citi open

Alexandr Dolgopolov overcomes Tommy Haas challenge to win Citi Open title

August 5, 2012 by tennisbloggers

By Romi Cvitkovic

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After a three-set marathon match that included two rain delays, young Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov pulled out the win over former world No. 2 Tommy Haas, 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-1.

Alexandr Dolgopolov and Tommy Haas after their match

Dolgopolov has struggled with injuries since January and is just now returning to his good form of last year when he broke through into the top 15. With the title in Washington, Dolgopolov moves solidly back into the top 20 and is guaranteed a seeding at the U.S. Open.
Dolgopolov’s road to the win tonight, however, looked uncertain as he lost the first set, even when playing much cleaner tennis than his opponent. He served eight aces and no double faults, while Haas struggled to find his rhythm, double-faulting three times alone in the seventh game to get broken.
An extended rain delay occurred at 6-5 with Dolgopolov serving to stay in the set. After nearly two hours, both men returned highly emotional, with the self-talk and frustrations beginning to surface. Dolgopolov stuck to his game plan of hitting to the weaker Haas backhand, but it backfired as Haas was able to strike some smart plays and convert on his second set point due to a Dolgopolov error.

Alexandr Dolgopolov and Tommy Haas (Photo credit Romana Cvitkovic)

The second set started much like the first but the frustrations escalated as the often composed Dolgopolov began slapping his thigh while Haas kept yelling at himself. Neither player made a move until the very last game of the set when Dolgopolov broke a visibly irritated Haas.
“Whether I won or lost the second set there, I cracked a little bit mentally,” Haas admitted, and it was the beginning of the end for the German.
Sensing that Haas was “giving away more free points than in the first set,” Dolgopolov started the third set with an ace and never looked back, reeling off three games instantly to take command. Haas succumbed to his emotional outbursts, and after sending a ball long, went into full self-destruction mode, yelling in German, scolding the chair umpire for not getting the ball kids to clean a wet spot, and eve threw his racquet repeatedly.

Alexandr Dolgopolov signing autographs for fans after his win in Washington (Photo credit Romana Cvitkovic)

Although he was able to recollect himself somewhat, Haas was down 1-4 and double-faulted for his last time, giving Dolgopolov the chance to serve out the match. Facing his first match point, Dolgopolov won on an unreturnable second serve that Haas shanked wide.
It had been almost exactly a year since Dolgopolov’s sole title in Umag last year, so there was a sense of urgency to do well this week giving the upcoming U.S. Open.
“I think a small part of me [knew that] I had to play better when I needed. I dropped some points from Umag and I understood that I needed to get some points to get back into the top 20. Because once you are there, you don’t really want to get out of there. That was additional motivation for me.”
After the match, the two players put aside their emotions and enjoyed each other’s company at the podium with their glass trophies. Haas, followed by Dolgopolov, stopped to sign endless autographs for the diehard fans that had stuck out through the rain delays. Dolgopolov even took the shirt off his back and gave it to a young fan who requested it. Now, that’s a player who loves what he does and gives respect to his fans.

Former UVA players Huey and Inglot win the Citi Open doubles title over favorites Querrey and Anderson

In doubles action, two unseeded teams battled for the Citi Open title as Sam Querrey and Kevin Anderson took on Treat Huey and Dominic Inglot. While Querrey and Anderson may be household names, it was Huey and Inglot that brought out the cheering crowds. Both are former University of Virginia tennis players, with Huey graduating high school locally in the District.

Dominic Inglot (L) and Treat Huey (R) (Photo credit Romana Cvitkovic)

The young upstart team of Huey and Inglot didn’t succumb to pressure as they got out to an early start, breaking to go up 3-0. A little tightness set in and the first set was forced into a tiebreaker. With Inglot’s deft hands at net and Huey’s ability to stand ground at the baseline against his much more experienced opponents, the duo took the tiebreak 9-7 when Anderson double-faulted.
The second set was a battle for both teams as neither gave up serve. In the fifth game of the set, Inglot served four aces in a row against Querrey and Anderson, who are notably two of the tallest and most difficult guys to pass on tour. When asked to comment on this serving dominance, Inglot replied that he “actually know that until you just told me, but, it feels fantastic. Serve has always been the strongest part of my game. I know there were some games that got a little sticky, so to be able to come with a game like that is really helpful.”

