Tennis Acumen

AUG 18: Taylor Dent's Booming Serves Make A Statement in Cincinnati

PETE ZIEBRON in CINCINNATI

 
 Early in the 2nd set, Taylor Dent blasted a 149 MPH ace to close out a game against Rafael Nadal.                      Pete Ziebron Images

CINCINNATI- Despite the fact that world #83 Taylor Dent had a higher ranking than 3 other Americans who received Wild Cards into the main draw of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters 1000 and would need to win 2 qualifying matches to get into the main draw, Dent ratcheted up his powerful serve into the low 140's and beat Go Soeda and Jarkko Niemenen in qualifying to advance.

Waiting for Dent in the 1st round of the main draw was world #24, Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, a foe whom Dent defeated in the 1st round of last year's US Open in 4 sets.  The match was played on center court and like their match last year, Lopez did not have answers for Dent's cannon serves and strong groundstrokes and lost in straight sets 6-3 6-2.

Former WTA player Jennifer (Hopkins) Dent warms up with her husband Taylor 4 hours prior to his 2nd round match with world #1 Rafael Nadal.                                               Pete Ziebron Images 

After a day off on Tuesday, the top 4 players on the ATP would see their first action in Cincinnati as tennis fans were treated to a cavalcade of top notch tennis on center court at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on Wednesday.  World #3 Novak Djokovic would begin the day session, followed by top ranked Rafael Nadal, #4 Andy Murray and two-time Cincinnati Champion Andy Roddick would conclude the daytime agenda. Defending Cincinnati Champion and world #2 Roger Federer would be featured in the evening session.

Dent would meet Rafael Nadal during the hottest time of the day and started slowly, dropping the first set 6-2.  However, Dent would bring the crowd to its feet as he crushed a 149 MPH ace down the center of the court to close out a game and stay on serve in the early stages of the 2nd set.  Dent then proceeded to break Nadal to gain control of the set; however, he would fail to consolidate the break and the set would remain on serve until Dent was broken at 5-5.  Nadal would go on to serve out the match and advance to the 3rd round.  

Taylor Dent could be satisfied that he played a solid set of tennis against the world #1 and after the match, Nadal praised Dent's serving abilities: "Well, not easy to return his second serve. For sure the first is more difficult, no?  But the second serve is fast, too. It's coming with spins, different slice, kick. So wasn't easy to return."

Twenty-one months ago, Taylor Dent was ranked 879th, primarily due to being sidelined from back surgery.  Last month in Atlanta, he reached his first quarterfinal since Tokyo in October 2005 and seeks to continue to climb in the ATP rankings.  

This week, Dent's wife Jennifer is accompanying him in Cincinnati along with their baby boy Declan who was born this January.  These days, family man Taylor Dent has a brand new perspective on and off the court:  "You know, just tennis can be so frustrating at times. It can really beat you down, you know, emotionally. So after a tough day of practice or a bad loss, you walk off the court and you see the little man there just wobbling his head and smiling at you, it makes it nice."

 Taylor Dent and his 140+ MPH serves will be on the ATP radar when the US Open field is drawn next week.              Pete Ziebron Images

 

 

David Nalbandian is Back, Wins Washington

PETE ZIEBRON

 
 David Nalbandian's career is on the rebound yet again.  Charles Gabrean Photography

 Throughout the week, David Nalbandian served notice to the rest of the ATP field that he is indeed healthy and intends to contend for the 2010 US Open title which gets underway later this month.  Today Nalbandian defeated Marcos Baghdatis 6-2 7-6(4) to win the Legg Mason Tennis Classic ATP 500 in Washington, DC.

The Washington title is the 11th of Nalbandian's career, 5th on a hard court and 1st in the United States.  With the win, Nalbandian improves his 2010 record to 17-3, including 12-2 on hard courts.  Yesterday, Nalbandian crushed #4 seed Marin Cilic 6-2 6-2 in the semifinals in only 73 minutes.  Cilic entered the match with 24 wins on the hard court this year, second only to Andy Roddick.  Today, Nalbandian cruised to an easy 6-2 first set win and had to hold on in the second set, saving a set point along the way to defeat the 8th seeded Baghdatis in the second set tiebreaker.  Although Nalbandian stormed to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreak and had the match on his racquet, Baghdatis won the next 3 points and was determined to take the match the distance.  However Nalbandian, who needed a wild card to enter the Legg Mason tourney, was not to be denied and held off Baghdatis, who entered the match with 23 hard court wins in 2010.

