By Scoop Malinowski
Novak Djokovic played as well as he could have played last night vs Hyeon Chung but it was just not enough.
The same pattern held for the entire match. Hyeon in control but Djokovic desperately trying to fight back. Djokovic fell two breaks down early, but scratched and clawed to a tiebreaker which he lost.
Same patterns for the second and third. In the third set tiebreaker, Chung led 3-0 but Djokovic leveled it 3-3. Then Chung again asserted his superiority for 6-3 which he closed out at 7-4 with some electrifying shot making, movement and agility. One forehand stretch winner cross court off a deep Djokovic volley astounded Rod Laver Arena and Djokovic too.
I didn’t see any signs that Djokovic was hurt (elbow) or tired or far off his A game. He was fighting, roaring, exhorting himself, fist pumping and even glaring down Chung. The problem was Chung was better. Chung repeatedly stunned Djokovic with his power, accuracy, cleverness, defense, counter punching.
Chung said after Djokovic was the player he emulated in his formative years. And you began to wonder if this could be another model of how Sampras inspired Federer and ultimately inspired an even better, more complete version of himself.
It’s plausible now that Chung could eventually evolve into a more explosive, dynamic, superior version of the prime Djokovic, based on what we witnessed last night.
Djokovic, gracious as always in defeat, said that Chung clearly had the potential to win majors and reach the top ten, but after that, “it’s up to him.”
Chung does seem to have that extraordinary will and hunger to win, as he expresses on rare occasions with animated roars and dynamic fist pumps after especially important winning shots.
After the huge payday for winning Milan NEXTGEN Finals late last year, one might have expected Chung to ease up on his work ethic but the opposite appears to have happened. Chung worked extremely hard in Thailand in the off-season – he’s not complacent in the least with what he’s achieved so far. He wants a lot more and obviously he believes he’s capable of a lot more.
Last night’s spectacular 76 75 76 win over Djokovic indicates this unique talent is certainly capable of achieving all of the ultimate accomplishments in professional tennis.
AO · Hyeon Chung · Korea
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1 2 Next »Chazz · January 22, 2018 at 3:03 pm
First I’ve watched Chung and what stood out to me was his incredible athleticism. He was all over the court and was able to make shots that appeared to be out of reach.
Duke Carnoustie · January 22, 2018 at 3:20 pm
So whose tournament is this to lose – Berdych or Sandgren?
Maybe Sandgren matches up with Cilic in the final and avenges his U.S. Open loss from last year?
I feel bad for Denis Kudla. He had Thiem beaten and would have destroyed Sandgren.
Scoop Malinowski · January 22, 2018 at 3:24 pm
Chung showed at an early age that he can win matches in the ATP. I still remember him bageling Granollers in Miami two or three years ago. And I remember talking about Chung with Opelka at Eddie Herr two years ago and Opelka corrected me about Chung coming out of nowhere, “he was always good. He made junior Wimbledon finals in 2013, lost to Quinzi.” Chung is a big guy who can move and he hits heavy hard shots and he can do it over and over. I remember that match vs Djokovic two years ago in Australia and he was competitive and very poised and not intimidated by the situation.
Andrew Miller · January 22, 2018 at 3:33 pm
Chung could be…(…) just as Zverev was destined and it was Thiem time.
Underwhelming generation next. Generation we aren’t going anywhere pal is still cleaning up.
Scoop Malinowski · January 22, 2018 at 4:01 pm
Thiem beat Djokovic in the French Open but didn’t capitalize on that win with anything bigger. Can’t recall Zverev’s best major win so far. So Chung has taken the lead ahead of Thiem and Zverev as far as performing his best in majors.
Duke Carnoustie · January 22, 2018 at 5:46 pm
How about the Bryans? Big match today first up. These guys are living legends and keep the Ws coming. We will see great players in the future but never a doubles team like this. I thought it wise to give some T-P love to them.
scoopmalinowski · January 22, 2018 at 8:09 pm
Bryans look great again cruising over Matkowsquereshi 6142.
Andrew Miller · January 22, 2018 at 8:16 pm
I’m sorry the next generation is falling flat. I don’t think it’s the burden of expectations. They seem to be thinking too far afield, underestimating the early round matches.
