Tennis Prose




Mar/19

6

Which players do the pros cheer for?

About ten years ago I got the idea to ask several WTA and ATP players at the US Open who would they cheer for if they were not in the tournament? Who would they like to see win? Here are the interesting results of the unofficial poll.

Should I do another one of these at Miami Open?

Danai Udomchoke: “I could imagine the picture of Roger Federer capturing the trophy, I want him to make the record. I want him to win the French Open also. He’s a good guy. He’s a very good guy. (You know him a long time?) Yes. Because we are same age and then we play junior together. Once I play him, but in doubles, when we were like 16 or 17. He won. He’s a very nice guy. He talk to everyone and he remember everyone.”

Feliciano Lopez: “Anyone of the Spaniards. I guess Rafa.”

Marcos Baghdatis: “Nobody. No. (What about rooting for one of your friends?) No friends [smiles].”

Martina Hingis: “You don’t want to see anybody but yourself holding the trophy. I’m sorry — I can’t give another answer.”

Ivan Ljubicic: “It’s hard question. But I think everybody is thinking about the record — if Roger can get Pete Sampras. If I’m out I guess I would cheer for him just because I would like to see records be broken. But really, I don’t have any favorite players. If I can’t make it, then other Croatians. If not them, whoever.”

Nicolas Kiefer: “If you would put money on somebody I think Roger is by far the favorite.
Maybe Djokovic. As a fan I would love to see me but it’s impossible now. I’m not a fan when I’m out, I’m not a fan.”

Jo Wilfried Tsonga: “[Long pause]… … I don’t know…Marat Safin. (Why?) Because since some years he’s not playing very well in Grand Slams so it will be fun to see him at the final or semifinal.”

Yan Zi: “It really doesn’t matter to me.”

Peng Shuai: “I never really think of that question. I just think of why I lose, my next training and what I have to train. And just wish good luck for everyone. It’s really tough to cheer for anyone — every tournament has different players.”

Arnaud Clement: “All the other French players. (Any in particular?) Sebastian (Grosjean), Michal (Llodra), and we are 15 in the draw and we are very good friends.”

Jurgen Melzer: “Oh, that’s a tough one. But I think I would root for Roger. Four in a row. And he’s a nice guy. We know each other since juniors. We’re the same age. It’s unreal for Roger.”

Juan Martin Del Potro: “Roger again. Or some Argentinean players. (Why Roger, he’s won so many already?) Because he’s the best [smiles].”

Fabrice Santoro: “I like Roger Federer to beat the record of 14 in Grand Slams. To beat this record, to win four more. So I’m always very happy when he goes through a Grand Slam. He’s a very good guy on the court, he’s fun to watch, and he’s a great guy off the court.”

Janko Tipsarevic: “Novak. Novak for sure. (Why?) First of all because he’s a dear friend. And second of all, because I really want to see someone getting involved into the Federer-Nadal rivalry and the race who is to be number two and number one.”

Francesca Schiavone: “Justine. Because she’s a complete player. She has every shot. She has mind. I respect her.”

Agnes Szavay: “Probably Henin gonna win the tournament. I don’t know, I’m not thinking of this [smiles].”

Rafael Nadal (asked during first week): “Well, favorite for me is Roger.”

Svetlana Kuznetsova: “All of my good friends or I guess Justine Henin. Because I think she’s one of the best at the moment. She’s most professional one.”

Patty Schnyder: “On the men’s Roger. Just for me the best player ever. On the women’s— I don’t know. I don’t know. I think Mauresmo — she has her title. So she’s not even here — I really wanted her to win one Slam. But otherwise, yeah, it’s not too deep friendship that I have with somebody [smiles].”

Stefan Koubek: “Roger. I’m a friend, a fan, everything of him. I just like to see him win but unfortunately I have to beat him in the semis [smiles].”

Akiko Morigami: “I would say either Anna (Chakvetadze), because I think she has so much potential. I think she can do it. She never won in a major. So I’m really cheering for Anna. I think she has a great game as well.”

