By Andrew Miller
Hi Scoop,
I’m glad at least some players are having a second pro career in PB. Maybe it’s the perfect sport – cheap inputs, repurposing tennis courts, etc. It probably beats walking past a lot of courts being used for people doing all manner of exercise except for tennis. Sad, shrewd and funny at the same time.
Tennis could probably learn a few things while taking a cut of PB. It may be the cheapest sport ever invented, next to running and shot put!
It has been good to see most US men’s players having their Mardy Fish-Robby Ginepri moments. Will never forget Ginepri in Cincinatti in 2005, on verge of beating Federer and then remembering oh god, I’m playing Federer, then repeating this at the US Open, as he had Agassi on the ropes. Ginepri thrived under Higueras. Everyone did.
(Btw I just read Higueras letter to the “American Tennis Family” – brutal. Just brutal).
If anything these “American Player makes Wimbledon Semifinals” etc – Fritz making a Final, Tiafoe a semifinal, solid results from Querrey, Isner, Paul, Shelton – have been the pinnacle achievements of US Men’s players since Roddick’s US Open 2003 triumph. Viewed through the Higueras lens, the last few decades have been better than they would have been. Im beginning to argue myself for players reaching their own peaks given that these slams are awful hard to win when the assassin instinct doesn’t come easy. Even poor Roddick only had it when he was feeling it, and his backhand became a rally shot at least – celebrate that. We can all get behind Mardy Fish – like efforts to wring the most out of their talent. Something like a Higueras approach. The game may pass you by as it did Michael Chang, but at least you are winning matches you should win for as long as possible and usually at later stages of a career.
Maybe the U.S. needs to look at Canada and even southward at the South American tournaments, try to get some time on the dirt, become well rounded players. Look at a guy like Arevalo from El Salvador who praises U.S. college tennis for giving him the kinds of courts he used to dream about, and that ultimately helped him become the best Central American men’s player in history. We can get behind that.
I forgot about Kosakowski. You said you saw his one hander close up. It is a beaut. It’s nice to see the argument about two handers being the only worthwhile backhand go to seed. All of us just dont know how to hit one.
Anyways most players names are becoming unfamiliar to me. Hopefully I get a chance to see some qualies somehow but tournaments are charging for those also. Personally I just like getting behind a player briefly in the audience. You never know who responds. I’ve seen players on both tours seem to tap into the crowd mood and pull off matches they seemed destined to lose. This is the tennis that gets lost in the ridiculous narratives. Tennis is a gladiator sport!
Re Women’s players, North America or the States, still outshine the men. A good thing. Always surprised u.s. women break through in slams, they have really followed up nicely after the Williams sisters decades long dominance, but they are always solid enough to do so, and they are always excellent technically off all wings. Canada keeps on punching above its weight on the women’s side. Their knights of the round table approach to development has paid off.
Andrew Miller · Andy Roddick · Mardy Fish · Robby Ginepri
Scoop Malinowski · August 13, 2025 at 6:17 pm
Andrew, Tennis is too hard, I see countless people try to play it and they just can’t do it to any degree of ability, but they try. PB is for them. ATP WTA should invest in a similar game to challenge PB, call it Miniature Tennis. Use a puff ball to eliminate that cracking noise. Sure it’s a rip off but it could challenge PB. And they can use PB courts. )
Ginepri is back, he’s coaching Michelsen who is a rising force, along with Nakashima, Tien, Quinn, Zheng. USA tennis is on solid ground now at the present and the next gen.
Michael Chang lost a half step at 29 and this eroded his game at the end, he couldn’t finish matches anymore. His speed was the foundation of everything, when he lost that he was a different animal. Like a race horse who can win races anymore, time for the stud farm came early for Chang. A lot of mileage on those wheels.
Arevalo is a nice story, many college guys like that step up as pros – Ellis Ferreira, Joe Salisbury, and now Robert Cash is rising fast, out of Ohio State.
Kosakowski reminded me of Lucas Pouille, I heard he ran out of funding and had to quit early but he could play. So many can play but the cards don’t work out.
I saw Anne Li win a match at qualies last year down 03 in third set and some guy came to the court drinking and cheering her on loudly and he literally gave her energy to turn the match around and she won, all because of that guy. Crowd energy, even from one person, can be magical.
I see mens womens USA tennis about equal now, both stocked with elite talent and a fleet of young players rising up the ranks to challenge them. USA tennis is in a very good place now and it would be even better if Jose Higueras was actively involved.
