Some surprises already: Harrison lost in qualies to a guy ranked in the 500s. Hewitt lost for the first time to Lopez. Gulbis lost to the big serving French lefty De Schepper. Gojowczyk beat Raonic. Kei beat Monfils. 43-year old Date Krumm beat Puig. Babos defeated Keys. Victor Estrella beat Benneteau. Tomic lost to Stepanek.
Today Rafa plays Dustin Brown in Halle, at the rate of upsets so far, maybe just maybe…
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« Previous 1 2Scoop Malinowski · June 14, 2014 at 6:56 pm
CS3, Hewitt is over 30 pounds heavier now than at his prime, now l70, he was listed in media guide at l45. He was the quickest player I ever saw. Sampras said he was better than Chang who was also super fast. Sampras said Hewitt had a better all around game than Chang. Hewitt was the best in the world for two years, he is still the youngest player ever to earn ATP number one ranking.
Scoop Malinowski · June 14, 2014 at 6:58 pm
Dimitrov reminds me of Federer, who was also mentally suspect in his struggle/suffering years. It’s very possible it will all come together for Dimitrov and he will become The Machine someday soon. He’s heading in the right direction, unlike Tomic and Harrison.
Scoop Malinowski · June 14, 2014 at 6:59 pm
Andrew I think Dimitrov wants it a LOT more than Gasquet, Super G shows plenty of fire and passion and desire, Gasquet rarely does. I see Super G achieving a LOT more than Richie G.
Andrew Miller · June 14, 2014 at 8:48 pm
That is true scoop. At end of day gasquet is berdych with even less emotion if possible. Even federer shows more fire. I think thats why we miss.roddick: he accomploshed what he did not only with firepower but fire.
Scoop Malinowski · June 15, 2014 at 5:51 pm
Dimitrov, by winning the prestigious Queens title, is ready to win Wimbledon. Won’t be easy but I think he’s a leading contender. Lopez is also a contender. He has the game to win Wimbledon if he plays his absolute best tennis.
gustarhymes · June 15, 2014 at 7:39 pm
agree Dmitov is a contender, but 3 tiebreeak sets with an old Lopez isn’t impressive. He had a walkover too. Fed had a walkover too.
Gusta
Scoop Malinowski · June 15, 2014 at 8:07 pm
Murray and T Berd were in the draw too, this was a tough field. Lopez and Dimitrov are playing superb grass court tennis right now. Falla has given Fed problems on grass before, was up two sets at Wimbledon once. Lefty Falla is a dangerous player on grass.
Andrew Miller · June 16, 2014 at 2:53 am
Dimitrov a contender? I think players arent showing their cards. A lot of players get up for wimbledon.
Scoop Malinowski · June 16, 2014 at 8:21 am
I think Dimitrov is ready to do major damage at Wimbledon. Queens winners have historically gone on to win Wimbledon – Sampras, Hewitt…with the right draw and some luck I can see the long expected crowning of this new king. Murray and Djokovic are vulnerable right now. Rafa can be taken down on grass. Fed is also beatable on grass. Super G is ready I think. BTW, Darcis lost a tough match in qualies last week, good to see him back on the court.
Andrew Miller · June 16, 2014 at 11:33 am
Scoop Dimitrov is a courageous pick for the W (if that is indeed your pick!) especially given that the ruling tennis elite, with their French Open trophies, seem to have sent a message to the rest of the field. But you have to believe that at some point these players will get over themselves and meet the moment (I think we can all admit that tennis is anything is full of surprises). Why the guy slips so much out there (few fall as often as Dimitrov or Del Potro) is a mystery to me (either these are the only guys who wear legal sneakers or they have some serious footwear issues!). His lapse in the QF vs. Nadal in Melbourne was pretty similar I think to the Djokovic choke in the Roland Garros final (a statement first set from the opponent, a hiccup from the opponent, a show of force from Nadal and then the match is over), but maybe it was a learning experience – only now has Dimitrov moved beyond “an interesting player with potential” to a guy who is scaring other players – Dimitrov’s credibility I’d think is growing big time (I don’t think he has an aura like Nadal did in 2008 or Murray did after winning the Olympics in 2012 – you got the sense at that point that Murray was on the verge of something huge and he used the rest of the summer and the first half of 2013 to prove as much). He seems to be over his straight set loss to Karlovic at the french open (which seriously raised some questions as to this guy’s heart, let alone his head, is in the game) – nothing like a very solid tournament win to overcome the lingering effects and doubts from a recent 1st round slam exit). Anyone can lose to Karlovic at any tournament (and apparently Karlovic gets even better with time – he’s been upending big players and frustrating their slam ambitions for well over a decade now!!!). I think it’s a worse loss than Federer’s 2004 Kuerten loss because Kuerten was a three time Roland Garros champ, but the difference there was in 2004 Federer already had a Wimbledon title under his belt whereas I don’t think many we’re seeing Dimitrov as a Roland Garros champ in waiting.
