We have another first time Grand Slam major winner, a girl who was losing to Zidansek at Eddie Herr four years ago. Sonic Sofia Kenin outshined the biggest stars in the WTA with her sensational AO win.
Novak Djokovic took another step to all time greatness with his 17th major and one of his hardest-earned, the five set triumph over Dominic Thiem.
Lleyton Hewitt extended his non-retirement with another Grand Slam appearance, another loss with Jordan Thompson to two Korean wildcards.
Benoit Paire is 7-3 this season. All three of his losses have come in final-set tiebreakers. ATP Cup RR: l. to Kevin Anderson 2-6 7-6(1) 7-6(5); Auckland F: l. to Humbert 7-6(2) 3-6 7-6(5); Australian Open R2: l. to Cilic 6-2 6-7(6) 3-6 6-1 7-6(10-3).
Thai-Son Kwiatkowski just won his first ATP Challenger in Newport Beach. The 24 year old is ranked 181.
Tennys Sandgren needed six years to win his first ATP main tour main draw match (Citi Open vs. Go Soeda 76 63 in 2017). Now he’s reached two major quarterfinals and is ranked 56. His career high best ranking was 41 in January 2019.
35 year old Dustin Brown is still out there. He lost in the second round of qualifying to 36 year old Gabriel Garcia Lopez 63 63 in Montpellier. He’s now 2-6 career vs GGL. Brown is currently ranked 230.
Alexsandr Dolgopolov, remember him? He has not played a match since Rome 2018.
The US top ten women’s rankings don’t look like you’d expect: Kenin 7 – career-high; Serena 9; Keys 12; Riske 18; Anisimova 29; Stephens 35; Collins 50; Gauff 51 – career-high; Brady 52; Davis 62.
Top 10 American men as of 2/3: Isner 18; Fritz 36; Opelka 38; Querrey 40; Sandgren 56; Paul 70 – career-high; Johnson 75; Tiafoe 79; Giron 111; Kudla 113 .
Brown · Djokovic · Kenin · Sandgren
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« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next »Hartt · February 6, 2020 at 7:21 am
No big surprise, but a blow for Canada’s Fed Cup hopes – Bianca isn’t playing singles. That means 17-year-old Leylah Annie Fernandez is Canada’s No. 1, and will play the Swiss No.2, Jil Teichmann, in the first match. Bouchard will play Bencic. Bianca is scheduled to play the doubles match if that match is required.
Scoop Malinowski · February 6, 2020 at 7:52 am
Fernandez is ready. Is Bouchard ready though?
Hartt · February 6, 2020 at 8:07 am
The Fed Cup captain said that Bouchard is in good shape physically, and mentally is “in a better place.” With Genie one never knows, because she won 2 tough matches in the Fed Cup tie against Ukraine a couple years ago. I can only hope for the best!
Scoop Malinowski · February 6, 2020 at 8:51 am
Roaring works. Proven last night in two matches. Moutet was roaring vs the silent Pella in Cordoba and won 67 64 63. Krueger was roaring vs the silent Bellucci and won 67 64 76. So it was scientifically proven last night Harold (chief skeptic) that roaring helps players win against silent ones.
catherine · February 6, 2020 at 9:29 am
Bianca is entered in Dubai. But I’m expecting the last minute w/d. You could start a book on when Bianca’s finally going to grace a tournament court – I read she’s only just started playing points in practice.
I hope things go well for Canada – it would be good if Genie can muster her best for the Cup although it’s going to be tough.
Scoop Malinowski · February 6, 2020 at 9:43 am
Andreescu showing she is the “drama queen” even when she is not on the court. Her long awaited comeback is generating more buss than Kenin’s historic AO conquest and Cocomania.
catherine · February 6, 2020 at 9:52 am
Neither Osaka nor Serena are playing any tournaments until IW. Does this leave of absence signify anything ? Are Fisette and Patrick restructuring Naomi and Serena’s games ?
