Weather calls for rain but I have a ticket and chance to see some friends from Pittsburgh. I get to the BJK Tennis Center at 10:30 and the first player I spot on the grounds is Feliciano Lopez cutting through the grounds from Ashe to the indoor courts for a practice with his coach Jose Clavet in tow, barking out some instructions in Spanish. F Lo has a cap on and his head down and nobody but me recognizes him.
Play on the outer courts never gets going because of the misty drizzle but Federer vs Dzumhur starts on Ashe and Nishikori vs Klahn is on Armstrong with the roofs closed.
Fed loses the first set again and Nishikori loses the second set to Klahn but the big buzz is about Kyrgios the night before, his “shit show”, as Steve Johnson called it and the accusation that the ATP is corrupt have the tennis world in a tizzy.
Kyrgios is the king of controversy and seems naturally inclined to keep outdoing himself practically every month or week.
As the saying goes, “People are gonna talk, might as well give ’em something to talk about.” My take is Nick is the perfect bad boy rebel that the sport needs. He’s terrific with kids and adults now to are embracing him.
Compare Nick’s behavior to these two episodes with Connors and Pancho Gonzalez. Connors was losing a match and a guy in the front row mumbled something that annoyed Jimbo who responded by spitting on the court and saying, “Pick that up for me boy.”
Pancho was retired but practicing with Connors at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. A young fan was watching the practice and tried to praise his hero, “Pancho I don’t care what anybody says, you still have it, you can still beat these younger guys…” Pancho replied with an unexpected retort, “Frankly kid, I don’t give a fuck what you think.”
Could you imagine the media uproar if Kyrgios acted in this manner?
My source who says Mouratoglou pays Serena to act as his coach confirmed the story is true. He also added that the Lotte Hotel on 50th Street is giving free rooms for the Nadal and Serena camps to all stay at the hotel.
As the steady drizzle continued, there was a gap of dryness and Alex deMinaur and Christian Garin started at about 2 but only played a game and a half and then the umpire stopped it as rain drops slicked the lines.
Tommy Haas was cruising the grounds with a friend and he told me his first and last pro matches, which I will post next week. (I ran into Tommy three times and nobody seemed to notice Tommy, nobody bothered him for a selfie or autograph.) Todd Martin also did a First and Last, both of which happened at US Open. Todd was on the run to catch a bus to NYC with his son Jackson who is taller than him.
Despite the near total washout, the mood of the grounds was still good. People seemed happy to just be there, walking around, enjoying the atmosphere and sites to see, the food. There was no bad energy or frustration.
Mal Washington and Taylor Dent did a sitdown chat and took questions from fans but when Mal started talking about rain and how the players deal with the waiting, I exited the scene. I think they should have discussed other things like maybe their first and last matches, or US Open matches, memories. Or do Biofiles with each other. Nobody wants to hear about rain when it’s raining.
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1 2 3 Next »Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 7:25 am
Haas. Yeah, when the career is over it’s over. There are new fans every day that will never think about Haas and how close yet how far he was from slam glory.
Haas certainly among best five players without a slam on men’s tour.
Scoop press conference reminds me of the Scoop question about Marcelo Rios. The answer from Nadal was, no don’t know his game. Toni Nadal’s answer? Brilliant player. Generations of players move through the sport with no sense of who played.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 7:30 am
On Haas, Federer gets it. He knows he’s in overtime here. He knows what’s on the other side of it too – for better or worse it will never be as good as being seeded in the draw and still in the tournament. Probably better to lace it up and do these obligatory press conferences where everyone’s asking why I lost the first set and few care how I won the last three sets which means…moving to round three. Live another day.
