Raonic was practicing with Georgia Tech star Chris Eubanks on Armstrong in the early afternoon with the tall American holding his own and coach Johnnymac looking on and working hard sweating totally through a cotton shirt. After one Raonic forehand into the net John came over and told his charge to “to go for it.”
… I passed by Christian Harrison’ court where he just lost by a bagel in the second to Saville with brother Ryan watching from the bleacher and quite accessible to fans. Harrison battled back to win 7-5 in the third which is a huge win for the much stronger looking younger Harrison brother… I was told Rafa Nadal was hitting with Pouille but struggling with his serve and a cough… I spoke with the agent of Nick Kyrgios who is in Boca Raton training in the heat and doing a lot of beach sprints and fitness work. The word is Nick is in super shape right now… But the other Aussie young gun Kokkinakis is in Bradenton at Bollettieri’s and suffering through another injury – now it’s a pectoral tear. Kokkinakis was out for over nine months after a shoulder surgery and made his return at the Olympics losing to Elias 76 76. Once higher touted than Kyrgios Kokkinakis has now had three surgeries including two for his back… The struggles of Andrey Rublev continue as he lost 76 67 46 to a 28 year old Serbian Zekic who just recently cracked the top 200 for the first time… Arevelo lost on the old grandstand to Giraldo 76 76 but the El Salvadoran has a monster serve and forehand. Keep an eye on Arevalo… The Laver Cup was announced and will be played in Prague with all the top stars participating … The Korean Duck Lee also impressed today with a straight set win over the veteran New Zealander Joe Statham. Undersized but quick and fluent… Had the pleasure of talking for a good while with the Aussie great Phillip Green who played against Pancho Laver Hoad Rosewall Newcombe etc. Green shared a lot of insights about the game in those days and how he thinks the old stars were just as fit if not fitter than today’s gladiators. He said Laver would play set after set after set all day long with no stop and he’d play doubles too. He said the Hopman players were permitted thirty minutes after a bad loss to do anything or cry like babies but after thirty minutes no more. The Aussie greats couldn’t fathom losing but they were given a half hour to digest and swallow it. Green was there supporting friend Erakovic who lost to Chinese player Wang in three sets. He said Erakovic has struggled with confidence for over a year and different coaches and training but when she’s at her best she’s a top 30 player… Green also said he believes tennis has not sufficiently honored or remembered the contributions of Lamar Hunt and Al Hill Jr who created the WCT pro tour which is why pro tennis is what it is today – he thinks Billie Jean King’s contributions were based on and came after Hunt and Hill’s WCT … Jared Donaldson continued his strong summer with another win today in straight sets vs Struvay… I was told by an insider that the work ethic of Taylor Fritz is a question mark and he does not travel well with other players even other Americans who are friends – supposedly part of the reason he married. Not sure I believe it but it was an interesting comment… I have to say I like the new grandstand as it is quite spacious and has a shady side and the new configuring of the grounds and outer courts is very very well done. Fortunately the old grandstand is still in operation as a practice court and a quali match court. Hopefully wiser heads will prevail and the old grandstand will not be wrecked… Sightings: Peter Fleming – Igor Kunitsyn – Fernando Vicente – Robby Ginepri – Robin Hasse watching De Bakker vs Novak.
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Scoop Malinowski · August 24, 2016 at 10:24 pm
Taylor Townsend posted a good 64 64 win vs Kulichkova who is a tough and talented Russian – TT looking good but weight still an issue –
Dan Markowitz · August 25, 2016 at 12:59 am
Great pic, Scoop, who’s the player in it? Interesting tidbit on Fritz. Maybe he’s like Sampras though, who was also accused of not working so hard if I recall and according to Vince, would come into matches just doing a couple of arm swings before he set off for the court and match while his opponent would be riding a stationary bike, jumping rope and doing every stretch in the book. Then Sampras would beat the guy like 2 and 2.
Both Harry bros back out there today. R Harry plays a player from Belgium I’ve never heard of, De Loore, he’s having a nice draw so far. Best matches seem late in the day with Steppy play Weintraub and Opelka playing Giraldo. Reilly is not having an easy Qualis. Donna Vekic and Alize Kim is an easy on the eyes matchup. Donaldson plays Samper-Montana, great name, Bangoura-de Baaker, these are all last or second to last matches of the day, as well as King too
Scoop Malinowski · August 25, 2016 at 8:32 am
Dan it’s Yafan Wang who beat Erakovic – Pistol Pete’s serve would have wreaked havoc on the top players of this era says Philip Green – And I can see it blowing Djokovic off the court – Djokovic is showing now that he can be blasted off the court by big power and Pete had that – Today will be a great day of qualies but I thought yesterday was a bit sparsely attended – expected bigger crowds but it was perfect for the fans there – Excessive crowds is always a drag –
Thomas Tung · August 25, 2016 at 11:35 am
Heading out to the US Open qualifying now. Scoop/Dan/anyone else, I’m wearing a black t-shirt that says, “Make PC Gaming Great Again” on the back (not a political statement, just a gag).
Scoop Malinowski · August 25, 2016 at 12:21 pm
TT: I will look for your Donald Trump shirt 🙂 See you later
Dan Markowitz · August 25, 2016 at 12:30 pm
I’ll be out there today, but later to catch late afternoon matches. Yes, I was surprised how sparself-attended the first day of Qualis was too, but I like it better that way it hearkens back to the Good Old Days when very few people knew there was such a thing as the Qualis.
Thomas Tung · August 25, 2016 at 1:12 pm
At Court 17 right now, sitting five rows from the net, behind the player seats
Andrew Miller · August 25, 2016 at 8:28 pm
Rubin d Berrer, shows how it is done!
Dan Markowitz · August 25, 2016 at 8:49 pm
Saw some of the Rubin/Berrer match and came away mega impressed by Rubin. I just like his pluck and he is the most congenial tennis player I’ve ever seen. Rubin just has such a nice way about him. I’ve never seen him get down on himself or berate an umpire or linesperson. Today on game point for Berrer, late in the first set, the umpire accidentally knocked into her microphone as Berrer served an ace and Rubin just stopped because the sound was deafening. The umpire said to replay the point. Berrer got pissed at her, maybe rightly so, but Rubin also could’ve displayed disgust, but he didn’t. He took it so well.
Scoop Malinowski · August 25, 2016 at 9:43 pm
Very good win by Rubin – He was a set up and serving at 4-5 30-love up and then suddenly lost 4 points in a row to squander the set but then buckled down and won the third set highlighted by “USA” chants by the large crowd – Hopefully Rubin will consider he is an American first and I think he will as like Dan writes he is very good kid and an impeccable first class sportsman and I believe he will carve out a solid pro career as he is a smart steady and lighting quick player – He will make it – Berrer is also impressive as a 36 yr old big lumbering southpaw brawler type –
Andrew Miller · August 26, 2016 at 12:11 am
Rubin seems to like big stage. Any player who relishes it is fun to watch. I think he likes the pressure, has already outdone Ryan Shane, who he lost to in ncaas and who lost second rd of qualies. Shane posted a nice first rd qualies win. NCAA guys not named Johnson have work cut out for them. Interesting to see how MacMac responds to the pressure.