By Scoop Malinowski
I’m playing in the Ultimate Tennis 5.5 league in the Sarasota/Bradenton region and this week was the regular season showdown which lived up to expectations. Both of us entered the match 2-0. It was a rematch of last year’s regular season clash which I lost 63 76.
Last year, was a long battle but the opponent stunned me with his power and consistency which I later learned was good enough to compete and win matches in USTA national 45s tournaments.
This time I knew more offense would be needed than to rely mostly on defense and a racquet change was necessary. The change was easy because last week in Delray Beach I picked up a Head Titanium Ti.s1 racquet strung at 58 pounds and I liked it from the start. I used this Head in practice earlier this week with two friends and I instantly felt comfortable with the extra power and how I could dictate more while not losing defensive touch.
I felt great in the warmup and against his power was able to strike numerous warmup winners which I noticed surprised him compared to our first match where my old trusty Volkl Tour 8 felt weak compared to his potent Wilson Ultra Tour. But once the match started I got off to a poor start and made early errors, to fall behind 0-2. His power is a different level than I am used to. I was behind in the third game and the thought entered my mind that I could get blown out but somehow I managed to relax a bit and escape that game for 1-2 because of my shots not his errors. I managed to raise my game while straddling on the edge of the cliff. That third game of the first set probably saved my life in this match.
From there on it became a shootout. The strategy became clearer: Get his balls back but not just back, move him around so he can’t set up. I noticed one side was a little weaker but I don’t want to divulge that because the opponent may read this and use it for our next match down the road.
I noticed a few little things that could help me get a free point here and there, but no glaring hole to exploit. This opponent is one of those top players that if you can provoke an error, it won’t work on the next point. I have to constantly probe and dissect and mix it up, while of course, managing his power and thinking at the same time.
He brought his coach to the match but he left when I was ahead 4-3 in the first set. I ended up winning the first set 75 and he won the second set 75. Two incredibly close sets, never more than a break apart.
It was a high stress match because if I remember correctly – all the games at the end of each set were closely contested, with 30-all or deuces, so both sets could have gone the other way.
After about a deserved 20 minute break after the second set – it was over 80 degrees yesterday at Payne Park in Sarasota – we dug down for the third set. I managed to release all the frustration of having been unable to finish the match in two and jumped out to a 2-0 lead. But the same pattern continued. Neither of us were able to pad a margin of security and I blew that third game for 2-1 instead of the 3-0 I desired. Once again it became another epic set with just about every point and every game a bitter struggle.
It’s hard to remember everything so only certain shots stand out. I remember hitting a running forehand winner up the line and cross court and also some missed volleys. I remember his excellent movement surprising me with some lunge winners. He also had some volleys long. We both had a about five double faults. I tried one serve and volley and he hit a forehand cross court winner. I hit at least two backhand pass cross court angles that he couldn’t handle, one of my favorite shots. We both struck for a couple lob winners. I also remember hitting a slice backhand cross court winner. There were several points when one of us hit one sideline and then the other and we still didn’t finish the point. Both of us could move. It was a helluva match.
I ended up winning the third set 6-4. I hit a couple of big shots to get to 15-40 on his serve and finished it on the first match point, I think his last shot was an error long but I can’t remember exactly. Four hour matches are hard to recall. We started at noon and finished at a minute or two after four, forcing me to miss lunch at two with The Koz at Mediterraneo, owned by Mirjana Lucic Baroni’s husband Daniele and producer of the best pizza in Florida I ever tasted (free plug).
Four hours is a new personal record, exceeding the 3:20 from two years ago in Teaneck NJ in the www.bergentennis.com league. And the 3:20 in the USTA 35s at Morris Knolls in 2004.
Yes I played good but I have to give some credit to my two trusty supplements which helped to maintain my energy level – Advocare Spark and ReHydrate vitamin, mineral and Amino Acid supplements, which you can purchase from the link posted on the lower right column on this site. Advocare Spark and ReHydrate powder mix is what many of the ATP and WTA pros use. I became a believer in Advocare products after it helped me play and beat a strong 4.5 and then a current Division 1 college player both on the same day in 95 degree heat last June in the SF and F of the West Milford Museum tournament.
