Casper Ruud the number one seed in the 18s and ITF No 5 in the world was second on court one and he straight setted an American I never heard of before Oliver Crawford. Ruud is very solid baseliner with all the shots – and he is the son of former ATP player Christian Ruud of Norway. A couple courts away – Nick’s court – featured a hard hitting practice with a shirtless Andrey Rublev and Italian youngster Gianluigi Quinzi a lefty who hit a VERY VERY HEAVY ball. Quinzi (age 19) won junior Wimby two years ago and is now ranked in the 300s.
Miomir Kecmanovic was playing at the same time vs former ATP doubles player Greg Van Emburgh’s son. Kecmanovic (age 16) is Serbian and is a top player at the Academy. He already plays pro events. These two were putting on a show. Bryan Shelton the former pro in the 90s was watching. Shelton is now the coach at U of Florida. Some readers will recall that classic serve and volleyer Shelton once made the fourth round at Wimbledon and he also won Newport twice. I did a Biofile with Bryan and it was fantastic to hear his stories about playing Sampras Agassi Johnny Mac etc. And how about this for an amazing coincidence – the guy who beat Shelton in the fourth round at Wimbledon that year – Christian Bergstrom – is also here at Eddie Herr and they bumped into each other minutes before our conversation – and it was the first time they saw each other in decades. Shelton also shared his memories of Facing McEnroe – he and his college teammate played John and Andre Agassi in doubles in Canada. Shelton said Johnny Mac was always very kind and helpful to him.
The big match of the day was Felix Auger Aliassime vs American Patrick Kypson – but they scheduled this popcorn match all the way out on court 13 on the far side of the grounds and it’s right in the middle of the long stretch of about twelve courts – so the only way to see the match was through the windscreen behind it or on the side six courts down. Felix is a marvel to watch live and up close. He had the intensity up in the very first points of the match evidenced by his quiet but aggressive grunting. He plays like a model of Djokovic with incredible movement and the ability to get in position to fire back offensive strikes when pulled wide into the alleys. Also he stays very low. All his movements are flowing and in synch. And his demeanor is very serious and business like between points – similar to Raonic. Felix won 64 60. I did a Biofile with Felix right after the match. After the win he was not approached by anyone except one girl who is a friend. Nobody (outside of all the college coaches here – and there’s got to be over a hundred here) seemed to know that Felix is the brightest young prospect in all of tennis.
Ivan Lendl is here in his new job as a USTA coach and he watched most of Felix vs Kypson as well as the previous match with the American Gianni Ross vs a feisty Japanese kid. I was fortunate enough to be able to speak with Ivan before he departed the grounds about his memories of Facing McEnroe.
A guy here (Ron) that I know told a story about when he saw Connors play in Philly many years ago – Connors was pulling at his shorts Rafa style and Ron said he was up close to the court and said: “Ewwww.” Connors heard the quip and replied by spitting a goober on the court and told Ron “Hey boy pick that up for me.” OUCH
Ivan Lendl and Bryan Shelton are here
Scoop Malinowski · November 30, 2015 at 4:57 pm
Eddie Herr is one of my favorite events – some of the best matches I have ever seen happen here – singles and doubles – incredible points – almost every player here looks like a little pro with the potential to be top 25 in the world someday – it’s free too – just $5 for parking – The Tennis Channel should televise this event —
Moskova Moskova · November 30, 2015 at 6:28 pm
Funny….”pick that one up” lol..
Sky’s the limit fot Felix….let’s see how high he can go or go bust by 18..
Dan Markowitz · November 30, 2015 at 6:36 pm
Great report, Scoop. Wow, to see Felix play. I wanted to catch him at the Open this year, but missed. And seeing Lendl there and actually talking to him. I’m betting he didn’t say much, though. Lendl’s hard to get to open up. I was watching the Indian team event this morning, but had to leave and forgot to tape the legend singles between Santoro and Rafter. Bummed, I’m sure there were some great points and moments.
