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Is Dan About To Stick A Fork in Tommy Paul?
44 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios
The Dan Markowitz fork is not bashful. When a young American player struggles, that fork has an eagerness to stick the player. Ask Ryan Harrison who was forked at least a half dozen times.
The latest casualty of the infamous Dan Fork could be Tommy Paul who posted another abysmal result in the Winston Salem Futures this week. In his home state Paul was bounced in the first round 64 64 by the world no. 1947 Felix Corwin, a qualifier.
Paul is now ranked an unimpressive 360 and way behind his peers Opelka, Tiafoe, Kozlov, Fritz and Donaldson.
Just a couple of years ago Paul was winning junior grand slams and US Open qualifying matches, even reaching the US Open main draw where he held his own with Andreas Seppi in the first round. But today Paul appears to be regressing.
Incidentally, in the same Winston Salem draw the ageless wonder Jesse Witten knocked off the no. 2 seed Dominik Koepfer and then won another round before falling to Wil Spencer.
Also of note, Patrick Hannity, the son of Fox News’ Sean Hannity played the qualies and lost first round.
Christopher Eubanks of Georgia Tech has reached the final. Eubanks is ranked 630.
So what do you think, is Tommy Paul the next Tommy Ho, Tommy Berdych, Tommy Robredo or is he about to get stuck by Dan’s fearless fork?
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britbox · June 17, 2017 at 8:50 pm
I'd forgotten all about Tommy Paul. Think Dan is leaning in the right direction.
Andrew Miller · June 17, 2017 at 11:16 pm
What’s the state of his game and his coaching and mindset? Todd Martin was slow to come to a boil as a player. Brian Baker was sidelined as well and then was the country’s best clay player because of one giant leap forward.
Come to think of it, I’d hire Brian Baker if I were one of these players.
Andrew Miller · June 17, 2017 at 11:19 pm
Best approximation is Bjorn Fratangelo. He also got the fork and has done admirably despite the fork. We wont mistake Fratangelo with Zverev any time soon, but he has become far more capable, like Smyczek had been. I think we haven’t seen Fratangelo’s best, nor Tommy Paul’s best.
But we may have seen Fritz’ best! How quickly players fortunes change in this sport.
Dan Markowitz · June 18, 2017 at 5:55 am
The fork. I’ve given quarry the shovel. And have I been wrong? Harry goes first round outta in IW, Miami and French Open. Paul is a different case of course. Harry was top 50 by his age. Harry of xoutse is a certifiable maniac. I’ve seen Paul play twice. So I don’t know if he has the goods or not. It’s so hard to tell, but it doesn’t look good for Paul.
You take my son. He’s juggling baseball and tennis bow just named to Little League Workd Series team in White Plains, only 11 year LL on the team because he’s a fine pitcher. I drive him out to along Island yesterday for 8 am game and throws five innings, 80 pitches and his team wins and he only gives up three unearned runs. Then he has an afternoon tourney match in Armonk where he beats one of ourt Sense’s, a real fine club in Tenacly, high performance 12U players 2 and 1. He has to play the semis 45 minutes later against no 1?seed, # 55 kid in east, and Callum is playing on fumes. He’s down a set and a break. He can’t hit winners on his forehand or hit big serves because his legs are shot. But he wins second set and in Supee. Teamed he’s down 5-2 but wins 11-8.
Is al going to be as good as Tommy Paul? Is he going to play major college ball in tennis and baseball? I don’t know, but he’s got the fight and the fearlessnes and you can’t win. If if you don’t have both those intangibles.
Andrew Miller · June 18, 2017 at 9:10 am
Tough to tell. Kosakowski seemed to play many guys tough and hasn’t touched a ball, and i thought he had a world class one hander.
Quinzi was junior Wimbledon champion and now he’s got a goal of #200 by end of this year, which isn’t fantastic based on the expectations for him.
Jarmere Jenkins, who at 22 was making the final qualifying rounds of slams and winning back to back futures and doing well in doubles, is now off the tour with no plans to come back, and has given up.
My best guess is players get frustrated and quit. Or get injured and quit. Or discover that the low level of the tour doesn’t pay the bills, and quit.
The fact that Paul still enters tournaments probably means he’ll keep going. But if he meets too many more first round defeats he’s going to quit.