Steve · August 14, 2025 at 10:01 am
You really have to love tennis to stay with it long enough to rally decently. Even with modern teaching techniques it takes a while.
Scoop Malinowski · August 14, 2025 at 12:52 pm
Steve, and that’s for people who are good athletes. A poor athlete person will struggle even harder and longer to find the ability to rally. I see some pretty low level athlete people become pretty good PB players in Bradenton where I play both. Here in NJ I haven’t played PB once.
Andrew Miller · August 18, 2025 at 12:40 pm
Can’t do PB. Maybe in a few decades. I wonder if it has helped a few players (we know who they all are) and maybe kept them afloat in a new sport that at least takes itself seriously (kind of like beach volleyball).
Andrew Miller · August 18, 2025 at 1:02 pm
As for rise and fall of US mens players, should probably consider guys like Ginepri, “certified success”. One thing that I think is fair to say about US men’s players is, beyond the grind of satellites many have reached their potential and have been able to stay on tour and improve over time – a lot fewer supernova rises with predictable burn out. We’re way beyond the era of Tommy Ho and David Witt and should be thankful for this.
It’s also no surprise a lot of players are skeptical of things like change etc. Working on their backhand etc. Getting a new coach etc. Then reach their peak prematurely and live the rest of their careers on the satellites. To me those are somewhat tragic. These are not the Ginepri-like players, or, say Mack McDonald or Marcos Giron (both punching above their weight). These are the players that aren’t making the kind of commitments necessary – always shocked some players are like “Oh I had to practice like this? You mean I had to get up at this time in morning? Oh I had to do what so and so does practicing my ad side serve in the evenings? When no one else is watching? Or play practice sets and matches where i figure out players rather than try to win the practice sets?”
It’s like yeah. That’s exactly what is needed. Yeah you kind of do need to find a way to get some independent coaching or join an academy somewhere else to put some distance between you and your parents. Or pay a visit to some stroke gurus. Yeah you should probably train at Nadal’s academy or do the South American tournaments a few years in a row and stay off the hard courts to develop some stamina.
A lot of these are “duh!” ideas.
Anyways beyond the new kids bagging some surprising results on the US men’s side (dont get me started on Tommy Paul – he isn’t new but I love that guy, or Seb Korda, doing a fabulous job of combining beautiful textbook strokes with no heart at all) – the next generation behind this next generation is now here on the men’s tour and show even more skill and heart and hopefully they learn these lessons now. Hopefully they realize they can be American while playing a more cutthroat style, and that they should get the best possible stroke doctors and coaches they can.
Like hire Higueras or something and stop playing around!
Andrew Miller · August 18, 2025 at 1:13 pm
Chang? Scoop, MC more than reached his potential. These kids (even Fritz) will be lucky to reach the heights Chang did and break the cycle of failure at Roland Garros, or break it so other players find their footing on the dirt (Chang paved way for Courier etc).
Chang is an American legend and a good one. Trained with the best. Trained with the best again. Good off all wings. Underrated serve after he pumped up the mph and switched to a longer racquet under his brother Carl.
American men’s players currently at the top should have great discontent to be behind these other guys. But again over time you see that things like stamina, footwork, speed, mental understanding of the dynamics at slams – understanding of crowds etc – management of a lot of other stuff are as important as X and O strategy on court (which sadly many players overlook also).
As you said tough sport. But these top guys these days aren’t unbeatable. I remember so many players who had the unbeatables on the ropes. It’s a skill to close them out.
I’m not too concerned about US men’s players winning the big ones. Just making the most of their careers. Tennis looks an awful lot like it used to a few decades back. There’s a fair amount of mindless ball bashing. The biggest change to me is that there are a lot more players that are pretty sound off both wings. Great is a stretch…they aren’t great off both wings, but a lot more players have dependable backhands etc.
Scoop Malinowski · August 18, 2025 at 9:24 pm
Andrew, all the PB converts – Querrey, Sock, Young, Bouchard – have not excelled at PB as was expected, all middle of the pack players. Tennis excellence does not guarantee PB excellence. I played both last winter and it’s a struggle, dinking skills are critically important especially doubles. It’s kind of fun to play though. PB dubs helps finishing instincts at net. Querrey blew out his achilles playing PB. Sock had some good wins but never won a major except for mixed with the best player in the world Anna Leigh Waters.
