This week I noticed Adrian Mannarino is 2-0 career vs Stan Wawrinka. The French lefty beat Stan this week in Astana 16 62 63 and he also beat Stan at Miami Open 2015 76 76. The 34 and 37 year old have only played these two times.
David Goffin is 1-1 vs Carlos Alcaraz, he beat the world no. 1 this week 75 63 in Astana but lost in Melbourne last year 63 63.
Alex de Minaur is 5-0 vs Reilly Opelka.
John Isner is 2-0 vs Alex de Minaur.
Reilly Opelka is 5-1 vs John Isner including five in a row after losing their first match in 2016 Atlanta 67 64 62.
Richard Gasquet is 3-2 vs John Isner and 0-1 vs Reilly Opelka.
Fabio Fognini is 2-1 vs Reilly Opelka but 1-2 vs John Isner.
Felix AA is 3-1 vs Roberto Bautista Agut, the Spanish wall won the first match in 2019 Davis Cup final 76 63 but Felix has won all three duels since including this week in Astana.
Radu Albot beat Dan Evans in the 2019 Delray Beach final 36 63 76 but has lost all four matches to the Brit since including this week in Tokyo 67 61 64.
Richard Gasquet is 6-2 career vs Nick Kyrgios and one of those two losses was at 2014 Wimbledon where the Frenchman held ten match points on Kyrgios but failed to clinch the win, ultimately losing 36 67 64 75 108. So if Nick doesn’t save all of those match points Gasquet is 7-1 career vs. the flashy Aussie.
Dan Evans · Nick Kyrgios · Richard Gasquet
Cory · October 4, 2022 at 11:43 am
Nothing more atrocious than Monfils 0-18 vs. Djokovic. You’re a top 10/20 guy, you’ll beat a world #1 even once or twice with some luck. Unless you’re Gael Monfils.
Scoop Malinowski · October 4, 2022 at 12:15 pm
Cory, I omitted that one because it’s so well known . I saw their first tilt at US Open 2005 1R, went deep into the fifth but Djokovic tricked him with two suspect long injury timeouts in that fifth set. It really is puzzling Monfils never could summon up a super special performance to get the job done at least once. Maybe it shows another dimension of Djokovic’s supreme capacity to dominate a great threat like Monfils (or does it show Monfils is a Grand Slam talent with an exhibition match head?). Djokovic is also 19-2 vs Cilic.
catherine · October 4, 2022 at 1:02 pm
Raducanu lost to Kasatkina in Ostrava, SS – Dasha’s experience showed. They hadn’t played before. Emma will go on through the list of good players she hasn’t yet met, maybe setting up rivalries for the future.
Naturally this match called down more abuse on Emma’s head. I’m thinking about doing an article on this, to me, unprecedented reaction to a player whose only crime has been to win a GS.
An odd match – both players looked extremely glum,
Dasha wore black and didn’t smile, drive-by at the net. Not a great atmosphere. I don’t think anything personal.
Scoop Malinowski · October 4, 2022 at 3:16 pm
Catherine, I saw that Raducanu flopped again, still feel even though she’s down now, when opponents see they play her they get an extra spark of motivation and incentive to pummel Little Miss Britches. It’s a harsh brutal cruel pattern she may never overcome. I remember one young heavily hyped starlet Monique Viele, who was coached by Rick Macci, and Seles played her and made a comment about crushing her before the match, different words of course but it was clear Seles wanted to put a whooping on Monique.
HEre is some info: “I have read the book, and it says in that part that when Monica saw Monique coming out in high heels and a mini skirt to sing the national anthem, monica said “i’m going to kick her ass” (they were due to play a match afterwards). That was WTT in the Hamptons in 2000 and I was there. Monica did seem irritated with Monique’s whole image…she was introduced as a “singer, model, actress and tennis player” and was really annoying. She screeched through the national anthem and Monica was just kind of rolling her eyes with James Blake (her teammate) and Mary Joe Fernandez (who was sitting first row). It wasn’t as though Monica was making a spectacle; I only know what she was doing b/c I as fixated on Monica. 99% of the crowd was looking at Monique singing the national anthem. I don’t know if Monica said, “I’m gonna kick her ass” but Monica got broken first game- won the next 4, and Erika deLeon subbed for Monique at 4-1 in the pro set. Monica took the set 5-1.”
I think poor Emma is dealing with this similar kind of catty vengeance at every tournament she plays. No mercy from anybody, everybody wants Emmas scalp. Just my take.
Scoop Malinowski · October 4, 2022 at 3:38 pm
It’s so hard for these young girls who get heavily hyped at such a young age. Gabriella Price was heavily hyped by Rick Macci, he was calling her essentially the next Jennifer Capriati when she was 9 yrs old. Now Price is ranked 771 in the world, she’s about 18 or 19 now. She just lost in Bronx 62 60 to Blinkova. But maybe she got too much hype and attention and all the media attention made her a celebrity before she won anything and it put a big X on her back in juniors and had to deal with opponents being extra jacked up to beat the “prodigy.” Emma and Price can overcome this stigma and still do great things in tennis. They both actually played some of the same junior Grand Slam draws.
