Andrews Reaches Quarterfinals with Win Over Keys on Cold and Wet Day at Orange Bowl
©Colette Lewis 2010--
Key Biscayne, FL--
It's a toss-up which is the bigger story so far at the 2010 Dunlop Orange Bowl: the weather or 13-year-old Gabrielle Andrews. The record cold continued, this time accompanied by rain and clouds, but it didn't keep Andrews from posting her second straight upset, a 7-5, 0-6, 6-3 defeat of No. 16 seed Madison Keys that finished under the lights on Court 1.
When steady morning rain persisted for several hours, the decision was made to postpone the 16s singles and doubles and the 18s doubles until Friday. Even so, with a 2:30 p.m. start, another half-hour delay due to heavy sprinkles and one other very brief stoppage, it was a challenge to finish even those 16 matches. Despite the cold breeze and the roller coaster aspects of her match, Andrews was unfazed.
"It was a pain in the neck," Andrews said of the on-again, off-again sprinkles. "I tried not to let go of the match, not do anything differently. After the first rain delay, she started hitting out and coming in more to the net, and I tried to make her hit that second ball, instead of going for too much. It was kind of windy, so I tried to mix up my game, have a big margin, and that worked well, I think."
Andrews, who turns 14 on December 23, moved Keys around the court, with her drop shot especially effective. Keys' unforced error count began to rise in the third set, and Andrews was able to take full advantage. As in her upset of No. 4 seed Irina Khromacheva of Russia on Wednesday, it was Andrews who held her nerve at the end.
Andrews voiced her admiration of Keys after the match, sounding incredulous at her own accomplishment.
"It feels great," said Andrews. "It hasn't kicked in that I've just beaten Madison Keys. It's Madison Keys. You won that match. It hasn't really kicked in yet."
Andrews's opponent in the quarterfinals is fellow American Grace Min, who also survived multiple delays and momentum changes before recording a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 win over 14-year-old Indy de Vroome of the Netherlands. De Vroome served for the first set 5-4, but was twice broken at love as Min used her variety, including two winning lobs, to snatch the opening set. De Vroome nearly let a big lead in the second set get away, but held on to force a third set, which Min won without much drama.
No. 3 seed Monica Puig, who lives in Miami and plays for Puerto Rico, was fortunate to finish her match about five minutes before the rain halted play. Down 2-0 to start the match against Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands, Puig made her adjustments and won going away.
"She was trying to hit the ball very hard, trying to move me around, a lot of down the lines," said Puig, 17. "It worked in the beginning, but then I realized I was hitting the ball really short and really low, in her sweet spot. I started hitting the ball higher, with a lot of heavy top spin, moving it around and opening up the court."
Puig enjoys playing in front of family and friends in her hometown, and on the Crandon Park courts, but there was an unfamiliar feel to the tournament this year.
"Miami is not Miami right now," said Puig, referring to the uncharacteristic weather. "It's a little bit more north than anything else, but it's always great playing here."
Puig will take on No. 4 seed An-Sophie Mestach of Belgium in the quarterfinals Friday. Mestach beat unseeded Ashley Dai in the evening's last match 6-3, 6-1.
Eddie Herr finalist Yulia Putintseva survived against unseeded Lauren Herring 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 with Herring avoiding a post-match handshake with the volatile Russian, whose shouts of c'mon could be heard a hundred yards away. The seventh-seeded Putintseva will play No. 13 seed Natalija Kostic of Serbia, who beat Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 6-2, 7-5.
The fourth quarterfinal is a marquee match between top seed Daria Gavrilova of Russia and No. 8 seed Lauren Davis. Davis took out No. 11 seed Ilona Kremen of Belarus 6-3, 6-0, while Gavrilova looked extremely focused in her 6-1, 6-1 victory over wild card Vicky Duval. Friday's match will be the rubber match between the two, with Davis defeating Gavrilova in the semifinals of the Grade A Italian Open, and Gavrilova downing Davis in the first round of the U.S. Open juniors, with the score 6-3, 6-1 in both matches. Gavrilova has had the tougher week, with two three-setters to open play, while Davis has lost only five games in three matches.
Austria's Dominic Thiem and Davis are advancing stride for stride again in this tournament, having won both the Yucatan and Eddie Herr prior to the Orange Bowl. Thiem again posted a straight-set win, defeating No. 13 seed Vladyslav Manafov of Ukraine 6-2, 6-3, and will play No. 7 seed Joris De Loore of Belgium in the quarterfinals. De Loore eliminated a very vocal Mate Delic of Croatia 6-4, 6-3. No. 9 seed George Morgan of Great Britain, who came back to post a 1-6, 6-3 6-4 win over No. 5 seed and Baylor recruit Mate Zsiga of Hungary, will play No. 4 seed Roberto Quiroz of Ecuador, who had an even tougher third round match. Quiroz survived unseeded Dimitar Kuzmanov of Bulgaria 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4).
