Mid February is always a favorite part of the season, Rotterdam wraps up, and the US spring swing begins in Delray Beach, if you consider New York a warm up Challenger.
Delray Beach is another hot ticket event, with Nick Kyrgios headlining this year as the top seed after Juan Martin Del Potro pulled out with continued knee issues.
Milos Raonic, who defaulted out of a final here a few years ago to Jack Sock. returns and faces New York finalist Andreas Seppi in the first round.
Kyrgios takes on his pal and American prospect Tommy Paul who is presently ranked 70. The winner could face struggling Frances Tiafoe who plays a qualifier.
Quality first round duels include Yoshihito Nishioka vs John Millman, NY Open champ Kyle Edmund vs Ugo Humbert, Miomir Kecmanovic vs Jordan Thompson, Taylor Fritz vs a qualifier and teen wildcard Brandon Nakashima vs Jiri Vesely.
Adrian Mannarino takes on feisty Korean Soonwoo Kwon. Jack Sock will take on last year’s champ Radu Albot.
Unfortunately Tennys Sandgren withdrew today with a knee injury presumably suffered in his New York loss to Steve Johnson, who is in Delray and plays Henri Laaksonen.
Kyrgios, the headliner, will hold his press conference tomorrow at 1. I will be there and try to count how many times he’s asked about if he’s finally serious about his career and keeping his focus on competing and not stirring controversies.
Bryan Bros are the top seed in doubles and play Kyrgios and Thompson out of the gate.
The most interesting questions about this tournament are how will Kyrgios do as the main ticket seller? Can he carry the tournament like Del Potro has the last few years? Will the men be able to fill the stadium court like local hero Coco Gauff did last night in her 63 63 exhibition against the Miami U. player?
And can Sock finally win a singles match and end his slump which dates back to Nov. 2018? Sock, now coachless, is not in the doubles draw so he’s 100% focused on singles.
How will Albot handle the pressure of trying to defend his only ATP title? The 30 year old is currently ranked 50, 11 spots below his careet best 39 last August.
As always, Delray Beach will be another superb tournament, as it is every year, and I will be there observing and reporting for the first four of five days.
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« Previous 1 2 3 Next »Andrew Miller · February 17, 2020 at 3:23 pm
That’s impressive, Hartt. These young men have some very sound games. Sound technique doesn’t guarantee anything, as competitive fire to me is the difference (something Raonic demonstrated early on). I think good technique is helpful to profound ambition, and good technique, strategy and boundless ambition go a long way in a competitive draw.
But as far as their games go, I like what I see. I was impressed seeing a few junior U.S. players a while back with good form and strategy, which over the years I’ve had to reconsider – some players with good form were undone by bad phsyio, some players with worse form were propelled by desire and ambition. A lot of ingredients go into wins on tour.
I like how these young players, for now at least, are showing strong will and complete games. They have been playing well against a group of savvy veterans, and that shocks me most of all. They believe they can win and believe they should win, and they are showing a lot more poise in terms of their ability to gut out significant wins (aka beating a veteran at a challenger, playing someone to 7-6 in the third for a chance at a main draw, etc).
I’m more used to 6-0 6-1 losses at the hands of steady vets. So when I see these scores and then take a look to see how they are winning, and see some patience there I go whoah, that was unexpected. It’s a rare thing to see a player be patient and execute a real strategy as a young guy – I’m more used to the savvy veterans getting their way.
That’s why I think this is a pretty deep bunch, and as players such as Tsitsipas look ahead they might want to scout a little bit before these no names take them by surprise! And it’s also noteworthy the no name players happen to be, like Tsitsipas, the best ever players from their country (or best juniors in many years).
Hartt · February 17, 2020 at 3:36 pm
Andrew, that is good to hear, sounds very positive.
Andrew Miller · February 17, 2020 at 4:08 pm
Rio draw, “C. Alcaraz(wc)” <- This is the kid that has modeled his game as a righty-Nadal. He is 16 years old and practiced with Thiem down in Rio. Scoop mentioned him earlier this year. As we know there is no notable next gen players from Spain (unless you count Munar, now 22, who had been closing in on the top 50 last year (which I can't…I refuse!) and Davidovich, also top 100 like Munar at age 20 and who was in the next gen ATP finals. As much as I say there's no next gen from Spain, obviously there is – it's these guys. But the guy that shows the most Nadal-esque ability (literally a carbon copy/mirror image) is Carlos Alcaraz.
Thanks Scoop for mentioning him. He does hit a pretty good ball for any age. It's interesting because he uses literally the same vocabulary as Nadal when he speaks or whatever he tweets, it's identical. I'd guess Nadal is his hero!
