Tennis Acumen

Getting to Know Rinky Hijikata:

Tennis Acumen at the  Columbus Fall Challenger 2022. And we are here with Rinky Hijikata, from Australia.

(photo credit: University of North Carolina)

Tennis Acumen: Rinky, what are some of your favorite cities on the tour?

Rinky Hijikata: Favorite cities? I do love London. I love New York City. Anytime I get back home to Sydney, it's great. I love playing anywhere in Japan as well.

Tennis Acumen: Favorite bands, favorite music?

Rinky Hijikata: Favorite music. I like Kalid, the singer. I'm a big fan of his. I like Eminem. I really I like Jake Hull.

Tennis Acumen: Excellent. Favorite movies?

Rinky Hijikata: Favorite movie? Inception. It's a good one. I love Inception. Shutter Island. Anything of DiCaprio's. I like him, so I like a lot of his movies.

Tennis Acumen: Favorite restaurants?

Rinky Hijikata: In and Out Burger, the burger chain. If I am going to have a cheat day, you know? .

Tennis Acumen: That's great. Now you're having friends over and you're cooking dinner. What's your ‘go to’ meal?

Rinky Hijikata: I'm not a very good cook, so I don't know. I don't know if I even have a 'go to meal I could set out for my friends'. I'd probably just order takeout.

Tennis Acumen: You're not the first person to say that.

 

(This exclusive interview has generated seven ‘quick read’ excerpts, to be posted at tennisacumen.com over time.)

Arizona Tennis Classic Participants Springboard into Miami

PETE ZIEBRON IN PHOENIX

Some interesting results at the Miami Masters thus far involving several participants in the Arizona Tennis Classic.  More to come, regarding the "usage" of playing in Phoenix in order to prepare for Miami.  But for now, this haiku:

    Phoenix Challenger

    AZ's Tennis Paradise

    Surprise Finalists

 

Power Tennis Observations From the Arizona Tennis Classic

PETE ZIEBRON IN PHOENIX

The third edition of the Arizona Tennis Classic is in the books.  With accomplished players such as: Gael Monfils, Matteo Berrettini and Richard Gasquet in the main draw this year, it was quite the setting to be able to see such talent at a Country Club setting.

Spending two full days at the event, other players got my attention with respect to their powerful games and results.

 

Alexander Shevchenko [RUS} -  From my Center Court vantage point, I was able to see Shevchenko complete a  rain delayed third set victory over Monfils in the opening round.  However, the next day, the young Russian battled with Marc-Andrea Huesler of Switzerland.  The first set was an absolute slugfest.  Think of the equivalent of the opening round of the Marving Hagler - Thomas Hearns boxing brawl from the mid 1980s.    Basically rock 'em sock 'em robots!  The following day I rewatched this opening set on ATP Challenger TV.  

Shevchenko reminded me of the first time I saw Daniil Medvedev play live - that was 2018 at Indian Wells against Steve Johnson.  On that day, Medvedev was a backboard and hit everything back with interest and rarely missed!  Shevchenko replicated that effort against Huesler and won.  The following day, he defeated Berrettini and ultimately reached the final before running out of gas after winning the opening set.

Marc-Andrea Huesler {SUI} - This is a name that I would see in draws and concurrently rising in the rankings.  The slender left-hander simply ran into a buzzsaw when he faced Shevchenko.  The power exhibited by the Swiss was neutralized and used against him as fierce forehands were hit past him for winners.  That said, Huesler's game most likely would have also been good enough to defeat Berrettini in the round of sixteen.  The purple clad Huesleris one to watch for those that enjoy hard hitting tennis.

Jan-Lennard Struff {GER} - The 32 year-old German has been on tour for a long time!  Being able to witness two complete matches of his in Phoenix was a quick reminder of how hard hit hits the ball.  Coming through qualifying, Stuff extinguished Thanasi Kokkanakis with ease, dropping just six games to advance.  The following day, he navigated his way to a tricky three set victory over Alexander Bublik to reach the quarterfinals, where had to play his sixth match in six days and lost to eventual Champion Nuno Borges.   Struff reached a career high of world #29 in August 2020.

Mattia Bellucci {ITA} - The 21 year-old lefty hung in there all match long against countryman Berrettini, eventually losing 4-6 4-6.  Both breaks happened late in each set.  Bellucci has a textbook service motion and very fluid mechanics, reminding me a bit of yet another fluid Italian, Lorenzo Musetti.  The speed of Bellucci stood out to me the most as he was able to track down shots by Berrettini that would have been winners against most everyone else.  

 

Indian Wells final expert picks: Alcaraz vs. Medvedev

This article originally appeared on The Grandstand.

Expert picks are back for the Indian Wells men’s singles championship match between Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev on Sunday afternoon. A three-team panel previews the highly-anticipated showdown and makes its predictions.

Ricky Dimon: You can’t get a more mouthwatering matchup that doesn’t involve the Big 3. Alcaraz will be No. 1 in the world if he wins the BNP Paribas Open title on Sunday. Medvedev is a former world No. 1 in the world and still is No. 1 in the world based on the department of current form. The Russian has reeled off back-to-back-to-back titles in Rotterdam, Doha, and Dubai and now stands one win from making it four straight.

