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Rain Tuesday But Still Plenty of Scoops
41 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios, Scoop
By Scoop Malinowski
Rain was not forecast but it just about decimated day two of the 2017 US Open where only eight matches completed with five on the enclosed Ashe Stadium.
Rafael Nadal again struggled to terminate Dusan Lajovic, falling behind early 35 and then double faulting a key point to lose serve late in the first set but he eventually settled and dismissed Lajovic 76 62 62.
Nadal is sporting a bright pink shirt, head band and shoes (with white shorts) which called to mind the uproar the first pink shirt caused at the US Open about a decade ago when Dominik Hrbaty sported a pink Lotto top. Remember Lleyton Hewitt’s post-match comment after defeating Hrbaty: “I just kept telling myself, ‘You can’t lose to a bloke wearing a pink shirt.”
But pink is now an acceptable ATP color, especially since Roger Federer has worn it on a number of occasions through his career.
Another very good, funny player in press conferences back in the old days was Thomas Muster, who once was asked towards the end of his career what was the difference between him now and early in his career and he stated: “Now I have less hair and a bigger bank account.”
No players today engage in any fun or show much humor during press conferences. I spoke with former Indian star Anand Armritraj and he noted this grim truth when asked who the funniest players he’s encountered: “Nastase. Bahrami. Henri Leconte. Quite a few funny guys who are very entertaining. Unlike now [big laugh].”
Anand lives in LA now and was here with his wife Helen. Anand said he helped lead India to two Davis Cup finals in 1974 and 1987 and his best win was in Newport against John McEnroe right after McEnroe made the semis at Wimbledon as a qualifier.
I asked Jan Michael Gambill about his player Jared Donaldson’s outstanding success this year, reaching the ATP top 50 with steady, consistent results at age 20.
“He listens. He’s willing to put faith in the team that he has around him. He’s worked hard on his serve, groundstrokes, fitness, movement, his flexibility. He’s very focused on his tennis. He wants to be a top 20 player, maybe even further. He’s not afraid of anybody on the court which I think is also a big thing. He’s gonna go out and give it his all every single match. He never gives up. I’ve never seen him give up yet. If we’re talking about something that would irritate or disappoint me, as a coach, that would be one of them – a guy who goes out and tanks, gives up. I have no respect for that. And I won’t stand for that as a coach. But that doesn’t ever come into play, it’s not an issue with Jared, it’s never even been approached…He’s had some unbelievable matches in Cincinnati and Montreal. I felt like (Monday’s) match (vs Basilashvili) was incredible. Talking about his movement and being able to move dynamically around the court and hit balls out of the corners – he seems to get better every match. So I think his best match is still out there.”
I spoke with the rising young 22-year-old Indian Ramkumar Ramanathan about his beating Thiem 63 62 on grass this summer in Antalya, Turkey. “That was a proud feeling for me. I had nothing to lose. All my friends, my coach (Emilio Sanchez) were saying, You always have a chance on grass and you play well. For that I have to thank my coach who have been working with me and giving me the confidence. I think I’m there. I just have to keep working hard and the future will be hopefully good.” (Double R lost his next match after Thiem 76 in the third against Baghdatis.)
Ramanathan lost in three sets here in qualies in the second round to the still lethal Nicolas Mahut. He beat Eubanks and Lajovic in Cincy. Beat Paul and Aragone in Winnetka Challenger before losing in the final to Santillan. Ramanathan is 7-4 in ATP matches this year and ranked 155 in the world.
I heard Chris Fowler say on the telecast of Federer vs Tiafoe, won by Fed 6-4 inthe fifth, that Federer’s “back locked up in Cincinnati.” Really? It’s funny how Federer can vaguely hint of a back injury, despite no called for injury timeouts or bending over and stretching it or showing any kind of pain or anguish that the media will just pick up on the slightest cue and just run with it. “Federer’s back locked up in Cincinnati”.. that’s funny.
After last night’s win Federer didn’t mention his back: “I really struggled early on,” Federer said. “I think Frances connected well. I just really kind of lost my footing sometimes. My eye wasn’t working. I was misjudging distance. I think I was also being a bit cautious with my movement.”
“In the second set I think it all started to come together,” Federer said. “That was good. But because of the preparation being not the best that I’ve had, I think I was quite up and down.
“Every time I was down, Frances took care of it. Then in the fifth, it was just more of get the energy back, play to win, don’t just play to hope that he will miss. I think I did that, so I’m really, really excited that I won tonight. I’m very happy.”
Get ready for a whole lotta big fat nothing burger talk about Federer’s back the rest of the tournament. But probably none of it will come from Federer’s mouth.
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Scoop Malinowski · August 30, 2017 at 8:27 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Also saw that guy who is in Ballers on HBO get asked to take a photo by Blaz Kavcic outside by media center. Looks like Forrest Whitaker.
