Between these two Asian tournaments, one is clearly the stronger field. Beijing has Nadal, Djokovic, Roddick, and five of the other top fifteen players among their eight seeds. The number one seed in Tokyo is JMDP, but the rest of the seeds are not quite at his pedigree. While China has Davydenko, Verdasco, Soderling, Gonzalez, and Cilic filling out its top players, all of whom have had strong performances in the last few months, Tokyo has Tsonga, Monfils, Simon, Berdych, Stepanek, Wawrinka, and Hewitt. Now they're all strong players, all in the top 26 at the moment, but with the exception of Monfils and Simon, none has done anything of note during the Summer hardcourt swing.
As for the breakdown of the quarters, Nadal is seeded to meet Gonzo, but his section is packed, so here's hoping he's recovered from his injury. Baghdatis first round, James Blake second, and then he could just as easily get Safin, Acasuso, or Ferrer instead of Gonzalez. Tough draw for the world number 2. The second quarter is less stacked, with Davydenko seeded to meet Cilic, if each can survive the few dangerous floaters, Andreev, Kohlschreiber, and Karlovic.
In the third quarter, Soderling is seeded to meet Andy Roddick, who has never beaten the Swede in two meetings. But they've had three tiebreakers in four sets. If it gets there, it should be interesting. Soderling would have to get through Jeremy Chardy and Tommy Robredo. Roddick should have an easier time against qualifier Lukasz Kubot, who beat Donald Young, who already taken out the much tougher opponent Feliciano Lopez. Strange. After that, Roddick gets either Mathieu or Ljubicic, which should be a good match on its own. The fourth quarter is also strong, with Verdasco seeded to meet Djokovic, but also featuring Victor Troicki, Nicolas Almagro, Robby Ginepri, and Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Back over in Tokyo, JMDP is seeded to meet Hewitt, which should be an interesting match - they've had a few great ones this year already. Santoro is also in that quarter, on his farewell tour. Simon and Berdych are in the second quarter, along with Bellucci and Youzhny. The third quarter features Wawrinka against Monfils, along with John Isner and Dudi Sela. The final quarter has seeds Stepanek and Tsonga, along with Richard Gasquet. Qualifying isn't done yet, but I'm hoping that Gulbis makes it in. Come on, Ernests!
So even though this draw isn't quite as strong, overall, it's still got some good matchups, and should produce some interesting tennis. Both of these tournaments should present an interesting picture of how the run-up to the end-of-year finals is going to go. Five spots have already been settled (Federer, Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, Del Potro) with the sixth nearly a sure thing (Roddick), but the last two are almost up for grabs.
The current top two, Davydenko and Tsonga, have a fair amount of points to defend in the coming weeks. Tsonga could actually drop down to 13 or 14 in a month. The next few (Verdasco, Simon, Soderling, and Gonzalez) all have a chance to grab one of those spots. Let's see how they do!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Asian Swing, part 2
No big surprises in the quarterfinals at either Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok. All eight players in the semifinals are seeded, and at Kuala Lumpur it's the top four seeds. I think the only surprises might have been Troicki over Isner (it's Troicki's first win over a top-50 player since Rainer Schuettler at the World Team Championship in May, and before that it was an injured David Nalbandian in Miami) and the fact that none of the quarterfinals in Kuala Lumpur were really competitive.
So the semis are Davydenko-Soderling, a rematch of their U.S. Open encounter, and Gonzalez-Verdasco, a battle of the Fernandos. I'm guessing it will be a Soderling-Gonzalez final, but it could go either way. In Bangkok, Tsonga and Simon should both come through easily against Troicki and Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer.
Looking ahead to Tokyo and Beijing, there are some great players all set for qualifying. Tomaz Bellucci and Somdev Devvarman are both trying to make it into Tokyo's main draw, along with Marco Chiudinelli, who beat Safin last week and is trying to make Switzerland's list of notable tennis players one name longer. The Tokyo draw is stacked with relatively low-ranking Japanese players, so these guys should be able to make it into the main draw.
Donald Young, who is trying to get in Beijing, may not be so lucky. He was unfortunate enough to draw Feliciano Lopez in the first round of qualifying. Why Lopez, who is ranked 34, is going through the quallies is a bit beyond me. But it's just bad luck for the Donald. Robby Ginepri is also in the qualifying draw, and he has an easier time of it, with a Chinese wildcard in the first round, but Michael Llodra could be a tough opponent in the second round. The Frenchman has not been having a banner year, but he's still a solid player.
