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Jul/14

27

Citi Open Day One Thoughts

P8020265

By Peter Bean Hawkins

As a current Federal Government professional and “part-time” aspiring writer I
had the good fortune to link up with author and friend Scoop Malinowski and
assist in his media coverage at this years edition of the Citi Open in
Washington D.C. It has been a great experience watching the professionalism in
the media room with various media and tournament personnel working the event. A
top 20 ATP event bolstering a strong field loaded with top 20 talent, the event
offers a chance to see players physically fresh on their journey through the
summer US OPEN series. The theme for Day 1 of qualifying reminded me of a high
level division 1 college tennis environment. As a common frequent attendee of
high level college tennis matches it was refreshing to see players with
collegiate roots embarking on their ATP career or continuing their careers as
journeymen professionals.

The first match I observed for the day was between former Florida Gator Sekou
Bangoura and 2009 Australian Open junior champion Yuki Bhambri. Bangoura grinded
his way one step closer to a Main draw birth after winning a second set
tiebreaker convincingly over the Indian. I was extremely impressed with the play
of Bangoura and his ability to claw his way from a set and a break down to
eventually secure the second set, Bangoura has a tall lanky frame and his
experience playing in hot and humid conditions in Florida surely assisted him on
a day when fitness was at a premium against Bhambri who has the ability to
change from heavy to penetrating groundstrokes very quickly.

Hustler of the day award surely goes to Andrew Carter who defeated recent UVA
Wahoo graduate Justin Shane 6-4, 6-4. Shane a tall, aggressive baseliner
dictated baseline exchanges yet had trouble finishing points against the speedy
athlete Carter who is also a college tennis alumni of Louisville. Carter won the
mental war against the fragile Shane, whose brother Ryan Shane is also another
member of the Cavalier contingency in the qualifying draw. Carter repeatedly
yelled “Fight Drew” after long baseline points usually capped off by a Shane
unforced error. Carter the least talented of the two impressed me with his
ability to win the battle of break point conversion as well as managing to save
break point opportunities.

In another war of college tennis all americans, Rajeev Ram overwhelmed former
UVA Wahoo and two time NCAA doubles champion Michael Shabaz with an absolute
serving clinic. Shabaz called the trainer early in the second set yet the short
delay proved to provide no break to the rythym of Ram’s service games. The
comparisons of Ram’s service motion and style of play to that of Pete Sampras
are accurate and very much apparent at first glance to the 30 year old
American’s game. Shabaz recovered from a 0-40 deficit in his first service game
of the second set yet his inability to take charge in the rallies proved to be
detrimental to his cause against Ram. I was a bit surprised as to the lack of
fan base surrounding Shabaz. The Northern, VA native was the center of
controversy in the 2011 NCAA individual singles championships when he quit and
walked off the court against current world number 67 Steve Johnson in the
semifinals of the tournament. Shabaz has the tools to crack the top 200 I
believe. However, he needs to become more patient in developing points which
will undoubtedly require him to obtain a higher level of physical fitness.

Tomorrow’s popcorn match surely will be the encounter between US veteran and
former US Open semi-finalist Robby Ginepri and mammoth serving Aussie Sam Groth.
Ginepri, a Kennesaw, Georgia native did extremely well to make the trip to
Washington and win his first round qualifier match after losing to John Isner in
Atlanta after holding double match point against the former Georgia Bulldog.

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9 comments

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 27, 2014 at 8:37 am

    Fine debut piece Peter, well done and thank you. Interesting about Shabaz just quitting the match vs. Johnson in NCAAs, did he give a reason or was Johnson just so dominant that he knew he had no chance? or was there a health issue? Bangoura is a player, I saw him and Mirzadeh beat the #2 team in the world at the time Klassen and Butorac in Delray. He’s a Monfils type athlete. Hope he can make a big breakthrough. Groth is having his breakout now. Groth vs Ginepri should be a great battle.

  • bjk · July 27, 2014 at 3:26 pm

    I just got back from day 2 action, some impressions:

    Jared Donaldson is a real player. No glaring weaknesses, good power on serve and forehand, good speed and tennis body. This guy can play. Wasn’t as impressed with Bangoura, he didn’t attack the Donaldson backhand, gave JD too many easy forehands.

