The Sarasota Open has been a very eventful week with all the fine court action as well as the astounding occurrence on Tuesday evening with the unscripted sound effects by the two lovers which has snowballed into an international news story as well as unbelievably huge promotion for the tourney. The Pro Circuit live stream commentator Mike Cation told me he has done dozens of interviews for some of the largest media outlets around the world about the unique controversy and the tournament director/owner Tony Driscoll said the web site has gotten millions upon millions of visits, and the new shirts with Frances Tiafoe’s famous line “It can’t be that good” are already selling briskly.
It’s poetic justice that Kid Showtime Frances Tiafoe will contest the final after edging 35 year old veteran Jurgen Melzer in tonight’s semi 76 in the third. In the final Tiafoe will meet 25 year old veteran Tennys Sandgren who told me after his straight set semi win over Frenchman Vincent Millot that he’s played Tiafoe twice already in the past and BOTH matches went all the way to third set tiebreakers which both were won by Tiafoe.
I’ve become a big fan of Sandgren this week based on his story of perseverance which entails years of struggles along with recent success including winning his second career Challenger this year in Arizona and contesting in his very first ATP main draw last week in Houston (he’s yet to reach a Grand Slam major main draw). Also I did a terrific Biofile with Sandgren which I will post next week and surely you will enjoy it because he has a very interesting story and he’s very candid about the ups and downs of his career. Tiafoe is also a favorite who is a rare tennis-transcending athlete and personality who seemingly looks bigger and stronger and more spectacular every time you see him. Tiafoe also has a natural flair for the big matches and actually performs better when the stakes are higher. The teenager has been in Bradenton (yes the event is actually in Bradenton not Sarasota) with his fitness guy Paul Kinney and his coach Robby Ginepri who knows a thing or two about winning ATP titles (three) and reaching the semis of a major (US Open). But now as you probably know, Tiafoe is best known around the world for his role in the infamous noisy love-making session during his match earlier in the week with Mitchell Krueger and his funny reactions and spontaneous comment “It can’t be that good.” It’s been that kind of week down here.
The doubles final features the ragtag combo of teen Stefan Kozlov and veteran Peter Polansky versus the pair of 35 year olds Jurgen Melzer and Scott Lipsky who are also playing together for the first time. Lipsky is one of the most interesting doubles players because he’s perhaps one of the most unsung Grand Slam champs of the era (French Open mixed in 2011 with Casey Dellacqua) and has been able to achieve an outstanding and lengthy career in pro tennis after a slow start in singles after turning pro in 2003 after a successful college career at Stanford. Lipsky (coached by Rick Leach in California) is a player that gets very little press attention but he’s a great story and has a lot to offer for those who request an interview. Lipsky has won fifteen career ATP doubles titles and even has a win over Andy Roddick at the 1995 junior US Open.
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« Previous 1 2 3Hartt · April 26, 2017 at 10:09 am
That brouhaha about Nick Saviano was silly. They both trained at his academy. He was not Robson’s coach to “steal” in that he was not her private coach. He decided to travel with Genie, thus becoming her coach. That was a big vote of confidence because Saviano had turned down other players who asked him to travel with them.
Andrew Miller · April 26, 2017 at 3:24 pm
Canada press has been been love hate with Bouchard since that incident with Saviano, fired twice since that point and with Robson doing a bad job showing that she even cares about the sport while the British media skewers her and puts its hopes behind Konta. Frankly things for Bouchard haven’t recovered since that media spat and fair or not the burden is on Bouchard to rediscover her game and the form that pushed her into the Wimbledon final. She might not. There are folks in Canada press who support her and those with their knives out. She reminds me a little bit of Ivanovic post French Open slam these days, on occasion finding the form and sometimes it’s missing.
Andrew Miller · April 26, 2017 at 3:26 pm
I would say her confidence is on holiday.
Hartt · April 26, 2017 at 5:14 pm
Her lack of confidence right now is certainly a big problem. Guess all she can do is work hard, keep on trying to win matches.
I don’t see Bouchard getting a lot of attention in the Canadian press, one way or the other. Tennis is not big news here generally. It is way down the totem pole behind hockey, basketball, baseball, even soccer and curling. When a paper, TV channel etc. carry a story about tennis these days it is about the Nastase controversy, Serena’s pregnancy, etc.
Andrew Miller · April 26, 2017 at 7:41 pm
Doubles! Bouchard might like it. Team up with Hingis, worst that can happen is they split in future.
Scoop Malinowski · April 26, 2017 at 8:04 pm
Bouchard and Hingis could be a very good and interesting combo. The Bouchard firepower combined with the Hingis guile and cleverness. Should I trademark “Boungis”?
Hartt · April 26, 2017 at 10:52 pm
Well, Hingis does seem to change partners regularly so maybe Hingis/Bouchard is a doubles possibility. Both will speak their minds, the press conferences could be interesting!