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Hitting Next To An ATP Champion in Bradenton
74 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios
Our “ghetto courts” are still open in Bradenton and each day I’m there an array of quality players of all ages come to these courts which are the only unlocked public courts in Bradenton.
Today I saw a former ATP Champion who won two singles titles, both in Moscow at the Kremlin Cup. You may remember Andrei Cherkasov, who achieved a career high ranking of 13 in singles and made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open (1990), US Open (1990) and French Open (1992).
The 49 year old Russian, who coaches at IMG, won a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, notably beating Pete Sampras from two sets down in the third round.
Cherkasov won the inaugural Kremlin Cup in Moscow, beating Tim Mayotte 61 62. He defended the title in 1991, overcoming Jacob Hlasek and two championship points in an epic 76 36 76 win.
His most epic of all wins though came in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1993. In the third round, Cherkasov survived a three hour and 54 minute war with Andrea Gaudenzi, saving three match points in the 67 76 75 conquest.
Today, Cherkasov was hitting with his daughter Anastasia. Wearing an orange Mizuno shirt, white Asics shoes and wielding a Dunlop racquet, the five foot, eleven inch Cherkasov is still super fit, agile and strikes an impressive ball, especially on the backhand wing.
He was doing all kinds of special drills with his daughter. First I noticed playing baseline points and then he would loft up a slow, high semi moonball. The daughter would attack it with an offensive shot and then attack the net. Cherkasov would rip a clean desperate backhand laser beam but she was at the net every time and converted every volley. Many of them impressive because her father’s shots were ATP caliber.
Then they played points where she served and they completed the point. Cherkasov said they were working on special points but I didn’t notice exactly what.
I challenged the girl, age about 16 or so, but she tweaked her back of the left knee and couldn’t play a tiebreaker with me at the end. Cherkasov said it was her second session of the day. But they will be at the courts again tomorrow. I will try to do a Biofile with him tomorrow.
Cherkasov told me Mikhail Youzhny is in Bradenton now working daily with Denis Shapovalov at a nearby academy which is still open for members.
A number three ranked ITF junior, Cherkasov achieved a very good pro career, winning the two Kremlin Cups, three major quarters, a 13 singles ranking and over $2 million in prize money, including an overall win loss record of 193-214. He lost in four other singles finals in Bucharest, Brussels, Bologna and Sydney.
Cherkasov retired in 2000 at age 30 without ever having won a match at Wimbledon.
He did play Futures matches in 2013 and 2007 in Russia, losing both to Russians ranked 401 and 1068.
Should I take a lesson from the former ATP Champion?
Andrei Cherkasov · Bradenton · Russia
74 comments
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« Previous 1 2Scoop Malinowski · April 19, 2020 at 5:58 pm
Both parents are former pros, so the kids started young. Not sure when. Talented, good athletes. They have all the shots and look like pros. Both have WTA and ATP points already so both are doing ver well. Q is the anon intel revealer, nobody knows who it is, someone involved in military or with Trump. http://www.qmap.pub explains more. We are in a civil war for control of the country. Patriots vs satanists. Tennis and all of our futures are at stake. Can’t have blackmailed satanists running a nation. http://www.outofshadows.org is the most important movie ever made.
Scoop Malinowski · April 19, 2020 at 6:09 pm
US Exhibition International Tennis Series results Bradenton FL
Evan King def Cerretani 14 42 1-0 (8-6)
Lorenzi def Preston Brown 43 40
Brown def Cerretani 41 42
Lorenzi def Cerretani 41 41
Brown def King 41 43
Final standings
1 Paolo Lorenzi
2 Preston Brown
3 Evan King
4 Jamie Cerretani
Scoop Malinowski · April 19, 2020 at 6:31 pm
Joe Biden is a senile creep. Google creepy joe biden. He is a puppet and totally controlled by deep state. If they manage to steal the election from Trump, Biden will be a puppet president totally controlled by his deep state puppet masters. Probably will kill him and then install the VP as Pres.
Jon King · April 19, 2020 at 9:22 pm
Sam, when we talk about being a college player or a WTA player, we must talk about being a money making WTA player. Only about 100-120 female tennis players make a profit from tennis after expenses.