And yes, Advocare is legal and not a PED!
jg · March 2, 2018 at 12:03 pm
Scoop 58 pounds is high, especially if you use poly strings, I can feel my arm hurting from here!
Chazz · March 2, 2018 at 12:10 pm
I use 59 pounds and it suits me pretty well. But Scoop, I am alarmed that you mentioned warmup winners . You’re one of those guys, huh.
Dan Markowitz · March 2, 2018 at 12:20 pm
i string my racquet at 55 but I’m using syn gut. My son strings his poly at 48 lbs. I don;t think Scoop is using poly.
Scoop Malinowski · March 2, 2018 at 3:03 pm
Not sure what the strings are but they are lime yellow green and yes my elbow was killing me after. Three straight days of hard hitting with good players strong players. Tonight I’m going back to Volkl.
Scoop Malinowski · March 2, 2018 at 3:04 pm
Well Chazz, this guy kicked my butt last year with a lot of winners so I had to make a statement. I usually don’t try to send a message in the warmup but I had to show this guy the power I did not show the last time we played.
Scoop Malinowski · March 2, 2018 at 3:05 pm
Dan I think it is polyester. The sticker on the Head reads PS616 whatever that is.
Duke Carnoustie · March 2, 2018 at 4:33 pm
Scoop Advocare is the best. I used to sell it and made tons of money doing so. My body always used to sore after workouts and now it heals up faster. For those who don’t know, it’s totally legal and takes away many common aches and pains for those of us who play competitive sports. It’s a great product so click on the link and buy some since you won’t regret it. If I was coaching an ATP or WTA player, I’d highly recommend it.
jg · March 2, 2018 at 5:48 pm
I string just like Cal, poly ( Volkl strings) at 48
Doug Day · March 2, 2018 at 8:58 pm
Donaldson getting grip on this semi….its his time
Doug Day · March 2, 2018 at 10:05 pm
Jared great showing against Anderson at his best. A 3-6-3 loss & I doubt he had 20% first serve rate vs. Kevin’s 18 aces.
Duke Carnoustie · March 2, 2018 at 10:55 pm
Great job by JD.
Interesting semis at IW as Klizan faces Pospisil. The other is Fritz v Darian King, who was lucky that Chardy withdrew a round earlier against him.
Jackson Withrow into the doubles final with fellow Texas A&M buddy Krajicek. Withrow has the tools to be a top-20 doubles player in my opinion.
Duke Carnoustie · March 2, 2018 at 10:59 pm
Talk about guys willing to lay it on the line, a bunch of South Americans in qualifying at the Cachantun Open…
http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2018/3406/qs.pdf
Hartt · March 3, 2018 at 6:22 am
Catherine, thought you might be interested in this summary of how the top WTA players are doing now.
http://www.wtatennis.com/news/insider-heat-index-kvitova-streaking-sunshine-swing
catherine · March 3, 2018 at 8:11 am
Thanks for the link – interesting, although early year results aren’t always much of a guide to future form.
Eg I wouldn’t be surprised if everything goes topsy turvey in the next few weeks – I doubt Petra will maintain her streak (and I don’t care as long as she revives for W’don)- I’d like to see Julia G and Caroline G do well but I don’t think they will – yes, Angie usually flops at IW – Wozniaki will get found out, Simona’s form will depend on her feet – someone else will appear from nowhere – s/v will become fashionable again etc etc. It’s the WTA 🙂
Seriously, I really hope Muguruza steps up. Toughens physically and mentally and plays with the variety we’ve seen, briefly, in the past.
I’m also looking forward to the Fed Cup sf Germany v CR, played in Germany in April I think. Germans will probably choose Stuttgart and if the A team play then Kvitova/Kerber should do a rerun of their 2014 epic encounter.