Andrew Miller · February 17, 2020 at 4:17 pm
Wow, Jeff is right, and good call on Harrison. I thought he played well against Blancaneaux last week – the Last Word on Tennis blog picked Dzumhur over Harrison, which I thought was plausible – Dzumhur is a solid player that does everything well.. Nice way for Ryan Harrison to make the most of a WC, he must feel good about this.
Pretty huge win for Nakashima d. Vesely – I thought Vesely would win this match handily. Maybe still catching up on the zzz’s from his win in India a week ago. Or maybe Nakashima is a lot better – I think he’s a promising player because he has a sound game and competes, just no physio at age 18. No surprise, Nadal was a madman at any age so he isn’t quite a good comparison for a player that, only a few months ago, was due to hit a few balls as a top NCAA recruit.
Kwon shutting the door on Mannarino if he can hold onto the third set lead. A big if.
Jeff · February 17, 2020 at 4:48 pm
Tiafoe gave an interview after that match saying he was outplayed so you have to take it up with him!
Kwon seems like a rising star, I fear he may treat Harrison like roadkill.
Pretty stacked draw at the Morelos Open. Sock made the right choice to take the Delray wild card and pal around with Kyrgios for a few days.
Harold · February 17, 2020 at 5:47 pm
For Scoop😀
https://twitter.com/rogerfederer/status/1229535404086480897?s=21
Scoop Malinowski · February 17, 2020 at 6:16 pm
Pat Cash is here coaching nakashima. Startling tennis from the teen, wins first set tiebreaker and no reaction. Like he expected to beat the world no.74. Cruised 61 in second. Devastating game. Famous boxing judge of many world title fights and friend Steve weisfeld is here, he’s a tennis fan. Kyrgios press conference today had six media people. No big revelations. Kwon crushed mannarino in 3, did a biofile with soonwoo after in player lounge. Jung walked by and congratulated Kwon with a shoulder tap but Kwon didn’t really acknowledge it. At nishioka vs millman now. Crowd is barely better than ny open. Coco filled stadium two nights ago, Florida tennis magazine publisher Jim martz said he never saw it so filled. Two years ago I biofile coco here, she was here by herself observing.
Scoop Malinowski · February 17, 2020 at 6:18 pm
Kwon had a hilarious strangest match memory, doubles at Eddie herr vs Rublev and Zverev. Hilarious. Stay tuned.
Jeff · February 17, 2020 at 6:36 pm
I couldn’t find the Tiafoe interview but the ATP side had this quote from him on Nakashima: “Watch out for this guy. This guy’s special,” Tiafoe said. “I like his game, I like his demeanour. Great backhand, good serve and he’s level-headed… I’m a fan, for sure.”
A Nakashima v. Fritz matchup in round 2 could be a changing of the guard if Fritz isn’t careful.
Scoop, did Harrison say anything in media after his big win. Was he watching the Kwon match?
Jeff · February 17, 2020 at 6:38 pm
Tremendous night session in Delray tomorrow. Sock v. Albot followed by Kyrgios v. Paul. Will the crowd root for the American Paul or will they be won over by Nick’s antics? Should be fascinating, and we all know Paul can easily win this match.
Scoop Malinowski · February 17, 2020 at 6:56 pm
Jeff, no Harrison press conf. No he was not at Kwon match or nakashima. I did see taro Daniel watching the end of first set of nakashima vesely.
Scoop Malinowski · February 17, 2020 at 6:59 pm
Will be packed house tomorrow night. I see it 5050 for nick vs paul. Nick is very popular here. Bryan bros playing practice set right now. Good crowd watching.
Andrew Miller · February 17, 2020 at 7:08 pm
Excellent, Tiafoe should praise all opponents while developing strategies to beat them. Call it “The Nadal Playbook” (it isn’t the Andreescu playbook, which should be titled: “BUT IT’S [Fill in Opponent’s Name then Remove Brackets]” Gotta love BiancaMania. Never has there ever been a player like her, so brash and yet, how can one not like her?
(Now having mentioned Nadal, I live in fear of Nadal’s agent posting about how this isn’t true)
Andrew Miller · February 17, 2020 at 7:18 pm
Maybe – Nakashima has a lot of upside. He’s like an NBA rookie who’s either going to ride the pine or play starting line up in the all star game, with all of this seemingly on his terms. He can be a little lazy on the movement, but Pete Sampras was also this way and could have been seen as someone who was loose aka subtle – he didn’t seem as savage as he actually was.
