Tennis Acumen

Jurij Rodionov - Getting Started

Jurij Rodionov (born 16 May 1999) is an Austrian tennis player. Rodionov has a career high ATP singles ranking of 166 achieved on 16 March 2020. He represents Austria in Davis Cup tennis. Rodionov has won three ATP Challenger singles titles: the 2018 Almaty Challenger,  the 2020 RBC Tennis Championship of Dallas  and the 2020 Challenger at Cuernevaca, Mexico. Jurij sat with Tennis Acumen for an exclusive interview at the 2020 Columbus Challenger.  

 

Tennis Acumen: Jurij, thanks for sitting down with us and sharing your story. How did you get started in tennis, from the very beginning?

Jurij Rodionov: Oh, when I was a little kid I was very active. I always wanted to do sports, jump around and I was running all over my little flat. My parents were not always happy about it. I was making a lot of commotion and I was very loud. So, my parents decided to get me into sports when I was four years old. Originally, I wanted to do football. You call it soccer, yes? But in my hometown, only kids from six years and older were allowed to play. So, I had to make the decision: I could play tennis or basketball. I decided to play tennis. So, yeah, that's how it started.

 

Tennis Acumen: So, at four years old, you're picking up a racket?

Jurij Rodionov: Yeah, and, obviously, in the summer there are outdoor courts In Austria.

 

Tennis Acumen: Did you have access to indoor courts, so you could play year-round?

Jurij Rodionov: Yes, we could play all year. Everything was played on clay, indoor and outdoor. I started to play some hard-court tennis when I was eleven, twelve years old. By then I was starting to play international tournaments.

 

Tennis Acumen: At what point did you realize you love the game. Jurij?

Jurij Rodionov: I have always loved the game. Why? Well maybe so much tennis itself, but there is a lot of moving, running around in this game. That's why I really like tennis because it I always wanted to be in motion, and in tennis, there is not much else you can do except running.

 

Tennis Acumen: Being in motion. That’s always been part of you.

Jurij Rodionov: Yes, but I realized when I was about fourteen, fifteen, that I was talented and I had potential to become a tennis pro. So, at fourteen, fifteen, I decided to take it more seriously. Just become a pro.

Tennis Acumen: Your parents threw you in there to keep you quiet. ....(to be continued)... 

French Open Final Expert Picks: Djokovic vs. Nadal

This article appeared earlier today on The Grandstand.

It will be No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 2 Rafael Nadal for the French Open title on Sunday afternoon at Roland Garros. Expert picks are back for a match that could hardly get any bigger.

Ricky Dimon: Nadal has quietly righted the ship in his recent head-to-head history with Djokovic heading into Sunday’s French Open final. “Quietly” in the sense that I expected to see Djokovic H2H dominance still in progress when I went to the ATP website for a refresher on their most recent meetings. Well, it turns out Nadal is a respectable 3-3 in their last six. His three wins were “quiet” in the sense that they came outside of Grand Slams and none was particularly competitive. Djokovic, on the other hand, famously triumphed 10-8 in the fifth set in the 2018 Wimbledon semis and in beatdown fashion in the 2019 Australian Open final. But that obviously isn’t to say that the Serb automatically has an edge in any Grand Slam. Results in SW19 and Melbourne–the Spaniard’s two worst majors–mean nothing when it comes to Roland Garros, where he is a laughable 99-2 lifetime. It is also worth noting that during this 3-3 H2H stretch, Nadal is 3-0 on clay and Djokovic is 3-0 on hard/grass. Sure, conditions aren’t quite as perfect as they usually are for Nadal at this event, but Court Philippe-Chatrier is actually playing relatively fast and high-bouncing–more than Lenglen and the outside courts in those departments. Nadal has not dropped a set through six matches, so he isn’t about to drop three in one match alone on Sunday. Nadal in 4: 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5.

Cheryl Murray: The most prolific rivalry in the history of men’s tennis is about to add a 56th installment on Sunday. Ordinarily I would discuss current form (Nadal has looked more convincing over the fortnight), the head-to-head record (Djokovic has been far more dominant in recent years), and the surface. But in this case, current form and the head-to-head probably won’t mean very much. When they play, that stuff seems to melt away. But surface? Yeah, that matters. The fact that they’re on clay in Paris favors Nadal. There’s a reason he is 99-2 (because seriously, how ridiculous is that statistic?) with 12 titles, and it’s not because he’s extraordinarily lucky. Although the fact that Djokovic gave Nadal a shellacking in their last slam final in Melbourne is a tick in the Serb’s column, in the end this is Nadal on Chatrier in the final…and I just can’t pick against him. Nadal in 4: 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3.

Pete Ziebron (Tennis Acumen): At first thought, the Djokovic disqualification at the US Open would allow him to prepare more adequately for the “fall” clay court season of 2020. That it most certainly did, as the Serb would record his fifth title in Rome. Nadal’s early exit in Rome at the hands of Schwartzman did provide him with key information on the current game of the Argentine, as he was easily able to defeat him in their rematch in the Roland Garros semifinals.  Both Nadal and Djokovic recorded two bagel sets in the opening three rounds in Paris and from there Nadal continued his blistering pace, winning all 18 sets contested to date. Djokovic will put an end to that impressive string in the final, but on Sunday he will look at the scoreboard and see that he is one set all despite playing exceptional tennis and probably feeling that he should have a two sets to none lead. Nadal yet again prevails as he successfully holds off a valiant and determined effort from Djokovic throughout the match. Nadal in 4: 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Photo of the Day: James Blake

Dateline Cincinnati, Ohio   |     August 7, 2002

Two weeks prior to his second Cincinnati Masters appearance, James Blake made it to the finals in Newport, Rhode Island. Next, he won his first round match at the Masters event in Toronto. That was enough to put James Blake in the top 30 for the first time as he came into Cincinnati. Blake beat Andrei Pavel in the first round, and lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second. Blake's career high ranking was # 4 in the world.

 

photo credit: Karl Corbett,  Tennis Acumen