There have been plenty of instances throughout this 19-match winning streak in which Medvedev could have and even should have lost. In typical Medvedev fashion, though, he has refused to lose. Should Medvedev lose this one? Probably. Alcaraz is playing at an amazing level now that he is healthy again and the surface also favors him. However, the Spaniard isn’t going to blow Medvedev off the court with ease and in what is sure to be a close match I would favor the 27-year-old in the pressure-packed moments. He has simply forgotten how to lose. And I don’t think he will on Sunday. Medvedev 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-5.

Cheryl Murray: This is the final men’s tennis needed in 2023. It’s a hot-ticket match: the best player of the moment taking on the best player of the next generation for the first time since both of them legitimately earned “best” status. Medvedev won their only other encounter, but it was in 2021 before Alcaraz came into his own in 2022–so there’s a bit of mystery surrounding it.

Based on playing style, the courts in Indian Wells should favor Alcaraz. It gives the world No. 2 plenty of time to chase down would-be winners. And while Medvedev is a chronic complainer even when he’s winning, it should be noted that he has been complaining about the court speed all week. By contrast, Medvedev may have a slight edge in form; he has won three tournaments on the trot. Still, he hasn’t looked nearly as comfortable this week as he did for most of the past month. Look for this one to go the distance, but I’m giving the edge to the Spaniard. Alcaraz 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5).

Pete Ziebron (Tennis Acumen): Both Medvedev and Alcaraz had tussles against familiar opponents on their way to the final. The Russian outlasted Alexander Zverev in the round of sixteen to take a 7-6 H2H lead in that intriguing series and then fended off an inspired performance by Frances Tiafoe in the semis. Similarly, Alcaraz faced foes in the quarters and semis that have impeded his progress a few times last year. In the quarters he finally got the best of Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets after only winning just one set in the previous seven against the Canadian in three losses. Next up he defeated Italian Jannik Sinner in the semis — where the H2H had stood at two wins apiece. In fact, Mats Wilander said the level of play between Alcaraz and Sinner in last year’s U.S. Open five-set QF was the highest level of tennis he has ever witnessed. 

The Spaniard would certainly like to return to world No. 1 with a victory in this Indian Wells title match. However, he must first deny Medvedev his 20th consecutive win in order to get there. The battles against both Zverev and Tiafoe (and the crowd) provided the perfect ingredients for Medvedev with what he will need to defeat Alcaraz–namely high-level match play in the days leading up to this final.  Medvedev wins his fifth different Masters 1000 against an incredibly determined Alcaraz. Medvedev 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

 

 

Berrettini - Monfils QF in Phoenix Spoilt by Qualifier Alexander Shevchenko

PETE ZIEBRON in PHOENIX

The Arizona Tennis Classic continues to get bigger and better.  In this 3rd edition of the tournament, the draw featured the possibility of a rematch of the 2022 Australian Open Quarterfinal between Matteo Berrettini and Gael Monfils.  The Italian won that slugfest in five sets.

However, Russian Qualifier and world #132 Alexander Shevchenko had other ideas.  In a match against Monfils that resumed this afternoon with Shevchenko leading 2-0 in the 3rd set, the underdog stayed the course to close out the Frenchman 6-3 in the final set to advance to the 2nd round in Phoenix.

Alexander Shevchenko catching some air in Phoenix at the Arizona Tennis Classic.  Pete Ziebron Images

Berrettini held up his end of the bargain later in the afternoon.  He faced fellow countryman Lucky Loser Mattia Bellucci, who took the place of Ilya Ivashka.  The 2019 tournament Champion Berrettini broke at 4-all in the opening set and once more at 3-all in the second set to advance to the second round.

On Friday, Berrettini will face Qualifier Aleksander Vukic of Australia and Shevchenko will play the sixth seed, Marc-Andrea Huesler of Switzerland.

 

 

 

NICK CHAPPELL: THE JOURNEYMAN

This is one of twelve excerpts from an exclusive interview with Nick Chappell at the 2022 Columbus Fall Challenger.

They will be posted over time in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Tennis Acumen: Would you describe yourself as a journeyman? Is there a better term for a road warrior like yourself?

Nick Chappell: I don't know if there's a better term (laughs). I think just “a very good tennis player” is a better term. People don't understand how good guys ranked 100 or 200 or even 300 are.

Tennis Acumen: I was Talking to Tennys Sandgren yesterday he said the difference between college and the pros is not so much the skill, the strength or the stamina. It's mental focus.

Nick Chappell: Yes. I would agree with that.

Tennis Acumen: Does that make sense to you ?

Nick Chappell: I see it all the time now. I'm practicing with TCU whenever I'm home. And they're very, very good. Last year, they were number one, the country's top program. They have some high highly regarded players, good recruits. When I'm practicing with them, I can't really tell the difference between them and the guys I'm competing against here on the Challenger tour. But mental stamina, I think is the big difference.

Tennis Acumen: You certainly have some focus. Just watching you play today, you have incredible variety to your shots and, pretty well spot on consistency. It was fun watching you out there.