In his Tiafoe match, Nakashima never went away – Tiafoe had to win it and Nakashima was there until the end (not the bitter end, but close to it!). That’s why I thought it was a good result for Tiafoe – Nakashima looked tired, even exhausted sometimes (seemed his legs weren’t there) but then kept coming up aces on serve or winning serve easily, and Tiafoe had to win it down the stretch – it was either break Nakashima or let him roll the dice in a tiebreak, and I think Tiafoe took the initiative to guide things his way.
Nakashima has a nice learning algorithm, figures things out on the tennis court.
Andrew Miller · February 17, 2020 at 7:21 pm
Kyrgios – Tommy Paul? I think that’s on Kyrgios’ racquet. This might be a slide down the rankings for Paul if he can’t win a round in Delray.
Andrew Miller · February 17, 2020 at 7:28 pm
Clijsters sounds up-beat. Muguruza too, and charitable to Clijsters as well. I appreciate reading what Muguruza says these days. If anyone is looking for the next great tennis analyst, I think Muguruza’s it! She has a good way of talking about herself and her opponent – maybe it’s easy for her after winning to feel charitable, both in talking about her game and others. We have not seen Angry Muguruza this year.
Hartt · February 17, 2020 at 9:25 pm
I just saw a wild Rio match between Davidovich Fokina and Seyboth Wild. It was like a Davis Cup atmosphere, with the crowd giving the Spaniard a hard time, and ADF getting upset with them.
The match lasted nearly 4 hours, and there wasn’t much to choose between the two young players, when Seyboth Wild finally broke in the decider when ADF was serving to try to take it to a TB. Both got tight during big games, but generally they played well. It was nice for Seyboth Wild to win in front of his home crowd.
Scoop Malinowski · February 17, 2020 at 9:57 pm
Andrew, I’m sure Jackson will address and admonish your Rafa reference with 24 hours. She has that right. Let’s Andreescu does not normalize her personality like Medvedev did. We need Bianca to keep being Bianca.
Scoop Malinowski · February 17, 2020 at 10:00 pm
Nakashima is not lazy on his movement. I think he’s deceptive in that regard, very relaxed external but quietly ferocious internal. Sampras like blend as Andrew suggests.
Scoop Malinowski · February 17, 2020 at 10:04 pm
Clijsters knows what it takes. I think she sees an opening to get back to the top ten with all these players fishing around for extracurricular activities. She can do Date like post 35 damage, if not more. Kimmy knows what it takes to grab that No. 1 ranking.
Jeff · February 18, 2020 at 12:32 am
Wish I was in Delray I went to that tournament once, I remember it was a lot of fun on Atlantic Avenue. Lots of agents and tennis people at Cafe Martier, that was a major hotspot. I remember seeing Kei Nishikori beating Sam Querrey in a thrilling semifinal, I forgot who was in the other one. Great venue and I need to get back sometime.
catherine · February 18, 2020 at 1:16 am
Andrew – Muguruza is bright,she does a good interview, and that Basque/Venezualan mix gives her something unusual. And she’s got over (I think) the bothersome time with Sumyk. Don’t know if she’ll dominate but she’s good to have around. It’s important Conchita stays.
If Kim is serious she’ll lose some of that upper body weight and maybe have a year or so upsetting people who, as Scoop says, are busy with Other Things.
catherine · February 18, 2020 at 1:38 am
https://www.wtatennis.com/news/1613727/-we-need-to-evolve-cahill-welcomes-trial-of-new-coaching-rules
More from coaches. Of course they’re in favour. You’d think it’s all about them. As Hartt said earlier, why not just get rid of the players ?
And if you can’t do it in Grand Slams then why bother ?
I’m not convinced spectators care that much about coaches, or want to hear from them all the time. And speaking as an outsider, I’m not convinced either that the majority of coaches make much difference during a match – obviously some do, but often it’s more about the personal mix and just having someone there.
Why can’t the WTA stop fiddling around ? Is it a case of too many people with not enough to do ?
Scoop Malinowski · February 18, 2020 at 4:44 am
We don’t need to see and hear coaching cliches. It’s redundant and posing for the cameras. Just let the players play.
catherine · February 18, 2020 at 5:35 am
Scoop – spot on.
Dubai – Siniakova bts Muchova, Andrew’s fave, 6-4 4-6 6-0. Don’t know what happened FS but Muchova’s not soaring anywhere at present.
catherine · February 18, 2020 at 6:09 am
The right coaching attitude : after Mug’s winning serve you see Conchita at the end just folding her arms and swinging around in her chair, nonchalantly: ‘so what ? We did what we did. It’s not me out there.’
jackson · February 18, 2020 at 7:22 am
No problem with what Andrew said about Nadal. At least he didn’t bring up any untrue myths like Uncle Toni forced Rafa to play with his left hand!
