By Scoop Malinowski
Taylor Fritz leads the young American Armada by winning consecutive ATP Challengers in California – but lost in second round to veteran Grega Zemlja in Vegas – seventeen year old coached by ex Querrey coach David Nainkin is now ranked #232.
Tommy Paul made splash by qualifying at US Open and giving Seppi a first round main draw battle but has cooled off somewhat this fall – lost in qualies in Vegas and did not make impact at two CA Challengers, losing to Kudla and Kuznetsov in R32 – the 6-ft two inch 175-pounder coached by Diego Moyano who won two ITF pro title Futures in Italy and Spain during spring is ranked 321 –
Stefan Kozlov won his first ITF pro title in Minsk, Belarus today beating #2 seed Zrymont 61 76, the same opponent who beat him in at ITF final the previous week – #5 seed Kozlov had two tough three setters and now appears back on track after a disappointing summer/early fall – ranked #548.
Frances Tiafoe has had an impressive year with some narrow defeats to veteran ATP competitors – but crashed out early this week in Vegas Challenger, losing to Blaz Rola in second round. His big wins came earlier in year on Challenger circuit and in Kalamazoo 18s final over Kozlov in five sets. Seventeen year old is ranked 228 right now – lost in semis to Dustin Brown in three sets in Fairfield Challenger, lost 76 in the third to Smyczek in Sacramento Challenger – lost to ATP #30 Brazilian Bellucci 76 in the third in R32 in Winston Salem – lost in three sets to ATP #23 Troicki in first round of US Open – 57 46 36 –
Dennis Novikov – 21 year old is ranked 147 right now – the 6-ft- four inch 200 pounder has emerged this year with two recent ATP Challenger wins in Cary and Columbus (defeated Harrison in both finals) but has cooled off this month after those wins, losing his first matches in Tiburon and Sacramento – lost in second round of qualies at US Open to Ebden in three sets – earlier in season he lost love and one to Kozlov in Long Beach Futures in January, then won March Futures title in Calabasas CA vs Tiafoe in final 7676 – lost a tough three setter to Victor Estrella in Mexico Challenger in February.
Bjorn Fratangelo, 22, has had steady results in Challengers – semis in KY, semis in Aptos, finals in Binghamton (loss to Edmund), finals in Italy (loss to Elias Ymer), semis of Vincenza, Italy, semis of Savannah, won Launceston, Australia in Feb vs Chung in final – lost 36 26 46 to Berdych in US Open first round — now ranked 129.
Jared Donaldson, 19, ranked 142 – coached by Taylor Dent – made finals of Sacramento (lost to Fritz) – lost to Rosol at US Open first round 67 06 67 – lost to Groth in R64 67 in the third in Winston Salem – lost to Isner 46 67 at Queens – made semis at Tallahasse Challenger quarters at Savannah and Sarasota – won Hawaii Challenger vs Nicolas Meister in final in straight sets — most recent tournaments was a QF loss to Blaz Rola in Fairfield.
Noah Rubin – ranked #526 — most recent results were QF loss to Will Spencer 46 in third at Laguna Niguel Futures in CA – and a 26 16 loss in semis to Frank Dancevic in Markham Ontario Futures, also lost in semis of Toronto Futures to Dancevic in staight sets prior — also lost to Dancevic in staight sets in Kentucky Challenger in August – best result was finals of Tulsa Futures in June, losing in finals to Darian King 62 57 06.
McKenzie McDonald, age 20, currently ranked #459 — coached by Wayne Ferreira and Rosie Bareis – recently made semis of Tiburon Challenger (lost 46 in third to Kudla) and quarters of Sacramento (lost to Donaldson) – made finals of Claremont Futures last month – semi of Calabasas (lost to Novikov) –
Michael Mmoh, the seventeen year old Saudi Arabian-born Img product, just had his best career win – besting Ryan Harrison in straight sets in Las Vegas Challenger as a wildcard – is currently ranked 472 – just won a Futures in Houston ITF $10,000 – coached by former ATP pro Glenn Weiner – lost to Ebden in first round of US Open qualies 3 and 2 – won a Futures in Godfrey in July, defeating 704 ranked Jared Hitzlik in final – in Memphis qualies in Feb lost 46 in third to veteran Victor Hanescu — lost in finals last year of Eddie Herr to Reilly Opelka –
Reilly Opelka, the six foot ten eighteen year old, currently ranked #906 — coached by Diego Moyano – has made slow progress after turning pro earlier in year – best win was over 194 ranked Christian Lindell in first round of US Open qualies, avenging a previous straight set loss to the Swede at Weston Futures in January – lost in second round of US Open qualies to Belgium’s Kimmer Coppejans – season highlight was winning junior Wimbledon this year vs Ymer (saved a match point in the first round of a 13-11 third set win vs De Minaur – most recent match was loss in first round of qualies in Las Vegas to Eric Quigley 67 26 –
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« Previous 1 2Andrew Miller · October 26, 2015 at 8:01 pm
Bozo is a terrible and terribly inaccurate word to describe a top forty and top thirty ranking.