It's interesting that the Asian swing is growing in importance on the schedule, even though the men's tour has not had an Asian player break onto the scene in a long time. This is highlighted by Paradorn Srichipan's attempt to start to his comeback in doubles this week, which probably didn't go the way he had hoped. Here's hoping he can return to the tour regularly next year, along with Japanese player Kei Nishikori. These Asian tournaments would be doing even better if the home crowds had some big-name players they could cheer for.
So the semis are Davydenko-Soderling, a rematch of their U.S. Open encounter, and Gonzalez-Verdasco, a battle of the Fernandos. I'm guessing it will be a Soderling-Gonzalez final, but it could go either way. In Bangkok, Tsonga and Simon should both come through easily against Troicki and Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer.
Looking ahead to Tokyo and Beijing, there are some great players all set for qualifying. Tomaz Bellucci and Somdev Devvarman are both trying to make it into Tokyo's main draw, along with Marco Chiudinelli, who beat Safin last week and is trying to make Switzerland's list of notable tennis players one name longer. The Tokyo draw is stacked with relatively low-ranking Japanese players, so these guys should be able to make it into the main draw.
Donald Young, who is trying to get in Beijing, may not be so lucky. He was unfortunate enough to draw Feliciano Lopez in the first round of qualifying. Why Lopez, who is ranked 34, is going through the quallies is a bit beyond me. But it's just bad luck for the Donald. Robby Ginepri is also in the qualifying draw, and he has an easier time of it, with a Chinese wildcard in the first round, but Michael Llodra could be a tough opponent in the second round. The Frenchman has not been having a banner year, but he's still a solid player.
It's interesting that the Asian swing is growing in importance on the schedule, even though the men's tour has not had an Asian player break onto the scene in a long time. This is highlighted by Paradorn Srichipan's attempt to start to his comeback in doubles this week, which probably didn't go the way he had hoped. Here's hoping he can return to the tour regularly next year, along with Japanese player Kei Nishikori. These Asian tournaments would be doing even better if the home crowds had some big-name players they could cheer for.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Asian Swing
The time after the U.S. Open is often disregarded by many tennis fans. Particularly for American fans, the U.S. Open is understood to be the end of any tennis that people are interested in. As it is the final grand slam of the year, the tournaments that follow (even the end-of-year championships) can be a bit anticlimactic for your average tennis fan. As in football (up until this year), the Pro Bowl was always played after the Superbowl, but nobody cared.
While I can see why some tennis fans ignore the Asian swing and the European indoor seasons, they're really missing out. This is often the time for up-and-coming or underachieving players to really make their mark, since the top players can begin to feel worn down by the year-long grind - two years ago, David Nalbandian beat both Federer and Nadal in back-to-back tournaments. Last year, JW Tsonga emerged victorious in his first Masters Series event in Paris. And Murray won Madrid's last Master Series shield.
There has already been some exciting tennis this year, just a week and a half into this part of the year. Tsonga played Ernests Gulbis (ranked just inside the top 100) to three tiebreaks, Monfils broke a four year title drought, and Monaco lost in his third final this year in the last clay court event on the calendar, giving him the most clay court wins of any player on tour this year. Still, no titles.
While this week's Bangkok draw may not be the flashiest (Tsonga, Simon, Isner are the highlights after Safin lost and Querrey withdrew with injury) the quarterfinals in Kuala Lumpur are nothing but fireworks: Davydenko-Monfils, Soderling-Berdych, Youzhny-Gonzalez, and Gasquet-Verdasco. That's the top six seeds, all in the ATP top sixteen, and two former top ten players in Gasquet and Youzhny. Despite not having any of the huge names, that's an incredbily strong draw for a low-level tournament in Malaysia. Mouth-watering, really.
I think the higher-ranked player is the favorite in every one of these matches (with the possible exception of Davydenko-Monfils) but all of them could be close. It's good to Gasquet back on the tournament trail, and Youzhny had a good win over David Ferrer. Any of the players left in the draw could pull out a win in this tournament, not only because of the strength of every player remaining, but also because a fair number of these players have been dealing with some injuries over the course of the year.
I'll try to watch as much of it streaming as I can. We'll see how it goes!
While I can see why some tennis fans ignore the Asian swing and the European indoor seasons, they're really missing out. This is often the time for up-and-coming or underachieving players to really make their mark, since the top players can begin to feel worn down by the year-long grind - two years ago, David Nalbandian beat both Federer and Nadal in back-to-back tournaments. Last year, JW Tsonga emerged victorious in his first Masters Series event in Paris. And Murray won Madrid's last Master Series shield.