Hartt · August 29, 2019 at 7:32 am
Scoop, am looking forward to the “First and Last” with Tommy Haas. I miss seeing him play. Also, we’ve had a lot of discussion here about players’ looks, and I always thought he was especially good-looking. At least when he wasn’t wearing that stupid baseball cap.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 8:05 am
Svitolina looked good vs Venus, how this girl hasn’t won a major yet is befuddling. She has perfect form, tough fighter, super fit. Four years ago she trained out of NJ in the summer and was looking for an investor, but her career took off soon after. Venus showed some different facial expressions instead of that perpetual stoic game face.
Harold · August 29, 2019 at 9:04 am
I’m having a hard time believing PM is paying SW to Coach. How does the dynamic work? If the player pays the Coach, player is the boss. Who is calling the shots if Coach is paying player? I could understand if SW wore a PM Academy patch, or advertised the Academy.
Does SW need the money? Does she devalue coaching, so she might as well make a buck.
They allegedly had a personal relationship.. just weird
Hartt · August 29, 2019 at 9:22 am
I just saw a recording of Venus vs Svitolina. Svitolina did play well, but I was impressed with how hard Venus fought at the end of each set. Both women made some great shots and there were some entertaining points. There were also some surprising UFEs.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 9:29 am
Harold, don’t count on any media asking Serena for these financial details in a press conference. What appears to be true is that Mouratoglou benefits far more from the relationship than Serena, who does not ask for his coaching on court or even bother to look at him in the box for any signals – she denied it last year at US Open. Before his link with Serena, Mouratoglou’s academy was irrelevant ( he had no accomplished players to draw any business ). Now associated with the GOAT, Mouratoglou has the most high profile tennis academy in the world, or dead heat with IMG. It makes perfect sense that he pays Serena to be associated with her. I’m going to accept my source’s word, he has never failed me yet and is connected closely to the pro game.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 9:43 am
I saw a photo of Jack Sock walking Broadway and he looked perfectly fit. I think it’s possible he was wearing very ill fitting clothes in the match against Cuevas, shorts were too tight and small and it accentuated his softer middle. It’s all about angles and fit.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 9:58 am
Venus still has it, she could have won that match. Monfils was there every point of the way supporting Svitolina. Svitolina closed out the tight first set and then fell behind 0-3 in the second but quickly rallied for 3-3 and edged out the veteran. Svitolina has an interesting box, Monfils and three male coaching figures, maybe the coach, physio and gopher? Vee had a full box as always, but no sign of Prakash Amritraj. 🙂
Harold · August 29, 2019 at 9:58 am
Every coach’s career from Nick B on, their fortune rides on hitting the big home run after their first bigtime player bursts on to the scene..watched the first set of SW..she was screaming at her box a lot.PM was writing a lot. Was he writing invoices, or strategy?
SW and VW seem to have made a pact not use hawkeye, or coaching..
Im sure his Academy has profited greatly from the Association with SW, and now Tsitsipas…parents with money will send their kids there, unless in this wacky business hes paying the families from age 10 on..
Just hard to wrap my head around it
catherine · August 29, 2019 at 10:02 am
Patrick probably pays Serena for the use of her name in promotion of his Academy etc, a commercial transaction which would make sense whether he actually ‘coaches’ her or not. He’s certainly around when she’s practising. I doubt she needs much coaching now anyway.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 10:06 am
Looking like a studious coach working, writing down notes, like what could he possibly see to refine Serena? Remember we live in a world of illusions. Image is reality. Also pays the champion star teens Fhruhvirtova and Ngounoue to train in Nice.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 10:07 am
Mouratoglou likes cash. He knows he competes with Bolletieri and that, in the near future, will compete with Nadal’s academy in Mallorca, among the other constellation of private tennis academies everywhere with so little to show beyond their recruitment of strong players.
Wouldn’t know what he does and don’t care. Tsitsipas is struggling considerably in big matches. I thought he was a big match player, but his drive for celebrity is undercutting his tennis.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 10:13 am
Come to think of it, every player’s pursuit of celebrity is undercutting their tennis. Beware of these sponsors…that money has strings attached, but the agents want the money and the players want the money but no one wants the obligations that come with it. These young players are dealing with it about as well as anyone can expect, which is poorly.