Very hard to make that Federer blockbuster match if you can’t get to it.
I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt. But I’m also going to admit that I expected them to do better than this.
I repeat it’s unbelievable that at Federer and Nadal age they are still bringing home the slam hardware. It’s especially surreal because they beat the generation ahead of them into retirement I think.
We can argue that Federer and Nadal came about during a relatively weak period. You had Johannson, Costa, Hewitt, and Sampras winning the 2002 slams, with Sampras retiring after a severe slump right after the US open. Agassi and JC Ferrero won the first two slams of 2003, then Federer won his first at Wimbledon, and Roddick won his US Open title.
With Hewitt, Ferrero, Federer, Roddick winning slams, it sent a signal to that generation that winning a slam was well within their grasp. They no longer had to contend with the old guard, which was sputtering outside of Agassi, who was a threat for slams and not a shoe in. And he was only one guy.
The generations behind Federer and Nadal see light at the end of the retirement of Federer and Nadal, but not during it!
Andrew Miller · January 22, 2018 at 8:17 pm
I’d say the Hewitt, Safin, Federer,Ferrero generation sent Sampras, Agassi into retirement.
Andrew Miller · January 22, 2018 at 8:18 pm
Amazing Federer, Nadal basically going into the record books with the knowledge they had no equals but each other on tour.
Andrew Miller · January 22, 2018 at 8:20 pm
I may have to Dan Markowitz Zverev, or Lloyd Carroll the kid.
catherine · January 23, 2018 at 1:44 am
Edmunds beats Dimitrov and is in semifinals ! How many saw that coming ? Honestly ?
Zverev (M) fined $45,000 for first round display.
Mertens bts Svitolina 6-4 6-0 and goes into semis. Big surprise. (Mertens took Kerber to 2 tbs in Hopman Cup.So no walkover)
catherine · January 23, 2018 at 1:59 am
Edmund of course. And I can’t stand how the ? goes onto the next line.
catherine · January 23, 2018 at 2:16 am
Will Fisette dump Kerber now and coach Mertens ?
catherine · January 23, 2018 at 4:11 am
Svitolina has decided she was injured. Ho hum. She didn’t seem that injured to me and if she was it’s best not to make an excuse of it.
catherine · January 23, 2018 at 8:22 am
Nadal retires – leaving his future in doubt ?
Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2018 at 8:31 am
Yes, Zverev is going in the wrong direction. Like Thiem he needs a major win to do it. Thiem and Zverev raised our expectations with their great results but they still have yet to take that final step – which is to win a major.
jg · January 23, 2018 at 8:49 am
Speaking of wrong direction, how about Tiafoe losing first round in the Newport ( Ca) Challenger, he may go back to being a challenger player soon.
Andrew Miller · January 23, 2018 at 8:56 am
Only Federer from big four? He may feel some pressure. Opens door. We may have a new Aussie winner.
Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2018 at 9:33 am
jg; Tiafoe looked alarmingly bad in his loss 1R at Brisbane to Ebden that this losing streak this year, now at 0-3, is not a surprise. He looked totally lost and unprepared vs Ebden and he has not found his way back on the right path. I don’t know what has caused this, whether it’s personal issues or maybe some blowout losses at the end of 2017 but Tiafoe is a player who has lost a lot of if not all of his confidence. It’s sad and hard to see because he looked so devastating last year in April when he clouted Sandgren to win the Sarasota Open final in straight sets. He looked so good back then, and the marathon loss to Fed in Miami was also sensational.
Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2018 at 9:37 am
I didn’t see any pain in Rafa, Cilic was playing super tennis and up 4-1 in the fourth. Rafa tried to timeout (freeze) Cilic but it didn’t work. Cilic came back out and won the next four games for 2-0 in the fifth, dominating play with his big hitting, leaving Rafa just standing there watching winners fly by. Again, no sign of any serious pain or compromised movement DURING points. I think Rafa just ran into a buzzsaw again and tried “fabricating” an injury to change the match flow but again it didn’t work because these players are now aware of what’s happening. If he’s truly hurt, I hope he recovers fast and healthy for IW Miami and clay season but I think it’s just a matter of Cilic playing his very best with very high intensity and fury and it was too much for Rafa.