Scoop Malinowski · June 18, 2017 at 9:21 am
Get Cal a Superboy t shirt or legally change his name to Super Boy. Heckuva day at the office for Cal. Kid has a natural talent for winning even when he's not at his best.
sharoten · June 18, 2017 at 10:26 am
Felix Auger Aliassime won his first Challenger tournament today!!!! At 16 years old. This kid is going to be an amazing tennis player. His opponent was a decent player who gave Andy Murray a run for it in last year’s FO.
Puts Felix up to #232 in the rankings, a jump of 104 places!
Scoop Malinowski · June 18, 2017 at 10:28 am
The players you mentioned Andrew probably ran out of $ while Paul is still under 20 I believe and he has the USTA backing. It's weird how careers go. Just a couple of years ago Paul looked like the top prospect and then Fritz was the IT kid last year. Now both have fallen behind the pack considerably. Tiafoe and Donaldson are in front right now and Kozlov Opelka close behind. Kozlov just beat DeSchepper in Queens qualies which is a big win because the big lefty French guy is a tough out on grass.
Scoop Malinowski · June 18, 2017 at 10:32 am
Kozlov qualified for Queens draw with SS win today vs Hugues Herbert. Could play Johnson Ward or a qualifier in first round of draw.
Andrew Miller · June 18, 2017 at 1:37 pm
Yes Scoop you make excellent points. Tommy Paul had been proving his mettle last year and Fritz probably single handedly motivated the entire USA men’s squad to rev up their training, out of fear that Fritz was going for their rankings, cars, girlfriends (etc), point is they were scared out of their minds and improved big time. Now the Fritz juggernaut has a stalled engine plus overwhelming life changes and hasn’t made fantastic tennis choices (such as skipping the clay season).
He cant be counted out, but he is down in the count.
And how about kid Kozlov. He has many head scratching losses but dusts himself off and stays with it. Tiafoe is slowly understanding he has what it takes to make a name for himself, and Donaldson has also stuck with his program whether under Dent or under JMGambill.
There’s been some pack separation for sure. There was this all for one and one for all three musketeer thing going and now it’s more like this tour is every man for himself.
It will be interesting to see whether players do smart things like playing dubs with a good partner so that they make the most of every tournament, or dumb things like skipping a major part of the season and wishfully thinking the USA hardcourt swing will save them and tournament organizers will hand out wildcards.
I think it’s a bad approach to the sport. The guys ahead of them in age like Harrison, DY, Johnson, Sock all at least hired capable coaches, and have also made better decisions like signing up for world team tennis or doubles duty or both.
We’ll see if any of them make smarter choices. Right now I cant imagine they love watching Alex Zverev grab a Rome masters title because it says this to them: waiting to break through is just waiting.
Andrew Miller · June 18, 2017 at 1:44 pm
Scoop the guys I mentioned may not have been good enough. I thought they had mature games but not necessarily mature strategies or sufficient training and sadly money. There aren’t the same options in the USA as Europe where pro players can affiliate themselves with clubs and get paid for how well they do playing for their club, so players like Quinzi might have some more breathing room. And all of them, throw Brad Klahn in there as well, had significant injuries but not necessarily the support system of a Tommy Haas.
I liked Kosakowski’s backhand which I think you saw in person. And Jenkins had a fast paced game and was a fine doubles player. With appropriate coaching he should have been able to break into the top 100. But a loss here, there, and a string of injuries, a successful comeback and more injuries. And that’s it.
catherine · June 18, 2017 at 2:22 pm
Down goes Konta to Vekic on Nottingham grass – bet no one saw that one coming 🙂
Dan Markowitz · June 18, 2017 at 3:38 pm
Scoop,
Cal won in the finals today 1 and 3. Should be top 50 in East 12U and that’s after only two tournaments after the USTA brilliantly ordered him to go back and play orange ball events which we didn’t do (screw orange, red, green balls. That’s just a ruse the USTA has pulled off for junior tennis to get more kids playing).
Anyhow, I think he’s ready for you in baseline games.
Good win for Koz. But we know he’s a good grass court player. The quiz is whether his forehand and lack of a weapon will allow him to win big on hard courts and even clay.
Scoop Malinowski · June 18, 2017 at 7:11 pm
Andrew; When Paul was at his high point I asked an insider Florida coach who was quite familiar with Paul's practice habits and intensity and he saw it as an issue and he was not nearly as high on Paul as I expected. This coach sure did turn out to be exactly right to be skeptical about Paul's short term potential. Hopefully Paul wakes up and works out his practice intensity seriousness issues.