Hartt · March 3, 2018 at 8:43 am
Yes, the one thing we can count on with the WTA is that it will be unpredictable!
I would love to see Garbine play well – at her best she is a fun player to watch.
I did not know about the upcoming Fed Cup tie between Germany and CR, and agree that it should be very entertaining. Unfortunately, my sports channel does not even cover much Canadian Fed Cup, so for sure they won’t show that tie. So annoying!
catherine · March 3, 2018 at 8:54 am
I can’t see Fed Cup live either unless Youtube streams it which they usually don’t since I can’t imagine there’s much betting on it 🙂
But there’s normally Youtube clips on the main matches, after the event. I still watch Kerber/Kvitova 2014 from time to time and I gather other people do too – for the atmosphere as much as anything, just exactly what the ITF want to destroy in DC.
BTW – what happened to Denis in his last match, the one he lost ? Did you see it ?
Hartt · March 3, 2018 at 10:23 am
Yes, I did see it. It was a combination of Denis not playing as well as he had in his previous match against Fritz, and Tiafoe playing extremely well. After the match, Frances said his aim was not to let Denis in the match, and I would say he largely succeeded in that. When Tiafoe is at his best he is a pretty formidable opponent, so this was not too big a surprise.
With Tiafoe, Fritz and Donaldson coming along for the Americans and Shapo and also Felix for Canada, there should be a terrific rivalry between the 2 countries on the men’s side for several years. Already they are meeting in tourneys – Denis won over Donaldson at Delray as well as Fritz, before his loss to Tiafoe.
Scoop Malinowski · March 3, 2018 at 11:53 am
Withrow is the real deal. How about Paes and Cerretani in the final? Donaldson is an uncanny player, he hangs in there and fights and counter punches and surprises with his power. Very smart, hard to read player. Under the radar too.
jg · March 3, 2018 at 2:37 pm
Interesting that Withrow had to take 18 months off because of a wrist injury in college and came back as a grad student player for his final year. Texas A T&T where he went has some team, a guy I play with’s Nephew is a freshman there and he won the US Open doubles, and he doesn’t even play number 1, Patrick Krypson who won Kalamazoo does.
Duke Carnoustie · March 3, 2018 at 3:03 pm
Nicolas Jarry is on quite a run, beating some big-time clay courters in recent weeks in Ramos-Vinolas twice, Zeballos, Pellas and Cuevas.
Watch for Jarry and his booming forehand in Roland Garros. He will be looking to win a Slam match for the first time.
He’s so good he beat Withrow in doubles this year in the Ecuador final!
Duke Carnoustie · March 3, 2018 at 5:31 pm
Wow some huge Scoops coming across in the tennis world, Scoop.
First off, it’s getting ugly between Alex Zverev and Ferrero. Zverev said that Ferrero was disrespectful to Sascha’s team at the AO while Ferrero responded that Zverev was always late to practices. Don’t forget that AZ was often late at Hopman Cup and Angie called him out on it.
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/926344/Alexander-Zverev-fight-sack-coach-Juan-Carlos-Ferrero-Boris-Becker
http://www.sportstarlive.com/tennis/he-no-longer-respected-the-guidelines-ferrero-offers-rebuttal-to-zverev/article22919503.ece
Second, David Goffin won’t be in Tennessee to face the U.S. in the final Davis Cup. He is skipping IW, then playing Miami and skipping the DC. Can the U.S. take advantage and win the final Davis Cup?
Third, Hyeon Chung lost his rackets en route to IW due to Mexican baggage handlers. Let’s see how that affects him.
Duke Carnoustie · March 3, 2018 at 5:32 pm
What is this ‘Your comment is awaiting moderation.’ New feature?