Naturally I didn’t get this information from the WTA site which is still full of dated stuff about the AO.
catherine · February 6, 2020 at 10:13 am
Kenin is playing in Dubai and maybe Qatar so this should all be fun.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 10:23 am
Andreescu did the right thing. Fed Cup doesn’t end this month, and Canada needs her on the Olympic team if they have any hope for a medal (of any kind in tennis). Among Canadian men and women, only two players “show up” when the stakes are highest: Andreescu and Raonic, who, even as a top player with titles and strong slam results, flies under the radar. Beyond them, Canada may field some good doubles squads for the Olympics.
She also did the right thing because her team-mates are in better form. She also did the right thing in addition to that, by showing up to cheer them on rather than remain home (etc). She could have done any number of things and she chose by far the superior option: show up for the group photo, prepare your teammates for battle, cheer them win or lose, and get in the Olympic spirit early and often.
It may be just another year, but it’s also an Olympic year, and the calendar is chock full. Even for a player like Andreescu, injured so often that she has to play as well as possible every event she enters, it’s still a year with more prizes available and her best chance for an Olympic medal.
Beyond that, and as goes unmentioned, Andreescu has an image to keep up. She’s first and foremost a Canadian star – everyone knows her, because she’s loud and dramatic and plays with flash and is incredibly good, but she has a high status in Canada. So she needs to make sure that stays as high as possible. It would have looked bad for her to give the thumbs up over twitter or something like that and then it comes out that she was doing x, y, z etc while her teammates were slugging it out against Team Switzerland.
So bravo Andreescu. She didn’t get hurt, got to hit a few balls, will probably even give some advice to her team-mates, keeps her image up, makes Canada feel good, etc etc etc. The right move.
I have seen at the lower levels already players are jockeying to make it onto their Olympic teams if they have a chance – players are playing more challengers, more futures, playing harder in qualies draws, everything. The competition this year is as intense as before, but there’s something else at stake for many of them that approach each regular tournament at whatever level as if it’s a Davis Cup event (even if it’s a low, low money tournament etc).
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 10:28 am
Yes, Kenin was forgotten as soon as she won. Sofia who? But her opponents won’t forget. She’ll get some good, solid press that matches up with her, and she’ll get another chance as the tour rolls through Indian Wells, Miami, and the clay circuit assuming she gets healthy. As Catherine said, more or less, how she’s seen in Tennis depends on how she performs from her on out. She’ll always have the Australian, but as goes in this sport, winning over fans isn’t the same as flat out winning.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 10:31 am
Moutet is making a name for himself in less prestigious events. If you can win anywhere, it helps out everywhere. Knocking out Pella on his home turf is a good win.
Harold · February 6, 2020 at 11:11 am
Might work against the Belluci’s and Pella’s of the world in 2 out of 3 sets. Not going to scare top players in 3 out of 5..I’ll argue to death the fact that Hewitt lost matches he should have won, because he wasted energy early in the matches. By the latter stages, ground strokes were coming up shorter, serve never a weapon to begin with was Changesque late in the match. Low percentage of first serves, and sitting 2nd serve..rah rah all the way to the losers presser
Scoop Malinowski · February 6, 2020 at 11:17 am
Andrew, it’s two wins in a row vs Pella, who he beat at Roland Garros last year. He’s now 71 in the world and rising fast.
Scoop Malinowski · February 6, 2020 at 11:22 am
Harold, if you never roared on court you have no personal experience about how it can help uplift your level of play. CMONNNNN!!!! I was losing 3-5 in a usta 35s tournament to a cocky guy who then did two things to try to annoy me. I began roaring. It raised my level of play and focus. Guess what? I won 75 60. Never lost another game afte roaring. Roaring works. Can’t deny it. I might open a Roaring academy and teach pros like Gasquet and Mannarino and juniors how to roar 🙂
Jon King · February 6, 2020 at 11:26 am
Scoop, there are ‘roaring’ academies. Every kid from Evert’s. Macci’s, Krieks, Saviano’s, Pro World roars and yells and come ons and fist pumps, every point, every match, whether winning 6-0 or losing 0-6.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 11:30 am
Moutet would’ve gotten hurt if he disrespected Argentina’s home crowd for Pella, playing in front of a friendly crowd. So he has to do what makes sense. This isn’t a French crowd.