Nalbandian will rise to #45 in the new ATP rankings which will be released tomorrow.  He entered the Legg Mason tournament ranked #117 and fell as low as #161 in March due to inactivity while nursing injuries.  It has been a long road back for Nalbandian who was out for 9 months due to hip surgery from last June until this February and then a hamstring injury sidelined him for 2 months between April and July.

Despite injury, Nalbandian had his sights on playing Davis Cup for Argentina in 2010.  The Argentines have never hoisted the Davis Cup.  While most top players opt out of playing Davis Cup, Nalbandian actually decided not to play Wimbledon this year and used the extra time to train for Argentina's Davis Cup tie in Russia.  Nalbandian won both matches in Moscow, defeating world #6 Nikolay Davydenko and #14 Mikhail Youzhny to propel Argentina into the Davis Cup semifinals where they will travel to France in mid-September.

"I've been playing great since Davis Cup a few weeks ago....If I feel motivated or (have) my goals I can play good in my first match out" said Nalbandian following his win over Cilic yesterday.  With the win today, Nalbandian certainly has plenty of motivation for next week's Rogers Cup Masters 1000 in Toronto.  Nalbandian is scheduled to play world #12 David Ferrer in the first round and the subsequent opponents don't get any easier.  In fact, if Nalbandian wins and the seeds hold form in Toronto, Nalbandian would play: #38 Tommy Robredo in the 2nd round, #5 Robin Soderling in the 3rd, #4 Andy Murray in the quarterfinals, #1 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and either #2 Novak Djokovic or #3 Roger Federer in the Final.

Based on the dominating play that David Nalbandian exhibited in Washington, DC this week, the entire ATP has taken notice of his accomplishments and will be looking for where his name appears in the draw at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters 1000 the following week in Cincinnati as well as at the US Open.  The US Open will be the first Grand Slam competition for Nalbandian since the 2009 Australian Open, which will break a string of 6 consecutive non-appearences at the majors!

 

• World #1 Rafael Nadal and #2 Novak Djokovic are pairing to play doubles at the Rogers Cup next week in Toronto.  This marks the first time since #1 Jimmy Connors and #2 Arthur Ashe in 1976 that the top 2 ATP players have teamed to compete in doubles.

 

• An American will not appear in the ATP Top 10 for the first time since the rankings were implemented in 1973.  Andy Roddick will fall from #9 to #11 when the new ATP rankings are released tomorrow.

2 Collective Titles in 2010 for #2 Novak Djokovic, #3 Roger Federer & #4 Andy Murray

PETE ZIEBRON

Andy Murray's last title came in November 2009 - Pete Ziebron Images

 ATP world #2 Novak Djokovic #3 Roger Federer and #4 Andy Murray have combined for only 2 titles in 2010.  Within the last year (and within the last week for Federer and Murray) all have made changes to their respective coaching teams. 

Today, Andy Murray had an opportunity to end his 8+ month title drought at an ATP 250 tournament in Los Angeles and even held a match point against Sam Querrey but was not able to secure the victory.  Earlier this week, Murray parted ways with coach Miles Maclagan and plans to name a new coach after the US Open.  Murray's last win came at the Valencia ATP 500 against Mikhail Youzhny in November 2009.

Earlier this year in January, Murray reached the Final of the Australian Open where he lost to Roger Federer.  The Australian Open crown happens to be the last that hardware that Federer himself has been able to win.  Federer did reach 2 other finals in 2010, losing to Rafael Nadal at the Madrid Masters 1000 in May and to Lleyton Hewitt at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany prior to Wimbledon.  This week, Federer announced that he would begin working with Paul Annacone, the former coach of Pete Sampras and Tim Henman, on a trial basis going forward and plans to have Swiss Davis Cup Captain Severin Lüthi continue to work with him.

Novak Djokovic is the most recent title holder of the triumvirate of the ATP #2, # 3 and #4, winning this February in Dubai against Mikhail Youzhny, ironically the last man that Murray was also able to defeat in a final.  Prior to the US Open last year, Djokovic brought in American Todd Martin, a two-time Grand Slam Finalist last August to assist Marian Vajda with coaching duties.  Although it appeared that Martin's efforts were helping Djokovic with his play at net, Martin's input seemed to contrast Vajda's philosophies and he was dismissed in April.

Even though world #1 Rafael Nadal has 5 titles under his belt this year, he struggled mightily for part of 2010 as well.  Nadal went through an 11 month title drought, dating from the Masters 1000 in Rome in early May 2009 all the way to the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo this April. Toni Nadal continues to coach his nephew although Francisco Roig assists with Nadal's coaching duties when Uncle Toni is not present.