Vince Spadea: “Any of the Americans. Or Federer. I would like to see Federer win the French Open.”

Andrei Pavel: “That’s a very difficult question. [Long pause]… …I can’t say anybody…who would you like to see win?”

· ·

66 comments

  • Dan Markowitz · March 6, 2019 at 9:39 pm

    What do you do if you’re Noah Rubin? You just turned 23 and you’re 153 in the rankings and in the 2nd rd of Indy Wells Qualis you get drubbed by Daniel Evans a pair of breadsticks. It might be time for Rubin to realize that pro tennis isn’t going to pan out and maybe go back to college which you skipped out of after one year and get that degree.

    Of five Americans in the 2nd and last round of Qualis at IW, only Marcos Giron, a 25 year-old ranked 217 eeked out a win to make it to the main draw. I do like this 20 year old John Jeffrey Wolf out of Ohio State. He has a Spadea-like game.

  • Chazz · March 7, 2019 at 12:12 am

    Thought we’d see Cressy in qualis. Also Tommy Paul and Escobedo. None of those guys could get into qualis?

  • Jg · March 7, 2019 at 6:35 am

    Rubin looked great the night before, I didn’t see it but surprised he didn’t give Evans a match, maybe he’s focusing more on other outlets like his social media projects. But I will say he looked impressive the night before. Cressy got snubbed, he played Evans close in the Indian Wells Challenger last week, they should have given him a qualifying wild card, especially that it’s a California tournament.

  • Dan Markowitz · March 7, 2019 at 6:48 am

    The cutoff for the IW Qualis was very high. I think I heard over tv, like 183. Paul is like 206 and I guess Escobedo who really has had a disappointing fall in the rankings is below 183 too. Cressy also isn’t that highly ranked. Mmoh is a guy who I thought had the most potential of this second tier group of young Americans, but I didn’t see him in the Aussie O Qualis either.

    Actually, looking it up, Mmoh played Aussie O main draw and lost first round to Albot in 4 sets and although he’s still ranked 110 we haven’t seen him since. He must be injured. Escobedo has dropped from a high of 67 in July 2017 to 267. Ouch!

    When you look at it, guys like Klahn and Sandrgren at 28 and 27, respectively, are both ranked in the top 90. Guys like Harry and DY, 26 and 29, respectively, are ranked 104 and 206, respectively. Makes you think going to college might be the better route for a longer prosperous career than turning pro at 18. I guess turning pro early has only worked for Tiafoe, Fritz, Opelka and maybe JD, although none of these guys have really rocked the tennis world.

    For guys like Kozlov, Rubin, Mmoh, Kreuger and Paul, maybe a few years of college would’ve been the answer. How did DY get a WC into IW the way he’s playing?

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 8:48 am

    Who is Rubin’s coach? I don’t recall him having any coach ever, or even a USTA caddy. Andreescu was 14-15 and she already had a full time pro coach, former top 10 player Nathalie Tauziat. Maybe Rubin just needs to upgrade his coaching situation which means opening his wallet. Good coaches are costly.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 8:49 am

    Paul is supposedly injured again. Escobedo is fading down the rankings.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 8:51 am

    jg, Rubin’s brainchild “Behind the Racquet” interviews with pro players is fantastic reading and a very positive interesting project. You must check it out on Instagram. Rubin may need a coaching upgrade, Spadea or Gambill could help him. Mike Russell. Ginepri. I can’t think of Rubin ever having a coach, he seems like a tennis nomad.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 8:55 am

    Young did not deserve teh WC off his results that’s for sure, must be black privilege? Young may be the most wildcarded player in tennis history and he’s still getting the handouts now at age 29. How IW did not give it to a young American who deserves it is a story that should be investigated. Now let’s see if Young can maximize this opportunity, his ranking is still down in the dumpster.