Scoop Malinowski · March 3, 2018 at 6:14 pm
I saw Jarry doing hardcore fitness drills, sprints and agility, with Kyle Morgan on the Key Biscayne public courts two years ago. Working that hard I knew he was going to eventually make a breakthrough and here it is finally happening. For a big man, Jarry moves so well. Very interesting Acapulco final between Anderson and Delpo will determine who the best big man in tennis is.
Scoop Malinowski · March 3, 2018 at 6:16 pm
Not a surprise that Goffin is baling on Davis Cup. All the other top players are. Ferrero is a super nice guy, interviewed him many times. It seems possibly that Team Z is making JCF their scapegoat for subpar results? King Kong Chung will be fine, Yonex will send the new racquets.
Duke Carnoustie · March 4, 2018 at 1:47 am
Stunner at IW as Taylor Fritz loses to Darian King.
King v. Klizan to become Indians Wells champ
How about Malik Jaziri? Beats Dimitrov, Tsitsipas and Haase and loses to RBA in Dubai semis. Now he’s off to a challenger in Zhuhai.
catherine · March 4, 2018 at 3:14 am
Zverev IMO is just young. He’ll grow out of it. Maybe Boris can have a word with him. Boris himself had history in that way.
These scraps between players and ex-coaches soon die down.
I hadn’t heard the story about Sascha being told off by Angie at Hopman Cup for tardiness but I can believe it. Angie can be a bit bossy on occasion – she had a spat with Cornet last year and told Alize to stop blaming her coach for her own mistakes. That was on court too. You could see Cornet was surprised to see this other side of Kerber. She pleaded ‘Aw, come on Angie, everyone makes mistakes’ but Angie just stuck her nose in the air and stalked off.
Hartt · March 4, 2018 at 6:39 am
That is an interesting story about Angie and Cornet.
I agree about Sascha being young, and that he should grow out of it. He has improved his on-court behaviour somewhat. (Although there is room for more improvement.) I also wonder, if he, so much younger than Mischa, was given in to by Mischa and their parents when he was a kid, and now he has a sense of entitlement. Anyway, I’m giving Sascha another year or so to mature, and still expect him to be a Slam winner in the future.
scoopmalinowski · March 4, 2018 at 7:20 am
Team Zverev has to blame something for Alex’s failure in majors. After winning the masters 1000 last summer Zverev has been struggling to take that next step. Something is missing. But he looked super vs Aus in DCup.
Hartt · March 4, 2018 at 7:36 am
Hopefully, Sascha will have decent results at a Slam this season, but it is easy to forget how early in his career he is. He has lots of time. As we know, players don’t make a steady climb. but hit plateaus and setbacks along the way.
But I agree, publicly criticizing his former coach does not look good.
catherine · March 4, 2018 at 8:05 am
Hartt – I think you are saying Sascha was probably spoilt stupid as a kid and now has to get used to the fact that he is not the only pebble on the beach and will endure losses and disappointments like everyone else. I’m sure that will happen and, as Scoop says, he’ll take the next step.
Last year Sascha played Hopman Cup with Petkovic and maybe Andrea was a little more relaxed about his turning up on time 🙂
Cornet did a major meltdown v Kerber last year, although she won – it was on Youtube for a while – and Angie was obviously annoyed about that and wanted to make her feelings clear. I imagine she felt Alize should take more responsibility for her performance on court.
Angie seems to have a strong sense of duty and obligation, to the game and to her position in it – which caused her so much trouble last year – just saying yes to every demand and call on her time and in the end those outside things got too much.
A ranking around 5/6 is probably best for her. And no pressure to win GSs.
Hartt · March 4, 2018 at 8:52 am
I have heard more stories lately about the pressure top players are under from media and sponsor obligations, etc. It must be difficult to handle, especially for those players who are not extroverts by nature. Along with balancing the time those obligations require when players must still focus on their tennis.
Denis Shapovalov talked about what an adjustment he had last fall, and getting accustomed to the media attention was one aspect. Of course, with his unexpected results and popularity, this attention came suddenly. He felt he has made that adjustment, I hope he has, because the spotlight will continue to fall on him, especially if he has some good results this season.