Scoop Malinowski · August 18, 2025 at 9:34 pm
Andrew, Korda is a curious case. Such an easy player, he has every shot, smoother than silk, some quality results, drop off, some injury, vanishes for a couple months, return, rinse and repeat. It’s almost like he’s trying to hand around the 15-50 range and that’s enough for him. The skills are there but the hunger to be the best or top five just isn’t there. For some reason I see Korda being just as good as Paul, Fritz, Tiafoe or better.
Scoop Malinowski · August 18, 2025 at 9:42 pm
Chang both over achieved and underachieved Andrew IMO. He set the bar very high when he won the FO unexpectedly, but that was his last major title. You would have expected 4-5 more after he physically and mentally matured. But he may have peaked at age 17. Brian Gottfried helped coach Chang before that FO with Jose Higueras and said he felt Chang started hitting flatter and should have stayed with the top spin. His footspeed and defending and his mind were his major weapons. He maximized his talents and was a consistent top five player for about a decade which is unbelievable. Chang certainly had that burning desire to be the best, which the guys today do not have. Chang just didn’t have the firepower artillery to go all the way. But boy was he close – just one match away from no. 1. Lost to Rafter at US Open semis.
Here are some Brian Gottfried insights on Chang https://www.tennis-prose.com/articles/gottfried-recalls-changs-1989-roland-garros-triumph/
Andrew Miller · August 18, 2025 at 10:09 pm
To me, Chang burned out. He was on tour a long time and after finding his groove on hard courts (I know it’s hard to believe – Chang began hitting a lot of aces and played better than he ever had around 1996, 19i7 or so), when he couldn’t hit through Sampras it was over. Chang was a shell of himself the final time I got to see him play – his strokes off, timing off, legendary footwork off, etc. He was 29 or so and at that time, given he had also been on tour forever, I think he didn’t want to play anymore. Chang also was a very religious guy so I am sure he felt his calling was somewhere else. It happened to be his calling was a family etc but that is a calling too.
Point is: Chang more than acquitted himself as a player. U.S. players should be proud if they can put themselves into that kind of position. From the cheap seats I think we are a long ways from say, 11 years ago when, in February 2014 the US men had 2 players in the top 70! They made a comeback from that point in part from the enormous media attention eg only 1 American men’s player in top 50 and two in the top 70.
Agree on Chang burning desire to be the best. It’s funny but that saying, kind of delusional, about what separates the very good from the even better – Scoop has talked about it here also. They’re kind of maniacs or freaks. I think there’s also a point where some excellent players truly need some stroke work and opt against it. They “go with their strengths” I think that gets them to the top 100 or so, maybe top 50.
Which is a very fine result. Just not what we want really for US men’s players given we haven’t seen anyone win a slam and stop putting forward the excuse of the big four, big three, now big two. At some point it’s are you going to be a freak and hire Higueras or another big name or just coast.
Usually it’s just coast 🙂
Andrew Miller · August 18, 2025 at 10:20 pm
For what it’s worth as much as we as in tennis pundits etc talk about the big players the REAL revolution today is the wide open arena that is coaching. There are a lot of veteran men’s players that you just know would make fine coaches. I hope we do see them. Scoop mentioned Ginepri. I think there are a bunch of players with high tennis iq. There are a few with podcasts that should quit those and start coaching but they prefer the media stuff.
I do get a little miffed by this. It’s one thing to rag on the next generation and it’s another to actually help out. Scoop mentioned Gottfried, that guy was a GREAT coach. There are others who should really get back in and fight the good fight. These guys all look lost on tour.
Andrew Miller · August 18, 2025 at 10:22 pm
Maybe my guy JJ will coach. I think he probably has to stay on the WTA side. An under-appreciated coach is Shelton’s dad, he was one of my favorite players when he was at Newport! Georgia Tech superstar.
Scoop Malinowski · August 19, 2025 at 8:25 am
Andrew, yes there are a lot of qualified ex ATP players who would make superb coaches but they burn out from the Tour life. I was talking with Rick Leach, the doubles great, who had coaching success with Leander Paes, he told me his best coaching job was guiding Paes and journeyman Lukas Dlouhy to US Open title, but he is saving that story for a later time which I can’t wait to hear. I asked him why he wasn’t still coaching pros, instead coaching adults and juniors in the Los Angeles area at a club and he said he kind of had enough of “the grind” that is the pro tour life, traveling to all those tournaments, he traveled his whole life as a pro for over a decade. Spadea, Martin would be fine coaches. But the grind is rough. Spadea is doing real estate in FL now. Martin is about to take over as director of tennis, at a huge new tennis complex in North Carolina, after his daughter graduates HS in Newport RI, the family will move to NC. Coaching in ATP or WTA is not all it’s cracked up to be, especially if your player loses 1R at five tournaments in a row.