Sock and Johnson are doing fine and tracking decently against the previous generation of u.s. ATP players. That is borne out by the rankings and their ATP results. Given that Kudla and DY both made the second week of slams this year and the u.s. Players only do well when their peers at pushing them, I don’t see why Sock and Johnson can’t make week two of a slam, aka the fourth round. Sock is already a doubles slam champion and he is a deceptively good player. Johnson is basically a one man advertisement for getting the most out of your abilities, which he did in the ncaas and now in the pros to some extent. He’s better than two other notable NCAA players, Vahaly And Devvarman.
Bozos…terrible word choice. Inaccurate. And rather ridiculous. But if you yourself made an ATP final, I guess you know better. But I doubt it.
Scoop Malinowski · October 26, 2015 at 8:03 pm
Dan how could Blake have been a “big prospect” out of college, when he didn’t do anything in the NCAAs? Here’s the info about the Rafter match as a WC in Cincy: Ranked no. 120 in the world, Blake accepted a wild card into Cincinnati. He beat a qualifier and Arnaud Clément to reach the round of 16, where he met Patrick Rafter. Blake came close to winning the first set (falling in a tiebreak), and after dropping the second set, Rafter, according to Blake’s autobiography, complimented him at the net and boosted his confidence immeasurably by saying “Now do you believe you can beat someone like me, or even me?” Blake’s name became more recognizable world-wide after he pushed the eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt to five sets at the US Open.
Scoop Malinowski · October 26, 2015 at 8:05 pm
Boy, looks like Rafa and Rosol had a bloodbath, today in Basel, Rosol was up a set and 5-3 and lost four in a row to lose second set 57, then lost 7-4 in the third set tiebreak, but lots of drama and grudge and bad blood out there between these two arch rivals – didn’t see but heard about it –
Moskova Moskova · October 26, 2015 at 9:55 pm
Andrew, I give these bozos credit for being a touring pro…something no one has done on this site with much success…but to call any of them great/GS contenders because they won a challenger or qualifying is ridiculous…
Let’s see atleast a win over a tenner (or a tight 5 setter) before you get too excited and sign’em up into your circus without proper due-diligence..
sharoten · October 27, 2015 at 3:50 am
“lots of drama and grudge and bad blood out there”
There you go with your ridiculous hyperbole again. I saw. The drama came from Rafa winning with some terrific fighting play after Rosol was two points away from taking the match. Rosol only pulled a couple of his regular stunts after he got down 0-3 in the third but he actually didn’t act up as much as he usually does. There wasn’t any bad blood. Rafa doesn’t like him but nobody on the tour likes Rosol so no big deal. Rafa as always handled it graciously and respectfully.
Scoop Malinowski · October 27, 2015 at 8:49 am
I’m sure, without bothering to look, Sock and Johnson have wins over players who have made the second week of a major, therefore they are certainly capable of making the second week of a major — bozo is a poor choice of word to describe a successful pro or any successful tennis player on any level – very poor choice –
Scoop Malinowski · October 27, 2015 at 8:50 am
I was told there was FU glares and all sorts of shenanigans by another tennis journalist – of course these two will be subtle about it and not let it be so obvious, but it’s pretty clear these two don’t like each other at all and the cold handshake was evidence –
sharoten · October 27, 2015 at 9:51 am
Well, if they were that subtle about it, there couldn’t have been that much drama, right? Your ‘journalist’ friend probably read something on twitter. I’m sure that’s where most ‘journalists’ come up with their content these days.
Yes, as I said, Rosol went into his idiot role after going down 0-3 in the third but that’s normal for him and both Rafa and the umpire dealt with it well. The story was how well Rafa came back, not Rsol.
Moskova Moskova · October 27, 2015 at 9:58 am
none of these bozos are even in this week’s 250 or 500 events….and the bozos that are there – will not get beyond the QF/SF…not while the kings of tennis are around !….capice !!
