I arrive at the Sony at just after 2. The first player I see when picking up credentials is Madison Keys and a friend as they walk by my Chrysler convertible. Then a few steps away Gulbis walks by with an adidas cap. Spontaneously I say to him, “Keep doing it your way,” He replies quietly with a hint of a smile, “Always.”
Gulbis is the man.
Quali matches are in progress. Jack Sock is on court one with Marton Fucsovics. Jack socked him in straight sets. Michelle Larcher De Brito is in a third set battle with Julie Goerges. You will not see any player give it more than Michelle but she loses a heartbreaker l0-8 in the deathbreaker. Another tough loss for Michelle.
Jiri Vesely is practicing with Radek Stepanek, with the omni-present Davis Cup captain Jaroslav Navratil observing from the corner. Vesely is big strong and he really looks to be coming into his own.
Sam Querrey is hitting with the Pole Michal Prsyzizeny. Sam is huge and his forehand is just brutal from up close. Sam’s missing a bit too many backhands though. Sam doesn’t chat much during breaks with his partner or Nainkin, he’s checking out his phone.
Dominic Thiem looks like a future top five player to my eyes. Wondrous one hander, great court presence and physically strong despite the boyish face. He had too much of everything for Rhyne Williams, taking it 76 6l with the USTA braintrust watching. Coach Gunter Bresnik was here for Thiem.
Dimitri Tursunov was hitting with his old Wimbledon rival Jarkko Niemenen. I did a Biofile with Dimitri after.
Bradley Klahn was grinding with a player I didn’t recognize.
I saw Maria Sharapova hitting forehands cross court off soft feeds from her coach Sven Groeneveld.
Caro Wozniacki was hitting with fellow Pole Marta Domachowska with her boyfriend Jerzy Janowicz looking on from the corner bench. Caro and her dad had some spirited and somewhat loud conversations during the action, in Polish so I couldn’t understand, but it seemed to be technical stuff.
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Dan Markowitz · March 18, 2014 at 3:18 am
Scoop, love it, that’s a classic encounter between you and Gulbis. I love the reply: “Always.”
What’s the weather like down there? Do a lot of fans attend the qualis? I saw Kudla went down again in first round of qualis. Who’s the young Serb he lost to, Dzumhur? Kudla’s had a tough year so far. The only Top 100 player he’s beaten has been DY in Memphis.
Keep on laying down the Scoop-ism’s. Enjoy Key Biscayne.
Amanda · March 18, 2014 at 2:46 pm
Nice report! Looking forward to your updates during the tournament.
Bryan · March 18, 2014 at 10:37 pm
“Gulbis is the man.”
WORD. Gulbis will always be one of my faves. I missed the Gulbis vs Isner match because the idiot schedulers at Indian Wells had a 3:30pm start for the day’s biggest match, when the west coast was still at the office.
Scoop Malinowski · March 18, 2014 at 11:04 pm
Bryan, I saw Bojana playing games with Colombian junior prospect Nicolas Mejias yesterday. They say this kid is gonna be good.
Bryan · March 22, 2014 at 5:46 pm
Thanks for the info Scoop. Bojana is on a downswing right now, frustrating. She’s either hot or cold, not in between.
Lots of good young up and comers nowadays. I’ll watch out for this Colombian kid Mejias.