There has already been some exciting tennis this year, just a week and a half into this part of the year. Tsonga played Ernests Gulbis (ranked just inside the top 100) to three tiebreaks, Monfils broke a four year title drought, and Monaco lost in his third final this year in the last clay court event on the calendar, giving him the most clay court wins of any player on tour this year. Still, no titles.
While this week's Bangkok draw may not be the flashiest (Tsonga, Simon, Isner are the highlights after Safin lost and Querrey withdrew with injury) the quarterfinals in Kuala Lumpur are nothing but fireworks: Davydenko-Monfils, Soderling-Berdych, Youzhny-Gonzalez, and Gasquet-Verdasco. That's the top six seeds, all in the ATP top sixteen, and two former top ten players in Gasquet and Youzhny. Despite not having any of the huge names, that's an incredbily strong draw for a low-level tournament in Malaysia. Mouth-watering, really.
I think the higher-ranked player is the favorite in every one of these matches (with the possible exception of Davydenko-Monfils) but all of them could be close. It's good to Gasquet back on the tournament trail, and Youzhny had a good win over David Ferrer. Any of the players left in the draw could pull out a win in this tournament, not only because of the strength of every player remaining, but also because a fair number of these players have been dealing with some injuries over the course of the year.
I'll try to watch as much of it streaming as I can. We'll see how it goes!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Comeback of the Decade!
Despite an unfortunate incident that marred her semifinal (more on that later), Kim Clijsters has completed the most unlikely of comeback tours. In her two warm-up tournaments, she notched wins Bartoli, Schnyder, Azarenka, and Kuznetsova, top 20 players all. She lost to Jelena Jankovic in her first tournament back and Dinara Safina in the second. That was a pretty impressive lead up, but still - I don't think anyone really expected this.
Kimmie notched wins over five seeds on her way to the championship, which is almost as many as she could have faced (six is the maximum, but Kristen Flipkens beat Anabel Medina Garrigues, the 20th seed) including both Williams sisters. Clijsters had beaten both of them in the same tournament once before, at the 2002 end of year championships in Los Angeles. Of course, Venus retired during that match, so there's technically an asterisk there, just like there may be for this match against Serena.
In addition to the sisters Williams, Clijsters beat Bartoli again (seeded 14th), Na Li (18) in the Quarters, and Wozniacki (9) in the final. She only dropped two sets: the first against Bartoli and the second, in a bagel, to Venus. Since she had last played the U.S. Open in 2005, when she won, she has now won her last 14 matches at Flushing Meadows.
Her achievement is stunning, almost unimaginable in any other sport. But it is difficult to say how much of her accomplishment stems from her own talent and effort, and how much is owed to the unusually weak mettle of the players at the top of the women's game, at this particular point in time. Was it a triumph for Kim? Or an indictment of the rest of the talent at the top of the game?
Kim's biggest spoilers when she was in the previous era of her game are either not around to trouble her (Justine Henin, Jennifer Capriati) or no longer at the tops of their games (Sharapova, Mauresmo). And the players who have risen to take their places have proven themselves to be inconsistent. The Serbs, Jankovic and Ivanovic, both made it to number one in the world (Ana even won a slam) but haven't been able to follow it up. The less said about Dinara Safina, the better. Svetlana Kuznetsova frequently beats herself on the court. Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki (the two youngest players in the top ten) have shown promise, but Wozniacki's relatively easy run to the final is the best actual result. Perhaps the field really is weaker?
Then again, let's look at Kim. Back when she was playing regularly, she was one of the best. She was expected to win more than the one major she had managed. She had made 12 semifinals or better in the last 19 majors of the first stage of her career. Those aren't quite Federer numbers, but it shows her consistency and talent. It was her own mental fragility that kept her from making the breakthrough that had been expected of her for years - that and her countrywoman Justine Henin's better play in the big matches.
The other aspect of the first stage of Clijster's career that bears mentioning is how frequently she discussed her post-tennis plans. Even as a teenager, dating Lleyton Hewitt (Kimmie might be the only player on the WTA tour not to have dated Radek Stepanek) she talked about how much she was looking forward to getting married and starting a family. That was why she retired, while she was still in the top five.
In order to do that, she must have been unsatisfied with tennis. Professional tennis is a demanding lifestyle, especially when you're a top player. If you're making it to the semis or finals more often than not, you're playing every day in every week that you have a tournament. It's psychically draining, and it can be tough to keep up with the grind.