  • Chazz · March 7, 2019 at 8:57 am

    I forgot about Mmoh. He has had a pretty good upward trajectory in the past year or so. Escobedo is an enigma. He was all the way up to #67 in 2017.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 9:49 am

    Chazz, Shapovalov is playing with Bopanna of India, a very successful doubles player. Tsitsipas is playing with Wesley Koolhof, who is also a solid ATP doubles player. Johnson and Thiem are a curious tandem.Meanwhile, Sock is watching his ranking drop and drop. He’s been busy with a new girlfriend in North Carolina.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 9:51 am

    Mmoh is making good progress, losing to Albot in four at AO doesn’t look so bad now. Escobedo has been doing downhill ever since losing to Johnson at Houston first round last year, up a set and a break and up the mini break in the second set tiebreaker when he double faulted at 5-5. That loss was a heartbreaker. Johnson ended up defending the title.

  • Chazz · March 7, 2019 at 10:22 am

    Lol ok Scoop, shows how closely I follow doubles unless a singles player is playing. I’m guessing Boulter dumped him, but Sock is still doing well outside of tennis, so he’s got that going for them.

  • Dan Markowitz · March 7, 2019 at 10:54 am

    Black privilege! Come on, DY’s career is now looking like a sparkling success compared to some of these other players who’ve really never had a career.

    I was at the USTA National Center in Queens yesterday talking to a tennis dad and we both couldn’t understand why the USTA, this tremendous cash cow, has not been able to develop more better American male players, especially of color. My son is one of the scholarship groups and thankfully there’s some color in his group; one boy is half-black, a girl is black, another boy is Indian, and one girl is Asian and my son is half-Asian.

    Come on, beside Tiafoe, America can’t produce a successful male player of color? I know Mac Mac is one and hopefully, Roy Smith and Chris Eubanks are two others with Michael Mmoh, but it’s been a long time since Arthur Ashe.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 11:08 am

    Dan, and the USTA is trying very hard to produce a young champion of color, giving them every advantage. It’s very clear by which players they promote, that the USTA wants players of color to succeed. At some point you have to wonder if it’s the USTA at fault? Taylor Townsend should have made it. But right now there are two big prospects in the pipeline, 14 year old Coco Gauff and Clervie Ngounoue who is 12 or 13, she won two national 14s and Orange Bowl 12s and she is hitting with pros already, they had her with the team at Fed Cup tie in Asheville. I have seen this girl play at Eddie Herr and she is unbelievable already at 12 she has a complete pro game, attacks net, perfect strokes and she’s s nice kid too. Gauff is doing it without USTA I believe. When you think about it, USTA is struggling to produce any really successful players, both Fritz and Opelka were not USTA controlled players. Tiafoe is non USTA too I believe. Who is this guy Zach Evenden that is listed as Tiafoe’s coach? Is it one of his buddies? Tiafoe is an elite player, he should have an elite coach, no? Is this a bonehead decision by Tiafoe? Best results came with Ginepri.

  • Dan Markowitz · March 7, 2019 at 11:37 am

    Well Tiafoe when he switched coaches when leaving Maryland definitely started working w a USTA coach, Jose Higueras. Mac Mac is also w Usta and I thought Opelka trained in Orlando too. Never heard of the 12 year old you tout. I’m impressed with this Anisimova who got to quarters last year at IW at 16 and then 4 th rd of Aussie O. She hits a big ball, younger than Kenin but to my eye she looks like the better player although I line Kenin a lot. The sport in the Eastern Section of the USTA which I’m familiar with is dominated by Asians and Eastern Europeans.

    They will do almost anything—hire private coaches, travel to tournaments all around the country, take their kids out of school for a week, home school them and have them play exclusively tennis 365 a year—for their kids to be successful. It’s crazy and someone suggested to me that this is the reason you don’t see really good athletes in the U.S. gravitating towards tennis because it’s so exclusive and these crazed tennis parents spend so much money for their kids to get an advantage to the extent where my kid who’s probably going to play no 1 at White Plains High School this spring will be one of only a few top kids playing high school tennis. Even his coach, Fritz Buehning, tried to talk me out of Callum doing it saying high school tennis is a joke.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 1:00 pm

    Anisimova is a lot more impressive physically than Kenin, she is taller, longer arms and legs and that’s going to be an advantage over a lot of girls. Kenin has something special too though, she is a natural pure fierce fighter. We don’t know how Anisimova fights yet, she can just blast people off the court but let’s see how she is in close tight matches.

