I did this Biofile interview with newly-crowned ATP World No. 1 Andy Murray at the 2005 US Open. At the time of this interview, Murray was ranked 122 in the world and had just beaten 39th ranked Andrei Pavel in five sets in the first round of the US Open main draw (63 36 36 61 64). Murray was defeated in the second round in five sets by Arnaud Clement (26 67 62 76 06).
By Scoop Malinowski
Ht: 6-3 Wt: 175
DOB: May 15, 1987 In: Glasgow, Scotland
Childhood Tennis Heroes: “My favorite player was Agassi. When I started playing when I was about seven, eight I watched him. I also liked John McEnroe. I didn’t really get to see him play live but I watched videos of his matches and really liked him. And now favorite player is probably… I really like Nadal now. And all of the young guys, Gasquet as well.”
Hobbies/Interests: “I like go-karting. Boxing is my favorite sport outside of tennis. And I like listening to my I-Pod.”
Favorite Movies: “Wedding Crashers – I watched that twice. It just came out (summer 2005) and I thought it was absolutely hilarious. The Girl Next Door.”
Musical Tastes: “I like rap and R&B. Rap my favorite singer is Eminem and Jay-Z and R&B I like Usher.”
Early Tennis Memory: “I think one thing I’ve always had since I was very young is I was always very competitive in everything that I did. I’ve got a brother (Jamie) that is a year older than me who played tennis as well. So that is probably a reason why I started playing and where I am today. Because he was always a bit older, a bit stronger, a bit better than me. I always had to push myself to do better.”
Favorite Meal: “Caesar salad and steak and chips.”
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Chocolate.”
Pre-Match Feeling: “It kinda changes. Sometimes, depending on how I’m feeling, I like to listen to my I-Pod before to get myself pumped up. And now that I’m starting to play a few more bigger matches and not getting as nervous as I used to be I’m a little bit more relaxed. I just try to get myself concentrated on my match and not think about anything else.”
First Car: “Don’t have a car. I can’t drive yet. You have to be 18 to drive in Britain and I turned 18 in May. And since then I’ve just been traveling so.”
First Job: “Tennis player.”
Greatest Sports Moment: “Either winning the Davis Cup doubles match – my first Davis Cup match against Israel against a team of top ten Ehrlich and Ram. Or playing against Nalbandian on center court at Wimbledon.”
Most Painful Moment: “When I twisted my ankle against Thomas Johansson when I was 5-4 and 30-love up in the third set. Because if I’d won that I would have played against Tim Henman and that’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. Somebody that I look up to for so long, like ten years. So it would have been great to do.”
Funny Tennis Memory: “Not really during matches. The funniest thing is when the line judges get hit. Because they do make some mistakes and you do get annoyed [smiles]. So it’s pretty good when they get hit with the serves [smiles].”
Embarrassing Tennis Memory: “Probably when I got defaulted at a junior tournament in Scotland. I threw my racquet and it hit the court supervisor.”
Closest Tennis Friends: “I always deal with the juniors. I get on well with – Monfils. I don’t know so many guys of the top 100 yet. Monfils. I know Gasquet a little bit. And also Tim (Henman) and Greg (Rusedski) – they’ve always been very nice and very supportive. And I’d probably say Tim and Greg out of everyone I like the best.”
Funniest Players: “Tim’s actually got a very good sense of humor. But I don’t think it really comes across that well in the press. But when you spend time with him at a Davis Cup, he’s very competitive as well. We play each other at backgammon a lot, unfortunately I don’t beat him yet. But he’s pretty good fun.”
Favorite Players To Watch: “I like watching Nadal. He’s really exciting. It’s great to see someone so young with so much energy on the court. And also (Guillermo) Coria as well. I think he’s a little bit different from how everyone else plays – he’s small, not physically that big. And a lot of people think the game’s all about power now. But I think he shows that you can still be small and be a good player.”
Favorite Athletes To Watch: “Roy Jones Jr. I love watching him until… he’s getting a bit old now. He’s fighting against Antonio Tarver soon. So hopefully he’ll be back at his best because when he is he’s unbelievable. Apart from him, there’s a couple of British boxers – Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton – I like him as well. And Muhammad Ali, for me, is probably the greatest sportsman ever. (Anyone in track and field?) No, not really. (Soccer?) Ronaldino is my favorite footballer. I’ve lived in Barcelona the last three years so I’ve gone to watch a lot of matches. Unbelievable. He’s so skillful.”