Chazz · August 30, 2017 at 9:52 am
You have to feel for Tiafoe after last night’s match. He has been in that position a lot but hasn’t quite gotten over the hump. He gets basically no ATP points for the loss yet he was so close. Federer clearly wasn’t at his best for part of the match but capitalized on some of Foe’s errors in the 5th. Foe just needs to reduce the errors, which is probably mental. He played some incredible points and his elite quickness was on display.
scoopmalinowski · August 30, 2017 at 10:00 am
Tiafoe is on the cusp of greatness. Might best be served by a coach who won majors. Like Johansson or Agassi.
jg · August 30, 2017 at 10:04 am
I agree in sets 1 4 and 5 he was taking it to Federer like I haven’t seen, even if Federer wasn’t 100 percent, I think maybe Federer ( beside his back) was having trouble with the court bounce, they said the put extra sand in the mix so it’s slower and bounces higher. Also is it me, but McEnroe to me seems like he is losing it as an announcer, some of his comments were off base
Chazz · August 30, 2017 at 10:10 am
I wasn’t really listening to Mac but that’s disappointing if true. He was pretty good as a commentator.
scoopmalinowski · August 30, 2017 at 10:37 am
In my view it was the explosive game of Tiafoe that shook Fed for the second time this yr. Excusemaking to defend Fed is humorous.
catherine · August 30, 2017 at 10:38 am
It’s obituary time for Angelique Kerber so I’ll just add my bit here. I believe something happened to Angie at the end of 2016 – and when she turned up in Australia you could see immediately she was not the same player, and you could feel that she knew it. I can imagine the attention and socialising etc caught her off balance, shifted her attention, changed something important in her mind. And the going straight off to Aust gave her no chance to sort it out.
So she just went on to play tournament after tournament hoping that elusive thing would come back and of course it didn’t and she tired herself out. Around IW it was I remember she said after a tough match ‘ I began to believe in myself again’. No one asked her when/how she lost that belief – if she could have told us. Maybe she couldn’t.
Around W’don it did come back, enough to challenge Muguruza, and then it was gone again. Came back in Cincinnatti, but not enough to win. Gone again in NY.
Her game is still there – all the shots etc. it’s just that she can’t play it anymore, not in a match. Angie practises a lot – some players are dubious about too much practice. She seems to spend a lot of time grooving her strokes but whether she plays points, games or even sets, I don’t know.
Things are different for modern players, with social media and the constant demand to make nice and project this positive image. Sometimes it can be hard. Angie’s a sociable person – so most of that’s easy but there must come times of doubt and a kind of negative narrative sets in, nothing’s working and where am I ?
She’s altered her team set-up but what’s interesting is that she’s gone backwards, not forwards, and re-employed her old coach. Maybe Patrick M could have helped but he’s committed to Serena. Her elbow’s a problem too, it seems chronically sore – take a rest Angie, get it healed or you’ll follow Djokovic.
She still loves playing, she’s done nothing else for a decade and although it’s unlikely she’ll win another GS you have to believe her parting words in NY:
‘I know I will not be giving up like this’.
scoopmalinowski · August 30, 2017 at 10:38 am
Again. No sign of back injury, pain or medical timeouts. Ghost phantom injuries take on life of their own.
scoopmalinowski · August 30, 2017 at 10:43 am
Kerber vs Muguruza was the key. She played incredible but lost. Nothing to show for it. Not unlike Dimitrov losing to Rafa in Aus. Or Todd Martin losing to Andre in usopen F. Close epic losses kill years or careers. Kerber still is a great and she can do it again.
Chazz · August 30, 2017 at 11:07 am
Scoop, I was surprised Federer did mention his back problem in the post match interview. That is unusual for him.
scoopmalinowski · August 30, 2017 at 11:11 am
The biggest problem was how well Tiafoe played. Cold clocking winners. Very explosive play by Ferocious Frances.
jg · August 30, 2017 at 11:12 am
Also Blake and Bagdatis losing to Andre at the Open affected their careers.
catherine · August 30, 2017 at 11:38 am
Barbara Rittner, head of German women’s tennis and Fed Cup captain, told German media Angie had said to her re USO loss: ‘I’m terribly sorry’. They have a great team spirit, the German girls.
Perhaps Boris will do the same for his players.
Chazz · August 30, 2017 at 12:58 pm
Fratangelo takes down Dr. Ivo. Pretty cool to see that.
Chazz · August 30, 2017 at 1:02 pm
Tommy Paul close to being up 2 sets to 1 on Daniel and Fritz just started. Harrison in trouble against Berdych. Kyrgios dropped the first set to fellow Aussie Millman. I guess he is too boring of an opponent.