Medvedev is lucky he isn’t popular! Rublev too. They can focus on their next match.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 10:18 am
Today’s match lineup is stellar. Should see some of the tournament’s best tennis for week one today. Early round but high stakes!
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 10:32 am
I think Tsitsipas is hurting and wounded now because of those two losses to Felix which really thwarted his tornado like momentum. Now he’s deteriorated to a light drizzle (lost four first rounds since Queens loss to Felix). One loss can have devastating impact on a player’s psyche, just ask Andre about that US Open loss to Pete. Or PH Mathieu about that Davis Cup loss to Youzhny. Or Capriati about that US Open loss to Seles. Or Natalia Zvereva about that double bagel loss to Steffi at Roland Garros. Tsitsipas needs a jump start and maybe a Youzhny.
catherine · August 29, 2019 at 10:33 am
Andrew – you are quite right regarding the the obligations. Obligations are things you can’t put a price-tag on. Therefore, they can be disregarded.
There are too many people involved around one single player these days – every box is stuffed with nobodies, flunkies,’friends’, family and other hanger-ons. Make the boxes smaller and have these free-loaders pay would be a good idea.
Scoop – Patrick is probably taking notes for the second volume of his autobiography 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 10:33 am
Nishioka vs Lopez is the match of the day for me, two talented diverse lefties. Wish I had a ticket today.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 10:35 am
Catherine, or he’s writing a draft package deal offer to lure Felix and Andreescu to Nice 🙂
catherine · August 29, 2019 at 11:00 am
Scoop – Re decisive losses – I also think the loss to Collins at the AO this year did something to Kerber. She won a few matches after that but nothing special and had bad losses at the 3 GSs. It must have been a nightmare.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 11:04 am
Agree Catherine, that loss to Collins was not only brutal but also humiliating.
catherine · August 29, 2019 at 11:09 am
Stop press: Federer has not received an invitation to Rafa’s wedding 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 11:21 am
Tiafoe rejected Harrison’s wedding invite, citing a lack of interest to be “around all those white people.”
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 11:26 am
re losses help players too. Federer may be devastated by his loss to Djokovic but he’s in the third round, won six of his last eight sets…life is good.
As for Tsitsipas and his crushing losses…gimme a break. These guys win and lose for a living and that’s the price of a gladiator sport where no one dies. You get the glory when you win and the pain when you lose.
I think these days the losing has many things attached to it. If you lose your agent is like why are you losing? Why didn’t you make the second round? Blah blah blah.
Tsitsipas game is fine. I think he lost the bead when he issued his challenge to next gen players to win a slam. He did it before Wimbledon then got scalped there by Fabbiano, who has become an upset specialist in knocking off Thiem – two huge slams, two huge first round wins.
Everyone’s like Tsitsipas you’re so brave, you’re so right, let’s win slams, let’s….
I was like Tsitsipas what are you doing man?! You just drew the attention of all the players and put a big fat X on your back, and with all the fuss you lost your focus on your first rounder because you’re so ready to win a slam.
Reality check. If you can’t win your first round at a slam, you’re out of the tournament before you even get a match with the big guys.
Stefanki looks brilliant again here. Beat everyone who’s lower than you in the rankings. Then prepare to compete with the best players in the big matches.
Meanwhile Medvedev, who’d love to play big matches, gets them because he prepares for his first round, second round, etc. Rublev, who is happy to be healthy, is excited to get Tsitsipas back for his previous loss to him.
It’s been said Tsitsipas doesn’t understand his effect – he clearly doesn’t get that whatever he says becomes motivation for other players and also raises the expectations and pressure.
You want to win your next match? Start by talking about how amazing your opponent is and how it’s going to be a very hard match. Then prepare accordingly and leave nothing to chance. Then play either well enough to win or play like Shapo as if your opponent stole your girlfriend.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 11:31 am
Tiafoe gets his chance vs Zverev. I feel like Tiafoe has missed the mark with his “no rhyme nor reason” game, where speed matters and strategy doesn’t.