Scoop Malinowski · November 30, 2015 at 9:00 pm
Thanks Dan – the other big 18s boy is Rudolf molleker of Germany – who could play Felix in QF – Trent Bryde is also in the 18s – he won a round at Winston Salem ATP this year main draw – don’t recall who he beat but he has an ATP World Tour level win – Sofia Kenin is the #2 seed in girls 18s and she beat the 16s finalist last year Dominique Schaefer who has a unique spin variety game – score was 6-1 6-4 – Galfi of Hungary is the top seed and defending champ -martin damm’s son martin plays in 14s and Seb Korda plays tomorrow in 16s – a Jersey girl Sophia Hatton lost in the 16s 6-4 in the third to the #3 seed —
sharoten · December 1, 2015 at 4:24 am
“He plays like a model of Djokovic with incredible movement”
Your delusions about Djokovic are over the top. Djokovic doesn’t have incredible movement – he has amazing flexibility and good movement but substandard footwork. Anyway, Felix doesn’t look anything like him in style. Felix is more a cross between Federer and Nadal. He has happy dancing feet and athleticism like Nadal and he can glide around the court like Federer.
Scoop Malinowski · December 1, 2015 at 7:04 am
Sharoten – I don’t know what you’re talking about – Djokovic is the best mover in the history of tennis – he’s quick as a cat and agile like a cat – Felix is also an incredible mover – I commented during the match to the coach of the Khan Brothers after Felix ran down corner to corner shots that he actually makes the court look narrower – Felix is a big kid – over six foot and boy can he motor around the court – he did look a little slower on getting drop shots though – also Felix faced two BPs in the 5-4 game serving it out – the first he aced Kypson in the ad court and on the second one he engaged in a backhand cross court rally with Kypson and Kypson netted the second or third backhand – so he was threatened by Kypson – who is a top prospect himself in the 99 kids – but Felix answered in style –
Hartt · December 1, 2015 at 3:16 pm
Was so glad to see your thoughts about Felix. Along with his talent he seems like a level-headed kid and the folks at Tennis Canada say they want to bring him along slowly, so that he continues to enjoy tennis. So let’s hope all goes well and he is able to make the best of that talent – it sounds like he is a lot of fun to watch.
Scoop Malinowski · December 1, 2015 at 4:56 pm
Felix was there today at 9 watching another match – he still looks like a kid – but he plays like a man – saw him a few times today carrying his bag – very nice polite well mannered kid – humble – all business – will see his match tomorrow also –
Rob · December 1, 2015 at 8:02 pm
Good to hear good things re Felix. I saw him play in Quebec in Aug before junior us open. He says he is a fed fan but I was struck by the very djok of his game. He has that careful construction of points as well. Oh and djok is an incredible – this is not debatable – mover.
Scoop Malinowski · December 1, 2015 at 8:17 pm
Felix told me he is a Fed and Tsonga fan also loves the montreal canadiens and PK Subban 🙂 – Yes I did see the similarity to Djokovic regarding his athleticism and fighting spirit intensity – very well behaved on court – watching him play yesterday it actually entered my mind that he could be the one who rises and threatens the dominance of Djokovic in a few years – Felix will be 17 in two years – remember that is the age that Rafa was when he first beat Fed in miami – a coach was telling me he thinks Coric could be another Harrison – that his forehand isn’t good enough –
Rob · December 2, 2015 at 6:38 pm
The Coric comment – no way. Regardless of forehand there is the mental toughness/grinder attitude needed to hang around the top 50 year in year out. Harry does not have this. Are you born with it? Is it something that can be taught? A forehand can be (taught that is) – can you learn ‘fighter’?
Felix hit with Tsonga in Montreal last summer and in an interview (its in French so I won’t post it) that he has watch the Tsonga v Nadal Oz open again and again and again on the ol youtube.