Duke Carnoustie · August 30, 2017 at 2:04 pm
No excuses for Fed. Tiafoe took it to him and had he held at 4-5, who knows what would have happen. No sympathy for Tiafoe; he’s gotta start playing more ATP events and grinding out some results so he won’t play Fed in R1. But yes, he’s on the cusp of greatness and I can’t wait for him to displace the Isners and Querreys who I can’t stand.
D-Young dispatches Merterer and faces Monfils next. Young-Monfils are 1-1 in the H2H and haven’t met since 2011. Should be good.
Harrison’s slump continues as he flamed out. That makes me happy since he’s another I can’t stand. The Americans like him and Sock never get their fitness to the level it needs to be; it’s pathetic. Even Tiafoe has much to work on as far as body positioning, etc. I hope he figures it out.
Chazz · August 30, 2017 at 2:22 pm
Tank alert! Tank alert! Kyrgios does not want to be on the court right now. Given his past history, I’m not sure I buy him acting like it’s an injury. This looks like a classic Kyrgios tank.
Duke Carnoustie · August 30, 2017 at 2:53 pm
Chazz, looks like final-set tank jobs from Kyrgios and Fognini. Looks like Taylor Fritz will advance to play Thiem.
Chazz · August 30, 2017 at 3:01 pm
Fritz looked awesome from what I saw in the 3rd set. He has a chance against Thiem.
Chazz · August 30, 2017 at 4:19 pm
Real time rankings now have Fritz in the top 100 (#92) and ahead of Sandgren (#97).
Duke Carnoustie · August 30, 2017 at 4:25 pm
Bouchard really proved she belonged on Ashe today.
Busted · August 30, 2017 at 4:48 pm
There's too much money, pressure and EGO at stake these days for guys to show much sense of humor in press conferences – unless it's AFTER they win the tourney. Andy Roddick is the last guy I can think of who was quick with a quip – win or lose – and when told that his press conference had been better than his playing after getting trounced by Federer at the AO in 2007 said, "My performance here is better than on court? No sh@#. If there were rankings for press conferences I wouldn't have to worry about dropping out of the top 5 I hope."
You could always count on Roddick to say something funny…like Djokovic retired in another match after a string of retirements and Roddick asked if he had SARS (which was a big epidemic at the time). Marat Safin could come up with some gems, too.
Thomas Tung · August 30, 2017 at 5:44 pm
Nick really checked out of that match with Millman, and he spilled the beans at the press conference, where he all but admitted that he doesn’t care, describing his foray at Cincinnati as “basketball, milk shakes/ice cream”. Maybe HE should be hiring Agassi, rather than Novak. “Too Cool for School” needs a serious attitude adjustment, and a coach who can deal with exceptionally talented, yet exceptionally volatile, unmotivated, and mentally fragile types.
jg · August 30, 2017 at 7:23 pm
Zverev has the Borg thing going on
Thomas Tung · August 30, 2017 at 10:52 pm
Denis just not giving Tsonga any rhythm; very good alternating from offense to defense, with a few good clutch shots and great safety shots galore.
Hartt · August 31, 2017 at 12:07 am
Shapovalov won in SS over Tsonga. I can’t get over how well Denis played tonight. He got tight when serving for the match and was broken, but then won the TB. He plays Kyle Edmund next. Denis beat Kyle at Queen’s this year and Kyle was his opponent in that infamous Davis Cup match, so the two are already familiar with one another.
Scoop Malinowski · August 31, 2017 at 12:14 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Shapovalov can win the tournament. Coric's whole career just changed tonight. Beating Zverev was a career changing win. Coric has been quiet for two years and this one was really needed. A few other players need what Coric did tonight – namely Sock, Dimitrov, Chung, Tomic, Dolgopolov, Keys, Stephens, Bouchard…
Thomas Tung · August 31, 2017 at 12:18 am
Good call, Scoop, on Denis possibly winning the whole thing. His fearlessness, both in Montreal and (so far) here, reminds me of a young Pete Sampras more than anything else, even if his game is more of a Hewitt (speed, mental toughness, shot selection) + Nadal (big lefty forehand, but varies it well) + Federer (touch, point construction, aggressiveness as per coming to net, intangibles).
We get all that, but we don’t get some Frankenstein HewittNadalFederer jumble, we get Shapovalov. And that is magnificent indeed. The kid’s appeal and charisma is off the charts, and he’s quite a well-spoken young guy, too.
Chazz · August 31, 2017 at 12:34 am
Charisma – that’s a great characteristic of him, Thomas. How awesome would it be if Shapo won the whole thing? It would send shockwaves across the tennis world, in a good way. Zverev is great for tennis but not nearly as likeable as this kid. A small note after watching the end of Donaldson-Pouille. I read an interview with Donaldson’s coach and he said Jared has no quit in him. He’s right, he nearly pulled off the big comeback today. He might not have the charisma or dynamic game of Shapo, but he is all class. He is the most gracious loser I have ever seen. It has no impact on how good he’ll be, but you should watch his post match handshake. Just a really good kid.