It seems to me that Kim is in a much better mental state than she was in 2006, and it's because she got her non-tennis life in order. It's exactly where she wants it to be. She has a loving husband and a beautiful child. Of course, that's not what every tennis player (male or female) wants, but it's definitely what she wanted.
I think that a lot of the top players that she's dealing with now are in the same place, mentally, that Kim was before she "retired." They're very talented, physically fit, but their heads aren't in the right place, so it's tougher to string together points, games, and matches. While Serena and Venus had some trouble in this particular tournament, they have been better in the big matches than the other players over the course of the past few years, and that's because they've done a better job of managing their on-court lives with what they do off the court.
In the end, Kim's comeback is not an indictment of the talent of the top players on tour, but it doesn't say good things about the mental states of their games. The other players at the top of the game need to learn how to manage their tennis lives without sacrificing every else. Kim demonstrates how strong you can be on the court, even when shaking off two years' worth of rust, when you're happy off the court as well.
Kimmie notched wins over five seeds on her way to the championship, which is almost as many as she could have faced (six is the maximum, but Kristen Flipkens beat Anabel Medina Garrigues, the 20th seed) including both Williams sisters. Clijsters had beaten both of them in the same tournament once before, at the 2002 end of year championships in Los Angeles. Of course, Venus retired during that match, so there's technically an asterisk there, just like there may be for this match against Serena.
In addition to the sisters Williams, Clijsters beat Bartoli again (seeded 14th), Na Li (18) in the Quarters, and Wozniacki (9) in the final. She only dropped two sets: the first against Bartoli and the second, in a bagel, to Venus. Since she had last played the U.S. Open in 2005, when she won, she has now won her last 14 matches at Flushing Meadows.
Her achievement is stunning, almost unimaginable in any other sport. But it is difficult to say how much of her accomplishment stems from her own talent and effort, and how much is owed to the unusually weak mettle of the players at the top of the women's game, at this particular point in time. Was it a triumph for Kim? Or an indictment of the rest of the talent at the top of the game?
Kim's biggest spoilers when she was in the previous era of her game are either not around to trouble her (Justine Henin, Jennifer Capriati) or no longer at the tops of their games (Sharapova, Mauresmo). And the players who have risen to take their places have proven themselves to be inconsistent. The Serbs, Jankovic and Ivanovic, both made it to number one in the world (Ana even won a slam) but haven't been able to follow it up. The less said about Dinara Safina, the better. Svetlana Kuznetsova frequently beats herself on the court. Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki (the two youngest players in the top ten) have shown promise, but Wozniacki's relatively easy run to the final is the best actual result. Perhaps the field really is weaker?
Then again, let's look at Kim. Back when she was playing regularly, she was one of the best. She was expected to win more than the one major she had managed. She had made 12 semifinals or better in the last 19 majors of the first stage of her career. Those aren't quite Federer numbers, but it shows her consistency and talent. It was her own mental fragility that kept her from making the breakthrough that had been expected of her for years - that and her countrywoman Justine Henin's better play in the big matches.
The other aspect of the first stage of Clijster's career that bears mentioning is how frequently she discussed her post-tennis plans. Even as a teenager, dating Lleyton Hewitt (Kimmie might be the only player on the WTA tour not to have dated Radek Stepanek) she talked about how much she was looking forward to getting married and starting a family. That was why she retired, while she was still in the top five.
In order to do that, she must have been unsatisfied with tennis. Professional tennis is a demanding lifestyle, especially when you're a top player. If you're making it to the semis or finals more often than not, you're playing every day in every week that you have a tournament. It's psychically draining, and it can be tough to keep up with the grind.
It seems to me that Kim is in a much better mental state than she was in 2006, and it's because she got her non-tennis life in order. It's exactly where she wants it to be. She has a loving husband and a beautiful child. Of course, that's not what every tennis player (male or female) wants, but it's definitely what she wanted.
I think that a lot of the top players that she's dealing with now are in the same place, mentally, that Kim was before she "retired." They're very talented, physically fit, but their heads aren't in the right place, so it's tougher to string together points, games, and matches. While Serena and Venus had some trouble in this particular tournament, they have been better in the big matches than the other players over the course of the past few years, and that's because they've done a better job of managing their on-court lives with what they do off the court.
In the end, Kim's comeback is not an indictment of the talent of the top players on tour, but it doesn't say good things about the mental states of their games. The other players at the top of the game need to learn how to manage their tennis lives without sacrificing every else. Kim demonstrates how strong you can be on the court, even when shaking off two years' worth of rust, when you're happy off the court as well.