  • Chazz · March 7, 2019 at 1:33 pm

    Regarding Kenin, she had a nice tough 3 set win over Wang yesterday. Pretty impressive to bounce back after losing the first 6-1 and getting a little revenge after losing to her in the Acapulco final.

  • Hartt · March 7, 2019 at 1:35 pm

    Money is such a huge issue for the young players. Tennis Canada funded Nathalie Tauziat to coach Andreescu. Tauziat was one of the coaches at Canada’s last Fed Cup tie, so it looks like she still has a link to Tennis Canada.

    Denis Shapovalov decided not to go the Tennis Canada route, so he was lucky to have a private sponsor, starting in his early teens. That sponsor has assisted other Canadian players as well, but of course Denis was the big success story so far.

    But if it weren’t for Tennis Canada, or a private sponsor, would those two players have been able to fund their junior careers, and then the transition to the pro level?

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 3:15 pm

    Felix is dominating one of the hotter players in the ATP right now Norrie, total beatdown. This will be the year of Felix. He will do big things this year. Sensational win today vs Norrie. 6362. “Startling performance,” says Annacone. Next up will be Tsitsipas which is really interesting because they last played at US open junior semis, won by Felix in two close sets. Surely Felix is inspired by all the success of Stefanos, he knows in his head that he is better than Tsitispas. Now he gets the chance to prove it next round.

  • Chazz · March 7, 2019 at 3:27 pm

    Wow, that’s a really big win. Norrie is one of those dangerous young players that has been rising in the rankings.

  • Hartt · March 7, 2019 at 3:45 pm

    Felix made it look easy. All aspects of his game were working, including serve, FH and volley.

    Felix had 80% of first serves in, and his average first serve was 122 mph. He won 80% of first serve points and 60% of 2nd serve points. He had 6 aces and no DFs.

    Felix had 20 winners and 15 UFEs, compared to 8 and 14 for Norrie. He won 8/11 net points, and made some lovely volleys, showing great touch.

  • Hartt · March 7, 2019 at 3:47 pm

    From Tennis Canada twitter:

    “About the variety in her game, Bianca Andreescu told us on the @Southpaw_Slice recently: “I’ve always played like that. It was because I just get bored so I want to try something new every other shot. It really helps me against the other players on tour because I find most of them only have one shot. I think my game throws a lot of them off.”

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 3:55 pm

    Davenport and Carillo noted how a new era could be commencing in WTA, a new era of more variety. Lots of players now have variety, like Andreescu and of course the main pioneer Su Wei Hsieh. It’s possible her big singles matches in the last two years have had a major influence on the direction of the game.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 3:57 pm

    I can’t even begin to count how many matches I have won by using variety and spins to mix it up. Hit a different spin spot and it causes the error. These shots have helped me win countless points, matches and tournaments. Exactly as Andreescu says, it’s like having many extra weapons to work with instead of the same forehand same backhand over and over and over.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 4:01 pm

    Felix looked like a future no.1 player today. One of the most impressive performances of the year. Felix is here now an he is going to do what he did today to a lot of players. I am calling the upset win vs Tsitsipas. Felix beat Stafanos last time they played at US Open juniors and he knows he’s better. He will have more motivation. This will be a tough match for Tsitsipas, new to the top ten, this is a pressure match for him. No pressure on Felix.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 4:05 pm

    Inside scoop just for people who support http://www.Tennis-prose.com…Stefan Kozlov has changed his team and is now coached by Brian Baker and Jeff Salzenstein as the day to day guy. Baker currently works with two other players along with Stefan. Good luck to the new team Kozlov, good results should follow as Salzenstein and Baker are two consummate professionals with a lot to offer.

