With Rafia's win in Shanghai, some are already talking about his place in history. Is he the best men's tennis player of our time? No, No, No!
He had a great year on the ATP tennis circuit. I'll even go so far as to say he had an awesome year. He won just about every men's tennis event out there. He also has charisma, good look and is a great ambassador for his sport.
BUT....
It was one awesome year. I personally think that he needs to have a couple of great years to be considered in elite company.
He also needs to play not necessarily more events but a variety of events. Tennis seems to be nationalized. It is a given each and every year that the foreign players are going to stay in Europe and play 'at home'. They will come to the US to play those events that they are required to play. To be considered on my list of 'best men's players of our time' - he owes it to the fans of Indianapolis to play the Indy Tennis Championships at least once. Not every year, just once. In fact, the fans in Los Angeles, Delray Beach or San Jose deserve to see the world's greatest player (if he is that) at least once every 3-4 years.
So, Rafia - congratulations on an awesome year - please come play tennis in Indianapolis this summer! Our wonderful tennis fans should have the opportunity to see you play!
Big Dog - Gillis Simon will be competing in the Tennis Masters Cup semi-finals match this Saturday against Novak Djokovic. Simon who jump started his year with an unprecedented victory in Indianapolis this past July, also defeated the four-time Masters Cup champ Roger Federer earlier in the week. This is Simon’s second victory over the former #1 in the world and currently #2, Federer, since winning the Indy crown. This guy is on fire!!! Good luck this weekend Gillis, everyone here at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly is pulling for you.
The lovely ladies of the WTA, fresh from passing out flowers at the airport, took a moment to pose for this photo at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha.
In related news, Serena Williams withdrew form the WTA Championships with an apparent strained stomach muscle. When a reporter suggested that she should have continued to play anyway, she had this to say:
"I should make you work out ... for like 22 years and make you have a severe stomach strain, and then tell you to play for the sponsors," she said. "You should try it."
The reporter responded by saying " A simple NO would have sufficed".The reporter then attempted to top her claim of working out for 22 years by promptly dropping to the ground and doing one-armed push-ups until he collapsed from exhaustion.
And finally, In last night's Broncos/Browns game, Brandon Marshall attempted to pull a white and black glove out of his pants and display it as a show of support for President-Elect Obama. Teammate Brandon Stokely quickly stopped him in an effort to avoid a very costly 15 yard penalty. Stokely was later seen on the bench waiving a Neiman-Marcus bag in the air as a show of support for Sarah Palin. Man, that joke took forever.
Have a great weekend and get back to work, Rae.
Mr. Simon, what are you doing to our Americans in Madrid?
Indianapolis Tennis Championship winner, Gilles Simon, just beat one of our favorite sons, James Blake, in Madrid, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Simon is 12th in the world now (I think he was about #18 when he played in Indy) and took care of the ninth seed, Blake in the second round.
Gilles now faces another Indy Champion, Robby Ginepri in the third round. I'm certainly in a quandry over who to root for in this tennis matchup. Both are past champions in Indianapolis and both are great guys. If I asked either one to sign an autograph for a fan, they would do it. If I asked either one to take a break from training and shake a sponsors hand, they would do it. Great guys and great champions. Men's professional tennis need more players like Simon and Ginepri.
So, I'm going to go out on a limb and not choose. Both are playing great tennis and the best man (on Thursday) will win!
Andy Roddick was victorious over the weekend in Beijing at the 2008 China Open beating Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3. Not only was this a great win for Roddick it was a true showing of the American tennis stars character.
After the contest Roddick announced that he will be donating $25,000 of his winnings to the China Tennis Association. The donated money will be used towards helping those still in need after the devastating earthquake that happened in Sichuan Province, China.
Congratulations Andy on a spectacular week of tennis and good luck throughout the rest of the year.
After a tough showing at the Davis Cup, it is any wonder what the future holds for American players. Sam Querrey, Donald Young, and John Isner are the young Americans carrying a lot of weight for the feature, but what about those youngsters competing to become one of them?
The USTA Elite Player Development team has been created to identify and develop the next generation of American champions by surrounding the top junior players and young pros with the resources, facilities and coaching they need to reach their maximum potential.