Friday, September 4, 2009
U.S. Open - Day Five
I saw some good tennis today, which turned out to be a day of big matches. Six five-setters out of sixteen matches. Ferrero and Cilic came back from two sets to love to win, against Petzschner and Levine. Istomin-Lapentti and Dent-Navarro both went to fifth set tiebreaks.
But there weren't a lot of matches that were big draws, and it was tough to get a good seat. Also, it's tough to sit through a long match by yourself, especially after a long week of tennis. So I bounced around a lot, checking out bits and pieces of a variety of matches. When I could get a seat, that is. I ended up checking out a bit earlier than usual, so I could keep up with the matches I wanted to see on TV, since they were so ridiculously swamped on the stands. Turns out that may not have been the best decision, because that Dent match was something I would never have expected, but I regret missing out on.
Fortunately, my family is coming in tonight so we can enjoy some tennis tomorrow, which should be fun. We're probably going to hang out in Louis Armstrong, I think, since the tennis on the outer grounds is really starting to get sparse. Basically, I'll be anywhere to see the Verdasco-Haas match.
Tomorrow's schedule is weird, but not in a way that affects me. It turns out that the Tennis Channel has the night session during the first weekend and CBS has the day matches, so here's the lineup for Saturday: Day Session - Roddick, Federer, Sharapova. Night Session - Blake, Safina.
This is not such a big deal, except for the fact that I have tickets to Sunday's night session, and I'm going to (almost certainly) miss out on Murray-Dent and Clijsters-Venus. Any weeknight, those two matches would have been the marquee matches and would have taken place under the lights. However, the tournament organizers are not stupid enough to send those matches out to the relatively sparse subscriber base of the Tennis Channel, rather than the behemoth that is CBS.
On Sunday, they're probably going to put both Williamses and Murray on during the day, and then put Nadal-Almagro and ... Zvonareva-Pennetta on during the night session? I won't lie, if that happens, I'm going to be really upset. When you buy a night session ticket to the U.S. Open, you're expecting the best matches of the day.
We'll see tomorrow, when Sunday's schedule is posted, but suffice it to say that I'm not thrilled at the prospect.
But there weren't a lot of matches that were big draws, and it was tough to get a good seat. Also, it's tough to sit through a long match by yourself, especially after a long week of tennis. So I bounced around a lot, checking out bits and pieces of a variety of matches. When I could get a seat, that is. I ended up checking out a bit earlier than usual, so I could keep up with the matches I wanted to see on TV, since they were so ridiculously swamped on the stands. Turns out that may not have been the best decision, because that Dent match was something I would never have expected, but I regret missing out on.
Fortunately, my family is coming in tonight so we can enjoy some tennis tomorrow, which should be fun. We're probably going to hang out in Louis Armstrong, I think, since the tennis on the outer grounds is really starting to get sparse. Basically, I'll be anywhere to see the Verdasco-Haas match.
Tomorrow's schedule is weird, but not in a way that affects me. It turns out that the Tennis Channel has the night session during the first weekend and CBS has the day matches, so here's the lineup for Saturday: Day Session - Roddick, Federer, Sharapova. Night Session - Blake, Safina.
This is not such a big deal, except for the fact that I have tickets to Sunday's night session, and I'm going to (almost certainly) miss out on Murray-Dent and Clijsters-Venus. Any weeknight, those two matches would have been the marquee matches and would have taken place under the lights. However, the tournament organizers are not stupid enough to send those matches out to the relatively sparse subscriber base of the Tennis Channel, rather than the behemoth that is CBS.
On Sunday, they're probably going to put both Williamses and Murray on during the day, and then put Nadal-Almagro and ... Zvonareva-Pennetta on during the night session? I won't lie, if that happens, I'm going to be really upset. When you buy a night session ticket to the U.S. Open, you're expecting the best matches of the day.
We'll see tomorrow, when Sunday's schedule is posted, but suffice it to say that I'm not thrilled at the prospect.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Day four at the U.S. Open
Another day done. I managed to stick to my game plan pretty tightly, this time. I watched the entirety of Safina's match, as well as Kuznetsova's. Kuzzie's was not very exciting, because she was so clearly dominant the whole time. Safina, on the other hand, started out brutally bad, and then got intermittently better. She began the match with two double faults, served for the first set and was broken, then double faulted on set point in the tiebreak. And then she served two more double faults to start the second set - I saw her serve seven faults in a row. That's just... oof.
But when she was on, she was hitting some great balls - heavy and deep, and hard to handle. I can see how she got to number one in the world, and based on what I heard about her first round match, she seemed to be more on top of her game and her mental state (15 double faults aside) today. Which is good to hear! I hope she pulls herself together, because she is actually a really good player when she's not driving herself insane.