  • Dan Markowitz · March 7, 2019 at 6:50 pm

    Jeff is going to train Stefan in Fla and travel with him? I don’t believe that. He makes too much money running his web site for Stefan to pay him a commensurate rate. Where’d you get this news?

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    Consult. Baker is coach, Jeff consults. Is in Orlando now observing. I got the news and more straight from the team.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 7, 2019 at 7:33 pm

    Querrey parts ways with Boynton.

  • Hartt · March 7, 2019 at 7:41 pm

    Someone posted the highlights of the Felix vs Stefanos USO juniors match. They both had a mature game even when so young – Felix was 16 and Stef was 18.

    Felix showed today why so many people are excited about him. I don’t know what to expect from his upcoming match with Stefanos. If Felix plays his best he has a good chance of winning, but he will need his best tennis.

    The Tennis Channel desk had an interview with Felix after today’s match. He was charming, with a lovely smile. As more people see Felix play and see those kind of interviews, the youngster will gain many new fans, to go with those of us who have been watching him since he was 14.

  • Dan Markowitz · March 7, 2019 at 10:11 pm

    I knew Salzy would never go out and coach Kozlov day to day. Why would a guy ranked #340 and who’s only beaten one player (Mitchell Krueger #228) inside the top 300 this year, have two coaches? How does he get the dough to afford two coaches and why would two coaches afford their time? If anyone has taken up the bulk of the USTA’s coaching largesse it’s been Kozlov.

  • catherine · March 8, 2019 at 2:48 am

    No one could be happier than me to see more variety in the women’s game. Back to the future ? Maybe the next couple of years will tell.

    Scoop – you could be right about Hsieh – I saw Kerber give one of those instant interviews for PR at IW – she isn’t looking good. I think she’ll go out early and unless she really changes her game, which is unlikely now, this might be her last year in the top 20. Maybe she knows this, which accounts for her lack of fight in many matches this year – notably vs Hsieh in Dubai. She had Schuettler out twice in that 3 set match and before the 3rd set I don’t think I’ve seen a more unhappy player on court. She said nothing at all to Rainer – just shook her head a couple of times and chucked away her drink bottle. Didn’t win another game. And this is the current W’don champion. Even S-W seemed a bit surprised.

    Angie could try a few new things in matches, a few twists and twirls – she can volley, she can dropshot well, she can even hit tweeners if she’s relaxed and confident – she can’t do much worse than she’s doing now and it might revive her interest and drive. Could say the same about a few WTA players. Don’t they get sick of the same old stuff ?

  • Leif Wellington Haase · March 8, 2019 at 4:46 am

    Some observations from a (relatively) chilly and blustery first few days at Indian Wells…if Querrey has played a better match in years I haven’t seen it. Berrettini is the real deal and brought a huge game with all the modern bells and whistles…I had no idea he could hit a serve 134. Sam had every opportunity to fold but served huge on the key points and played steadily off the ground. He has a knack for saving his best performances for the moments when he seems about to plunge into rankings oblivion. Speaking of big serves, Karlovic became the first player since 1995 (Connors) to win a match on tour after turning 40. Fratangelo showed grit in qualifying against Andrey Rublev, who on talent alone has no business being in qualies…he’s only 21 but there is a mismanaged career well along in the making. Marcos Giron is a really nice young man who has worked very hard and used his wild card opportunity first to qualify and then to beat Chardy, a very good win. Doubt that he has a lot of upside but I wouldn’t have bet he could win a match against a top 100 player let alone two or three. Felix was stunningly good, especially on serve, though Norrie (who has game) had stage fright and a bad off day…has there ever been a world #16 as anonymous as Marco Cecchinato? Not a single person was watching him practice. Young should have received a wildcard into qualies, not the main draw; he has had a run of relatively decent form though I expect him to be crushed by Hurkacz tomorrow. Lots at stake for Donaldson who has fallen almost to 200 in the rankings. Opelka really ought to have had a further breakout here but he doesn’t know how to win…almost feels obliged to lose…when he doesn’t bring his “A” game. If he stays healthy he should be fine.