So having WTA points is not a true professional player, one that pays the bills with tennis. Lots of players get WTA points, especially Cancun. Thats the hotspot for US based players to look for points. Close enough to US to travel, easy draws. Most are unranked-800-900 ranked so its a low level.
The girl in question Anastasia, 17 years old, see results this year from matches played at age 16. Its a very strong bet that she will never get to the level needed to the money making level in the WTA. College is the best option so she can at least get on a career path and use a scholarship to pay the bills.
Girls mature by 13-14 physically, their games mature by 13-16. By 16, you know what they are for the most part. The head of USTA player development told us he can tell by age 14 which girls at least have a shot at making money in tennis, so age 16 is actually being very generous. Very few surprises. When they are 16 and losing to players ranked 600-900, it is pretty telling. Those girls need to plan for college tennis.
Lets just say a girl we know who beat her 6-0, 6-0 then 6-1, 6-2 signed a letter of intent to a college. Even she knows earning a living from tennis is likely not going to happen. And she is on another level than Anastasia is, yet still far, far below a top 120 caliber player.
Now a few do go to college and then end up with pro careers like Collins, but that is quite rare. Collins won 2 NCAA championships so she was a rare breed even in college. Almost all that end up top 120 are having amazing ITF junior results by age 13-14, are good enough to be top 400 WTA by 15-16. And steadily shoot up the rankings and by age 17-18 are top 200 and heading towards the money.
The difference between being in the top 300-400 and in the 800s is night and day. Cancun tournaments are fantasy land, where girls parents pay for them to pretend to be tennis professional players. Like pretending to play princess when they were kids at Disney World.
Looking at Anastasia results from her last few matches at age 16, a month away from age 17, (she turned 17 earlier this month),and having seen her play once, I would put her odds of making a profit from tennis….that is getting to the top 100-120…at being 1000-1. And that was pre virus. Post virus, when making money from tennis will be much harder….her odds now likely 2000-1. Just not gonna happen.
George · April 19, 2020 at 10:33 pm
“Just not gonna happen.”
Sobering reality. Friend of mine has two high level junior players ranked highly in Texas. He said having talent as a junior tennis player is a curse…
catherine · April 20, 2020 at 12:31 am
Scoop why don’t you call this QAnon-Prose ? What a vile site it’s become.
Sad.
Scoop Malinowski · April 20, 2020 at 6:20 am
Catherine. Dark forces are Trying to destroy my country and the world and tennis. Not going to happen.
catherine · April 20, 2020 at 7:37 am
Scoop – there are always ‘dark forces’ around, wherever we believe they come from, it’s human nature, but the path that you’re on, that’s something I can’t accept. Conspiracy theories aren’t reality, plenty bad enough going on without the need to make something up. I can’t change your mind, not going to try. Maybe you’ll have a Damascene moment sometime and interpret the world differently – apocalypse isn’t around the corner and it’s not going to go according to the ‘facts’ told by fantasists who got their narrative framework from a sci fi movie.
Tennis is a pastime. Why would anyone want to destroy it ? One day the sun will explode and we’ll all be gone. Until then…..
George · April 20, 2020 at 8:40 am
“Conspiracy theories aren’t reality, plenty bad enough going on without the need to make something up.”
They aren’t reality until a leftist newspaper reports on it:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2020/04/14/the-washington-post-goes-rogue-china-lab-in-focus-of-coronavirus-outbreak/#6a68b97c1ee1
Scoop Malinowski · April 20, 2020 at 10:12 am
Catherine, satanists want to destroy everything, invert everything beautiful God created. It all connects to Jeffrey Epstein Island. Please watch this film… wwww.outofshadows.org and spread the word about it. We must shine the light on this dark evil to destroy it.
http://www.outofshadows.org
Sam · April 20, 2020 at 4:38 pm
“Talented, good athletes. They have all the shots and look like pros.”
That’s impressive. Of course, Scoop, if both of your parents were former pros and you started playing extremely young as well, you’d probably have had a really mean game at 16 too! 🙂
“Q is the anon intel revealer, nobody knows who it is, someone involved in military or with Trump. http://www.qmap.pub explains more.”
Didn’t know about this. Thank Q for this helpful info. 😉
Incidentally, there was a musical group named Q in the early ’80s. It eventually became SSQ, and finally turned into the solo act Stacey Q. Actually, as a solo artist, Stacey Q was criminally underrated. She put out a really fine album in 1988 called “Hard Machine” that disappeared under the radar. 🙁 And she was one of the best-looking pop musicians out there.