People Qualities Most Admired: “I like to see a good sense of humor. And people who show respect to others. I don’t particularly like it when, for example, if you practice with someone or you meet somebody before, then the next time you see them, they don’t really say anything to you. I don’t really like that. I like people who are funny and not so in your face.”
COPYRIGHT Mark Scoop Malinowski 2005
You can read more Biofiles at www.mrbiofile.com
Andy Murray · Head tennis · Newport Hall of Fame · Wimbledon
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1 2 Next »Hartt · November 7, 2016 at 1:23 pm
That was fun, you got a lot of info from him. I remember reading some time ago Andy talking about admiring Agassi and how, when he was a kid, he even tried to look like Andre, right down to clipping on some kind of tail to represent the hair. 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · November 7, 2016 at 6:50 pm
Hartt: Thanks yes Andy was great to meet and interview that day – we did it in the old US Open locker room spontaneous after his match win – will never forget that as he struck me as an excellent intelligent interview subject at such a young age – He’s a funny witty guy – Remember after he won Wimbledon he told Tom Rinaldi right after that yes he did have a dream the night before and that in the dream he was playing “Denis Kudla” lol – One of the funniest moments in tennis I ever witnessed 🙂 – Always have been a big fan of Andy and his on court antics are always amusing and as his Biofile showed I guess we can credit John mcEnroe for inspiring Andy’s on court expressiveness 🙂
Hartt · November 7, 2016 at 7:21 pm
I am a big Murray fan. He comes across as a thoughtful. intelligent guy. I love his dry, self-deprecating sense of humour. Remember his quip that who would ever guess he would win an award with “personality” in the title.
I also like the way he follows some of the WTA players and is encouraging to them.
We have different views on his on court behaviour. I wish he would tone it down, especially when he gripes at his player’s box. He can yell at himself all he likes! Although I wonder if he is too distracted when he gripes. It doesn’t take much for him to lose focus – even a moth can do it! 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · November 7, 2016 at 7:52 pm
Hartt: Do you play tourney tennis? It’s ultra competitive out there – Certain players have to vent – and I feel it’s used by Andy as a distraction to the opponent to look over and watch Andy vent or get a false sense of security that he is unraveling and they let up a fraction – Pliskova did that in the WTA finals – she was down 2-5 to muguruza and skipped the changeover and just walked over to the other baseline as if she was just tanking it and wanted to get it over with – Guess what? Pliskova won the last five straight games and won the match – Be aware Hartt that deception and bluffing is a part of tennis and one of the aspects I personally find highly entertaining and interesting 🙂 Rather watch a character moan and groan than an android robot like Raonic or Agut –
Hartt · November 8, 2016 at 8:43 am
Scoop we will always disagree about on court behaviour. I used to play tennis but injury ended my playing days. I have to get all my enjoyment from watching tennis and reading about the sport.
I recently read a post by someone who saw Andy play as a junior and he acted the same way then. It sounds like this is an ingrained part of his personality and not a tactic.
Hartt · November 8, 2016 at 9:26 am
As you have probably guessed I am a big Milos fan. 🙂 It’s true that he does not show a lot of emotion on court but he is hardly an android robot! He does fist pump, grimace and occasionally gripe at his team, and has even smashed his racquet. Even though I don’t have a problem with his on court demeanor even I sometimes wish he showed more emotion on court. If nothing else, to stop some people (not you, but others) from saying he does not care enough.
Milos is certainly capable of showing excitement on court. You see it in Davis Cup ties. When he wins a big DC match he lets out a roar and may jump straight up in the air, knees totally bent, the way Serena does. I would guess that is the Milos you want to see. 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · November 8, 2016 at 3:05 pm
Hartt: Sorry to hear that – How long have you been inactive? What was the injury? Guessing it was knee or ankle? Because if it’s upper body you can till try the opposite arm (I did that when had a rotator cuff tear) – I believe Andy has his natural personality and clever instinct to use outbursts as a tactical distraction and vent 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · November 8, 2016 at 3:09 pm
Hartt: we KNOW Raonic wants it – just feel he needs to express fully that huge passion and inferno burning inside and not bottle it up – Andy Rafa Fed Stan Serena and Djokovic all have shown huge eruptions of emotional intensity – Raonic needs to also – he’s not letting it out enough now –
Hartt · November 8, 2016 at 4:00 pm
Scoop, have not played for many years. First it was a knee (that I injured skiing) but I managed to cope with that. But an ankle finished me off. The good thing though is having played makes watching tennis so much more interesting. Even though I live in a country that practically worships hockey I don’t know enough about the game to enjoy watching it. Tennis is an entirely different matter.