Joining Patrick McEnroe is Jose Higueras, who recently has been working with Robby Ginepri and Roger Federer. He will work with McEnroe to develop future American champions. He will provide on-court guidance and coaching to both coaches and players, with a mission to build and maintain an Elite Player Development coaching staff at a world class level.
I can’t wait to see the next up and coming players for America! Between McEnroe and Higueras, you can only expect to see some great youngsters join the tour for America!
The ATP Challenger Series is set up as a great developmental opportunity for young players. The Series is to men's professional tennis what AAA baseball is to the major leagues. If you look through the draw in Waco, you will notice many familar faces. I counted ten guys who have played in Indianapolis at one point, including Bobby Reynolds and John Isner.
Ram is definitely an Indy favorite. He first competed in the RCA Championships (now the Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly) in 2002. His best results were in 2005 and 2008 when he reached the round of 16.
Not only is Ram loved by the crowds here but he is loved by the volunteers and staff. He is a true gentleman and always willing to sign autographs, talk with sponsors and meet with the press.
The next stop on Ram's Texas tour is probably the Lubbock Challenge. Go Rajeev!
Sam is 21 years old and hails from California. He is one of the tallest players on the ATP Tour at 6'6". Sam started playing tennis at the age of four. He turned pro in 2006, loves playing basketball, tennis and golf.
Currently ranked 39th in the world, he has had a great run this year. He won the Las Vegas event, was a semi-finalist in Delray Beach and here at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships. He first played in Indy in 2006 where he reached the round of 32. In 2007, he was a semi-finalist losing to eventual champion, Dmitry Tursunov.
Good luck today Sam!
2007 Indianapolis Tennis Champion, Dmitry Tursunov is one of the players showcased. Also within the calendar pages are Paradorn Srichaphan, another Indy Tennis favorite as is Tommy Hass. The number one doubles team in the world, Mike and Bob Bryan represent the United States.
Each region of the world is represented and in total players from 12 countries are showcased. To check out the calendar, 2009 ATP World Calendar.
My hats off to the ATP for showcasing some of the lesser known players and a different 'side' to men's professional tennis
Over the weekend, Gilles Simon, beat Carlos Moya 6-3, 6-4 to take the BCR Open Romania title. What is significant about Simon's victory? Well, Gilles is the reigning Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly champion and has significantly boosted his chances of qualifying for the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai event.
Simon was virtually unknown when he arrived in Indianapolis. He was Indy's number two seed but to be honest, I even had no idea who he was. Since his victory in Indy's men's professional tennis tournament, Simon has had an impressive run. The 23 year old went on to defeat Roger Federer in Toronto and advanced to the semi-finals. This has undoubtably been his best year - with three titles so far.
Simon moved up three spots and is now number 12 in the ATP race. Gilles has played more tournaments than the 11 players ranked ahead of him. There are two Masters Series event left before Shanghai so let's cheer for Indy Tennis Championships' Gilles Simon!
...well guess what? you were wrong.
I'm supposed to win every slam, every year..right? Well, I didn't. Apparently there ARE other talented players out there who, on occasion, win tournaments.
Does that make me old, irrelevant..finished?
Apparently the throngs of tennisfolk that were waiting to pen my eulogy will have to wait a little longer. I'm not done yet. And I won't be for awhile.
Yeah, Australia was a letdown...try going to work with Mono sometime.I've had better times, but I did it anyway.
Roland Garros was disappointing, but I was good enough to make the final. Rafa's pretty good on dirt, if you haven't noticed.
Remember that Wimbledon final? Greatest match ever? I played in it.That could have gone either way on any given day, but that day was Rafa's....
But I'm the King of New York. Have been for five straight years.Traffic stops when I cross the street and even Donald Trump asks for my autograph. It's an A-List affair anytime I step into Arthur Ashe Stadium. Quick..think of a celebrity..yeah, they've seen me play. They may not have paid for the ticket, but they weren't asked to attend either.
I'm probably not done yet this year. Madrid, Paris, Shanghai? It's on.
Hats off to all the athletes who competed in this year’s US Open Series and I look forward to catching you at the 2009 Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly which will take place July 18 – 26.
I know I should be writing about men's tennis and the Indianapolis Tennis Championships but I feel I should devote some space to Serena Williams. It seems you either love her or hate her. How can any sports fan or general fan not be able to applaud her performance at the US Open?