Scoop Malinowski · June 18, 2017 at 7:15 pm
Maybe it's good that Cal is being left out of the academies/scholarships and it gives him that chip on his shoulder to have to and want to prove himself. Sounds like he has that extra gear to dominate top players in his age group.
Andrew Miller · June 18, 2017 at 8:54 pm
When in doubt, do what Djokovic did before 2016 – seek out coaches who specialize in one stroke aka Lansdorp for the forehand, Mayotte for something else, someone for a volley, someone for an overhead. You’ll have best in class for each stroke. Then hire a hitting partner. Add extra doubles and you’re off to the races.
Andrew Miller · June 18, 2017 at 8:56 pm
Vekic? Wow. Just goes to show if you make the finals you can win. Donna Vekic. Here i was touting Konta for her work ethic and Vekic is right there. No way did I see that coming, just like I didn’t see Ostapenko coming.
catherine · June 18, 2017 at 9:16 pm
Kerber out of Birmingham with injury – could Angie miss W’don or is it just safety first ?
(same injury she had in Madrid)
I do think she wants to get rid of that No 1 ranking.
Scoop Malinowski · June 19, 2017 at 8:39 am
I played next to Vekic on the public courts in Key Biscayne this year and she was having go through the motion practice. She had that princess demeanor. Could tell her coach was not thrilled with her attitude and work ethic. After we both were done my friend asked for a photo and then I decided to too and asked the coach at the car if the famous player would take one more photo and he said kind of sarcastically Who knows? But she did and was very nice and I said Keep working hard the best is yet to come. She was really nice and it's great to see her finally getting it going after all these years. The Wimbledon draw is so wide open she can do serious damage.
catherine · June 19, 2017 at 9:07 am
Scoop –
After all these years ? Donna’s only 20 🙂
Something missing with Konta. As I said before somewhere, she hasn’t been the same since Fed Cup – maybe the rest know that.
Scoop Malinowski · June 19, 2017 at 10:14 am
Konta has dropped off since winning miami. Having that big ol' X on her back syndrome? Ah the pressure of expectations…
Jimmy the Gent · June 19, 2017 at 11:35 am
tommy who ? (no pun intended LOL)
catherine · June 19, 2017 at 12:08 pm
Kyrgios on the deck v DY at Queens. Is he wearing the right shoes ?
W’draws.
Chazz · June 19, 2017 at 12:22 pm
Sounds like Kyrgios had a pretty bad fall and reinjured his hip. He also withdrew from Monte Carlo and Rome with a hip injury. Not good going into Wimbledon.
Andrew Miller · June 19, 2017 at 12:39 pm
Svitolina avoids upset and beats Watson, just as Pliskova escaped Babos. First rule in tennis: Win your first rounder!
Andrew Miller · June 19, 2017 at 12:40 pm
Shapovalov is doing a fine job so far in qualifying and now taking it to Edmund I think? Popsisil isn’t and keeps sliding down Canada’s depth charts. Why isn’t Pops doing anything. Could it be Sock? No Sock no Pops?
Andrew Miller · June 19, 2017 at 12:42 pm
Dimitrov makes short work of Harrison, three and one. Hope Harrison hits the doubles draw because he needs as much time on the courts as possible. Grass is just too tricky. It’s the biggest why not just play bonkers out of my mind tennis surface in the world.
Hartt · June 19, 2017 at 2:39 pm
Actually, Pospisil has been going back up the rankings, he is now at No. 76, a big improvement over the past few months. He was playing a lot of Challengers to try and bring his ranking up.
He was in a long slump last year and split with his coach, Frederic Fontang. He made reference to off-court issues affecting his tennis but did not elaborate. Fontang will be back with him for Wimby, don’t know if that is long-term or not.
I was so impressed with Denis Shapovalov. He is ranked No. 193 compared to Kyle Edmund, who is at No. 47. This was a big occasion for the 18-year-old but he was not awed and played his usual aggressive game. He faces Berdy in the next round.
El Dude · June 19, 2017 at 2:57 pm
Don't forget Escobedo in your list of young Americans.
Americans Age 21 in live ATP Rankings (as of 6/19/17):
63. Frances Tiafoe (19.4)
65. Jared Donaldson (20.6)
71. Ernesto Escobedo (20.9)
124. Reilly Opelka (19.8)
127. Taylor Fritz (19.6)
145. Stefan Kozlov (19.3)
181. Michael Mmoh (19.4)
187. Noah Rubin (21.3)
398. Tommy Paul (20)
Andrew Miller · June 19, 2017 at 3:49 pm
Wow. Scoop better revise on the who’s who in next Gen USA tennis. Tiafoe and Donaldson are about to crash the top 50 given they aren’t defending any points, with Esco not too far behind. They aren’t named Fritz or Opelka.