Steve · October 5, 2022 at 9:22 am
In a who has the better backhand matchup:
Gasquet is 8-3 vs. Nishikori.
and 2-2 vs Medvedev, 2-2 vs Thiem
Scoop Malinowski · October 5, 2022 at 10:41 am
Very good head to heads there, he really was a great player just a notch below the three kings. I read a very good article on Courts magazine site about Gasquet and his book, did you read this article Steve?
Steve · October 6, 2022 at 9:11 am
^^I don’t know this magazine…have a link?
I finished the Gasquet book a few weeks ago. He’s very self-effacing in it and freely admits all his flaws and challenges against the Big 3. Lots of humor in it too.
I recommend it to Nadal fans as there’s an entire chapter dedicated to Rafa and he also wrote the foreword to the book.
Scoop Malinowski · October 6, 2022 at 10:32 am
Here you go, you can also translate to English… https://courts.club/richard-gasquet-talent-cache/
catherine · October 6, 2022 at 12:21 pm
Forget Coco – it’s Alycia Parks now. Beat Sakkari – comparisons to Serena. I’m feeling sorry for Gauff already.
Scoop – I saw Youtubes of Gabriella Price years ago when she was being super hyped. A few people felt that it wasn’t going to end well. I wonder why she carries on playing. Must be disheartening.
Emma R wasn’t pushed in the same way when she was very young. Most people outside tennis hadn’t heard her name before last year.
Emma can seem rather remote on court, which some people interpret as arrogance or similar but it’s not. She probably just tries to shut out things. Dasha can be a little the same which is why that match wasn’t terribly involving.
Scoop Malinowski · October 6, 2022 at 12:31 pm
Catherine, I saw Parks play at US Open, she annihilated someone easily in the first set easily but then the other Euro girl battled back into it astole the second set and then the third. But parks impressed me and my friends. I can’t remember who the opponent was, all I remember was thinking how good and dominant Parks was and why did she lose control of the match? Then I saw her walk back to the Ashe Stadium and she was so nice to sign and take photos with everybody who asked. Very nice girl and super pretty too. So this week’s wins vs Pliskova and now Sakkari are not a shocker. Gauff will be okay, she is within striking distance of world no. 4 ranking in singles. Raducanu – I had never even seen her name or photo before Wimbledon last year. She came up totally under the radar. And I follow junior tennis fairly closely. Price was heavily hyped and over touted by Macci. I think Macci is a good promoter and businessman but he has not produced one big champion since I can’t even remember. Sure he helped Kenin and Capriati and Williams but no pro player ever asks him to travel to Grand Slams and coach them there. So how valuable are his advises and words really? I do know that other coaches call him a “fake coach.”
Scoop Malinowski · October 6, 2022 at 12:47 pm
Price can’t stop now, she’s still a teenager, maybe college was where she should have gone instead of pro. Her results are not good now and losing will take a toll but there’s plenty of time to work and improve and find the right coach. She has all the shots and the experience, just needs to persevere and keep fighting, if she still has the belief. Certain players take much longer to develop – Victor Estrella, Pegula, Jabeur, etc. Let’s remember she’s only 18 or 19.
catherine · October 6, 2022 at 2:15 pm
Raducanu out of tournament in Roumania with a wrist problem. It’s that time of year I know, lots os W/Os, but Emma really should hire a decent physio because whoever’s advising/treating her isn’t doing a very good job. I’d hate to see her go down Bianca’s route.
The USO seems hard on 1st time winners – Fernandez missed a chunk of this season with a foot injury.
I think this wraps up Emma’s year. Overall very so-so.
Scoop Malinowski · October 6, 2022 at 2:18 pm
Four days to let the wrist heal. Hmmm.
Scoop Malinowski · October 7, 2022 at 8:27 am
Tsitsipas 7-2 over Hurkacz.
catherine · October 7, 2022 at 10:27 am
Emma has finished on the WTA tour this year.
At this point I really hope her career isn’t cut short by injury. It’s not a new problem for her apparently.
Of course Steffi Graf rarely played without injury of some kind and retired early – but she was able to do so much in the time she had.
Her body build was similar in some ways to Emma’s. Taller, but not heavily muscular.
Scoop Malinowski · October 7, 2022 at 10:42 am
Catherine, I think she’s healthy but feels no desire to devote all her energies to the part of the season most players don’t care about. All energies and focus are on January and the new season. No reason at all to try to prove something in October of a lost season. Take a rest, learn from 22, then all systems go for 23. I’m sure she’s healthy.
It’s like a Triple Crown horse race. She’s 20 lengths behind the winner and ten other horses ahead of her, why bother trying to win this lost race, move on and focus on the next race in January.