Scoop Malinowski · October 27, 2015 at 12:58 pm
No – he was watching it – i saw highlights and it was clear there was tension and grudge by Rafa’s reactions – credit to Rosol for turning this match into a spectacle, Soderling style, not showing over respect for Rafa – and perhaps a bit of disresepct – when players do this it definitely provokes the beast out of Rafa – this could be a big win for him, the kind he has been looking for – hope we get a Rafa Fed final –
Moskova Moskova · October 27, 2015 at 1:57 pm
the friction between rosol / nadal is real as i saw some of it and nadal losing the first set 61 triggered something during the match….however nadal has not lost to rosol since the historic upset.
anyway, wat was the initial quarrel @ W ?….wat ? rosol was moving around too much during nadal’s service motion ?…and getting in nadal’s face a bit plus on top of rosol being on fire and playing lights out ??
Dan Markowitz · October 27, 2015 at 2:40 pm
Scoop, Blake reached the finals of the NCAA tournament and lost to Morrisson. It was an upset. Blake was the best college tennis player in the nation as a sophomore, add into that that he is black, hit with Mats Wilander and came from NY/Ct., he was a pretty big deal when he came out of Harvard.
Anyone know what Thomas Blake is doing these days?
Scoop Malinowski · October 27, 2015 at 7:51 pm
Lots of NCAA champs and finalists never made it as pros – morrison, matias Boeker, benedikt dorscht, etc etc – blake was one of the very few who did make it big, but he was by no means considered a sure shot or big prospect, if he was he would have turned pro instead of going to college – Blake was a huge overachiever – the guy played HS tennis for Fairfield CT HS – we may never see another regular HS player make it as an ATP pro again, Blake could be the last of the mohecans –
jg · October 27, 2015 at 9:37 pm
Didn’t Jack Sock play high school tennis? Paul Goldstein played high school tennis in DC.
Dan Markowitz · October 28, 2015 at 9:37 am
Yes, Sock played high school tennis in Nebraska. Here’s Blake’s story because I was teaching at Arrowwood Hotel in Purchase when Blake was 20 and I did a piece on him for Tennis Magazine. He was not a big prospect coming out of high school, but I remember seeing him play doubles with his brother at the US Open, probably Qualis, and then he got bigger–he was a small kid with scoliosis–so in those two years from high school to turning pro, he became a big prospect. Otherwise, why do you think Tennis Magazine did an article on him?
Btw, JG, I went with the Volkl 10, a yellow stick which has a thinner beam than the 7 and is 98 in. I like it at the baseline a lot, but not as good a feel yet at the net.
Scoop Malinowski · October 28, 2015 at 9:47 am
That’s right – forgot about Sock playing in HS – maybe Johnson did too – Bogomolov did too – on second thought maybe a lot of Americans did )
Scoop Malinowski · October 28, 2015 at 9:51 am
Because Blake was a good story -half black half white kid from NY area with the cool hair, educated at Harvard – that’s a colorful story – I’m sure Levar Harper Griffith got a write up in Tennis during his successful junior career or when he first turned pro – same with Philip Simmonds and Tim Neilly – Blake was no gaurantee to make it in the ATP, he was a big overachiever –
Dan Markowitz · October 28, 2015 at 3:51 pm
Hate to break it to you, Scoop, but Blake was much bigger prospect and sure-fire ATP tour regular than Griffith, Neilly and Simmonds. I mean Neilly and Simmonds, I’d never heard of except for in the juniors with Neilly and for playing Challengers with Simmonds. Griffith got attention because he was an inner city black kid from Brooklyn, I believe, and that’s as rare as they come in tennis.
Look Blake could’ve been a star–and he was for a while–but he’s the best black American player by far since Arthur Ashe. Mala Vai is a distant second. I don’t really know if you count Mmoh and Tiafoe, they’re black but not native Americans. Still, it’s good to see color in the game.
Moskova Moskova · October 28, 2015 at 4:13 pm
blake is really not completely black although he’s marketed as one. similar scenario with tiger woods as he is actually more asian (75%) than black (25%) but is marketed as a black golfer..
Scoop Malinowski · October 28, 2015 at 7:12 pm
Not so, Dan, Blake was not a big time prospect of any more repute than the others mentioned – his junior career was nothing special and NCAA finalist losing to Jeffmorrison was not the stuff to guarantee ATP stardom – say it again, Blake was a huge huge overachiever – and he’s half black half white, mom is white –
Rob · October 28, 2015 at 8:19 pm
Returning to Rosol v Nadal for a bit. Did anyone else see that double tap of racquet on the ground before a second serve from Rafa?
Scoop Malinowski · October 29, 2015 at 8:01 am
Didn’t see the Rosol taps but was told about it – clearly these two detest each other but they camouflage it Rob –
Rob · October 29, 2015 at 9:58 am
Scoop both complained to the umpire. Both exchanged wry little smiles of contempt. To give the guy credit – Rosol had a big game that day; he was on it.