    Ginepri and Groth: Had a bad feeling about this one from the beginning. Ginepri just outclasses Groth after the serve, and Groth wasn’t serving his best. Groth is massive, especially in the upper body. Never seen anything like it in a tennis player. Only saw first and last few games.

    Copil vs. Marchenko: Tough life, travel all the way to US, make the second round of the qualies, lose 6-4 in the third. Marchenko was delighted to make the main draw, did an extra victory turn to mark the occasion.

    Ram vs. Gomez: Ram just simply wasn’t going to get broken. Utter confidence on his service. Ram knew he had this one in the bag. Gomez had some surprising pace on his serve, just didn’t get it in enough.

    Pretty quiet crowd at the Citi Open, nobody really of note to get the crowds too excited. And Allison Riske IS AN ABSOLUTE BABE. And loves the attention from fans, too.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 27, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    Thanks for the scoops bjk. Big win for Marchenko, he’s been in the Challenger level for a few years now. Donaldson, from Rhode Island, is being coached by Taylor Dent, no surprise that Dent, a keen tennis mind, is having this success with a young player. Ginepri earned this win, he had Isner on the ropes in ATL, good to see him earn a main draw. Did you see any main draw guys practicing?

  • bjk · July 27, 2014 at 4:11 pm

    Saw the Bryan Bros, Stepanek and Dr. Ivo, Nishikori and Chardy were playing a practice set, and Sonia Mirza. My father, who hasn’t seen tennis in a few years, was pretty blown away by the pace and consistency. It’s breathtaking to watch a small girl like Sonia Mirza absolutely crush the ball.

    As for the stadium and event, got to say the prices weren’t bad. $10 for general admission and $25 for boxes is a good deal. I might show up later in the week and catch a few of the stars.

  • JG · July 27, 2014 at 4:49 pm

    Saw Berdych playing Raonic playing yesterday, they both looked pretty rusty, but as I was leaving looked like Berdych was starting to read Raonic’s serve. Hewitt was practicing as well, saw DY practicing with 4 others, DY’s mom was holding a racquet as if she was going to hit some balls, but I didn’t even see her feed any.

  • Pete Hawkins · July 27, 2014 at 5:00 pm

    Shabaz was frustrated at officiating over the course of the match against Johnson and pulled the rip cord on the match. Not sure if he ever recovered from A. Never winning an NCAA team title and B. the retirement against Johnson. Kei Nishikori has been practicing on site in Washington since my arrival on Friday. One thing is clear with Kei is his increased work ethic. Can’t remember seeing a guy who hits more balls in the days leading to a main draw match. Typically he likes to hit a lot of balls and drill in the mornings, take a lunch break and play points and sets in the afternoon. I had a five minute conversation with the coach of 25 year old Yuichi Sugita, who travels together with Kei Nishikori’s team and is also based in Bradenton, Florida. Sugita’s coach commented on how Nishikori has all the tools to beat all the elite players but has to find a way to stay healthy consistently in the tale end of events. The work ethic is positive but may also be a cause for concern.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 27, 2014 at 7:37 pm

    Thanks Pete. Makes you wonder if there’s politics in NCAA tennis and if Johnson had them on his side. Kei has upped the training intensity late last year and he showed he’s a physical beast by beating the ultimate fitness beast Ferrer in a marathon. But the problem is he can’t sustain for additional marathon matches. Kei has shown the tools to beat Fed Ferrer and Rafa already. I think Sugita is the player who finally quailed for a major title main draw at Wimble this year after about a dozen times falling just short.

  • jg · July 30, 2014 at 10:44 am

    Dan I think Sela won 6-4, I was watching the match until Sela broke to get to 4-2 in the 3rd, and it looked like a quick finish so I left, someone told me Groth broke back to even it, but he must have gone downhill from there–I just don’t see how Groth lost this match, Sela could barely get Groth’s serves back and Groth was returning with ease and in every return game. Scoop turned me on the the Estrella match which was much more intense and high quality, probably the best match of the night.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 30, 2014 at 11:09 am

    jg that’s what someone in the media told me, “How did Sela win that match? How does he win his matches? He has no serve.” blah blah…” Uncanny player is that Sela. Groth was at a big experience disadvantage, Sela is of the same age group as Bagdhatis who he told me in the Biofile is one of his closest pals on the tour. BTW Groth is playing doubles with Paes this week, Paes and Step have apparently split, Step just played singles this week and is out after losing yesterday

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