With No. 14 seed Shane Vinsant's 7-6(3), 6-4 loss to No. 3 seed Mate Pavic of Croatia, the sole American left in the boys 18s singles draw is Alexios Halebian, the 2009 16s Orange Bowl champion. Halebian took out unseeded Karue Sell 7-5, 6-1, in a ragged match that Halebian took control of early in the second set.
"In the second set he sort of went away a little bit," said Halebian, who said he began forcing the Brazilian to hit more high backhands. "He started missing a lot, and I was kind of shocked he missed so much, but it was good for me."
Halebian will play No. 8 seed Hugo Dellien of Bolivia, who downed qualifier Nik Razborsek of Slovenia 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-2.
Pavic's quarterfinal opponent is No. 12 seed Jannick Lupescu of the Netherlands, who was the beneficiary of two game penalties in his 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over No. 6 seed Oliver Golding of Great Britain. Golding received one game penalty for ball abuse, which put Lupescu up 1-0 in the third set, and one game penalty at 4-4 for an audible obscenity, which gave Lupescu a 5-4 lead in the third, and Lupescu it out in the next game.
Matches begin at 8 a.m. on Friday with 16s singles quarterfinals. The 16s semifinals are scheduled for the afternoon. For complete results and order of play, see dunloporangebowl.com.
21 comments:
I saw the match today, it was chilly! I have also seen Ms. Andrews play 3-4 other times. Very nice racquet head speed. Sadly though, like many juniors, her movement is just not going to allow her to get to the next level. All these girls hit so darn well. But if they would just take more time from 5-12 to really develop as athletes, they could have possible pro careers. Today's game is about movement AND striking the ball well. It makes me sad to see strong hitters like Ms. Andrews and Brooke Austin who hit great but do not have the movement skills.
Don't be so sure. That's what they said about Samantha Stosur, too. Stosur's done ok. Worst case scenario, they get a full ride to play college tennis and have a blast! Sounds like a win-win situation.
Fl. Janet, I absolutely agree that in today's game movement is crucial. Tennis has become a speed game, no doubt about that. Surely Gabby could improve her speed/agility in the upcoming years though? What makes you say so certainly her movement now will hinder her from having a possible pro career? Also, could you tell us more about her game?
delaware....Gaby has killer racquet head speed and actually hits with more topspin than most girls. She has a Nadal like finish. This is not good for women though, they do not generate enough topspin to make it effective in the pros. It actually causes the ball to sit up at the pro level.
wi tennis...Stosur has an entirely different body type than Gaby does. Samantha has very muscular legs, Gaby has thick legs with little musculature.
delaware....no her movement is what it is by age 13. Please refer to the last thread where a poster cited Dr. Drabik's research on when speed peaks in females.
Gaby has thick legs and not a lot of fast twitch fiber, not much she can do about that. And yes she will get a great scholarship and deserves one.
My post is that her limited movement will not allow her to make money as a pro.
Fl. Janet,
You are so wrong about improving a slow twitch to fast twitch. Ask any NFL scout,player or manager of football. You can improve it with specific drills and willing to work,long and hard. At 13 a girl does not know her body or her game yet. Their growth plates have not even closed which means more growing is to take place. I just cannot believe the ignorance of some. Ask a orthopedic Dr. about growing and when it stops, they will give you an estimate, and the quotes from that book, i hope to god it is a manuel for idiots. They are still babies figuring out who they are and what works best for them. They are juniors and thats it for now!!!!!!!!
basic, your response is not correct. The NFL is males. Males increase speed and strength all the way until age 25....females stop at age 13-14. It is all related to testosterone levels. Please refer to Dr. Drabik's book which includes every research study ever done on young athletes.
The speed increase curve of boys and girls is very close until age 13-14. At that point the girls flat line and the boy's lines keep going straight up. By age 22 the males are 50% stronger and
Girls growth is not what is being discussed. Sure there is some increase in height from 14-18. Very small in most cases though.
We are talking about speed though. There is very clear research that a girl's speed tops out at age 13-15. A trained 14 year old girl is slightly faster than a trained 20 year old. A females speed and reaction time increases a vasts amount from age 7-12, the rate of increase slows from age 12-14 and flat lines at age 14.
The speed remains the same from 14-17, then a gradual decline begins. Thus a trained 15 year old girl is faster than a 25 year old women.