The Spanish kid from Rafa’s Academy, Daniel Rincón, who won the Orange Bowl, got his first ITF tournament win last weekend. He beat the Jordanian kid, Abdullah Shelbayh, who he won the doubles with in Florida.
The Academy is all excited about one of their own, Casper Ruud, winning his first ATP tourney too. That Finnish youngster with all the vowels in his name is training at the Academy too, so they’re starting to see some very nice results.
One of their girls, a 14 yr old, can’t remember her name but she’s originally from the Philippines, did well at the Australian Open getting to the third round I think it was in singles and then winning the Junior Girls doubles.
H · February 18, 2020 at 7:42 am
It looks like the future of Spanish tennis is in good hands. Yesterday 16-year-old Carlos Alvaraz beat Ramos-Vinolas, ranked No.41, in Rio. The match lasted 3 hours, 37 minutes.
The youngster looks like another tall, lanky kid, although his actual height seems to be a secret. The ATP site lists him as 0’0″. They do provide a weight – 147 lbs.
Carlos has been training at the Ferrero Academy, and Ferrero is now his coach. In an interview Ferrero said that Carlos has impressive variety for a young player. One thing they are working on is greater consistency during matches, without the frequent dips in level.
“Alcaraz, No. 406 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, is coached by former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero and has already been making noise on the ATP Challenger Tour. Last year, the then-15-year-old defeated reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Jannik Sinner at a Challenger in Alicante, becoming the first player born in the year 2003 to win a match at that level.” (ATP site)
Harold · February 18, 2020 at 7:50 am
On the broadcast they said Alcares is 6 feet tall. Thought after he let the second set go, had 0-40 in the 4-4 game of the 2nd set, Vinolas lifted his game. Glad to seethe kid stay in and fight. Great drop shot, used it often, but not too often
Kid has a huge future ahead
catherine · February 18, 2020 at 8:21 am
Dubai: Brady bt Svito 6-2 6-1; Pavs bt Bencic in 3, final two 6-1 6-1.
Is Elina finished ?
Hartt · February 18, 2020 at 8:22 am
Typo – should be Alcaraz.
Jon King · February 18, 2020 at 8:28 am
The Spanish academies always do much better with boys than girls, Rafa’s will likely be the same. We have had several transplanted Spanish academies in the states, they rarely turn out top girls.
For the most part, the Spanish preach tons of movement drills and tons of topspin and tons of defense. That works great for boys.
But girls need to hit hard and deep and flatter. The Spanish academy girls do very well up until ages 12-15, then get destroyed by the Russian or American trained girls who eat their loopy topspin for lunch.
Hartt · February 18, 2020 at 8:29 am
Just to clarify, I was correcting my own typo, but forgot to hit “submit” at the time.
Harold, thanks for the info on Carlos’ height.
The youngster thinks his game is like Fed’s.
“Hailing from the same homeland as tennis legend Rafael Nadal, the teenager is obviously inspired by him. However, Alcaraz believes his tennis is more similar to that of another member of the Big Three – Roger Federer.
”I like to play very aggressively, with a lot of winners. My style is more or less like Roger Federer’s, aggressively coming to the net and playing a lot of drop shots,” the Spaniard explained.
”When I spend time with tennis greats like Rafa or Ferrero or any other player, I don’t say anything. I listen to everything they say because it is very valuable to me,” he later added.
“In each tournament I go to, I try to do my best. If that happens, then I will gradually go up.” (ubitennis.net)
catherine · February 18, 2020 at 8:32 am
https://www.ubitennis.net/2020/02/andre-agassis-failed-doping-tests-covered-atp-claims-former-rival/
This should interest Scoop.
catherine · February 18, 2020 at 8:56 am
Something rocket-powered Pavs. Sumyk ? And Svitolina doesn’t seem interested any more. Going the Stephens route ?
Babolat very popular in WTA from what I see. Any reason ?
Hartt · February 18, 2020 at 8:57 am
What Ferrero has to say about Alcaraz.
“He’s only 16 and he’s just starting to travel the world. He has the level, the speed, he’s getting better physically every day, so I think he can be one of the best,” Ferrero said. “I don’t know how high, but I think he can be up there in two or three years. I have a lot of experience with what he is going to deal with, [so] I’m giving him the best advice that I can.” (ATP site)
Harold · February 18, 2020 at 8:59 am
Yesterday was “ kids day” G Coria’s son played,. If Wikipedia is right the Gomez that played Tiafoe was Andres kid. Alcarez is the real Baby Fed, except for the two hander.. FH is similar to Fed. Doesn’t serve 120, but is aggressive off the return of serve, hits winners..loves the inside out FH
catherine · February 18, 2020 at 9:00 am
Jon – re your comment on Spanish academies, do you know where Muguruza trained ? I read somewhere in Barcelona but don’t know the name. Not sure if she began in Venezuela because she came to Spain when she was 6.