Although injuries are mostly to blame for the inability for other members of the ATP Top Ten to win tournaments, it should be noted that world #6 Nikolay Davydenko has not won since Doha, Qatar in January and world #7 Juan Martin del Potro has not won since dethroning Roger Federer at last year's US Open in September.

The current ranking positions occupied by Djokovic, Federer and Murray may change drastically at the conclusion of the US Open as all have plenty of points to defend.  Andy Murray is the defending champion at the Rogers Cup Masters 1000, played next week in Canada and also reached the semifinals at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters 1000 the following week in Cincinnati.  Federer won the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati and was runner up at the US Open.  Djokovic was a finalist in Cincinnati and semifinalist at the US Open, losing both times to Federer.

Despite the fact that only 2 trophies appear on the collective shelves of Djokovic, Federer and Murray through the first 7 months of 2010, all have had a history of playing well and winning on the hard courts, especially at the Masters 1000 tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati.  Djokovic has won in Canada, Murray owns titles in Canada and Cincinnati and Federer has been victorious in Canada twice, in Cincinnati 3 times and has hoisted the US Open trophy 5 times.

 

 

 

 

 

Federer's Latest Funk Started at Indian Wells: An Analysis

PETE ZIEBRON 
 
 
 16 time Grand Slam Champion Roger Federer 

- Charles Gabrean Photography 

Roger Federer's prolonged title drought in 2010 started at 

the BNP Paribas Masters 1000 at Indian Wells in March. 

Following his victory over Andy Murray at the Australian

Open, Federer was unable to play the tourney in Dubai

due to a lung infection and lack of match play coming

into Indian Wells certainly impacted his timing.

Despite having 3 Match Points in a 3rd round match 

against Marcos Baghdatis, Federer was unable to 

capitalize and Baghdatis snatched victory away

from Federer to claim the biggest victory of his

career. I sat in the first row, on the server's line

 for this match and at times, Federer raised his level

 of play to win the big points. At other times, especially

 at the most crucial points of the match, Federer's 

 forehand went sailing long or out wide by large margins.

As a result, the crowd did not believe what it was seeing. 

In fact, it reminded me of Rafael Nadal spraying balls

beyond the doubles alley last year in Cincinnati in his

second tournament back following injury.

According to Federer, no need for the alarms to sound:

"Well, I mean, I could be sitting here an hour earlier and

saying how comfortably I won the match in straight sets 

not playing great, but moving forward. Always a very 

fine line.That's not why I don't like to now beat myself 

up too much after a loss like this. ........So it's just like 

one of those matches that just happens, you know.  

You play good most of the time, and then you just 

don't play so well when you really have to. The

match almost looked like I wasn't playing all that 

great, and then I could have still won the match."

Following an earlier than expected departure at Indian 

Wells, Federer again had a Match Point in his 4th round

tilt against Tomas Berdych at the Masters 1000 in Miami

and was not able to win the match. Berdych capitalized 

on his good fortune and advanced to the Final where he 

lost to Andy Roddick. However Federer's loss to Berdych 

would give Berdych the confidence necessary the next 

time he faced Federer in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, 

where he would record his second consecutive win, 

following 8 consecutive defeats, against the 6 time 

Wimbledon Champion.

Federer had this to say about his loss in Miami: "Yeah

it was a tough match. Look, it's no secret I've struggled

the last, what is it, five matches I've played here in the 

States. It's disappointing, I think, my performance

overall, if I've got to analyze right now after the match.

But I fought as much as I could under the circumstances

with my game having issues at the moment. Definitely

lacking timing. I don't know where that comes from 

because I played so nicely in Australia. So it's 

disappointing to not be able to back it up. Maybe the

break was quite long. I'm kind of used to those things,

and I still, you know, think that I could have done much

better."

In a curious scheduling maneuver, Federer elected to skip 

the initial clay court event of the season, the Masters 

1000 tourney in Monte-Carlo where he was a 3 time

 Finalist. Instead Federer opened his clay campaign at 

the Masters 1000 in Rome where he was stunned by

 Ernests Gulbis in his first match. In lieu of Monte-Carlo, 

Federer played a 250 tournament in Estoril, Portugal, 

which he won in 2008. This year, Federer lost in the

 semifinals to defending Champion Albert Montanes.