“We are in a civil war for control of the country.”
You have to stand up to government control, or else you’ll eventually lose your rights.
“http://www.outofshadows.org is the most important movie ever made.”
Since you posted that link a few days ago, I’ve watched over half of the video. Very enlightening.
Sam · April 20, 2020 at 5:22 pm
Jon,
Thank you for taking the time to give me the 411 on how the lower levels of tennis work. All that you wrote was extremely helpful.
“Only about 100-120 female tennis players make a profit from tennis after expenses.”
Wow, didn’t realize that.
“College is the best option so she can at least get on a career path and use a scholarship to pay the bills.”
That’s good–in the long run, most players are probably better off getting a college education anyway.
“When they are 16 and losing to players ranked 600-900, it is pretty telling. Those girls need to plan for college tennis.”
I see.
“Almost all that end up top 120 are having amazing ITF junior results by age 13-14”
Do you think the differences between these top achievers and the other players are mostly due to “genetics”?
“Like pretending to play princess when they were kids at Disney World.”
LOL. 🙂
“the top 100-120…at being 1000-1. And that was pre virus. Post virus, when making money from tennis will be much harder….her odds now likely 2000-1. Just not gonna happen.”
College it is then. But at least she’ll likely have a more “normal” life than if she became a big thing, so it’s probably actually a blessing.
Sam · April 20, 2020 at 5:30 pm
“He said having talent as a junior tennis player is a curse…”
George, why is that?
Scoop Malinowski · April 20, 2020 at 5:36 pm
Sam I do remember Stacy Q as a one hit wonder, Two of Hearts in 1988 was a hit. Please finish watching the full out of shadows, the second half is even better. They want to take away all our guns because then they can do whatever they want to us without any fear of retaliation. All political power derives from a barrel of a gun. The gun stealers know when the masses figure out what they are doing they are gonna have to run like hell.
Scoop Malinowski · April 20, 2020 at 5:44 pm
Jon and Sam, Osaka did not have any special itf or usta success at 14. Lots of pro players did not. Lots of girls and boys accelerate their improvements later after 16 – Courier, McEnroe, Li Na, Estrella Burgos, Yafan Wang, Su Wei Hsieh, etc.
Scoop Malinowski · April 20, 2020 at 5:50 pm
Sam, when I was 16 my life was more on the unstable side, I didn’t have the support that tennis requires, neither parents ever played. No idea what could have happened if I got great coaching and played every day as a teen. I certainly did love playing at 12 13 but then stopped after we lost to two girls 6060 in a tournament. I got into other sports. If I started at the right time and had the right support, yes I think I could have been a good college player or even a top 100 pro. But boxing and hockey helped make me mentally tough and a better athlete. I’m not sure if just tennis could have done that. Bottom line, I’m happy with how life has turned out, I still became a good player and still trying to get better. )
Sam · April 20, 2020 at 6:00 pm
“Sam I do remember Stacy Q as a one hit wonder”
Well, Scoop, she actually had more than one song make the top 100. But “Two of Hearts” (which was in fact a cover) was her only big hit.
“Two of Hearts in 1988 was a hit.”
That was in 1986. The song came from her first solo album, which was kind of weak. But her sophomore effort in 1988 was much better–there she tried lots of different styles, including alternative rock on “The River” and rap on the title track. Anyway, she still makes music to this day. One of my favorite artists.
“Please finish watching the full out of shadows, the second half is even better.”
Yes, will try to do so. Thanks for sharing about this video on your “vile” site. 😉
“They want to take away all our guns because then they can do whatever they want to us without any fear of retaliation.”
Very logical. They’re not stupid–they just think the masses are.
Sam · April 20, 2020 at 6:10 pm
“Jon and Sam, Osaka did not have any special itf or usta success at 14. Lots of pro players did not. Lots of girls and boys accelerate their improvements later after 16 – Courier, McEnroe, Li Na, Estrella Burgos, Yafan Wang, Su Wei Hsieh, etc.”
OK, thanks for the info, Scoop.