Males are totally different in that regard. As testosterone continues to increase, they get much faster. Females do not have this of course, and in fact have higher testosterone at age 15 than at 25.
This information angers and/or confuses most until they take the time to read the research.
Ya I guess thats why all of the women on the US 4X400m olympic champion team were all over the age of 24.
Jon, then why aren't the fastest women in the world teenagers?
Jon in PBG,
explain this theory to Martina Navatalova, with proper diet and training she only got better and quicker, also Serena she keeped improving when training hard. If you want to get into specifics you must take the body type,mental attitude, work ethic and genetics which is a factor. I happen to know more than a few girls that matured physically later than your so called average girl. They started growing at 15 and stopped at 19 and started coming into their own around 19. They worked less on court and more on quickness. Speed can be taught at almost any age as long as you have the right trainer to help the individuals needs as long as they are already athlete. Your book must be referring to non athletes that are not coordinated. I would throw your book away and hope you do not train girl athletes. Normally i would not respond to such ignorant statements, but i would not want a young girl to read your post and get discourage and think there is no shot for her because of your post!!!!!!!
If you have seen Gabby play a few times then you would know she does not hit with heavy top spin. I happen to know her game quite well and the foundation is variety. Also right after the first match at the OB Gabby became very ill. So actually the Khromacheva match as well the Keys match Gabby played under duress. But had enough heart to tough those matches out compound by extreme weather. That may have had something to do with her overall movement. Thank god her Dad advised her that people will write and say some hurtful things and never pay attention to them. Only believe and trust in your inner circle. Gabby has a long way to go, emotionally,mentally, and obviously today, physically, but somehow I believe she will get there.
Folks, lets stick with facts and the research please.
I knew someone would bring up sprinters. The reason they are 24 is because they do not begin training for sprinting at age 10. They do not learn proper technique at age 10 like a tennis kid like Sonya Kenin.
A tennis kid at age 10 can have pro looking strokes, a 10 year old does not learn sprinting technique at that age.
And lets be honest....PEDs are rampant in sprinting. Very shadowy things are done with blood doping etc. This stuff is not done at age 13.
Before the WTA changed the rules to bar young girls from competing, 13 year olds and 14 year olds routinely made big splashes in women's tennis. Why? Because they were at their peak as far as speed and power.
Name one male who cracked the top 10 in men's tennis at age 13 and 14. None, they continue to have huge increases in speed and power.
The Navratilova example shows someone did not read my entire post. I explained that an equally trained 16 year old is faster than an equally trained 25 year old. Martina learned about training and nutrition as she aged, and that was 35 years ago....today IMG teaches that stuff to 10 year olds!
As I said this always causes angry responses as most do not get it. The examples you cite are females who began training and/or learned how to train properly later in life.
I am talking about elite tennis girls who begin training at age 10. They will peak in speed and power at age 15, maintain that level until 19, gradually decline after that.
And no amount of anger will change the extensive research that proves this. Gaby will gain experience and anticipation and will get to some balls faster in a few years.
But overall her basic speed on the court is set. I highly suggest instead of anger that posters read about 'sensitive periods' for girls to develop speed. It is from 7-11....not after age 18.
To the poster who said Gaby does not hit with topspin?? Come on now, look at this video from Zoo tennis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkcPtCdEVCk
The first and last forehands are hit with the Nadal over the head finish for goodness sakes!! It does not get any more topspinny that that!
No women's coach teaches that as the girls need a flatter ball in the pros except for a very few exceptions. Go show Rick Macci or Henin's coach that finish and they would explode!
In the pros that style forehand will sit up like a watermelon for the big ladies to tee off on.
lot's of ignorant generalizations by poorly trained coaches is very common in tennis. The following is broad and true
1-Each athlete is very different. Mentally and physically even the few great ones
2-all humans mature at different rates and in slightly different ways.
3-great teachers and coaches need great athletes to teach but understnad them and do not ignorantly generalize.
4-very unlikely and very hard to "teach" quickness and speed. Mostly based on genetics. Mechanics and footwork are different.
Southwest,
As someone who seems familiar with Gabby, are you concerned about her coaching/training quality?
PhD....you are sort of correct on a few points, although not really relevant to this specific girl. All females have the same sensitive periods where the vast majority of speed and power increases occur. In girls, almost all the speed increases occur from age 7 through age 12.
Some girls will continue these increase until perhaps age 13, maybe 14. So if that is what you meant by "mature at different rates", you are correct. But that just makes the window for a few girls 7-14 and not 7-12.....does not change this discussion as Gaby is near the closing for the speed window, even the late maturing window.
In fact in almost every case, late growth in a female, such as Sharapova, leads to a decrease in speed.....very different than in males.