So just a few more days until the WTFs. After there was tennis virtually all day every day last week this week is tough.
Scoop Malinowski · November 8, 2016 at 8:58 pm
Hartt: Skiing is rough especially when you hit ice or have the courage to try black diamonds 🙂 Hockey is pretty simple: Put the biscuit in the basket 🙂 I played hockey at Kean College and the game has changed now to more speed and skill today while it was more physical in the old days with just about every team using at least two or three fighters/enforcers – today’s teams don’t have any fighters as all four line are skill players – I prefer the old days 🙂 Thrilled for WTF and Davis Cup Final and ITPL after – I love IPTL they do a fantastic job –
catherine bell · November 9, 2016 at 2:40 am
Offf topic but I have to say something I’ve found myself saying a lot recently:
I got that one wrong didn’t I ? 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · November 9, 2016 at 9:24 am
Can’t trust the media now can you Catherine 😉
Hartt · November 9, 2016 at 1:46 pm
Was pleasantly surprised at how much fun the ITPL was and am looking forward to it. It also fills that big gap before the new season.
Milos just had a Q and A on Twitter. Most of the questions have been light-hearted but he had a rather poignant reply to Stephanie Myles’ one about what super power he would like to have. His response: “Health.” I asked my question about what great player from the past he would like to play against, but it looks like the exchange may be finished now, and I did not get a reply (at least not yet).
catherine bell · November 9, 2016 at 2:00 pm
Hartt –
Re Milos’ Q & A I also saw that his preferred off court activity in a city like London was ‘visiting museums and art galleries’.
That certainly sets him apart from his peers, most of whom seem to either have no spare time interests to speak of (men) or just ‘going shopping’ (women).
You have to warm to Milos but also wonder if he may not be a litle bit too well-rounded to develop into a dominating champion.
Hartt · November 9, 2016 at 2:42 pm
Maybe it is a good thing Milos has other interests. His coaches have said, if anything, Milos wants to train too much, so perhaps the other interests give him a needed break from tennis.
As a former museum curator I am thrilled that he likes going to art galleries and museums. Apparently their interest in art was one of the things that brought Raonic and McEnroe together.
You probably noticed that he answered the question about whether being No. 1 was a goal: “With a side of Wimbledon.”
Right now the big thing holding Milos back is all those injuries. The Tennis Canada site has a list of his injuries this past season. It was rare that he had a month without at least one injury. And last year, when he came back too soon after the foot surgery, was a disaster from injuries.
Dan Markowitz · November 10, 2016 at 3:34 pm
Hartt, you’re an interesting guy, museum curator! My experience is a number of tennis pros have interest in arts, Mac, Noah, Spadea’s father was an opera singer or wanna be, Wilander, Vitas. These guys were artists themselves so it’s no surprise they have interest in creativity.
It’s funny, the tennis season doesn’t end for me with the US Open, I like following everything. I see Brydan Klein just lost 1 and the 3rd to Tiafoe in Knoxville and I imagine his season is over. I”m trying to get in touch with him and interview him for a story about a guy like Brydan Klein, 27, 160-180 in world, do these guys make a living, how long can they go on if they don’t break top 80?
Scoop Malinowski · November 10, 2016 at 3:42 pm
Seles father Karolj was a cartoonist – rock n roller Lars Ulrich is the son of a pro player – tennis and art to go together –
Hartt · November 10, 2016 at 6:04 pm
Dan, glad you think I’m interesting but am not a guy. 🙂
I watched some of the Peter Polansky vs. Dan Evans match on the ATP stream. Whenever I watch one of those Challenger matches am struck by how downright depressing some of those venues are and how few people are watching. Those guys who regularly play Challengers show a lot of perseverance – it looks like a tough way to grind out a tennis career, with little money, travel to all sorts of places, etc.
Today’s stream actually had a commentator, a Brit who was in favour of Evans, but Polansky won. Peter is one of those guys who keeps plugging along, dealing with injuries and coming back, so I was rooting for him (and not just because he’s Canadian!)
Scoop Malinowski · November 10, 2016 at 8:37 pm
LLOLL-Hartt you have to be a Male – We totally placed you as a Canadian dude 🙂 Wow it feels funny to be so wrong for so long 🙂 Feel like a fool now -Well it is nice to know we have a balanced audience here – There were a few times over the years that I did notice that it seemed we had all males commenting (and reading) – Sorry for the unforced error Hartt 🙂
Hartt · November 10, 2016 at 8:58 pm
Scoop, you did not notice that Catherine and I are often on the same wavelength?