    Barring injury, Anisimova looks like a future #1 and judging by what I see of the women’s field the future could be very near indeed. Not only does she have consistent power and a fluid serve she knows how to construct a point and vary pace and spin– these are mostly lost arts but if you can ante up and match power with power they are qualities that still separate an elite player from a good one.

  • Hartt · March 8, 2019 at 7:07 am

    Leif, thanks for the first hand account from IW. I am looking forward to more.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 8, 2019 at 7:40 am

    Nice insights and observations Leif, thank you. Giron is a rising force, he is not highly regarded because he struggled for years and did nothing but this year and end of last year he started to emerge. He is not a fluke, he has been registering solid wins for the last year, winning titles, gaining confidence. He said on Behind the Racquet he had personal issues which affected his career a few years ago. He’s back on track and we are seeing a much stronger smarter player now. This kind of win vs Chardy proves Giron can go very high, top 50, who knows? Cecchinato is indeed totally anonymous, the media has totally ignored him, he’s like Amy Frazier, Wayne Ferrerira, excellent proven near elite player who gets no media attention. I will do his Biofile in Miami. Felix was incredible, he just destroyed Norrie. I don’t think it was stage fright, I think it was pressure to beat the young kid and also being stunned by how good Felix is. Norris just fell apart because Felix played and hit the ball a lot better than he was expecting.

  • Dan Markowitz · March 8, 2019 at 9:49 am

    “Giron is a rising force.” Where do you get this stuff, Scoop? You think every journeyman at 25 who has a couple of decent wins is going to be the next Stepanek. The guy’s 5-11 now I haven’t seen him play, but there’s got to be a reason–and it’s probably because he’s not that good–that he’s been struggling the last few years on the Challenger circuit. Let’s see, but I doubt Giron is a rising force.

    No. 1, Leif, you think Anismova going to be no. 1!? I’ll respect your word. My only hesitation with her at this young age is actually two: she seems to get injured a lot and she doesn’t move exceptionally well.

  • Leif Wellington Haase · March 8, 2019 at 1:30 pm

    Dan…agree with the caveat about injury and Anisimova, which I alluded to. Also about her suspect movement but her movement was noticeably improved since she upset Kvitová here last year. In terms of her rising to the top of the ranks that has as much to do with what one could politely call the unsettled or fluid state of contemporary women’s tennis as with her own talent but she appears to have the tools to become one of 8-10 women who can compete for the top spot. I keep expecting one of those players to become a dominant number one, and Osaka is certainly a possibility, but almost all of the contenders are plagued by inconsistency and– unlike in the men’s game– those in the top 20 or so aren’t threatened by the depth of the field, unlike on the men’s side where you can put your career in jeopardy with a few months of bad play or a nagging injury.

  • Hartt · March 8, 2019 at 9:15 pm

    Bianca Andreescu just beat Cibulkova 6-2, 6-2. I don’t know who the British commie was, but he was very excited about the quality of Bianca’s play. He was saying that one of the best things about these big tourneys was seeing an unexpected up and coming player. Although given Bianca’s results so far this season I don’t know how “unexpected” she is now.

  • catherine · March 9, 2019 at 2:49 am

    Match of the tournament so far – Serena bt Azarenka in SS. Serena looking good from what I hear. Anasimova goes out to Bertens SS – I still can’t see the American as a future No 1. Kenin out too. Konta bts Hsieh – IW not the best courts for S-W I suspect.

    Kasatkina loses again – playing coachless this week. She needs to find someone fast.

  • catherine · March 9, 2019 at 2:59 am

    Mertens bt Anasimova of course. Sloane Stephens out to Voegele and Sloane’s exits are becoming so predictable these days that it seemed hardly worth a mention.

    Sasbalenka v Tomjlanovic later – wouldn’t bet on Aryna. Just the kind of match she’ll blow in 3 sets.

  • catherine · March 9, 2019 at 6:01 am

    I don’t think Serena will win the tournament. Her strokes look fine but she lacks speed. A bit stately. She wills the ball to come to her. Vika obliged a few too many times perhaps.

