I will be good to go Before that.
Dan Markowitz · April 15, 2015 at 9:53 pm
Jon, get well soon. I’m planning on making the DC tournament as well this summer.
jg · April 15, 2015 at 10:16 pm
thanks! We have plenty of room if you guys need a place
Scoop Malinowski · April 15, 2015 at 10:30 pm
Thanks Jon, already looking forward to Citi Open, Murray and Kei are playing I believe. Always a good field there.
Reece · April 16, 2015 at 5:38 am
I wouldn’t wish that toe surgery on anyone, he basically had to re learn how to run. How he plays professional tennis is beyond me. Good luck with it.
jg · April 16, 2015 at 6:43 am
True, but what happens before you have it is that you push off and use the wrong part of your foot which affects the rest of your balance, etc, apparently I ( and others with the condition) have been compensating it for years.
Scoop Malinowski · April 16, 2015 at 7:23 am
How did you originally damage the toe? Was it a one shot jam or residual buildup?
jg · April 16, 2015 at 4:31 pm
I think it was build up, they said I had loose bones in there, and tennis contributed to it, I think I must have broken it at some point then it developed into arthritis, I have it also in the other big toe ( but not as bad)
Scoop Malinowski · April 16, 2015 at 10:10 pm
You get some freak injuries in tennis jg, we had a guy collide with another guy on the next court during simultaneous points, one guy came out unscathed, the other had a shoulder surgery that made him miss six months of tennis.