Anyway, yes I can represent Canucks as well as contribute to the woman’s point of view!
Scoop Malinowski · November 10, 2016 at 10:10 pm
Now I can see it Hartt 🙂 But before I just figured Hartt like the wrestler Brett Hart / Canada / Raonic fan – I guess I aint as smart and perceptive as I thought 🙂 It’s good to be humbled so thank you 🙂 And thanks for being a valuable part of the site – always enjoy discussing tennis with you —
catherine bell · November 11, 2016 at 5:43 am
Hartt-
LOL !! 🙂 🙂
I always knew you were a woman but don’t know why – must have just picked it up somehow.
Of course for all you know I might be a man using a pseudonym…..
(In my tennis days there were very few women sports writers in any field and it took me a long time to be accepted despite the press passes and Association memberships – some male newspaper reporters never spoke to me at all in the 15 years or so I was around – not that I cared)
Hartt · November 11, 2016 at 7:17 am
Scoop, I am enjoying participating on this site.
On another site 1 poor guy thought most of the posters were male and was shocked as one, by one, it was revealed that several were women. The women all knew which were female.
Catherine, knew you were a woman and not using a pseudonym for the same reasons you figured out I was female. And that treatment by some male reporters was atrocious but, unfortunately, not surprising.
Scoop Malinowski · November 11, 2016 at 7:59 am
That Evans is one helluva character – Another Brit player gave me the lowdown on him a couple of years ago in Key Biscayne at the off site practice courts -Very talented but a headcase party animal – he even said something about taking a photo with six prostitutes in a whirlpool and then intentionally sending it to an LTA official for whatever crazy reason which cost him a WC into Wimbledon or W qualies – And the guy made it seem that this sort of stunt was par for the course for Evans – Evans’ career has been left for dead twice when his ranking plummeted way down with the most recent drop down to outside 500 but somehow he rallies back – pretty interesting player – Polansky has been around a long time too – these guys just refuse to give up – You gotta respect their dedication and spirit and love for competing against the odds and still believing they can make their visions come true –
Scoop Malinowski · November 11, 2016 at 8:00 am
Easy to say that now Catherine 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · November 11, 2016 at 8:04 am
Actually surprised male reporters would ignore and snub you or any female reporter Catherine – I would think they would be curious and or attracted to you – I enjoy the diversity of the tennis media and have made friends with all genders from all over the world – Tennis is almost like a sort of unifying religion if you will – We all love this great sport no matter what our backgrounds or ethnicities or whatever – Tennis brings people together while religion and politics divide us –
Hartt · November 11, 2016 at 10:07 am
While waiting for Polansky vs. McDonald to start at the Knoxville Challenger, had a look at Polansky’s career. It is a good example of how tough it is on the Challenger tour. After injury problems in 2015 his ranking plunged to No. 712 at the beginning of this year. He played Futures at the beginning of the season as well as Challengers and slowly worked his way up to No. 148. (With Pospisil’s terrible slump Peter is the No. 3 player in Canada and not far behind Vasek.)
It is a good thing Polansky earned some $ at bigger tourneys because what he got for Challengers could not fund a tennis career. For example, in Australia this year he got through the qualies of a Challenger and got to R16. He made $1,300. Immediately following he lost in the first round of qualies at the AO and made $4,500. His biggest prize was $26,900 at Rogers Cup. It looks like he had a wild card, then won in 1R over Smyczek before losing to Stepanek.
He has lost twice to McDonald this season, most recently in the QF at Charlottesville, so even though he has a higher ranking, think he is an underdog in this upcoming match.
catherine bell · November 11, 2016 at 10:10 am
Scoop-
Thanks for the support – you should have been around in the 80s 🙂
Several reasons why I remained on the margins – tennis writers in UK were (are ?) a very closely knit bunch with backgrounds in print media on the whole and generally not respecting of those who came in the back way, as they saw it. Also magazines did not rank very high in their eyes. And as I’ve mentioned before, our mag was a bit off the wall and as editor I wasn’t remotely interested in tennis politics or sucking up to the LTA.
So I don’t think the attitude to me was actually personal, although it could have been. I wasn’t a reporter and some press probably would have preferred me not to have been around at all.