  • Dan Markowitz · March 9, 2019 at 6:28 am

    I only watched the first set of Serena v Vika, but it was high quality and I beg to differ, Serena is moving much better. She got up to the net on some shot balls and a drop shot Vika hit and put them away. Although, her volleys are very sketchy and Davenport doing the commentary on TC pointed out that Serena gets burned a lot because she comes to net too cavalierly.

    Vika was running down balls into the corners like she’s a track star. What Sernea does better than anyone I’ve seen on the women;s tour except for Osaka now is just pummel the ball and her backhand–last night it was off in the first set–is as lethal as her forehand.

    I get a kick out of Davenport calling Mary Carrillo, “Mar” all the time like she’s a horse. My son is playing a tournament in the Harlem Armory and there’s an old picture of Zina Garrison there and I told him Zina made the finals of Wimbledon once and lost to Martina. Hadn’t seen a picture of Garrison in a long while. She was a specimen when she played, strong and muscular, but I know she’s put on a lot of weight now.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 9, 2019 at 7:33 am

    Andreescu is at the stage she can win anything now, she’s playing and beating top players consistently. Major win for Serena, she beat a high level Azarenka, impressive big win for her confidence. Fritz was disappointing vs Johnson, he has been struggling since Delray when he lost to McDonald and didn’t look so great in practices there after, even yelling at Nainkin, “DONT TALK TO ME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE POINT!” Johnson thoroughly dominated him and withstood the predictable attacks on his backhand. Isner and Qurrey had a MP vs Mahubert, with Q serving but Herb came in off the return and Q netted the CC BH.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 9, 2019 at 7:34 am

    Wonder why Zina Garrison is not a coach of any player? She has the experience and surely has a lot to offer?

  • Hartt · March 9, 2019 at 7:57 am

    I could only see the scores, but was rooting for Herbert/Mahut, so was thrilled when they won.

    Tennis.life has a video of Andreescu being interviewed by several reporters. I thought that Bianca was confident without being cocky. She understands that the matches won’t be easy. But she also understands how effective her style is, because she herself doesn’t like to play against someone who uses a lot of different shots, who is unpredictable.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 9, 2019 at 8:24 am

    Hartt in boxing and tennis the person does not like to go up against their mirror style. The boxer and tennis player would prefer to go up against the opposite style. So it’s not a mistake by Andreescu to admit this preference.

  • Leif Wellington Haase · March 9, 2019 at 9:57 am

    It’s always dangerous to generalize based on small sample size (for instance, their dreadful starts to 2018 didn’t doom Isner or Tiafoe), but based on one cold day and night in the desert it looks like much of the American men’s tennis brigade has stalled.

    Fritz was ghastly in his defeat to Steve Johnson, guilty of impatience, tactical uncertainty, and simply bad ball-striking. Johnson exposed all of Fritz’s technical flaws, especially on the backhand side, and while Fritz hits his serve and groundstrokes with great pace it is rarely with a heavy ball that does damage. While Fritz seemed shaken after the match he wasn’t able to bring any sense of urgency to his play: mentally he was as flat as he was technically suspect. How much of this was good Steve Johnson– and he was unusually good, even hitting over his backhand a few times with both one and two hands in addition to the reliable slice– we’ll get to see in the next few days, but Fritz is going to have to do some soul-searching after this loss. Relative to the young Europeans and Aussie players who are increasingly coming to the fore, he also lacks fitness, so that is another area of concern.

    Harrison could barely hit the ball through the court in losing to a Spanish clay-courter; Tennys Sandgren was suckered into a game of patball with Mannarino, and predictably came up short; Klahn (from the night session previous) barely put up a fight against Jaziri, an easily winnable match. Tiafoe, at least, mostly was guilty of untimely bad shot selection against Jarry, who is himself a rising star of Tiafoe’s caliber or more.