Next, as defending Champion of the Madrid Masters

1000, Federer got revenge over Gulbis in a quarterfinal

match and advanced to the Final where he lost to 

Rafael Nadal in a rematch of last year's Final. At 

Roland Garros, defending Champion Roger Federer 

fell to Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals in a rematch

of last year's Final. This loss ended Federer's amazing

streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinal 

appearances.

Prior to Wimbledon, Federer met Lleyton Hewitt in the 

Final of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany.

Surprisingly, Federer lost to Hewitt in the Final, ending

his 5 title winning streak at this event. Nonetheless,

Federer headed to Wimbledon seeking his 17th Grand

Slam title and 7th Wimbledon crown which would have

tied him with Pete Sampras.

Federer survived two sloppy matches in the opening

rounds at Wimbledon, steadied his game in the next

two matches and then crashed out in the quarterfinals

against Tomas Berdych, whom he donated a 4th round

Masters 1000 match to earlier this year in Miami.

With the unexpected loss at Wimbledon, Federer will

fall to #3 in the rankings, a position he has not occupied

since November 16, 2003. Meanwhile, after appearing in

23 straight Grand Slam semifinals or better, Federer has 

now failed to get to the semis in his last 2 Slams. 

Despite having 62 career titles, Federer has won only 2

in the last 52 weeks, the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati last

August and the Australian Open this January.

Federer will take a 2 week vacation when he leaves 

Wimbledon and then get ready for the North American

hard court season. During his vacation time, Federer

will be able let minor injuries to his back and right leg

heal. These are injuries that started to give him problems

in his Finals loss to Hewitt in Halle.

Following Federer's 6-3 6-1 6-0 loss in the 2008 Roland

 Garros Final to Rafael Nadal and the subsequent loss to 

Nadal in the Wimbledon Final, Federer was blasted by 

many members in the media. Many doubted that he 

would ever be able to win the Roland Garros crown and

 some wondered if he would even be able to win 

another Grand Slam.

Since his loss to Nadal at Wimbledon in 2008, when he

was supposedly finished as a Slam contender, Federer

went on to win each Grand Slam once and appeared in

2 other Slam Finals. Again, now, the media is doubting 

his ability to win Grand Slams. Why?

Salute to Mahut & Wimbledon Observations

 

PETE ZIEBRON

Nicolas Mahut fell to John Isner in the 5th set 70-68 in a first round match at Wimbledon today that took 11 hours and 5 minutes to complete over a three day period.

Having to serve from behind for the entire 5th set, Mahut explained that his focus was keen: "I was just thinking about winning the game I was playing, the point I was playing again and again."

Mahut is currently ranked #148 and had to play 3 qualifying matches to gain entry into the main draw.  In his second round of the qualies, Mahut came from one set down and dug deep to defeat  Alex Bogdanovic of Great Britain 24-22 in the decisive third set to advance to the third and final round.  Next, Mahut came back from a two sets to one deficit to defeat Stefan Koubek to gain entry into the main Wimbledon draw.

• Amazingly, Mahut took the court once again later in the day when he paired with Arnaud Clement for his 1st round doubles match.  For the third consecutive day, Mahut was not able to finish his match as play was suspended due to darkness with Mahut and Clement trailing Brits Colin Fleming and Kenneth Skupski 6-7.  John Isner withdrew from doubles competition, as he is scheduled to play the first match on Court 5 tomorrow against Thiemo De Bakker of the Netherlands.

Although Mahut won the 2000 Wimbledon Junior title, defeating Mario Ancic, his best showing as a professional was a 3rd round appearance in 2006, where he lost to eventual champion Roger Federer.

However, in 2007, Mahut enjoyed his best success when he defeated Rafael Nadal in the Queen's Club quarterfinals and lost to Andy Roddick in the Final despite winning the first set.

 

• Roland Garros Champion Francesca Schiavone and Finalist Samantha Stosur were both eliminated in the 1st round at Wimbledon.

 

• #1 seed Roger Federer and #2 seed Rafael Nadal have each played and won a 5 set match through the first 2 rounds.

• 12 Mens 1st round mens went 5 sets.
•  10 2nd round matches went 5 sets.

• The longest mens matches include:
• Isner 70-68 v. Mahut (1st)
• De Bakker 16-14 v. Giraldo (1st)
  
• Davydenko 9-7 v. Anderson (1st)
• Tsonga 10-8 v. Dolgopolov (2nd)
  
• Kohlschreiber 9-7 v. Gabashvili (2nd)
• Chardy 8-6 v. Lacko (2nd)