These young players draw all the wrong lessons from their closes losses and even their wins. My lamments here will never end…
Unless Tiafoe has strategy for Zverev I expect Zverev to be caffeinated and focused.
Harold · August 29, 2019 at 11:48 am
Jeff,
What’s the money line in the Zverev/ Tiafoe match? Thanks
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 1:17 pm
Big Foe seemed to stop progressing and he stagnated when he fired Ginepri and opted to be coached by one of his buddies with no professional tour experience.
catherine · August 29, 2019 at 2:08 pm
Petko bts Kvitova who must be still suffering from her arm injury I think since this is not a result you’d expect. Yastremska wins and will face Svitolina, both from Odessa – could be a tight match if Dyana’s in form. Kiki out to Ferro – French player I know nothing about.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 2:11 pm
Women’s draw kudos
Petkovic d. Kvitova, straights
Kenin d. Siegmund, 7-6 6-0. Kenin!
Ferro d. Mladenovic in three, 6-3 in third. Kerber, given her R1 loss to Kiki, may be upset here with this!
Sakkari d. S. Peng of top ten & qualifier fame.
Muchova d. Hsieh. Sorry to see Hsieh out.
Sevastova d Swiatek in three. Some players love this event and Sevastova is one of them.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 2:20 pm
Men’s draw kudos
De Minaur, Dan and Scoop fave, d. Garin, who Stefanki had critiqued for lack of big tournament prep though he likes him as a Gonzalez protege. I like De Minaur.
Goffin d. Barrere badly.
Kudla d. Lajovic. Well done by Kudla. Glad to see him playing well again and making fewer excuses.
Jabeur d. Sasnovich. I don’t know either player but I’m fascinated Jabeur, from Tunisia, is in round three.
catherine · August 29, 2019 at 2:25 pm
Andrew – beating Laura Siegemund is no big deal these days. Petko reaches 3rd round for the 1st time since 2015. I was surprised to read that she leads Petra H2H but not recent matches. Julia and Andrea are left to fly the flag for Germany.
Kerber won’t mind about Kiki’s exit since she told us in her pc that she’d already forgotten the match.(Bet she hasn’t)
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 2:35 pm
Evans d. Pouille. Evans is such a fighter. Sorry to see Pouille out, he’s always a good ticket. Nice game.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 2:40 pm
I like the Tiafoe coaching move, it’s (…) No, no I don’t like it. Zverev is self destructing again, so Tiafoe very well may come back and beat him.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 2:41 pm
Deminaur is a winning machine, he just wins and wins, never plays a dumb point or a silly match. It’s hard to project his potential, he can Chang and Hewitt his way to a major title.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 2:43 pm
Kenin best her 6-0 in set two! That’s a crazy result even if the opponent isn’t who they were before. Kenin is blasting opponents with her well considered game.
Sorry to call her a ball basher. She’s not a ball basher. Her game isn’t the most exciting, but neither was other games belonging to US champs, such as Davenport. She has nice looping shots and her placement is very good. Could be better, but it’s good. McNally placement was good, too.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 2:45 pm
De Minaur may do some interesting things in the sport. Let’s see him get there first. Does he have the strength or stamina or courage to take out a big guy?
Doubt it. But he’s good!
catherine · August 29, 2019 at 2:53 pm
Andrew – I know you’re a fan of Kenin’s but honestly I wouldn’t take that 6-0 too seriously. Siegemund hasn’t beaten anyone much for a long time. I like McNally a lot better but she may take a while to mature. With her game, she’ll have inconsistent results.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 2:55 pm
Deminaur has the perfect attitude, strong skill set, takes the ball early, no one competes better. It’s the right combination. Of course there are shortcomings. But every player has them. I like Deminaur’s chances, no limits. Remember, this is his second year on the tour. Still learning.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 3:28 pm
I am a fan of Kenin? News to me! I like comparing her to Davenport. Nice strokes, hits a good ball, competes well. But that’s it for me. I like her aggressive approach to tennis.