So I’ll take it that Scoop’s picking up on something – an intangible, maybe Sharapova being happy in his corner or something like that. If a player’s feeling ready to go things we think are impossible may just happen. I think he’ll need to prove it in the tournament – win a big match in the Rd of 16 or something like that, an epic match like Sampras’ big wins before he got his US Open crown. I like Dimitrov’s game a lot but I don’t consider him the best returner out there which I think he’ll need (see Karlovic, Dr. I., Roland Garros, 2014).
I guess he’ll have to show he can do that. But if Scoop things Dimitrov is game, I’ll trust that Scoop’s picking up on something else. I think Dimitrov is more ready for a slam than Raonic, but both of them have different kinds of movement issues! Maybe Dimitrov over-runs the ball a little or something like that.
Scoop Malinowski · June 16, 2014 at 1:10 pm
No shame in falling to Karlovic Andrew, Federer lost his number one ranking after losing to Dr. Ivo in Cincy, his first loss to Dr. Ivo. Hewitt has a losing record to Dr. Ivo. Dr. Ivo has tortured many an ATP player, still vividly remember James Blake coming in to the press room after losing to Dr. Ivo in Delray and saying it’s “not even playing tennis against that guy. He just takes the racquet out of your hand…” Never saw Blake so peeved. Dimitrov is ready now, as ready as he can be. He showed he can compete with the big boys. He can win on any surface. It’s Super G’s time to shine.
Scoop Malinowski · June 16, 2014 at 3:09 pm
RIP Tony Gwynn of MLB. I did a Biofile with Tony Gwynn in the 90s at Shea Stadium and he said his favorite sport to play outside of baseball? “Tennis.”
Dan Markowitz · June 18, 2014 at 7:16 am
Scoop, you’re picking Dimitrov because he beat Lopez in the Queens final? Who else did he beat in Queens? I’d say Dimitrov has as much chance of winning Wimbledon as Gulbis had of winning the French. As for Lopez, what’s his best showing at Wimby?
Scoop Malinowski · June 18, 2014 at 7:35 am
Lopez beat Berd at Queens, former Wimbledon finalist. Lopez had made QF. I think it’s Dimitrov’s time to shine right now. His Federer breakout is overdue. I just feel it can happen now. Winning Queens could be the springboard.
Dan Markowitz · June 18, 2014 at 8:26 am
But he disappointed on the clay. What did he lose in the first round? Dimitrov has shown very little to think he might have a big breakout at a slam. I mean he lost in the 3rd rd of both IW and Miami. His two big wins of the year have been against Milos and Berdy at AO and Rome, respectively. I don’t think this guy at 23 is ready for the big big time.
Hans Landa · June 18, 2014 at 9:23 am
going with dan on this one scoop – dimi’s all about primetime not ready for big time yet. 🙂
Mitch · June 18, 2014 at 12:03 pm
Lopez is a very good grass court player – it’s probably his best surface, and he’s made the Wimbledon Qs 2 or 3 times. Dimitrov also beat Wawrinka at Queens. I don’t think he has a real shot at winning Wimbledon this year, but I’m not sure that he’s a worse bet than Stan winning in Australia at the beginning of the year was.
Wimbledon is wide open this year. If Grigor can get into the 2nd week, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him put up a huge win (Nadal/Djokovic/Federer/Murray). He has a very good chance at beating anyone else ranked above him not in the Big 4, and I don’t think he’d be even be a big underdog against Fed, who’s to inconsistent these days.
Scoop Malinowski · June 18, 2014 at 1:07 pm
I can understand your reluctance to believe in Dimitrov now. It’s easy to assume he’ll bomb out again. If I remember correctly, Fed’s breakout win vs. Sampras at Wimbledon came the same year he was drubbed by Horna in Paris in the first round in straight sets. Winning Queens could be huge for the Dimitrov psyche. I think it’s a good year for a big Wimbledon breakout – Djok’s gotta be down from losing again in Paris, Fed is vulnerable as SS showed us last year, Murray’s defending, Rafa has lost 3 grass court matches in a row. We’ll see. I think the time is right for G Force.