Duke Carnoustie · January 23, 2018 at 9:49 am
Stunning loss for Frances Tiafoe. He clearly is falling apart and needs to change things fast.
Will Taylor Fritz lose today and cement the idea that the young Americans are not up to par?
Kudla v. Opelka is a big match today, with the winner to likely get Nishikori. Must be nuts for Kudla to know he could easily still be playing in Australia.
Newport won’t be the same without Sandgren; he’ll be missed.
Duke Carnoustie · January 23, 2018 at 9:50 am
Interesting matchup between Fratangelo and former Stanford star Tom Fawcett. The qualifier Fawcett may pull the upset.
Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2018 at 10:21 am
Another aspect to appreciate about Chung is that even two brilliant tennis minds like Agassi and Stepanek were not able to help Djokovic to solve the Chung Puzzle. Either they were asleep or overconfident in their pre-match planning or neglected to do sufficient scouting. So it was the collective tennis braintrust of Djokovic, Agassi and Stepanek outwitted and outsmarted by 21 yr old Chung and former journeyman player Neville Godwin. David slays Goliath.
Chazz · January 23, 2018 at 10:32 am
Yeah that Tiafoe result is not good. He just turned 20 a few days ago. Not sure if it’s physical, mental or both lately but maybe he needs a new coach.
Nadal has not been one to quit in the past so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt this time. Cilic is always dangerous as is Berdych against Federer. Nadal losing to Cilic in a close match didn’t surprise me as much as Dimitrov losing fairly decisively to Edmund and Svitolina losing badly to Mertens.
Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2018 at 10:53 am
Looked more like Cilic was issuing a beatdown on poor Rafa than any kind of injury affecting his movement. Like John McEnroe said, “It’s been scientifically proven that everything hurts more when you’re losing.”
Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2018 at 11:21 am
Players who wont give up file: Jesse Witten, ATP 1130 is playing a Futures in Weston FL this week. Paes is playing doubles in Newport Beach with new partner James Cerretani. Paes was snubbed from playing mixed in Australia.
catherine · January 23, 2018 at 11:22 am
Yes – what happened to Grigor ? A couple of days ago he was supposedly in line for the title and now look. Exhausted after Kyrgios ?
Halep v Kerber semi if it works out should have been the final.
Chazz · January 23, 2018 at 11:30 am
Dimitrov beat Edmund a couple weeks ago in Brisbane but I guess it was a combination of Edmund elevating his game this week and Dimitrov not playing at the level he did against Kyrgios.
Leif Wellington Haase · January 23, 2018 at 1:54 pm
Only saw bits and pieces of the Dimitrov-Edmund match live but Dimitrov was shockingly flat given the stakes– looked like a combination of mental and physicial fatigue from the Krygios match– which was worthy of a final– and questionable tactics from Dimitrov, especially his decision to hit so many sliced backhands both on return of serve and in rallies.
Edmund at his best, like Carreno Busta, is a player who doesn’t give you too many errors but doesn’t have any single shot that is too imposing (his high forehand from deep in the court is good): Edmund needs to be overcome through better shotmaking and athleticism which Dimitrov certainly has in the arsenal…but he didn’t bring it here except briefly in the second set.
Stunning that the victor in the stacked Dimitrov quarter would lose to the winner of the weak Sock quarter, but there we have it…
And Cerretani, the pride of Brown University, is back …he played a few challengers late last year. Still in good shape in his late 30s, 40s? Next up: the return of Woodforde/ Woodbridge, Flach/Seguso, heck, McEnroe/ Fleming, Smith/Lutz?
Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2018 at 6:30 pm
Catherine, Edmund just played better than Dimitrov and Valverdu anticipated. Dimitrov needs a former ATP pro player and preferably a GS winner in his camp.
Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2018 at 6:39 pm
Leif, Dimitrov’s backhand got broken down and so then he started slicing, playing scared tentative tennis. Edmund broke down the Dimitrov backhand. Cerretani played a lot of Challengers last year and a few ATP. He’s been in a tailspin in the Challengers and even Futures since Sock abandoned him in Wimbledon about five years ago when he had a lot of points to defend from making QF the year before.
