Is the ATP Cultivating A New Villain Subculture For The Tour?

Bencic d. Osaka…wasn’t so different from Svito d. Keys, or Svito d. Yastremska, or really from Vekic d. Goerges. Maybe I just like some forehands better than others, and players work with whatever they can to get the win. Coming in against Osaka is a kamikaze mission, so Bencic did well to pick her spots.

I do love the Goerges game. It’s a little like Mauresmo with a two hander instead of her superb one hander.

Schwartzmann d. Zverev. My next gen prediction goes up in smoke. Three big next gen talents in Rublev, Zverev, and De Minaur have lost quickly to the likes of Berretini, almost an elder at 23, Schwartzmann at 24, and old man Dimitrov who I think hovers around age 30. The only young guy left is Medvedev, and he is alone against the wolf Wawrinka.

Dimitrov is not a youngster, but he isn’t 30. He turned 28 in May. He is the youngest of the Kei, Milos, Grigor group. Milos is 28 but turns 29 at the end of Dec., and Kei turns 30 in Dec.

In the big match today, defending champion Jack Sock knocked out defending champion Mike Bryan in the doubles. Sock once again proving he is among the greatest doubles players in history as he and (Insert Partner here) knocked off the Bryans in straight sets to move in the quarterfinals.

Sock could face the Colombian top seeds in the semis as he continues to resurrect his career.

Well Scoop, the Russian KGB and British MI6 have each perfected a gun that looks like a water pistol so you can never be too careful. But yes, enough of that.

How about Jack Sock? Is his future to gobble up the doubles crowns? He may as well do it since his singles game is garbage.

Monfils wins NYC…would be awesome.

A few comments about the bias of the crowds and also the TV commentary.You’d expect one in NY but not the other. Hartt can give us more on that. Bianca appeared completely unbothered by the crowd. Great performance from a player who lost in the qualifying of all four GSs last year.

Interesting Torben Beltz talking about coaching Donna Vekic cf Kerber. Two things struck me – first, some of the strategies he’s concentrated on with Donna could have worked with Angie – better footwork, more aggression, improving serve, coming to the net occasionally, but that didn’t seem to be the focus with her. Second, he seems to find Donna easier to coach, which I don’t find surprising. Also, you can stay around one coach too long and I think Angie realised that and it’s the reason they parted.

Vekic is a junior version of Kerber but she seems more motivated and receptive. Can’t see her doing a GS but majors, yes, in time.

Hartt – thanks for that. I get the feeling that Bianca can shut out anything when she’s concentrating – she’s prepared for it all. Sounds as if it was a good match and I’m sure other players watching would have noticed that Bianca was having trouble when Townsend changed her game and Bianca got thrown off a bit. She does seem to like pushing things along, and as you say, can get frustrated.

Does Coco (Andreescu) come to all her matches I wonder ?

Catherine, even before IW Bianca said she wanted to win some $ so her parents could attend more of her matches. I don’t know if they are in NY, but if they are am pretty sure that Coco the pup is there as well.

Something hilarious: Marion Bartoli has criticised the WTA’s decision to land in China for the next decade with the tour Finals and says the WTA is ‘only motivated by money’. Who’d have thought it ?

The Guardian has an article, “It’s 2019. Tennis Doesn’t Need a Bad Boy.” There is a discussion of both Medvedev and Kyrgios. But I thought this part about Nick summed up why the media and fan fascination with him as a bad boy is simply sad.

“Kyrgios’s 2019 US Open run ended after a third-round defeat to Russia’s Andrey Rublev on Saturday night. Kyrgios served 30 aces, and at one point, four in a row in a blistering 40-second service game. The audience was not watching a bad boy. What we were witnessing that night was a player ill-equipped to handle the emotional duress of an inconsistent, poorly paced dynamic. We watched an implosion in three sets. It happens. But throughout the match there was an underlying sense of unease – evident in the way the commentators picked Kyrgios’s quirks apart, the way the camera paused too long on his face as he talked, angrily, to himself in between points – that what we were really waiting for was for him to fall apart.”

Catherine, your comment about social media cracked me up because I have been saying the same thing. Its a little bizarre to me how some WTA players post these pictures. I recently saw a creepy website that reposted Kenin’s recent bikini pics with lots of mean comments about her “bad tan” and “thick legs”. I do not see the need to post pics for the public. Probably best to leave that ‘trying to be a model’ stuff to the Bouchards of the world.

Dan, I wasn’t thrilled by some of Bianca’s behaviour in that match, but you have to see the entire match to judge the level of her play. Taylor raised her level dramatically in the 2nd set, served much better and made some terrific shots. Bianca was too impatient in that set, but TT deserves a lot of credit for playing well. Then Bianca regrouped and played with more patience in the third set, winning it easily.

Dan, not much pleases you about the women’s game these days does it ? I’m surprised you watch any of it. Can’t say I think Bianca’s transgressions are very serious – not compared to some of the things ATP players get up to every day of the week. Different for them of course.

Vekic’s never going to be a great player, I can’t recall anyone saying she would be, but she could be regular top 20-30. And to call Julia ‘mediocre’ is just bizarre. Is it because she’s European and part of the hegemony you want swept aside ?

Who do you rate ? Have you changed your mind about Gauff ? Not long ago you were saying she wouldn’t amount to much.

Bianca often plays 3 set matches and her level fluctuates. She usually wins them.

I wasn’t bothered by Bianca’s “Come on.” She faced several BPs in the first set so, despite the score, that was not an easy set. Where I would criticize her is in the third set. After yet another DF she slammed the ball down and as a result lost her grip on her racquet, which went flying towards the ump’s chair. She was very lucky no one was hit, or she would have been disqualified.

But there is no denying she is a terrific player. After their match Wozniacki compared Bianca to Kim Clijsters.

“I think the one that I can most compare her game to would probably be Kim (Clijsters) back in the day. I think because she moves well and she can stretch out and get to some balls and also play aggressive and use the angles. Obviously she prefers the forehand just like Kim. (Tom Tebbutt, Tennis Canada site)

During the third set Fernandez and Goodall referred to what Woz had said, and they agreed. They saw similarities in the forehand, how Bianca approaches it, and moves into the court to hit it, and how she can brush it. Other similarities included her movement, how quick she is around the court, and the way she can slide into shots. They also mentioned Bianca’s good swing volley.

Bianca’s 3 set matches are part of her learning curve.

Scoop,

Andreescu is not the fittest woman on tour. I don’t think she’d drop a set consciously or unconsciously at this juncture in a slam.

Catherine,

I don’t think a lot about women’s tennis. When I watch Georges airmail a forehand 10 feet long and five feet wide on a passing shot when Vekic can barely volley, I think she’s mediocre. Andreescu is intriguing and has that great competitive spirit. Look I talked to Gilad Bloom last night and he can’t believe after watching Osaka’s first match how she went three sets with her opponent. He said all she knows how to do is smash the ball; she doesn’t know how to grind.

I stayed up relatively late for the Bianca v Townsend match and I wasn’t impressed by TT. Hartt says she picked it up second set. Look, I want to watch Andreescu’s next match. I think that can be real interesting. But Serena v Wang today. Not much interest in that.

I appreciate Goerges mediocrity. If mediocrity is four points from a slam semi on the back of a very nice all around game I’ll take it. She came up just short and had the match on her racquet before serving and volleying when she shouldn’t have – a better play there would have helped, but and even better play would have been to not be in that situation on serve. Can I also say this? Goerges is pretty. There, I’ve said it. Have at it.

Taylor T sent a nice congratulatory tweet to Bianca. They also had a good hug at the net so no hard feelings there.