It is one of the things that makes Federer so special. He handles these obligations with such grace. A reporter at the Laureus Sports Awards wrote about how, long after other sportsmen had said no more pics or interviews, I have to leave, Roger was still there, accommodating all requests and seeming to enjoy himself.
catherine · March 4, 2018 at 10:09 am
Federer is at a stage in his career where he is able to balance the time he spends playing with other activities, and of course he really is under no pressure re winning tournaments and breaking records.
I’m not sure if this was the case when he was a younger man.
Also he does appear to have the ideal personality for a public figure, plus Mirka and family to sustain him.
You’d hope that what happened to Angie might give sponsors, media and so on, pause for thought, about killing the goose etc. but I bet it won’t.
Duke Carnoustie · March 4, 2018 at 11:49 am
Ha, I can picture Angie sticking her nose in the air and walking off!
Chazz · March 4, 2018 at 12:34 pm
I saw some of the Fritz-King match yesterday. Fritz was in good position to win the match, had 2 break points to go up 6-5 in the 2nd and put it away, but after that it was downhill. He got outsmarted as King went into full-on pusher mode and kept points alive and waited for Fritz to force things or commit errors. Tough loss for Fritz as I’m sure he thought he was on the cusp of winning a title near his hometown.
Hartt · March 4, 2018 at 12:53 pm
It is hard to imagine the demands on Fed’s time. He has joked, though, that now that he does not need to practice for so many hours, tennis can be a part-time job.
When he was younger he did have trouble with punctuality, but his mother said he even improved in that when he became well-known and felt he was representing tennis.
Yes, he does seem to have the ideal personality for a public figure. People often mention how relaxed he is, even before a big match. And he appears to be a true extrovert, someone who gains energy from being around people. Paul Annacone made an interesting comment. He said one of Fed’s strengths is that he has empathy, and this ability to see things from another person’s viewpoint must make it easier for him to interact with a wide variety of people.
Duke Carnoustie · March 4, 2018 at 2:49 pm
Chazz,
Tough one for Fritz. He will have to get over the emotional shock of such a loss. We shall see how he does when he returns to the scene of the crime this week.
Scoop Malinowski · March 4, 2018 at 6:31 pm
Federer has a solid support team, Mirka is all in on his career, they have the nannies to take care of the kids, he has Ljubicic, one of the best tennis minds in the world, physio, and no pressure at all, he can just play and take care of his body. Plus he never lost his passion for the sport or the outside obligations that being an all time great super champion have to be taken care of. I think Federer is the ultimate champion in sports history.
Scoop Malinowski · March 4, 2018 at 6:34 pm
That was a tough loss for Fritz to lose to King, that’s a match we expect him to win. Gotta give credit to King for believing. He’s tight with Big Foe and sat one row behind myself and Dan at Delray Beach during the Tiafoe vs Delpo night match. Perhaps some of Tiafoe’s greatness is rubbing off and inspiring King.
Scoop Malinowski · March 5, 2018 at 8:33 am
I bet Tiafoe who is 5-0 vs Fritz advised King on how to beat Fritz.
Duke Carnoustie · March 5, 2018 at 9:26 am
Scoop, Fritz crushed Tiafoe the last time they played two years ago. Your point is well taken though that Foe owned him in the juniors.
Sam Querrey and Abby Dixon are now engaged. That means Sam and Stevie Johnson are both slated to join Fritz in the ranks of married players now.
Solid qualifying draw in the IW women’s bracket. Vinci, Schiavone, Vickery, Townsend, Duval, Lisicki, Brenle, Rus, Petkovic, Wickmayer all in action today.
Scoop Malinowski · March 5, 2018 at 9:32 am
Forgot about that Winston Salem match, so it’s 1-1 in ATP and 4-0 in juniors for Tiafoe. I still think Tiafoe helped King to win that match 🙂 Harrison is married to, to Christina McHale’s sister Lauren.