To me this is fitting. So far Fritz has motivated the more seasoned vets like Harrison, DY, and Querrey, as well as his peer competitors like Tiafoe and Donaldson. While his own ranking has taken a beating.
So far he is the Chang of his generation, he moved first but isn’t benefitting from being the best of his group last year. He’s crashed for now and I’m sure he’ll learn from it. But his peers have passed him for the moment.
Andrew Miller · June 19, 2017 at 3:51 pm
Big win from Shapovalov. Edmund has played gutsy tennis for over a year now and has big ambition himself.
Andrew Miller · June 19, 2017 at 3:53 pm
Don’t want to say I told you so on Fritz. But I’m thinking it.
jg · June 19, 2017 at 6:06 pm
Fritz won his first round match in this weeks grass court challenger, I expect a bump up from Fritz through the US hard court summer.
Scoop Malinowski · June 19, 2017 at 7:09 pm
Ed Dude; you are right there are so many young Americans I somehow forgot about Escobedo who could be the best of all. Paul is going the wrong direction. He needs to focus and go Rambo on tennis for the next half year.
Scoop Malinowski · June 19, 2017 at 7:11 pm
The grass had to provoke bad memories for Harrison because the last time he played on it he got whooped in Newport by qualifier Frank Dancevic in straight sets on center court. Dancevic has since disappeared. Harrison is very confident right now but not on grass. Zero confidence on grass. Losing at Newport last year was Harrison's rock bottom.
Scoop Malinowski · June 19, 2017 at 7:13 pm
Kyrgios is suddenly turning into a circus act. It's like he only really cares about majors and Davis Cup. Kyrgios has been in a spiral downward since that loss to Federer in Key Biscayne.
Hartt · June 19, 2017 at 8:38 pm
On yesterday’s Tennis Podcast (just got to it now), Catherine Whitaker said Harrison was at Queen’s early, practicing with Andy Murray, so it sounds like he was working hard to get ready for grass.
She and David Law thought Denis Shapovalov had the type of game that could bother Kyle Edmund and it turns out they were right.
Hartt · June 19, 2017 at 8:43 pm
We often talk about what a big role attitude and mental toughness play in tennis success, so I thought what Denis Shapovalov had to say about his match against Kyle Edmund was interesting. (ubitennis.net article) “The whole match was very close, very tight. Yeah, it was tough to be out there, but I was enjoying it, I was enjoying the fight.” The other way Denis shows his mental toughness is never giving up. Even when he is down badly in a match he keeps fighting and often is able to turn the match around.
Scoop Malinowski · June 19, 2017 at 8:47 pm
I could see Shapovalov becoming a grass nightmare with that lefty slice and one hander and whip forehand. He played top 50 tennis today. In two years I project Shapovalov will be playing top ten tennis (beating top ten players). I can see that.
Andrew Miller · June 19, 2017 at 9:22 pm
Shapovalov has totally surprised me. I thought he was not serious. Based on one practice I saw him at, against the forgotten American of backhand fame McKenzie McDonald, I said forget it. Ha, the kid has proven himself as a worthy competitor with a knack for the sport and the big stage. He may not yet have Zverev’s poise or even Fritz’ competitiveness, but he has a feel for the game and may be able to break through more significantly than most of the youth generation of right now on tour. He may have a chance to punch his own ticket.
Andrew Miller · June 19, 2017 at 9:24 pm
Harrison losing to dimitrov is expected. It’s that he lost 3 & 1. I hope Harrison works the doubles angle. Honestly doing well in some draw is the difference between heading into the summer with confidence and being behind the eight ball.
Andrew Miller · June 20, 2017 at 12:08 am
Kyrgios twisted his ankle. Looked painful. Shapovalov displayed a game that’s equal parts Leconte, Muster, FLopez.
Scoop Malinowski · June 20, 2017 at 8:47 am
McDonald is still out there grinding hard but not getting any quality results. I saw him with coach Brad Stine at Sarasota Open working hard but the results have been difficult. The kid is talented and I think he will eventually get over the hump.
Bryan · June 24, 2017 at 2:15 pm
Bryan writes:
I've never been high on Tommy Paul. Did think Ryan Harrison would eventually come back because he has so many weapons. Feel the same about Opelka who will start smashing people next year if he can stay healthy.