Lipman Profile; Sony Ericsson Update; No. 1 Northwestern Beats No. 2 Baylor
I always enjoy talking to a junior who has been coached by the same person for years, who has learned the game from one consistent voice. Ryan Lipman, whom I spoke with in Mobile for today's article on The Tennis Recruiting Network certainly qualifies, with Bill Tym having coached him for over ten years. Tym also coached Georgia Tech women's head coach Bryan Shelton, so while in Mobile I had an opportunity to talk with members of two generations who benefited from Tym's coaching wisdom. When you think of Shelton's influence as a college coach, you begin to realize just how a big an impact one great coach can have.
Speaking of great coaches, Nick Bollettieri has a new blog now, called Nick's Picks and he is making predictions daily of selected matches at the Sony Ericsson. He's also using Twitter while he's not at his computer and if there's a Bollettieri protege in a match, he's likely to be following it. He posted Twitter updates on Sabine Lisicki's 6-4, 7-5 win over fellow wild card Coco Vandeweghe (who was up 4-0 in the second set) and provided the only coverage I'm aware of on Michelle Larcher de Brito's stunning comeback last night to defeat Ekaterina Makarova of Russia. Larcher de Brito was down 6-3, 5-1 but saved match points at 5-2 and won in three sets to advance to play Agnieszka Radwanska Friday. Nick picked both of those matches correctly, but his upset of Tathiana Garbin by Melanie Oudin didn't come to pass. Oudin lost 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 today to the Italian 30-year-old.
Tomorrow former Illinois star Kevin Anderson (whom I'm told was actually 13 spots out of qualifying originally) gets Australian Open, Pacific Life and defending Sony Ericsson champion Novak Djokovic. Former Florida Gator Ryan Sweeting, who received a wild card into qualifying, won his main draw match today in straight sets over Filippo Volandri and will play No. 18 seed Juan Monaco of Argentina in the second round. For complete draws, see the Sony Ericsson Open website.
John Isner, pictured below at the Key Biscayne Toll Booth yesterday (photo courtesy of the Sony Ericsson Open) meets Gael Monfils tonight for the right to play Roger Federer. I remember reading a question on a message board last year, when Monfils was deep in the throes of his still-continuing slump asking whether Monfils could win the NCAAs. It's a question that will forever go unanswered, but tonight's match might provide some ammunition for those debating it.
And finally, the Northwestern women defeated No. 2 Baylor 5-2 last night to solidify their No. 1 ranking. The details are here.
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