Runners-up Kevin Anderson and Sam Querrey (L) with winners Treat Huey and Dominic Inglot (Photo credit Romana Cvitkovic)

Querrey and Anderson came back strong, not allowing the former Cavaliers much wiggle room, and forced a second set tiebreak when Huey hit the final approach volley into the net.
The deciding ten point match tiebreak saw both teams fight mightily, but Huey and Inglot broke through at 5-4 and never looked back. They reeled off the next five-of-six points, winning on a Querrey error.
This is the pair’s second ATP doubles final and first title together. They previously met Querrey when they lost to him and Blake in Houston, and Treat acknowledged that “we didn’t want to lose to [Querrey] again in the finals of another tournament. So it was good we got the win in the end.”
Huey continued: “I didn’t think I’d really win a title [so soon after college]. Last year was my first final where Somdev Devvarman and I lost, but I was thinking, “I just got to an ATP final, how cool is that?!” But winning one is obviously cooler, and it’s a lot more fun to be on the winning end of the match.”

Tommy Haas trumps Mardy Fish in straight sets, edging closer to top 20 return

August 4, 2012 by tennisbloggers

By Romi Cvitkovic

WASHINGTON, D.C.— In his match over good friend Mardy Fish, world No. 36 Tommy Haas did everything right. From the first game to the last point, Haas served brilliantly, winning 93% of first serves, and is into the finals in Washington without dropping a set. He will move up about ten spots in the rankings to No. 26, and if he wins tomorrow, he will be back around the top 20.
The German stalwartly took command of the match hitting 21 winners mostly from his backhand and even got by without committing any unforced errors in the first set, which he commented on in his press conference.

“That’s obviously something that doesn’t happen often in my game since I play quite aggressively at times and do mishit a few balls here and there,” admitted Haas. “But in order to beat people like Mardy Fish, you have to play at a very high level.”

Haas’ first break of serve came early at 2-2 when he broke at love in the first, and there was no looking back as he served an ace to seal the set.
The second set held three glimmering chances for Fish to break Haas, but he failed to do any damage. Fish’s charging of the net to serve and volley, unfortunately, was too little and too late in the match. Although Fish won 92% of his own first serves, his serving percentage was stuck around 40% for the match, unable to rely on his eleven booming aces. Haas served his fastest serve of the day at 129mph that forced Fish to hit a tricky forehand return that went wide.
When asked to comment on his improved mental game in reaching his first Washington final in seven tries, Haas replied that he feels he is “wiser.”

“I still have problems sometimes keeping my emotions in check. If I do have an outburst or I do have a conversation with my coach, or I tell him that he’s an idiot, I do try to find myself and recover faster, and block that out and try to focus on the next point. When I was younger and even crazier, sometimes [the outbursts] could turn into 2, 3, 4 games of me playing bad tennis that would sometimes cost me the match.”

Though Fish was not able to pull out the win today, he stated that this week was not a failure for him after being able to barely walk a week ago due to an injury sustained in Atlanta.

“It’s certainly satisfying to see [my ankle] improve that much, that quickly. I was struggling the first couple of days after Atlanta. I couldn’t walk that well without pain. To still be here on a Saturday, that’s a win for us.”

A fun, highly complex and completely dependable statistical analysis of who will win the Citi Open

August 4, 2012 by tennisbloggers

By Romi Cvitkovic

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This is your official, highly complex, completely statistical and 100 percent dependable preview of the Citi Open men’s semifinals showdown featuring American Sam Querrey taking on Alexandr Dolgopolov, and No. 1 seed Mardy Fish dueling against German Tommy Haas.
Historically, the Citi Open has been won by some of tennis’ greatest including Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl and Juan Martin Del Potro to name a few. But I bet you didn’t exactly how the winner gets determined.
Sure, the players hit a furry yellow ball back-and-forth over a net until one player inevitably gets tired and goes home. But there’s more to it than that. Each year, a tireless statistical team of miniature workmen decipher codes and trends in order to predict the winner, and I’ll let you in on their little-known secret.
It’s actually quite simple and begins by reviewing all the past winners of the Citi Open, and noting the first letter of their first name. Why the first name? Because, well, they said so. “A” for Andy Roddick, “J” for Jimmy Connors, and so forth. Secondly, each winning name is taken separately, so even if a player has won multiple times, each occurrence counts as one.
Given this highly complex set of information, let’s take a look at the chances of each of the men’s semifinalists winning the title.

Citi Open - Day 7 — Mardy Fish at the Citi Open (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

“M” is for Mardy Fish

Fish elected to skip the Olympics in order to play Washington, and his choice for the most part paid off – no early loss or detrimental injury occurred here. His matches have gotten considerably cleaner during the week and it could all be culminating tomorrow in his first title since July of last year when he won Atlanta.
Calling on the trusty ATP World Tour website, it states that there has only been one past winner in Washington whose first name begins with an “M,” Michael Chang and he won twice in back-to-back years. No special bonus points there for that coincidence, Mardy. Sorry.
Moving on. Now that we know Mardy is one of four semifinalists and there are 42 past champions of the tournament, the probably of Mardy winning is one in four, given that Michael has won two in 42 times. Thus, Mardy’s chances of winning the Citi Open this year are a measly 15.99%.