Harold · February 6, 2020 at 11:30 am
My point is, it s doesn’t work against the best players in Slams.
..don’t care if my opponent does it, usually cracks me up…
I guess I’m the complete opposite of you.think I’ve seen most kinds of efforts to get in my head on the court, .rather than be affected by my opponent roaring, trying gamesmanship crap in many forms, cheating on line calls. Gives me confidence that opponent needs something to change, what he’s been doing until now wasn’t working..plus in the end, I lose respect for people that play that way…
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 11:31 am
Appreciate Jon King’s core message: “academies are shark tanks”, “use the facilities, be wary of the rest of it”, “some tennis parents are nuts”, “some players are spoiled”, “some coaches are fools”, “some coaches are not”
Kind of found that myself for what it’s worth.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 11:59 am
Results from around tennis.
France/Montpellier – ATP
Krajinovic d. Ymer 6-1 6-1. A blow out.
Goffin d. Bublik. Bublik is wildly inconsistent.
India – ATP (Pune)
Marcora d. Paire. HOW?!
Gerasimov d. Milojevic
Dallas Challenger
MacMac d. DY in three sets, 6-4 in third.
Kudla d. the Rising Redlicki
Nothing else jumping out from what I can tell.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 12:26 pm
On Paire (who lost), a decent interview from Tennis World (if you can make it through the writing, somehow). Paire talks about how he now plays until the bitter end of all matches.
https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Editors_Thoughts/83749/from-unhappiness-to-happiness-how-benoit-paire-transitioned-himself-oncourt/
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 12:30 pm
On Thiem, Tennis World re-counts a recent interview in Vienna, where Thiem apparently covers everything from the end of Mladenovic (there will be women everywhere) to the end of Muster (we didn’t get along), to his hopes at slams (I am a positive guy and think I can get better)
Thiem has a few qualities that help. A short memory is invaluable in pro tennis. As to Kiki, hey. I think Thiem has made some bad decisions!
https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Tennis_Stories/83746/dominic-thiem-explained-why-he-split-with-kristina-mladenovic/
catherine · February 6, 2020 at 12:32 pm
Federation Cup – skimming the matches I note Germany v Brazil features Siegemund, Maria, Friedsam and Lottner – pretty much the B team there minus Kerber, Georges and Petkovic. Obviously not too bothered.
Naomi fronting up for Japan. Even Serena’s playing.
What happens about eligibility for the Olympics ? I’m not sure about the rules.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 12:34 pm
An interesting ATP/ITF Europe initiative to teach players the ropes for the pros. Note: gambling is NOT on the agenda.
https://www.atptour.com/en/news/atp-tennis-europe-junior-school-2020
I will not get over the fact that things like gambling aren’t covered. Players are now frequently talking about being gambling targets – see Thai Kwiatkowski and the (I think) social media threats to his family after he loses a challenger match, or Chris O’Connell from Australia and how he sees people betting AT HIS MATCHES – people that are obvious.
This is ugly stuff.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 12:39 pm
Mladenovic quickly becoming one of my favorite players. Every month a former coach or boyfriend or whatever says Kiki was great but (…) And after they say it she gets some career best result.
catherine · February 6, 2020 at 12:48 pm
Kerber isn’t playing because she has a thigh injury from Aus Open. I wonder how often this thigh injury will recur during 2020 ? New Fed Cup capt is Rainer Scheuttler, previously discarded Kerber coach. Rainer takes over from Julia G’s current coach. What a tangled web 🙂
catherine · February 6, 2020 at 12:51 pm
Andrew – I love it how the coach/boyfriend leaves Kiki looking better than ever 🙂
No news on a permanent coach yet, unless I missed it.
catherine · February 6, 2020 at 1:03 pm
More Fed Cup – Simona isn’t playing for Romania because she doesn’t like the new format. What will the ITF do if the Fed Cup in Budapest is a total flop ? Georges didn’t give a reason why she isn’t turning out for Germany – she’s just ‘unavailable’.
I’d hate to see Fed Cup die.