Things are different now I imagine with internet etc.
catherine bell · November 11, 2016 at 10:18 am
Hartt –
I noticed your 2017 predictions on Another Site (the only other one I look at) and where are the women ? Are they not playing next year ? )
It’s obviously going to be All About Serena – and below top 3 mainly flatlining. So not terribly exciting I admit.
Hartt · November 11, 2016 at 12:36 pm
Catherine, I used to do predictions for the women but 2 different sports channels now cover tennis here in Canada. The one that has the ATP does a good job and covers all tourneys except the 250s. The one that has the WTA has terrible coverage and, if we are lucky, we get the SFs and Fs of touneys hours after they are played. So it has been difficult for me to see as many women players as I would have liked. My computer can’t handle most streams so that’s not an option.
As you know, the people on that particular thread are avid supporters of the WTA, so maybe someone will do predictions for the women.
Hartt · November 11, 2016 at 12:40 pm
I sort of watched the Polansky vs. McDonald match and it was one of the strangest I have ever witnessed. In the first set Mackie got an ab injury and had to serve underhand. His movement seemed OK. But Peter could not handle the underhand serve – he had no idea what to do and Mackie actually won the set.
I don’t know if this says more about Peter’s weaknesses or Mackie’s strengths, but it went to a third set before McDonald retired at, I think, 1-5.
Scoop Malinowski · November 11, 2016 at 9:39 pm
Catherine: Interesting – it is hard to break into the tennis press circle – I started doing Biofiles of tennis players in the 90s and got some fantastic ones with Edberg McEnroe Krajicek and Muster etc but could not sell them to tennis outlets (just published in my nationally syndicated column with Tribune) – But I stuck with it and eventually broke in with a few freelances for Tennis magazine and Tennis Week and became kind of known by the tennis hardcore writers like Bodo Harwitt Evans and Tignor etc – Then we started Tennis-Prose after Tennis Week closed shop – But tennis was the hardest to get the foot in the door initially unlike boxing which is very receptive to fresh young new talents – BTW it looks like my next book will be “Facing Andy Murray” hopefully to be published for 2017 Wimbledon –
Scoop Malinowski · November 11, 2016 at 9:40 pm
Which is the other site you two post at? Tennis Warehouse is a good one as is Discuss dot tennis –
Scoop Malinowski · November 11, 2016 at 9:41 pm
Whoa that is a Wacky Match 🙂 I always felt underhand serves were intentional to pester the opponent underhandedly of course 🙂
catherine bell · November 12, 2016 at 3:38 am
Scoop –
Your experiences trying to break into tennis writing sound very familiar to me- also you seem very much the type of writer I would have picked up for the magazine (receptive to all comers, that was us – and of course we paid extemely modest rates : ) )
I think because the conventional routes were closed to me and others I made an effort to look out for writers and photographers who were trying to break into journalism and had an interest in tennis. We had some success stories there. Proud of that in a way.
I don’t know why tennis journalism is so snobby, even now – much of it is not especially distinguished.
I make rather frugal use of the internet – tennis.com is the only other tennis site I look at, a legacy of the days when Peter Bodo used to run it(far better IMO), and you’ll be flattered to learn that Tennis.prose is the only one I post on 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · November 12, 2016 at 8:11 am
And we are honored Catherine 🙂 – I think the media snobbery is everywhere and in every endeavor – it’s just natural for certain arrogant people to want to look down on other to boost their own precious egos – The same silliness happens in boxing with writers trying to get the best ringside seats and the photographers jockeying for the best ring apron spots – I’m sure it’s the same stuff in every media battleground –
Hartt · November 12, 2016 at 9:23 am
It must be a tremendous amount of work to start and continue a tennis site. During the past year in particular I discovered a couple sites that were strong for a few months and then petered out. Although they are not officially closed months can go by without an article so they are not truly active and after a while one stops checking them. I suppose people get busy with other things. Anyway, I am glad this site is going strong. 🙂
catherine bell · November 12, 2016 at 10:12 am
Hartt –
I think I know one of the sites you’re referring to. Started off fine and then reduced itself to a Twitter stream of no great interest.
(why random Twitterings are considered important per se is a mystery to me)
Perhaps those who set up these sites don’t realise how much work is involved down the line and if you’re doing it for free then the interest must fade.
What I like about this site is that you can have an actual ‘conversation’ with real people (one assumes)and avoid the unpleasantness and sheer lunacy you find in a lot of comment threads.