“S” is for Sam Querrey

Querrey has been on the comeback trail recently, winning the Los Angeles title last week. He is looking to capitalize on his boosted confidence in order to be seeded in time for the U.S. Open. Querrey defeated his doubles partner and tournament No. 3 seed last night, but failed to break the 50% mark in first serves in. If he is to get past Alexandr Dolgopolov, he’ll need to get his serve in gear.
Using the same magical probability calculator, it’s unfortunate to note that there has sadly only been one past winner whose name begins with an “S,” Stefan Edberg. Bad news for QUerrey’s chances here, obviously, as his chances of winning are only 8.69%. Better luck next week, Sam.

“T” is for Tommy Haas

The German, who has yet to drop a set in this tournament, has also gotten increasingly sharper winning his quarterfinal match while dropping only three games. Following up on his stellar spring where he defeated Roger Federer after losing their last nine meetings, Haas claimed his first title of the year in Halle and met his goal. But can the German keep his game going and use that deft one-handed backhand to push his good friend Fish to the limit in the semis? It’s possible.
Historically, there have been three separate winners whose name begins with the letter “T,” Tim Henman, Tim Mayotte and Tony Roche, and each has won one title a piece. Given this, Tommy’s chances of winning his first Citi Open title is 22.22% percent – a healthy edge over Mardy or Sam.
Mighty good for the German, but is it enough to already engrave his name onto the stadium court list of past champions?

“A” is for Alexandr Dolgopolov

Potentially the least-known of the four semifinalists, Alex has struggled this year after reaching the final of Brisbane. He has been battling injury, and nearly lost his cool down 0-3 in the first set against James Blake last night in the quarterfinals. The 23-year-old carries an eccentric game with intense slices, but his serve has been a liability as of late.
But there is good news for the Ukrainian. Due to sheer luck, there have been THIRTEEN players whose first name starts with the letter “A,” Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi, Amos Mansdorf, Arthur Ashe, Arnaud Clement, Alex Corretja, Andres Gomez. Andre alone has won five times here, while Andy has won three. Given this, Alex’s chances of winning the tournament are astronomically skewed in his favor – a whopping 55.32%!
Maybe Alex should already call Andy and Andre and thank them for his Washington title …

Quotable quotes from the Citi Open: Haas, Fish, Stephens, Blake

August 3, 2012 by tennisbloggers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Citi Open tournament this week is full of opinionated and versatile players with the press conferences producing some memorable moments.
Check out some of the intriguing, honest and fun quotes from players Mardy Fish, James Blake, Sloane Stephens, Coco Vandeweghe, Tommy Haas and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova as they talk about the Olympics, Twitter, trends in men’s tennis, heat exhaustion, and even “revenge matches” for one of the players.

Mardy Fish

“I think it speaks to the physicality of the game nowadays. It takes guys longer to develop. [The ATP Tour] is much more physical, much more mental. You just have to be mature in both areas to succeed at a high level. You just can’t come out of the blue anymore. You just don’t anymore see guys 21-years-old roll through and make the quarterfinals [of Grand Slams]. I think it just speaks to the physicality of the game now. And there are a lot of 30-years-old and older guys that are playing well. I don’t think it’s a coincidence, I think it’s the physical side of it.”
– Mardy Fish on the trend of older players doing well on the ATP Tour
“I feel 100 percent physically and structurally. The most important thing is getting my confidence back. Everyone knows the mind can play tricks on you. You can convince yourself of things. When you’re out there playing, you can convince yourself that you’re not feeling well. When I don’t feel 100 percent, because my confidence isn’t all the way back, my mind can go to bad places. But everything is fine [with my heart]. It’s all behind me. The [doctors] say it won’t happen again. I stay away from everything that can cause it.”
– Mardy Fish on his health after troubles with his heart earlier in the year

James Blake

“As my knee is starting to feel better, my shoulder is feeling better, everything is feeling better … I don’t feel like I am a player that someone in the top 20 is looking at as an easy draw just because I am ranked outside of the top 100. I know I have been top 10 in the world before. So I am not scared of any of the top guys, I’m not feeling like I walk onto the court and I have already lost.”
– James Blake on his confidence against the top players even though he is outside of the top 100