After five years and one month, Serena is now the number 1 ranked women's professional tennis player in the world. She beat Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5 to take the US Open crown. What an achievement. Not only did she win a major, the major tennis tournament in the world but she moved into the number 1 ranking.
She has gone the longest period between the top ranking by any player since the early 70s. I don't care if you aren't a tennis fan, you have to applaud her unbelievable effort and perservance to comeback and take the US Open crown and ascend to the #1 ranking.
Go Serena!!!
I'm amazed by the simplicity of this game.....bring me a tray of your finest meats and cheeses!
Well..what I thought yesterday would be a great match really wasn't much of a match at all, now was it?
Last night in New York, Andy Roddick needed a paltry 87 minutes to dispatch of 11th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez. You really don't have to work your way down the stat sheet very far to figure this one out- Roddick only committed 8 unforced errors compared to Gonzalez' 33. Gonzalez complemented this with 6 double faults. Roddick compiled an impressive 1st serve winning percentage of 93% compared to Fernando's 60%.
For most of the match it looked as though Gonzalez was completely confused by and uncomfortable with the pace of the match, particularly when Andy was on serve. If fatigue was a factor, and it looked like it was, Roddick certainly capitalized on it as he got out in front of his opponent early and never let up. Roddick also did a nice job of going to the net on several occassions to come up with some brilliant passing shots. Gonzalez was slow to counteract Roddick's superior quickness.
I think Andy has a very realistic chance to win the whole thing and my reasons are these:
- Roddick is obviouly intent on leaving it all on the court and while that often leads a player to play wreckless and sloppy, Andy has looked crisp, polished, and very focused on the match in front of him
- He faces Djokovic in the quartefinals and Federer most likely in the Semis if all goes well. Both have appeared exhausted at times and have struggled throughout the draw. Call it fatigue, tough opponents, or lack of focus but while they've both just come off of brutal 5-set matches, Andy's getting through his business in 90 minutes. Roddick has yet to have a match go five sets and has been pushed to a fourth set only once. Getting through your opponents quickly and getting adequate rest are critical at this point in a tournament.
- provided Andy gets through the next two rounds and into the finals, Nadal is his most likely opponent, although either Murray or Del Potro will present a serious challenge. In theory if he's made it this far, then why can't he win it all? Roddick's 2-for-5 head to head with Rafa, which isn't exactly astounding, but put this in baseball terms and Roddick's batting .400 (which is astounding).
I still think Andy's corner of the draw is the most difficult, as his has proven to be so far, but it might be time to think realistically about seeing Andy hoist the hardware this sunday.
Anyway, on to the rest of it...
Professional Tennis Matches On tap for today:
Dinara Safina vs. Flavia Pennetta-just underway
Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Andy Murray- should be a great match between two great players. Apparently these two are not fond of each other.
Tonight's Primetime Action:
War of the Williams' (my term)- Venus vs. Serena in what can only be desribed as the most important sporting event in the history professional tennis....and maybe the world.
Followed by:
Rafael Nadal vs. Mardy Fish- on a side note, the Fish Tank is still riding high after the pounding they inflicted on the J-Block. Hopefully tonight they're focused, energized, and not drowned out by the 20,000 people that showed up to root for Nadal.
That's it for now..you've been great.
So the US Open quarterfinal matchups will be set by the end of the day, and the one question on everyone's mind is...where did Mardy Fish come from? You could answer that with "Edina, Minnesota", but that's not really what I'm asking.
Seriously, and with no disrespect to Mardy himself, but did anyone think that he would make it to the US Open quarterfinals, considering he's never made it out of the second round in any of his previous seven attempts?
I thought the loss in the New Haven final the previous week (which he was good enought to have won) would have slowed his momentum, but Mardy has played out of his mind. His win over Blake this weekend was one of the most lopsided men's tennis matches I've seen in awhile. He then easily defeated a surging Gael Monfils yesterday in straight sets.
Up next? a young upstart by the name of Nadal. Gooood luck with that.
On tap still for today at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center:
Novak Djokovic vs. Tommy Robredo- currently in progress. Robredo took the first set, but is down 0-3 in the second.