Scoop Malinowski · February 6, 2020 at 1:13 pm
Andrew, Moutet did not roar in an offensive way, he did it because he wanted it more and was more intense than the mute stoic Pella. Emotional adrenaline clearly made the difference and I predict will propel the talented French lefty into the top 20 soon. And top 20 is not his ceiling. Hope Moutet and Nishioka play in Miami, I will be there front row for that one.
Scoop Malinowski · February 6, 2020 at 1:16 pm
Harold it worked for Hewitt to be no. 1 in the world. It helped Nadal Serena Maria Djokovic achieve a lot of their best wins. Part of the tennis psychology is the player taking over the court and making it their court. Having the stronger presence. Making it so that all gallery eyes are magnetized to them.
Scoop Malinowski · February 6, 2020 at 1:20 pm
Thiem deserves the ATP sportsmanship award, no player is better behaved. If you’re not a fan of Thiem, you’re not a fan of tennis.
Scoop Malinowski · February 6, 2020 at 1:22 pm
Mladenovic is a star, everyone likes her. Statuesque beauty with a load of talent and fighting spirit. And a vulnerable side. I saw her lose two years in a row in Citi Open and sit down crying in public after both losses, plus she is a racquet smasher. I have two of her Wilson victims at Citi Open.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 1:31 pm
I like Thiem as much as many players: fine. As to Thiem’s judgment, I think it’s a little off! Seems to do badly with any criticism.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 1:34 pm
re – racquet smashing – someone should start a new initiative, for every racquet a player wants to smash, have them donate a racquet for future players. If the racquet is the problem, give it up to a new owner that will appreciate it, rather than making yourself look bad and your sponsor look bad. Tennis is expensive, and this is a huge waste, whether from the anger of Mladenovic or anyone on tour.
It’s amazing Nadal never smashed a racquet. Uncle Toni made sure he never did. Another reason I appreciate the old school approach of Uncle Toni – no Uncle Toni, no future sporstman in Nadal. His logic comes almost entirely from Uncle Toni, how to conduct himself etc.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 1:38 pm
You like Moutet more than Ugo Humbert? To me, one thing is clear: they both have outstanding names.
Scoop Malinowski · February 6, 2020 at 1:56 pm
Both are going to threaten for majors and top 20 and higher. I like them both a lot but Moutet I discovered first.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 2:08 pm
Moutet, Humbert to learn from Monfils/Tsonga/Gasquet/ Pouille/Paire/Grosjean/Leconte etc? Or will they only benefit because, for their careers, they won’t have to deal with the (best versions of the) big three?
These past players have so much knowledge. I think it would be a mistake for today’s players not to look at their transcripts and watch their matches – see where other players fell short, and correct that so that in their own careers they know how to handle big points, whether for their first round matches or a big slam events.
Single biggest mistake I see today – today’s players believing they are facing things past players didn’t, and not learning from those examples. Maybe because coaches don’t know how to teach or take part of someone else’s game and make it part of their player’s game.
Example, Dementieva. She should never have had such a bad serve. Schalken should never have had such a bad serve.
Hartt · February 6, 2020 at 2:27 pm
Yes, Rafa never smashing a racquet in his long career is very impressive.
Another guy who doesn’t is your fave and mine – Milos. In the zillions of Milos matches I’ve seen I can recall only one time he smashed his racquet, and he was super frustrated. It bothered Milos that he acted that way, and he apologized afterwards.
Hartt · February 6, 2020 at 2:31 pm
Regarding Bianca supporting her Fed Cup teammates, of course she would do that. She has been a Fed Cup stalwart for several years, including a few years ago in Mexico when she carried the team, winning several matches over the course of a few days.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 2:42 pm
Simple love of Fed Cup/Canada. Wow. I am giving the worst motives to players. Sometimes it really is that straightforward – Andreescu loves playing for Canada, and wouldn’t think of being anywhere else other than playing for them right now or cheering her teammates right now.
Gotta work on this cynicism. Sometimes tennis is cynical (re: doing something for the IG). Sometimes it really isn’t (e.g., Andreescu showing up to practice with her teammates as she is part of the team, whether sidelined or playing first singles).