It was a fun to match to watch, because after she shook off the worst of the rust (when the crowd was stunned into silence), everyone was really pulling for her. Every rally that didn't end in an unforced error would be rewarded with riotous applause. Safina played pretty clean, with 36 winners and 38 unforced errors. Compare that to 19 and 48 in her last match, and it's definitely an improvement.
I saw Djokovic, too. He looked so, so solid against Carsten Ball. I left after the second set, when it was clear that the Aussie couldn't do anything to Novak. Every part of his game is good, but what's interesting to me is that he doesn't really have a defining aspect to his game. The other top players are 'the best' at something. They're good (or at least pretty good) at every part of the game, but they've got a clearly defined strength. Djokovic is just solid in every aspect of the game, but he doesn't really have anything that defines him.
He used to be a jokester, but his light-hearted ways haven't appeared on-court in a while. Really, the thing he's most known for these days is retiring due to exhaustion or getting nervous before big matches. I'm not sure what he should do about it, but it's interesting to me. I wonder how he'll deal with the expectations at this tournament.
I also watched some of the Querrey-Kim match, but there wasn't too much to see. Both of the players were just about even on winners to errors, big serving, not a lot of long points. I'm surprised not to have seen more from Kim before, because his game looked pretty strong. Nice serve, great backhand, but he's been around forever and not done much. Well, this is a good time to go on a hot streak, but it's just a shame when you run into the hottest player on tour this summer.
I saw a bit of Youzhny, who was looking great while I watched him, but then he went on to lose to Chiudinelli (who?). I also got to see Ljubicic in doubles for a few games, and a bit of Isner in the third set. But I mostly watched matches on Louis Armstrong. It's getting tougher to move around the grounds, since there are fewer matches that are really drawing people out there, and you have to set up a lot earlier for a seat.
This is going to make tomorrow really tough, where there isn't a particular court where I definitely want to spend my time. I do want to see Del Potro and Jurgen Melzer, but I've seen Almagro and Ginepri before. And I would like to see Clijsters, though that match may get moved to Ashe, and I have tickets to the night session on Sunday, which is looking very likely to be a Venus Williams-Kimmie Clijsters match.
Tsonga and Nieminen are on the grandstand, and so's Azarenka and Taylor Dent... but Ferrer-Acasuso are on Court 4, and Berdych-Zeballos are on Court 7. And Court 11 has Cilic-Levine, Bellucci-Simon (could be great), and Monfils-Beck. And Ferrero starts the day on Court 13, which then has Ouanna-Gonzalez, later.
This is going to be tough.
But when she was on, she was hitting some great balls - heavy and deep, and hard to handle. I can see how she got to number one in the world, and based on what I heard about her first round match, she seemed to be more on top of her game and her mental state (15 double faults aside) today. Which is good to hear! I hope she pulls herself together, because she is actually a really good player when she's not driving herself insane.
It was a fun to match to watch, because after she shook off the worst of the rust (when the crowd was stunned into silence), everyone was really pulling for her. Every rally that didn't end in an unforced error would be rewarded with riotous applause. Safina played pretty clean, with 36 winners and 38 unforced errors. Compare that to 19 and 48 in her last match, and it's definitely an improvement.
I saw Djokovic, too. He looked so, so solid against Carsten Ball. I left after the second set, when it was clear that the Aussie couldn't do anything to Novak. Every part of his game is good, but what's interesting to me is that he doesn't really have a defining aspect to his game. The other top players are 'the best' at something. They're good (or at least pretty good) at every part of the game, but they've got a clearly defined strength. Djokovic is just solid in every aspect of the game, but he doesn't really have anything that defines him.
He used to be a jokester, but his light-hearted ways haven't appeared on-court in a while. Really, the thing he's most known for these days is retiring due to exhaustion or getting nervous before big matches. I'm not sure what he should do about it, but it's interesting to me. I wonder how he'll deal with the expectations at this tournament.
I also watched some of the Querrey-Kim match, but there wasn't too much to see. Both of the players were just about even on winners to errors, big serving, not a lot of long points. I'm surprised not to have seen more from Kim before, because his game looked pretty strong. Nice serve, great backhand, but he's been around forever and not done much. Well, this is a good time to go on a hot streak, but it's just a shame when you run into the hottest player on tour this summer.