Followed by:
Roger Federer vs. Igor Andreev
Nikolay Davydenko squares off against Gilles Muller on Armstrong any time now.
Tonight's Primtime Entertainment:
Jelena Jankovic vs. Sybille Bammer
followed by:
Andy Roddick vs. Fernando Gonzalez
Roddick's road to the finals from here out is brutal. Provided he wins tonight against Gonzalez (which he should) he still has to contend with either Robredo or Djokovic in the quarters, followed by presumably either Davydenko or Federer.Not easy by any means.Bringing Pat McEnroe on as a coach is looking like a really good move so far, which Pat's brother is doing a great job of pointing out each match...about every 6 minutes or so. Patty Mac has done an outstanding job coaching the U.S. Davis Cup Team and has built a tremendous relationship with Roddick, so we'll see where this goes.
More to come later...
Men's professional tennis is taking a dump on me. I decided to hang out on a limb and pick the men's winner of the US Open this year. I was pretty confident that some of my picks would come through. I had a couple upsets selected and then some of the tried and true favorites - Nadal, Federer etc. I went so far as to pick the Indianapolis Tennis Championship's winner, Gilles Simon.
Well, I obviously need to start taking tennis lessons or watching is more closely on television.
My original predictions for the quarters:
Nadal, Blake, Simon, Lopez, Roddick, Moya, Tursunov and Federer
Of my choices, the only men still left in the tournament are Nadal, Roddick and Federer.
I knew I should have picked a man named Fish for the "tournament of my life" award. Mardy is coming off some injuries and hasn't played a ton of tennis this summer. It is nice to see him do well in the biggest tennis event all year. Too bad he had to beat my man Blake.
Andy is now being coached by Patrick McEnroe. I met Patrick this summer as was very impressed. He is now charged with developing the young elite players for the USTA. He should do well in that role. Hopefully he can get Andy's tennis game back on track.
General observations from the Open (and now totally unqualified eye): Federer doesn't look strong, Monfils is a breadth of fresh air and Del Porto is proving his summer wasn't all luck.
First off, if you didn't watch the Roddick/Santoro match last night, you really missed something special. Let's just say that both backwalls in Arthur Ashe Stadium took a beating.Roddick easily defeated The Magician in straight sets 6-2 6-2 6-2. Santoro is one of the craftiest professional tennis players around, but was unable to withstand a constant barrage of Roddick serves.
Lindsay Davenport was also impressive as she defeated Alisa Kleybanova 7-5 6-3. Lindsay did a noce job in foiling Kleybanova's game stategy, which was to hit every..single..shot.. at Davenport as hard as possible. Linsday moves on to meet 12th seed Marion Bartoli in the third round.
Other notable results from day 3
Novak Djokovic advances to the third round with a win over Arnaud Clement in straight sets. Novak rolled his left ankle pretty good, but with the help of a professional tennis trainer and 90 feet of athletic tape, he was able to finish the match. Keep an eye on this as the week progresses.
Nikolay Davydenko won in straight sets over Israeli Dudi Sela 6-3 6-3 6-3.
Robby Ginepri beat fellow American Amer Delic. Wild Card Sam Warburg defeated Janko Tipsarevic, who retired in the 2nd set.Dmitri Tursonov beat Eduardo Schwank in 4 sets. This happened somewhere in the middle of them seeing who could smash the most racquets on court
Jelena Jankovic outlasted Sofia Arvidsson to advance to the third round. Jankovic looked shaky at best. Elena Dementieva advanced over Pauline Parmentier 6-2 6-1.
Patty Schnyder, Caroline Wozniaki, and 3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova were also winners.
Complete men's and women's day 3 results here.
Notable matches on tap for today
Men
Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Thomaz Belluci
David Nalbandian vs.Andrey Golubev
Andy Murray vs. Michael Llodra
Stanislas Wawrinka vs. Wayne Odesnik (currently 5-5 2nd set with Wawrinka taking the first set)
Sam Querrey vs. Nicolas Devilder
Ivo Karlovic vs. Florent Serra
Gael Monfils vs. Evgeny Korolev
Women
Dinara Safina def. Roberta Vinci 6-4 6-3
Venus Williams vs. Rossana De Los Rios
Ana Ivanovic vs. Julie Coin
Tonight's primetime action-coming to you live from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
Serena Williams vs. Elena Vesnia
Rafa Nadal vs. Ryler De Heart
Well, I had a hunch yesterday about both Sam Querrey and Tommy Haas pulling off upsets in day one and it's refreshing to see that something went right for me, especially after the fiasco that was my golf game yesterday afternoon.