Leif Wellington Haase · October 29, 2015 at 3:46 pm
Where is Thomas Blake (with whom I hit decades ago at the Yale courts in New Haven) now? He is in private wealth management in Tampa, FL
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/tom-blake/19/b79/933
Leif Wellington Haase · October 29, 2015 at 4:06 pm
Having watched several of the “great eight” or “fine nine” up-and-coming American men teenagers in recent weeks at the California challengers, and seen all of them play live at least five times, I’m all in on Taylor Fritz, the reasonable reservations expressed here notwithstanding. Here’s why:
1) Weapons. 130+ serve and huge forehand are just what get you invited to the party these days. But Fritz has them.
2) Improvable liabilities, e.g. backhand and movement. I was a skeptic about Fritz’s backhand having seen it successfully worked over earlier this year at Indian Wells. But it was much improved by the fall and could get better. Even if it doesn’t the hitch and dip are less “slappy” and “wristy” than Roddick’s and less prone to fly under pressure. I watched experienced pros like Kavcic and Smyczek work it over incessantly and give up in exasperation as Fritz hit winners and was consistent off that wing.
3) Mental toughness. A huge strength. Saved 11 of 12 break points against Dustin Brown and several match points, playing great tennis at the most important moments. Totally broke down the will of many veteran ATP-level pros and even in the match he lost to Zemlja in Vegas (the pro with the highest one-time ranking on this swing) exhibited real staying power. A real contrast to several of the other up-and comers.
4)Professional Attitude. Simply takes things in stride and has a business-like attitude toward the game, helped no doubt by his pedigree and family member coaches. Like the way (unless he gets injured from overplaying) that he says he has met his initial goals and now will make hay while the sun shines, which is what successful pros do.
5) Locker Room Endorsement. Based on conversations and observations Fritz already has the respect and attention of the locker room which helps a lot– the jury is still out on most of his peers. There’s a look on pros’ faces when they know they’ve gone up against the next big thing– I’ve seen it first-hand over the years when players went up against Sampras or Nadal or Phillipoussis for the first time…not suggesting that he’s necessarily going to reach that level but (unlike most of the other US prospects for which it is easy to draw parallels and be reasonably sure of their topping out point) the sky is truly the limit for Fritz.
Scoop Malinowski · October 29, 2015 at 7:28 pm
Terrific debut post Leif – a pleasure to ready, very insightful – you sound like a very experienced tennis observer and Fritz has captured your fancy – very strong endorsement by you for Fritz – I’ve been fortunate to see several young great champions in their infancy stages and there is always something that shines about them – Nadal’s incomparable intensity, dashing all over the court like an enthusiastic hyper young cat, the fierce expression on his face, just knew he was going to make it big – Roddick practicing at US Open as a teen like a young colt frisky but such high speed intensity and you could see this colt would become a thoroughbred someday – you could feel his hunger and drive, nothing was going to stop him — Federer – actually wasn’t sure he would make it but what a beautiful game and flow he had – Hewitt – so serious so intense – nothing in the world was going to defy his fighting spirit and quest to be the best Cmmmonn 🙂 – Rios – you could see this guy was the best – he had something different, he had more, and he had the rare talent to make tennis look easy – Djokovic – perfect form fundantally sound, serious professional attitude, clever cunning and ruthless, very good at faking injuries — welcome to the site Leif and thanks for your astute comments —
Moskova Moskova · October 30, 2015 at 9:39 am
he’s got potential but it’s all speculation speculation speculation…..let’s see a big win over a tenner
Dan Markowitz · October 30, 2015 at 2:22 pm
I agree with Moskova here, while Fritz’s pro debut has blown Tommy Paul off the map as well as JD and Tiafoe, it’s US Challengers and even Qball dominated the US California Challenger events last year at this time and it didn’t bode well for a good year for QBall in ’15.
Now I’ve only seen Fritz play once live and that was at the Open qualis and he got routined by Vanni in straight sets. So I wasn’t paying that close of attention to Fritz, but he looked skinny to me and his serve wasn’t monster, but I’ll certainly pay closer attention the next time I see him.
I look at it as Fritz, Paul, JD and Tiafoe as the Big 5-4, the rest of the pack, although I’d like to see Mmoh and look at his game live, but Kozlov, Rubin and Opelka don’t necessarily make me think Top 50.
As for Leif Wellington Haase, firstly, let me congratulate you on that name, it’s a beaut, and secondly I chime in with Scoop here on the quality of your initial comment here on Tennis-Prose and you must’ve been and maybe still are a heck of a player to hit with Thomas Blake. That picture you posted of Blake at his financial company though, didn’t look like TB.