Scoop Malinowski · August 19, 2025 at 8:30 am
Andrew, Chang at the end was a ghost of himself. He lost a step and without his lightning footspeed he was a different player. He fought and tried everything but with slow feet he couldn’t win anymore, he was close, he got to the winning position but he couldn’t close anymore in that last year. Some heartbreaking losses at the end. I saw them on TV, he was cooked. I read the Chang book this year by Chang with Mike Yorkey, love it. Underrated book. Amazing career. Amazing what a fighter he was, a welterweight slugging it out with heavyweights for over a decade. He helped make Sampras Agassi Courier become what they became.
Scoop Malinowski · August 19, 2025 at 8:32 am
Andrew there are three JJs in tennis Jarmere Jenkins, JJ Wolf and Jelena Jankovic, presume you mean the former? Jenkins has been out of the loop for a while, I think his last gig was hitting partner for Serena. I did a Biofile with Bryan Shelton at Eddie Herr about five years ago, before his son was known. Great Biofile wonderful class guy. Great Biofile too, I will post it this week.
Andrew Miller · August 20, 2025 at 1:41 pm
J. Jenkins, not Scoville. Even though like Scoville a lot. Another under-rated player that needed some stroke work and a dedicated, committed higher tier coach. Pro tennis…truly a flip of the coin.
Last quip. Leach! I loved Leach and Pugh. Much as Flach and Seguro. I get it we’ve even moved way beyond the Bryan brothers and their legendary dad, but…I mean Flach-Seguro, Leach-Pugh – these guys were excellent – they were “doubles specialists” in the BEST way, as in a love of doubles, a respect for it, etc. A few other guys have shown insane tennis IQ in dubs.
I will always recommend dubs for players to get some darn practice in, get that match player and rev up that HUNGER. I wish I played more dubs a long time ago. You get addicted to winning in dubs it’s transferrable.
Have seen it in pro players too – they begin winning a few singles matches and if you check the doubles lines they are there too – so getting 2x matches over a short burst of time. They are match ready. Really helps.
Andrew Miller · August 20, 2025 at 1:43 pm
Scoop, wish more folks were plugged into how these wins come together. Winning isn’t an attitude etc or anything like that. It’s like a combo of lightning in bottle plus readiness and good vibes. The whole obsession with winning is just misplaced.
Andrew Miller · August 20, 2025 at 1:45 pm
All those JJs are good. I’ll take any Jenkins. Jenkins, his brother or Scoville. All good. Jarmere had a huge game but kept getting injured. But got last laugh being on team Serena Williams.
Scoop Malinowski · August 20, 2025 at 5:21 pm
Forgot about JJ Tracy, a rising doubles player from Ohio St.
Scoop Malinowski · August 20, 2025 at 5:25 pm
Andrew, I think pure raw burning desire is a valuable intangible. Hewitt’s CMONs. Novak’s roaring and yelling in Serbian when he’s in a dogfight. Serena roaring like an animal. Nadal’s animated theatrics expressed how much he wanted it. Willing to die for it. Zverev and Tsitsipas don’t show that FIRE. Chang showed it in glimpses. Muster had it. Winning is a lot of factors – too many to name. It can come when least expected to, ask Raducanu.
Scoop Malinowski · August 20, 2025 at 5:31 pm
I can’t say enough good things about Rick Leach. Nothing but pleasure experiences. Even got to see him play a seniors tourney in Longboat Key about two years ago. What a privilege to see a master. He was hired by a solid 5.0 doubles guy who worked for Bill Gates. They won the title but lost the first set in the final. Leach came in on everything, made every volley. Looked kind of ordinary strokes, power, but his volleys were automatic deep placements. Said he can’t move anymore for singles. Said his best coaching work was with Paes, with Dlouhy, winning US Open. Said he will tell me all about it in a future conversation, looking forward to that. Remember Byron Black? Saw Wayne Black in April in Sarasota, he coaches Lajal now. He said Byron has not touched a racquet since he retired.
Andrew Miller · August 20, 2025 at 7:09 pm
Remember all these guys. Probably because my tennis memory doesn’t go back that far. Only as far as Traebert announcing and lots of references to Stan Smith but mostly his sneakers.
Scoop Malinowski · August 20, 2025 at 7:54 pm
Tony Trabert made matches better with his no nonsense straight calls of the matches, no self promoting catch phrases, no canned reactions to big shots. Just straight, fair, objective, classy broadcasting.