Jon King · February 18, 2020 at 9:20 am
Muguruza trained at Bruguera Tennis Academy in Barcelona. She is definitely one of those exceptions, she plays a very powerful game compared to the vast majority of girls who trained in the Spanish system.
Jon King · February 18, 2020 at 9:25 am
catherine, Babolat frames allow for easier power when the girls are young so many girls use them to make up for lack of size and strength. They are stiffer and transmit more power into the ball than more flexible frames. The downside is they can lead to more arm issues over time if technique, injury prevention exercises, and proper strings are not right.
Babolat actually used to be pretty much the only racquet used by junior girls about 5-7 years ago. Wilson then made inroads and the past few years Yonex has exploded with junior girls.
Harold · February 18, 2020 at 9:31 am
Yonex has been the most popular sticks for women since Martina N’s first white Yonex. Every Asian girl player seemed to be playing Yonex..think Kim C was the first female Babolat user I can remember
Jon King · February 18, 2020 at 9:36 am
Yonex was pretty obscure among the junior girls and WTA pros until a few years ago. We started using them 5 years ago when my daughter had arm soreness and it was the most comfortable frame.
We asked our tennis shop that serves most of Palm Beach County and they refused to carry them saying they never sold.
Over the past 3 years Yonex has exploded. It went from no girl at a tournament using them to about a third of girls using them today. Our pro shop added a Yonex display a few months ago too.
Andrew Miller · February 18, 2020 at 10:24 am
Nadal, Vesely, are righties playing as lefties. It’s why Nadal’s backhand is so strong. As to why Nadal plays lefty and Toni Nadal’s explanation, see at below link and make your own judgment.
https://www.tennis365.com/tennis-features/rafael-nadal-the-right-handed-lefty-currently-dominating-tennis/
Anyways, I am not being cynical here. I know the Nadals calculate what works and what doesn’t and take a measured and strategic approach to just about everything when it comes to pro sports. I also know that Nadal told Moya when asked if he wanted a career like Moya’s, that he said respectfully, I’m going for a lot more than your career 😉
Andrew Miller · February 18, 2020 at 10:29 am
Yes, Catherine, Muchova getting crushed in 2020. Siniakova has won a few rounds in a row now! She had poor results despite putting in a lot of effort this year – and finally in the qualies round, ousting Van Uytvanck (the name I can never spell) and Zheng the Brilliant, she took out Muchova. That third set, 6-0? I don’t understand how Muchova can lose a 6-0 set, just goes to show she’s totally blitzed in 2020. Muchova will be sliding down the rankings – she’s losing early every tournament.
Jeff · February 18, 2020 at 10:32 am
Alcatraz could represent the resurgence of Spanish tennis. I wish him all the best.
Off topic but I will post here that Marcelo Rios sounded off in an interview. He said Agassi was caught doping four times and the ATP let him go. Rios also complained that the courts were too fast for Sampras to win in the Masters and that the Spanish-speaking players should have lobbied for the opposite.
But these are strong allegations against Agassi. Four times? It is hard to believe Rios would just be making this up. Just shocking revelations.
Harold · February 18, 2020 at 10:43 am
As a child of the 60’s and 70’s, if anyone believes Agassi did Meth, and never did any other drugs before that, you’re being naive. Nobody does Meth as their entrance into illegal drugs. So, I believe Rios here..
As far as Sampras, and fast courts, blah, blah, blah.Rios should have ground out 3 French Opens, then maybe they might have slowed some hardcourts down..the South Americans, and Spaniards were babies in the 90’s, avoiding fast courts and grass
Andrew Miller · February 18, 2020 at 10:51 am
To believe Nadal doesn’t believe in intimidation is a joke, and the joke is on Nadal’s fans.
Andrew Miller · February 18, 2020 at 10:54 am
Marcelo Rios and ballad of sour grapes. A wunderkind with the ball, a terrible sport otherwise. The enigma indeed.
Harold · February 18, 2020 at 10:54 am
Andrew, with all due respect, what is your problem with Nadal? What he’s he done that has you writing a thousand words a day?
LeBron is a lefty that plays right, there are tons of opposite dominant hand players in all sports
Harold · February 18, 2020 at 10:56 am
I don’t think Agassi ever won the Edberg award, he was a douche too,