Hartt · November 12, 2016 at 11:55 am
Yes, totally agree about how refreshing it is to have an actual conversation on a tennis site. I only post on 2 other sites and 1 of those is mainly because they have links to interesting articles and videos. As you know, I do post on the tennis.com site, mainly on what we call “Match Call Nation,” an island of sanity away from the threads on the articles or what we call “The Mainland.” Know it sounds too cute, but it does work, because people are generally civil and thoughtful, without all the hostility and name-calling that is too prevalent on some tennis sites.
Hartt · November 12, 2016 at 12:13 pm
At Knoxville Challenger Mmoh has just won 1st set over Kozlov 6-0. Commie said Kozlov played until 10:00 last night, and he does seem to lack energy.
Was busy watching figure skating so forgot about Polansky vs. Doanaldson until late in the match. Peter won 6-2, 6-4. He and his partner, Adil Shamasdin, won their doubles match yesterday, so Polansky is playing 2 matches again today. Another guy who could be getting tired, but a win in Knoxville would be huge for him – getting a bit closer to the top 100.
Scoop Malinowski · November 12, 2016 at 6:03 pm
That’s three in a row for mmoh over kozlov – has his number –
Scoop Malinowski · November 12, 2016 at 6:05 pm
Thanks Hartt – we do respect all the players here and it’s just unimaginable to get into a heated argument about these players who have all sacrificed and devoted their lives to tennis – big respect and admiration or them all – they are all walking miracles –
Scoop Malinowski · November 12, 2016 at 6:08 pm
Hartt yes it is a fair bit of work but we love what we do here and happy that our readers do too – If you haven’t already please spread the word about us and if you can share links of any articles or posts that you especially like – it’s always nice to have new perspectives –
Scoop Malinowski · November 13, 2016 at 8:25 pm
Bradley Klahn Alert: Klahn qualifies for IL Challenger draw -Bradley Klahn back in business – mmoh wins knoxville vs polansky and could play Kozlov in second round in IL this week – Yusuke Watanaki the junior I talked about at US Open is playing Ito in Japan Challenger right now – Watanaki holding serve easily so far – serving at 100% first serve – looks like he belongs –
catherine bell · November 14, 2016 at 3:58 am
Sounds like a great Fed Cup – again. This competition somehow needs a bit more promotion and big names turning out (I gather in Czech R there is some monetary incentive from a private benefactor). Women’s
tennis needs a focus beyond regular tournaments but Fed Cup at present doesn’t really do it outside Europe. The format’s too scattered – in the 70s they tried holding the whole competition on one site but that didn’t really work because the national support wasn’t there.
So I don’t know the answer. However I’m sure the WATA under their new leader can come up with something either a) silly or b) irrelevant. 🙂
Hartt · November 14, 2016 at 9:03 am
Catherine, I agree Fed Cup needs more promotion. It should be a great vehicle for showcasing women’s tennis but it’s not. I only got to see the last couple sets of the doubles and highlights of some of the singles, but it was competitive, entertaining tennis. Of course my sports channel that does such a terrible job of covering women’s tennis did not show any of it.
I don’t know why they have their World Group divided into 2 sections instead of just having top 16 in 1 group like Davis Cup does. That would be a start.
Hartt · November 14, 2016 at 9:12 am
I saw some of the Polansky vs. Mmoh match before the stream stopped working. Mmoh impressive for such a young player. Polansky is in desperate need of more variety in his game. However, he and Shamasdin did win the doubles.
As you can imagine, am very happy with Milos’ win over Monfils. The commentators keep saying how well Milos served, but in fact this was not his best effort. With a first serve % of under 50% early in the match, he finally got it up to 57% for the match as a whole but that needs to be much better. Fortunately he had success with his 2nd serve.
catherine bell · November 14, 2016 at 12:32 pm
Hartt –
Yes Fed Cup should be tightened and structured in same way as Davis Cup and players also given strong incentives to participate in a crowded calendar. I think, although I’m not sure, that there are no ranking points on offer – prize money I don’t know.
Otherwise, can’t see Czech stranglehold being loosened.
Hartt · November 14, 2016 at 12:50 pm
Someone wrote that the Fed Cup players got a stipend but I don’t know if that is the case. The Czech team is so deep that if one player is not on there is someone else to take her place. Todd Spiker calls them “The Interchangeables.” But it would be nice if another team could win for a change!
catherine bell · November 14, 2016 at 12:56 pm
Czech R is a small country, ferocious national pride, strong tennis history, respected long serving team coach,great sense of ‘one for all and all for one’.
Recipe for success : )