Remind me that how players think isn’t what many people speculate. Andreescu, Fernandez, Dabrowski, etc all play for the same reasons sometimes – love of the team, wanting to win Fed Cup, etc.
Scoop Malinowski · February 6, 2020 at 2:44 pm
I did see Rafa frustratedly lightly drop a racquet after a lost point vs F Lopez on Ashe a few days before the start of US Open about ten years ago. No video proof though.
catherine · February 6, 2020 at 3:09 pm
Cynicism – sometimes justified. Bianca turns up for Fed Cup, even though she might not play. Is Konta turning up to cheer GB ? No.
Kerber – has injury, no Fed Cup. Or: ‘I really really don’t want to go to Brazil.’
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 3:25 pm
Saw clip of Serena Williams-Gauff hitting. The Gauff forehand has a little lighter wrinkle than before, but her backhand is WOW – nice one. Serena Williams has a ridiculously complete game, but her movement is off – her footwork keeps everything together, a step or two off. Looking “great at the big things, great at most little things, very good or plain good in some things she used to be exceptional”. That’s going to meet some disappointment under match conditions.
Also saw some Bertens clip – based on how well Bertens plays technically I would be very surprised if she doesn’t break through to play a slam final.
And of course saw the team photos for Fed Cup dinners. ATP players should not complain at joint ATP-WTA events, they should all aspire to a version of GEMS life 🙂
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 3:40 pm
Dallas Challenger – Menezes (Brazil): beating tough challenger opponents left and right. Menezes d. Klahn 3-6 7-6 7-6, a day after taking out ATP wins leader Chris O’Connell 3-6 6-4 7-6. Goes from #398 a year ago to top 200 today, two hundred spots higher.
Good week and another good result from a rising player.
Mmoh goes out to Rodionov – runs out of steam losing 7-6 2-6 1-6.
Plus, statement match today – Tiafoe plays Nakashima. Either Tiafoe proves something to himself or Nakashima proves something to himself.
catherine · February 6, 2020 at 3:47 pm
Andrew –
Fed Cup always have great dinners ! Look on ‘Fed Cup photos’ and scroll down to Czecho v Germany ‘Behind the Scenes’ in Prague 2014. Great tie won by Petra in thrilling singles – used to be on Youtube. It’s Kvitova’s favourite match. Martina there cheering on the Czechs.
Home and Away forever – I agree with Simona.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 3:51 pm
Herbert d. Felix AA. Home-crowd advantage in France. The year’s still very young, and better to struggle now than a month from now, but so far this year Felix and Shapovalov are having quite a tough time.
Felix AA 2020 record: 3-6
Shapovalov 2020 record: 3-5
Most losses are from the ATP cup, but still not something either of them are going to be happy with. Good news is this isn’t the time to play your best tennis and it should keep them hungry.
But overall…I can’t imagine they like the state of their game right now.
Andrew Miller · February 6, 2020 at 3:53 pm
Now I believe Andreescu went to hit a few balls, make a few jokes, have dinner with Team Canada, and cheer for them. Beats staying home and saying one day I’ll be back!
Scoop Malinowski · February 6, 2020 at 6:50 pm
Felix is stagnating, surprised by this. He looked unstoppable last spring and summer. New coach needed?
Jeff · February 6, 2020 at 11:06 pm
Catherine, you know as well as I do that being married doesn’t mean you can’t be in love with someone else. In fact that is often the catalyst!
Andrew and me finally agree that Thiem is nutso to dump Kiki. Also quite arrogant to say that he can find another woman to sit in the stands. Bad look for Dominik, perhaps he was having trouble learning French. I can’t think for the life of me why he would want her out of his life. And also why he didn’t send her my way! Bad Dominik.
Jeff · February 6, 2020 at 11:09 pm
Watching Tiafoe in Dallas and he looks like a Challenger-level player. What has happened to him?
Jeff · February 6, 2020 at 11:13 pm
Felix losing to PHH isn’t a big deal since PHH is really good. Let’s see how he fares next week