I saw a bit of Youzhny, who was looking great while I watched him, but then he went on to lose to Chiudinelli (who?). I also got to see Ljubicic in doubles for a few games, and a bit of Isner in the third set. But I mostly watched matches on Louis Armstrong. It's getting tougher to move around the grounds, since there are fewer matches that are really drawing people out there, and you have to set up a lot earlier for a seat.
This is going to make tomorrow really tough, where there isn't a particular court where I definitely want to spend my time. I do want to see Del Potro and Jurgen Melzer, but I've seen Almagro and Ginepri before. And I would like to see Clijsters, though that match may get moved to Ashe, and I have tickets to the night session on Sunday, which is looking very likely to be a Venus Williams-Kimmie Clijsters match.
Tsonga and Nieminen are on the grandstand, and so's Azarenka and Taylor Dent... but Ferrer-Acasuso are on Court 4, and Berdych-Zeballos are on Court 7. And Court 11 has Cilic-Levine, Bellucci-Simon (could be great), and Monfils-Beck. And Ferrero starts the day on Court 13, which then has Ouanna-Gonzalez, later.
This is going to be tough.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
U.S. Open - Day Three
It's officially the middle of the first week. The first round on the men's side is done (and two matches from the second round) as well as half of the second round on the women's side. As excited as I am, I'm beginning to feel worn down. Not while I'm at the tournament, but right now, as I'm getting ready for bed, I am beat. And this is after just three days! I'll try to rest up tonight, maybe sleep in a bit and get to the tennis center at 10:30 instead of 10 tomorrow morning. We'll see.
Anyway, looking at the laundry list of players to see that I posted yesterday, I did a surprisingly good job getting all that done. I watched the entirety of the Monfils-Chardy match, but not because it was great tennis. Mostly because it was short. Chardy was making too many errors - I see from the stat sheet that Gael had a +15 differential while Jeremy had -10. That's ugly. But there were a few occasions for stunning shot-making from Monfils, and I got to see him slide across the hardcourt to an amazing cross-court passing shot.
I watched a bit of Safin against Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, and I'm glad I at least saw some, because it looks like I'll never have the chance to see Safin live again. Unless he unretires, a la Kim Clijsters. I don't think it's terribly likely, though. But if he takes some time to get his head together, that's really all that (I think) was keeping him from playing at the top level of the game lately, so he theoretically could return. I actually have him pegged to come back as a cyborg and win Wimbledon in 2015. When that happens, just remember - I called it: Robo-Safin!
I was surprised at how easily Kiefer dispatched Llodra, but it was a pretty well-played match, based on what I saw. Kiefer's next opponent is Rafael Nadal, who I'm also surprised at how easily he brushed aside Gasquet. I hope Richard can come back, because he has a beautiful game when he's on. He certainly wasn't, today.
After watching the end of the Kiefer match, I caught some of John Isner and Sam Querrey playing doubles, and those are some big serves. They won, handily, but I only watched about seven games, because it was on a tiny side court and the stands were just full to bursting.
I also saw Daniel Koellerer beat Machado, and I think that Daniel's new nickname should be crazycakes. It's not only his on-court gesticulating and yelling, but also the look in his eyes. That's a look that I have not seen in any other tennis player. But he's fun to watch, as a result.
The new flavor of Australian men's tennis, Carsten Ball, will be taking on Djokovic tomorrow, a match I hope to watch. This leaves last year's Aussie, Chris "Gooch" Guccione, kind of high and dry, losing to Pablo Cuevas in straight sets on a way outer court. He served at 46% today, so he was definitely off his game.
I didn't quite manage to curse Nicolas Almagro this - at last year's U.S. Open, I watched him lose from two sets to love up against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, in a match with three tie-break sets. It was a great one, and it looked like he was about to do the same against Steve Darcis, winning the first two sets, dropping the third, and then losing a break lead in the fourth, but he pulled it out in a tie-break. He'll play Ginepri next round, after the American beat Andrei Pavel (a match I did not get a chance to see).
I did see a few games of, but did not get to watch too much of the tennis in, Gilles Simon and Jose Acasuso's matches, which they both won. Those are players who are not very exciting to watch against players that they are better than - their style is very workmanlike, constructing points and hitting high-percentage winners. They know when their game is just better. They're fun to watch against top players, because they can really raise their games - Simon did it a ton of times last summer, but his current year has not been as good, so far.
I saw the very end of Bellucci - Lu, which I hoped to see more of, but wasn't too upset about because it was a rout by Tomaz. That kid has no business in the qualifying draw. He'll get a regular entry to the 2010 Aussie Open, I'll bet you.