Querrey needed a mere 87 minutes to dispatch of Tomas Berdych in straight sets while Haas was taken the distance by 12th seed Richard Gasquet before emerging the victor. Querrey faces Frenchman Nicolas Devilder in the second round while Haas will have to contend with Gilles Muller.
In other upset news (upsetting news?) Women's 11 seed Daniela Hantuchova lost in straight sets to Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-4 6-2. The resurgent Nicolas Kiefer exits a bit early at the hands of Ivo Minar.
Other notable men's winners from day 2:
Marat Safin
Roger Federer
Mardy Fish
Tommy Robredo
Ivo Karlovic
Fernando Verdasco
And for the Ladies:
Ana Ivanovic
Serena Williams
Venus Williams
Dinara Safina
Amelie Mauresmo
Nadia Petrova
Nicole Vaidisova
Complete results available here
On tap for today:
Men
Novak Djokovic looks to finish just one day better than he did last year, but has to get through Arnaud Clement first.
Nikolay Davydenko takes on Dudi Sela at 11:00 while 2005 King of Indianapolis Tennis Robby Ginepri and Amer Delic take court a little later on today. Nicholas Amalgro faces off with 2006 Indy Championships Finalist Frank Dancevic on court six.
And once again for the Ladies:
5th seed Elena Dementieva squares off against Pauline Permentier. 2nd seeded Jelena Jankovic, Patty Schnyder, and Svetlana Kuznetzova all see action today as well.
Tonight's primetime entertainment:
Lindsay Davenport vs. Alisa Kleybanova- Hopefully Davenport's knee hold up as she begins what is likely her final run in new York.
Andy Roddick vs. Fabrice Santoro- Roddick begins his trek through a difficult quarter of the draw against The Magician, who will throw everything, including the kitchen sink, in Andy's direction in hopes of upsetting the 8 seed.
That's all for now..have a happy wednesday
In day one action at the US Open, James Blake survived a scare from American Donald Young before finally winning in 5 sets 6-1 3-6 6-1 4-6 6-4. Blake definitely looked fatigued after a great run at the Olympics, but took adavantage of 2 overturned calls in the final set to regain his momentum and close out the match. Young showed signs that's he learning how to become a professional tennis player, but an overturned call followed by a double-fault on serve at 4-4 in the fifth set helped seal the deal for Blake.
Rafael Nadal advanced to the second round with a victory over Bjorn Phau 7-6(4) 6-3 7-6(4). Rafa admitted to being tired and a little off his game, but was able to hold off his opponent nonetheless. Rafa at 70% or so is still a nightmare for anyone, although Phau deserves some credit for keeping it close throughout the three sets.
It will be interesting to see what impact the Olympics will have on the players who participated, especially since two of the marquis Olympians in the men's draw definitely were not at their best yesterday. Roger Federer holds court at Artur Ashe Stadium tonight, so we'll see if he's shaken off the jetlag yet.
Other notable day 1 winners from the men's draw were David Ferrer, Juan Martin Del Potro, Andy Murray,Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon, David Nalbandian. Get complete day 1 results here.
Top seeds in action today at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center:
Roger Federer vs. Maximo Gonzalez
Tommy Robredo vs. Mischa Zverev
Tomas Berdych vs. Sam Querrey
Richard Gasquet vs. Tommy Haas
Haas and Querrey are the underdog in their respective matches, but don't be suprised if one or both survive to see the second round. Querrey's game is defintely suited for the hard court and Haas has a Safin-esque way of playing lights-out in big matches. Haas has also made the quarterfinals in New York in three of the past four years.
Verdasco was posing in support of the Everyman Male Cancer Campaign. He should be commended for his athletic body as well as his willingness to support the cause.
I had Fernando advancing to the 4th round of the US Open yet he lost early to #23 seed Igor Andreev. Fernando has never played at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships so I question why I was putting so much stock in his US Open play. I guess I should have realized that maybe the photo shoot took more out of him than I thought.
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