Duke Carnoustie · August 31, 2017 at 12:49 am
I told you guys that Sascha could easily lose to Coric. Sascha was highly POed at his presser too. That’s a good sign and shows how badly he wants it unlike Kyrgios who really doesn’t want to be a champion. More concerning is the way Sascha played in these matches. Way too passive; Tiafoe was honestly more impressive. These young guys are quite interesting.
Bottom half is a mess. Edmund and Querrey should be factors. Fabbiano beats Thompson, showing how useless Jack Sock’s tournament is.
Brutal collapse at the end by Wozniacki. You have to give up on her. Venus should make a big run; still seeing Garbine and Svitolina as favorites. Hope Stephens gets to face Shazza in a blockbuster matchup under the lights.
Duke Carnoustie · August 31, 2017 at 12:52 am
Will Wednesday bring upset wins for Fritz over Thiem and Fratangelo over Mannarino? I say neither happens but it would set up a matchup of the two wild cards.
Thomas Tung · August 31, 2017 at 12:52 am
Good call, Duke — Sasha was busy “fending off” Coric, rather than taking it to Borna (and not worrying about misses) — to borrow Federer’s terminology, Zverev was “trying not to lose” instead of “playing to win”, and it showed in the last point of the tiebreak, where Sasha’s shots got more and more anemic (like 10-15 mph slower) as the rally went on. No surprises at the loss, given that type of play. Zverev in the press conference acted as though Coric is beneath him as a player, and perhaps he is, but he needed to play as a champion, instead of playing like “just another guy”. Greatness despite difficulty — this is what separates the great champions from the herd.
Duke Carnoustie · August 31, 2017 at 12:54 am
Everybody is on the Shapo express and rightfully so. Meanwhile, Kevin Anderson is lurking and playing great and gets a break not having to face Sascha Zverev. Anderson could be a surprise finalist.
Hartt · August 31, 2017 at 12:55 am
I am too caught up with Shapo, have been following him for a couple years now, (which includes watching Challenger matches on terrible streams), to be able to be objective about his chances at the USO. I really do have to take it one match at a time, anything else is just too overwhelming. But he has that wonderful combination of skill, fighting spirit and mental toughness.
Because he went through qualies Denis has played a lot of tennis in the last few days. Even the energizer bunny may wind down at some point. But it is so exciting to see this fabulous young player still at the beginning of his career.
Scoop Malinowski · August 31, 2017 at 12:59 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
A coach was telling me Coric recently revised his forehand and smoothed out the elbow loop on his take back. I think Zverev assumed he has the win in the bag before the match started. Like Agassi always said, You can't mail in the win you have to earn it. Coric was in big trouble in his first round match vs Vesely, he was up 5-0 in the first set tiebreak and then lost five points in a row but he locked in and won a long rally vs Jiri by dictating him side to side and finally finishing with a forehand winner. Coric has been on a roll ever since losing those five points in a row.
catherine · August 31, 2017 at 2:25 am
Duke – Makarova is a pretty good fighter, recall that toe-to-toe with AK in Cincinatti, not stylish to watch but just the the one to bust Wozniaki who, as I’ve said before, so often flatters to deceive.
And if Muguruza wins this then I believe we’re seeing the next dominant woman player.
Chazz · August 31, 2017 at 8:43 am
I was shocked Zverev lost just because I thought he had a chance to win the whole thing with all the withdrawals. Good call on Anderson. Also, Cilic and Dimitrov figure to be in the mix. Both are playing very well. On the women’s side, I sure hope Stephens can do it but expect Muguruza to dominate throughout the tournament.
Scoop Malinowski · August 31, 2017 at 9:10 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Anderson looks dominant. And super intense. Even against Aragone he was locked in in the first games, silent intense fist pumps. Kandyman is feeling it and believing in himself and is going all in on bringing home the big prize I sense. Note the super intensity of Anderson when you watch him. Cilic struggled vs Sandgren but the way Sandgren is playing everyone will struggle with that lion, he's playing superb. And watch out for Fritz who is now officially back on track. Dominant performance vs Bagdhatis.
Chazz · August 31, 2017 at 9:14 am
Scoop, Fritz vs. Thiem today should be worth watching. A tall task for the kid from Cali, but possible.
scoopmalinowski · August 31, 2017 at 9:47 am
The match of the day. I like the upset.
Duke Carnoustie · August 31, 2017 at 11:03 am
Thomas, that’s right. Sascha was way too dismissive of Coric. I didn’t like that. Coric has beaten Sascha, Thiem and Murray this year.