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.
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