You are correct that much of ones speed is due to the genetic makeup of ones body, that being muscle fiber types and limb length. Training can cause a person to maximize their genetic potential.
But do not lean totally on genetics. Vast studies in the eastern bloc nations have shown that proper training for speed and quickness during the sensitive period in girls of 7-14 can maximize their top end. Thus if Gaby had proper speed training, and played movement sports such as soccer, during this period, she would indeed be quicker than she is today.
IMG is a nice place to see this in action. Maria Shishkina has had proper training since age 7 and has maximized her top end speed and quickness. A girl in Russia with the same genetic potential but not beginning training for speed until age 15, would never catch up to Maria, the sensitive period has closed.
Your statement about generalizing also does not apply to this discussion of Gaby. We can all see her play and watch her video. We can see her body type, leg composition, footwork, etc. A coach could certainly work to improve her footwork, no one is saying they could not.
But no coach on earth could make her a good enough mover to compete on the women's circuit in 5 years. It is also the coaches job to look ahead....what with the top of the WTA be in 5-10 years, an eternity in tennis? Less big babe tennis and more Asian ladies....more speed to go along with today's power.
Thus, there were no generalizations made as we are talking about one specific girl.
Josh I love Gabby. So I'm concerned about her being a person of character and being a decent human being. With that being said,yes of course all of those things you mentioned. Since I work and cant afford academies and 24/7 coaching, I put quality of training at a high priority when we train. We do realize Gabby has a long way to go, but she is only thirteen being trained primarily by her Dad so posters try not to be so critical. Gabby realizes the odds are against her, but she/we are perfectly okay with it. Gabby can attend school and become a veterinarian. However, she will be given the opportunity to reach her full potential in tennis as well. And that's all we could ask for.
Janet with all due respect you saw at the most, two minutes of the Easter Bowl final and no more than three or four strokes. Sometimes during the course of a highly contested match. Different situations develope bad court positioning, hitting the ball late, and nervousness will cause You to improvise and finish with a follow through such as Nadal. Trust me on this, one no one has seen Gabby play or knows her game as much as I do. If she hit with a lot of top spin I would admit it. She wasn't taught that way. she was taught to be crafty, have penetrating ground strokes,be fearless, and have respect for the game and her opponents.People who have seen Gabby play on a substantial, consistent basis would agree, Gabby's game does not have topspin as a foundation.
Southwest, I don't know your relationship to Gabby, but I have to say you have a wonderfully refreshing viewpoint on her development. I wish you and Gabby nothing but the best and look forward to watching her develop as a tennis player, and more importantly as a person.
Janet and Jon, I have to disagree with your general comments and attitude on this subject. I'm sure that there is truth to many of these generalizations but since there are so many exceptions I find them highly offensive to the kids involved as well as their parents.
You predict with certainty that a 13 year old, Gaby Andrews, will "not make money" in pro tennis.
Let's look at 5 examples of very successful tennis players who all made money, in some cases a ton of money, who, based upon your stated criteria you would certainly have trashed them at one time discouraging them from trying to make it. You cite some science in your reasoning but your evaluation is totally flawed based upon merely a causal observation of their body type and "athleticism."
These examples include Marion Bartoli, Monical Seles, Martina Navritolova, Amy Frazier, and Lindsay Davenport.
Marion Batoli recently got to the finals of Wimbledon beating Justine Henin along the way and I am sure that if you had observed her prior to that tournament you would have written her off as too slow or too fat or "not a good enough athlete" to be successful.
Everyone who has observed Monica Seles will conclude that she is slow and not a very good athlete. Yet, she would have broken all the records and become the uncontested greatest female player of all time had she not bee stabbed.
Lindsay Davenport was considered too slow and too fat; her nickname was "Dump Truck" yet in her 20's she became number one in the world.
Many experts who have seen Amy Frazier play have described her as being as "slow as molasses" and having negligible athletic or tennis talent; however, she practiced 8+ hours a day to make the WTA top 20 for over 10 years.
Martina Navritolova was once considerd overweight and slow well into her 20's. She had a pretty good career.
Gaby at only 13 years old surely shows more promise than these great players once did. Gaby must cover the court well enough to beat all these other great athletes who are very fast and powerful when she is much younger than most of them. If these other players made it then certainly Gaby has a good chance.
Perhaps I can understand that you might have some doubts but your expression of certainty is highly innaccurate and inappropriate.
Pretty sure you could find some clip of Maria Sharapova hitting a 'Nadal type' forehand on youtube. But let's be honest. Sharapova? Topspin? HA.
generalizining means applying generalities to an individual who you do not know well enough to know if they apply.
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