    No surprise that the game has simply passed by Donald Young, who was up against Hubert Hurkacz, a by now standard-issue 6′ 5″, roughly 130 lb European tennis rollout. In modern tennis you can sometimes get away without a mid 120s serve, even as a change-up like Johnson, if you have tremendous wheels and hit the ball through the court (like the underrated Peter Gojowczyk, who won yesterday against Seppi), but Young can’t do any damage off the ground, and hence he is helpless against modern power and his speed, which remains, is not enough to compensate. Honestly though it was good to see Young competing hard and not complaining nonstop: while realism suggests he should retire he could certainly hang on for a while against Challenger-level competition and might enjoy tennis at last, but at an advanced tennis age he would have to entirely make over his serve to have any chance of getting back to the Tour-level rung.

    And now for some good news: Donaldson is back from injury and looked pretty sharp, with an improved serve and apparently stronger and fitter, although his competition wasn’t stiff. Mackie MacDonald was sometimes impressive against Joao Sousa, who is a tricky and tenacious opponent: MacDonald has basically done everything he can to compensate for his slight build and to be a consummate pro in every respect: his serve, which was once a big liability, made the difference against Sousa, and though he will always be a big underdog against the ruling class of giants he will continue to get their attention. Same for the diminutive Radu Albot, who won yesterday and is continuing a great run of form this year.

    Outside the Americans on the men’s side the teen Aussie Alexei Popyrin showed a lot of game and hustle in defeating Jaime Munar, the Batista Agut of the future. And while he won’t win any ATP tournaments keep an eye out for Alex Bolt, a middle-aged (so to speak) Aussie who looks eerily like Clark Gable and beat the perpetually overconfident Ernests Gulbis in an entertaining match. Bolt took time off from tennis, though unlike Ash Barty did not pursue another pro sport, and has come back very focused and grounded: he’s also for what it’s worth a very nice guy.

    If the Indian Wells crowds are any indicator, we know who will draw fans after Roger, Rafa, and Novak: it is Tsitsipas (with the full buy-in of ATP marketing) and Krygios (the people’s choice). Both of them participated in a brace of celebrity singles players playing doubles against established pairs, and the fans followed in droves. I can’t provide a match report on any of these, but noteworthy that of the celebrity pairs only Djokovic-Fognini won, probably because Fognini is an accomplished doubles player in his own right.

    On the women’s side, very briefly as I saw only a few matches firsthand, Serena vs. Azarenka was an entertaining throwback but I’m guessing it tires out Serena rather than invigorates her in a brutal section of the draw…hope I am wrong. Stephens was simply unprofessional. Both Svitolina and Kenin looked good but Kenin’s form dropped off after a very good start. The young Aussies (Barty and Gavrilova) looked sharp. Predictably my touted future #1 came a cropper the next day, but the match was much closer than the score and was decided on a few break points…Mertens ( better than Bertens?) served well, mixed up pace and depth, and generally did everything right to frustrate a talented young player like Anisimova. I still like the latter’s chances.

  • Hartt · March 9, 2019 at 2:00 pm

    Thanks for the info on so many players.

    Because I am a Milos fan I did watch much of the doubles on TV. From what I saw Fognini’s doubles experience did make the difference, especially his net play. Chardy seemed to be the weak link of the four.

  • catherine · March 9, 2019 at 3:35 pm

    Hartt will be thrilled – a walk in the park for Felix. Very impressive win over Tsitsipas.

    Angie starts off well – 6-0 6-2 over Putintseva. And Sabalenka is doing just as I said – got into 3 sets v Tomjlanovic when she could have won in 2.

  • Hartt · March 9, 2019 at 3:48 pm

    I am beyond thrilled!

    Félix won over Stefanos 6-4, 6-2 in one hour, 17 minutes. He totally dominated in the 2nd set.

    FAA had a first serve % of 69%, winning 81% of those points. His average first serve speed was 124 mph and his 2nd serve was 101 mph. He won 64 points to 45 for Stefanos.

    OK, Dan, is this a big enough win in a big enough tournament for you to acknowledge that Félix is a very good player?

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