Andrew Miller · January 23, 2018 at 7:05 pm
New men’s slam champ?
Andrew Miller · January 23, 2018 at 7:18 pm
Is big four done? Was last year, rather than proof of dominance, the final chapter of the reign?
Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2018 at 7:23 pm
Fedpeat Andrew, it’s looking like a Fedpeat.
Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2018 at 7:25 pm
Andrew, I think it’s possible the Fantastic Four will be whittled down this year to the Big One and you know who that is. (RF) Seeing how Cilic blasted Nadal off the court was seen by a lot of players and I think we may see it happen a lot this year.
catherine · January 23, 2018 at 7:45 pm
Kerber is wiping the floor with Keys. Just mopping her up.
Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2018 at 7:53 pm
Kerber regained her confidence at Hopman Cup. This all started at Hopman Cup. She looked very good from the very first match. The toughest match she had so far was with Hsieh.
Hartt · January 23, 2018 at 8:09 pm
Angie totally in command. Won in SS (6-2 in 2nd) in 51 minutes. It was so one-sided it was not an entertaining match.
catherine · January 23, 2018 at 8:27 pm
We’re posting in two places on this ! You’re right. Keys just hasn’t the weapons.
But as I said below, Angie last lost to Keys in 2014 so I imagine she felt pretty confident.
Madison doesn’t seem to be developing as a player.
catherine · January 23, 2018 at 8:37 pm
I don’t want Angie to wear herself out before Wimbledon.
Scoop Malinowski · January 23, 2018 at 8:49 pm
Keys is developing but she is prone to playing bad, dud matches and tonight was one. But then again maybe Kerber was just in the zone and that was the root of Keys’ troubles tonight. Like Thomas Johansson told me he was playing great and played a very good match vs Rios but he still got killed. He said Rios could make you feel like a beginner. Kerber Riosed Keys tonight.
catherine · January 24, 2018 at 12:56 am
Keys was just feeding Angie, who took every advantage. Just the way she likes playing. No variety in Madison’s game – I don’t know if whoever’s coaching her now can bring it out, or instil it. If not then I can’t see how she can be a contender in GSs.
catherine · January 24, 2018 at 1:26 am
Halep bts Pliskova 6-3 6-2 – nearly as onesided as Kerber-Keys. Karolina’s movement was really poor. I suspect she’s not built for it.
Simona/Angie is the one- Simona wants a chance at a Slam so badly and Angie wants to dominate. Simóna should dig deep in her locker for touch shots. Otherwise Angie will reach everything from the ground. That’s what Cahill ought to be telling her.
(I’ve got live streaming for these matches – not sure why. Doesn’t always happen. But I don’t know if I can bear to watch)
catherine · January 24, 2018 at 1:38 am
Simona came from 0-3 down in the 1st set and then didn’t look back. Good serving too. Kerber/Simona will be the Wall v the Wall unless either one makes a break through early.
News – Serena back for Fed Cup in February.
catherine · January 24, 2018 at 2:12 am
The winner will carry off the trophy 🙂
(I noticed Simona cross herself at the end.I’ve seen Angie do it too so Divine Support will be split between them)
Michael in UK · January 24, 2018 at 6:07 am
Berdych fails to solve Federer puzzle.
Hartt · January 24, 2018 at 6:14 am
Yes, poor Berdy doesn’t have much chance against Fed. Although Roger got off to a slow start, he did find his form and finally played well enough to win in SS. Tomas did not play badly in the first two sets and Fed, in the on court interview, admitted he stole the first set “a little bit.” But then Roger was just a bit better than Tomas in the 2nd, and Berdy’s level dropped in the third.
It looks like Berdych will never solve the Federer puzzle.
Scoop Malinowski · January 24, 2018 at 8:56 am
I really can see Chung beating Fed. He’s like a bigger stronger more explosive version of Djokovic. The question is does Chung believe he can do it. Does he have the killer instinct and the courage to slay the “God of Tennis”?
Andrew Miller · January 24, 2018 at 10:29 am
Pliskova. Underwhelming. I say this as a fan of her game, which I appreciate for her clear as a whistle ball striking, nice sound off the racquet.
Someone that should own a slam.