“Sam, when I was 16 my life was more on the unstable side, I didn’t have the support that tennis requires, neither parents ever played. No idea what could have happened if I got great coaching and played every day as a teen”
If you had started playing at, say, age 3 and practiced hard on a regular basis, no doubt you would’ve been very good.
“I certainly did love playing at 12 13 but then stopped after we lost to two girls 6060 in a tournament.”
Who’s “we”?
“I got into other sports. If I started at the right time and had the right support, yes I think I could have been a good college player or even a top 100 pro.”
Probably. There are lots of people out there who could’ve really excelled at a certain sport given all the right opportunities.
“But boxing and hockey helped make me mentally tough and a better athlete.”
Oh, you actually boxed too?
“Bottom line, I’m happy with how life has turned out, I still became a good player and still trying to get better. )”
That’s good. And of course, you don’t have to excel at a sport (or at anything, for that matter) to have inherent value and worth as a human being.
Scoop Malinowski · April 20, 2020 at 6:11 pm
Sam, I just watched more of Stacy Q on You Tube, yes the 88 songs are better. Dont Make A Fool Of Me. Apparently she got lost in the shadows of Madonna back then, as did just about everyone. I remember that one song most of all, Two of hearts was a big hit. And one of my best friends back then Marty Fanizzi actually bought the Stacy Q cassette tape and listened a lot. We laughed at him for buying it.
Scoop Malinowski · April 20, 2020 at 6:15 pm
Sam, me and my friend Kevin Dolan got trounced by the two girls. But they were playing for years, we just started and were self taught. Yes I did have three bouts in boxing at age 13 14 and went 2-1. I won the first one and ran to the bathroom and locked the door and cried, so relieved it was over and I got through it without getting hurt. So stressed all week before it. Evertying was easier after that )
Andrew Miller · April 21, 2020 at 4:43 pm
Cherkasov was a very fine player. I liked Cherkasov and Chesnokov both, as well as Volkov – they were lower profile players whose games were well formed and they all played differently. I think they paved the way for Safin, Kafelnikov, but I’m sure those guys would say nah, it was momma Safin! (an unsung hero of the Moscow academy).
Scoop Malinowski · April 21, 2020 at 4:56 pm
Cherkasov was a very fine player indeed. Two titles. QF in 3 slams. Beat Pete Sampras at Olympics from 2 sets down…= Tennis champion borderline legend forever.
Scoop Malinowski · April 21, 2020 at 5:00 pm
ATP invest in lower ranked player minor league tour. $2000 to play a mini tourney week at host club. Special rankungs. Top three at end of year get bonus. Minor league tour to supplement lower ranked players income. Step up ATP and players council. This ITS is fantastic. Boston chicago L.A. seattle st Louis tampa new orkeans Kansas city Detroit Philly needs this.
Sam · April 22, 2020 at 2:04 pm
“Sam, I just watched more of Stacy Q on You Tube, yes the 88 songs are better. Dont Make A Fool Of Me.”
Scoop, that’s cool you listened to some of her songs. 🙂 I actually think “Don’t Make a Fool of Yourself” was the wrong choice for the first single. And it didn’t do very well on the charts either, but the video was pretty cool. Stacey Q was a very good performer–she had also been in the Ringling Brothers circus.
“Apparently she got lost in the shadows of Madonna back then, as did just about everyone.”
You nailed it.
“I remember that one song most of all, Two of hearts was a big hit.”
Yes, it reached #3 on the Billboard charts, and actually #1 on sales (as opposed to airplay).
“And one of my best friends back then Marty Fanizzi actually bought the Stacy Q cassette tape and listened a lot. We laughed at him for buying it.”
That’s pretty funny. 🙂 I really liked the second single “We Connect” as well (and Marty probably did too), even though it sounds similar.
“me and my friend Kevin Dolan got trounced by the two girls. But they were playing for years, we just started and were self taught.”
Oh, I see.
“Yes I did have three bouts in boxing at age 13 14 and went 2-1. I won the first one and ran to the bathroom and locked the door and cried, so relieved it was over and I got through it without getting hurt. So stressed all week before it.”
Wow, glad you made it through.
“Evertying was easier after that )”
That was obviously a huge learning experience for you. Boxing is one sport I’ve never been able to get into, but I believe that I watched when Tonya Harding beat Paula Jones at least. 😉