Live from New York
©Colette Lewis 2007--
Flushing Meadow, NY--
Thanks to a late plane and a slightly confused taxi driver, we missed the junior qualifying today, and even the ride out to the USTABJKNTC on the famous New York Transit Subway No. 7 Train seemed longer than usual, probably because we were so anxious to get there in time for the Federer-Isner match. Agnieszka Radwanska did her part to extend the Ashe matches into the afternoon, but Andy Roddick let us down with his quick victory, and by the time we had reached the media credential office, Isner and Federer were in the middle of the tiebreaker. The USTA employee took his time with the credentials and we didn't mind, as all three of us stopped to watch the closed circuit telecast as the big Bulldog seized the moment and took the first set. It didn't last, of course, but Isner had Federer's attention and later in the press conference Isner said he knows he can play with the top guys in the game--maybe not Federer for three of five sets--"but one set I can play with him."
Isner, like a politician staying on message, stuck up for college tennis. He was asked about not winning the NCAAs and how good was the guy who did, and Isner complimented Somdev Devvarman of Virginia, calling him "a real tough player" and predicting Top 100 ATP for him when he finishes school next year. Then he said:
"I've always thought college tennis has been very underrated. A lot of people underestimate the depth of college tennis. There are so many tough players in college. I think a couple of guys playing college are going to come out next year and have success like I do."
Keeping with the Isner theme, we ran into Jesse Levine as he made his way to the locker room after his doubles match on Court 11 (he and Kuznetsov lost to No. 9 seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner 6-4, 7-5) and he mentioned that he had lost a bet to John Roddick and to pay it off, he had to practice in one of Isner's Georgia Bulldogs shirts (the Florida-Georgia rivarlry isn't just in football). The mental picture I got of the 5-foot-9 Levine in one of Isner's shirts, had it reaching somewhere south of Nadal's capris.
At the player meeting, well-attended because the draws were expected to be distributed, parents, coaches and players heard from Paul Roetert, the tournament doctor, and a few others about what to expect at the year's last junior slam. Sitting in for her son was Nancy Klahn, because Bradley, who had qualified earlier in the day, had been asked to hit with James Blake prior to his match with left-hander Stefan Koubek tonight in Ashe stadium.
The junior qualifying results Saturday added considerably to the U.S. presence in the main draw, with four boys and five girls advancing. With Donald Young withdrawing from the juniors after his four-set loss to Feliciano Lopez, the boys draw had to be redone at the last minute and there's now a pretty big advantage to those in the bottom half, and should help Ricardas Berankis, the winner in the ITF Grade 1 in Canada today.
Devin Britton, Frank Carleton, Klahn and Dennis Nevolo were the U.S. boys to advance, while on the girls side, Kim Couts, Alexa Guarchi, Chelsey Gullickson, Stephanie Vidov and Allie Will earned their spots in the main draw.
The big surprise was No. 1 qualifying seed Bernard Tomic of Australia losing 6-4, 6-2 to Giacomo Miccini of Italy. With Young's withdrawal, Tomic will likely get in as a lucky loser.
A dozen U.S. players will be in action on Sunday, as the first round gets underway. For complete draws, see usopen.org.
5 comments:
I watched both of the Tomic boys matches and quite frankly I was shocked at the lack of speed,the serve and any part of his game that seems dominating. I do not understand what people with good tennis knowledge see in his game. Winning I.T.F.'s in places that very few good players play has greatly exaggerated his level of play. I expected to see far more in his game and his fight.
Collette,
I wouldn't be greatly surprised at Tomic's loss. Irrespective of rankings or form, the US Open is always going to be the tournament most of the Australian players struggle to enjoy.
To the anonymous poster. What has raised expectations to an unhealthy degree regarding Tomic are his Orange Bowl wins and Eddie Herr title in a couple of pointless categories, not the ITF fluff. I agree that his serve is, to put it mildly, unimpressive. However, given his lack of size, that shouldn't be overly surprising. At the same age, Donald Young had a similarly underwhelming serve but against other juniors the fact he was left-handed helped to mask his deficiencies in that area. Neither one has a 'live' arm but power is something you can develop as you physically mature, if the technique is smooth. Trying to force the issue before the body is ready is just tempting injury.
The question you need to ask yourself is, how it is that Tomic has managed to win matches against older and stronger opponents who hit a much heavier and more penetrating ball. Ignore the lack of a dominating shot and focus on the more important factor: Tomic wins a lot more than he loses, regardless of the age bracket - how?
tomic is 6 ft. how is that lack of size
Tomic has nice penetrating flat groundies and moves well. His serve is surprising weak. He will develope a bigger game as his body matures.
How is 6ft lack of size? Well, how about because the word size refers directly to bulk/mass, NOT merely height. Tomic's build is, naturally, adolescent and he lacks 'size' (bulk, muscle).
the dude,
The biggest problem he's got is the lack of rotation on his shots. I was speaking today to one of the guys he hits with and he said they are working on adding more spin to his game but it is likely to set him back about 6 months. I gather his dummy spit at the French came through frustration at the lack of bite he was getting on his groundstrokes in relation to that of his opponents. Whatever the case, it's an area of his game that needs immediate attention, lest he end up like Jelena Dokic - no margin for error or saftey net when confidence is low.
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