I like Krys Pliskova as the lefty to her sister, but Bertens knocks her out of round two.
I like Konta, who’s through in straights vs Gasparyan, another Russian?
Many people have written about Russian tennis – has any country put so many players in the tour draws so consistently for the past twenty years? They aren’t like Spain, which dreads the post Nadal era (sorry Munar!).
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 3:30 pm
I like De Minaur, nice game, somehow threads the needle on passing shots that make no sense to me. Great wheels, as in fast as anyone.
I leave it at that. I have a hard time buying that any player improves year over year because they may or may not. He has a good attitude and he’s winning more this year than last year. So is Fritz. These are all good things.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 3:36 pm
Catherine, McNally – sky’s not the limit here. Significant problems in her game. But she does some nice things, and her comfort at net is good. Nice serve. Decent movement.
Ground game needs some big time work. Ball falls VERY short. Forehand needs a rethink. She should either get extremely good at what she’s already good at or improve her consistency and her groundstrokes and refine her strategy.
Best thing is the mph on her serve, she hits a hard ball on the first and second serve – nice thing if a player can pull that off. I think her placement needs work.
I could just write all that off and say she’s seventeen so in a year’s time you never know…
But I’ve become super pessimistic and can no longer say hey you went three sets against Serena in round two, you’re destined for great things.
Nope.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 3:39 pm
Only thing I hope for from players these days is “compete hard” – if you’re not going to improve, at least compete hard.
I always hold out hope that someone like McNally say would learn from the consistency of her elder Kenin, who’s all of twenty years old. Then I say nah, why imagine that? She’s going to get so much applause for losing second round of US Open!
catherine · August 29, 2019 at 3:56 pm
McNally’s only 17, as you say, I wouldn’t predict greatness for her, I don’t do hyperbole, but I like her attacking game which is so rare these days from girls so I just hope she can hold on to that and not abandon it if she gets beaten a few times by baseline bashers, which she will.
I can’t see a media mania for McNally, like Gauff.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 4:10 pm
Catherine, agreed. Generally I am very excited to see some shots and some playing I wasn’t expecting. Whether McNally or Krunic or anyone else.
I’m not into turning people into legends before they have earned this. Just too early. But I appreciate strong performances and bravery, which McNally showed in spades, especially in set 1.
Let’s see her do it again. Like Rublev, he played a good first round – let’s see him repeat that kind of performance.
re Coco, I can’t do Cocomania.
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 4:12 pm
Appreciate ESPNs new tennis coverage. They treaf players like Gunneswaran with the media coverage reserved for top ten players…to grow their Asian market 🙂
Media coverage isn’t the same as winning matches…Harrison made that mistake
Andrew Miller · August 29, 2019 at 4:21 pm
Jabeur d. Sasnovich is women’s draw. My bad!
Hartt · August 29, 2019 at 4:30 pm
Bianca Andreescu beat Flipkens in SS. Bianca served and returned well. Flipkens was good at the net, even using S&V a few times, but Bianca generally kept her shots deep enough to keep Flipkens away from the net.
catherine · August 29, 2019 at 4:35 pm
Bianca goes past Flipkens in 2, could play Collins or Woz next.
Sabalenka about to exit – showing she’s probably better at talking tennis than actually playing. Halep winning – can’t see any big surprises coming so that’s it for me tonight.
catherine · August 29, 2019 at 4:39 pm
Hartt – we keep typing at the same time – I saw from the stats that Bianca served well. I’m impressed by how she uses her brains. And prepares well for her matches, as you’ve mentioned, and that really pays off.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2019 at 5:17 pm
Michelle Marcher Dr Brito won a set from Serena at 16… retired at 24.