One of the last matches I watched was Ferrer against Alberto Martin. That guy is definitely a bulldog, because he was down 5-1 in the first set and reeled off the next six games. That's got to be discouraging, and not surprisingly, Martin went on to lose the match.
Tomorrow, I'm not entirely sure about what I'm going to do with the schedule. Doubles is starting to jump into full-swing, and the selection of matches on the outer courts is dwindling somewhat. There aren't a lot of matches that are blowing my mind... unless you look at Armstrong: Safina, Querrey, Kuznetsova, Djokovic? I think I'm just going to hang out there, all day. Sure, I'll miss the Bryans and the Williamses playing doubles on the grandstand, as well as some pretty good match-ups, scattered around the outer courts, but that is a line-up that I'm tempted to enjoy in a very sedentary fashion.
Anyway, looking at the laundry list of players to see that I posted yesterday, I did a surprisingly good job getting all that done. I watched the entirety of the Monfils-Chardy match, but not because it was great tennis. Mostly because it was short. Chardy was making too many errors - I see from the stat sheet that Gael had a +15 differential while Jeremy had -10. That's ugly. But there were a few occasions for stunning shot-making from Monfils, and I got to see him slide across the hardcourt to an amazing cross-court passing shot.
I watched a bit of Safin against Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, and I'm glad I at least saw some, because it looks like I'll never have the chance to see Safin live again. Unless he unretires, a la Kim Clijsters. I don't think it's terribly likely, though. But if he takes some time to get his head together, that's really all that (I think) was keeping him from playing at the top level of the game lately, so he theoretically could return. I actually have him pegged to come back as a cyborg and win Wimbledon in 2015. When that happens, just remember - I called it: Robo-Safin!
I was surprised at how easily Kiefer dispatched Llodra, but it was a pretty well-played match, based on what I saw. Kiefer's next opponent is Rafael Nadal, who I'm also surprised at how easily he brushed aside Gasquet. I hope Richard can come back, because he has a beautiful game when he's on. He certainly wasn't, today.
After watching the end of the Kiefer match, I caught some of John Isner and Sam Querrey playing doubles, and those are some big serves. They won, handily, but I only watched about seven games, because it was on a tiny side court and the stands were just full to bursting.
I also saw Daniel Koellerer beat Machado, and I think that Daniel's new nickname should be crazycakes. It's not only his on-court gesticulating and yelling, but also the look in his eyes. That's a look that I have not seen in any other tennis player. But he's fun to watch, as a result.
The new flavor of Australian men's tennis, Carsten Ball, will be taking on Djokovic tomorrow, a match I hope to watch. This leaves last year's Aussie, Chris "Gooch" Guccione, kind of high and dry, losing to Pablo Cuevas in straight sets on a way outer court. He served at 46% today, so he was definitely off his game.
I didn't quite manage to curse Nicolas Almagro this - at last year's U.S. Open, I watched him lose from two sets to love up against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, in a match with three tie-break sets. It was a great one, and it looked like he was about to do the same against Steve Darcis, winning the first two sets, dropping the third, and then losing a break lead in the fourth, but he pulled it out in a tie-break. He'll play Ginepri next round, after the American beat Andrei Pavel (a match I did not get a chance to see).
I did see a few games of, but did not get to watch too much of the tennis in, Gilles Simon and Jose Acasuso's matches, which they both won. Those are players who are not very exciting to watch against players that they are better than - their style is very workmanlike, constructing points and hitting high-percentage winners. They know when their game is just better. They're fun to watch against top players, because they can really raise their games - Simon did it a ton of times last summer, but his current year has not been as good, so far.
I saw the very end of Bellucci - Lu, which I hoped to see more of, but wasn't too upset about because it was a rout by Tomaz. That kid has no business in the qualifying draw. He'll get a regular entry to the 2010 Aussie Open, I'll bet you.
One of the last matches I watched was Ferrer against Alberto Martin. That guy is definitely a bulldog, because he was down 5-1 in the first set and reeled off the next six games. That's got to be discouraging, and not surprisingly, Martin went on to lose the match.
Tomorrow, I'm not entirely sure about what I'm going to do with the schedule. Doubles is starting to jump into full-swing, and the selection of matches on the outer courts is dwindling somewhat. There aren't a lot of matches that are blowing my mind... unless you look at Armstrong: Safina, Querrey, Kuznetsova, Djokovic? I think I'm just going to hang out there, all day. Sure, I'll miss the Bryans and the Williamses playing doubles on the grandstand, as well as some pretty good match-ups, scattered around the outer courts, but that is a line-up that I'm tempted to enjoy in a very sedentary fashion.
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