Sloane Stephens

“The WTA tournament is a lower tier tournament than the men. It’s the women coming into the men’s territory. This has been their tournament for a really long time. We’re kind of bombarding them. I think it’s fine that we play on the outside court. All in all, it’s all the same, and I don’t think any of the girls are disappointed about not being on the stadium.”
– Sloane Stephens on whether it was a diss to the women to not get to play on stadium court until the quarterfinals
“I don’t tweet sometimes for a while, but I love Twitter. I love reading what people have to say. That’s where I find all my gossip!”
– Sloane Stephens on how she has taken to being active on Twitter
“I boycotted the Olympics! I don’t like to watch it anymore because I see the results all on Twitter and Facebook. You already know what happens way before it happens. Now, I can’t go home and watch it and be excited because I know who won… You want to see Michael Phelps win live!”
– Sloane Stephens on whether she has been watching the Olympics

Tommy Haas

“We get along quite well off the court. I’m sure we’ll spend some time after our careers together, and it’s important for me to say to him at least that I’ve gotten him in the later years, which is huge.
– Tommy Haas on beating Roger Federer to win the Halle title this year
“When I was watching the Olympics, I am surprised I do not see myself playing. The German Olympics committee did not nominate me this year, which I think was a big mistake in my eyes. I am happy to be able to play tennis while the Olympic are going on and not sitting at home.”
– Tommy Haas on not playing in the Olympics

Coco Vandeweghe

“I’m disappointed that I’m not competing in the Olympics. That’s a dream of mine to compete and win a medal. It’s almost more of a goal for me than to win a Grand Slam just because my mom was in the Olympics. The Olympics were on TV before tennis was on TV in my home.”
– Coco Vandeweghe on not playing in the Olympics
“I took that first match in Stanford against [Melinda] Czink, and it was a little bit of a ‘revenge’ match for me because she beat me in Charleston earlier in the year. I actually had a couple of ‘revenge’ matches in that tournament where I wanted to beat each girl because they have beaten me before.”
– Coco Vandeweghe on her mentality during her Stanford finals run

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

“I was suffering from the first game versus Vania. It was ridiculously hot out there. I don’t know, seriously, how people live here! I think they should consider changing the date of the tournament or just do night sessions. I’ve played in Australia for six years, and I know what is hot and that it’s the same for everyone. But the heat just hit me today.”
– Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on calling the doctor due to heat exhaustion during her semifinal match versus Vania King (as a note, it reached 95°F today with very high humidity)

Sloane Stephens on dogs, the Obamas, and the grind of the WTA Tour

August 3, 2012 by tennisbloggers

Sloane Stephens on the grounds of the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. (Photo credit Romana Cvitkovic)

Charismatic, witty and supremely intelligent, American Sloane Stephens can not only ‘wow’ a tennis crowd with her on-court prowess, but can talk up a storm on various subjects. This week at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., I had a chance to chat with the bubbly 19-year-old about her most memorable moment, being scared of furry creatures, partying with her friends on Tour, and having dinner with Barack and Michelle Obama — well, sort of. Read on to find out the full scoop from tennis’ next star.
What is your most memorable moment?
Second round, U.S. Open last year, I played Shahar Peer. I didn’t play on Ashe stadium – it was Grandstand and it was packed! It was so much fun. I’d never played on a court like that before. I played Indian Wells, but nothing where there was so many people there and everyone is only cheering for me. That was so cool for me.
If you weren’t a tennis player, what would you want to be?
An ER doctor … I love the blood.
If you could play against any player in history, who would it be and why?
Any player in history? [Long pause]. Martina Navratilova, she’s the coolest player ever.
Have you had a chance to meet her?
Yea, she’s really cool. She’s a beast at doubles! And she was winning slams until she was 50 years old! [Laughs] I really like her.
What are two things that scare you?
Dogs and bugs.
Dogs?
Yea, I’m deathly afraid of dogs.
Cats are ok?
No cats either. I don’t like any animals. Anything that is faster than me is a ‘no.’ [Smiles]
What is your biggest indulgence?
I love Indian food and I love Korean but that’s not an indulgence. Hmm. I love …. peach cobbler … with vanilla ice cream.
If you could have dinner with any three people in history, living or dead, who would they be and why?
I have to say … Barack Obama, I love him. Well, can Barack and Michelle be one?
Sure.
Ok, so they’re one. And, Rick and Dick Hoyt can maybe be one too. And Eric LeGrand.
If you were hosting a party, what three tennis players would you invite and why?
Oh my goodness, ok. So, I’d invite Serena [Williams] … duh! And Vika (Victoria Azarenka) and [John] Isner.
If you were given a camera crew and unlimited access, what would you want to show the public about women’s pro tennis?
That it’s a grind, every day. That it’s non-stop. That it’s tennis, tennis, tennis. I think people should see the practice and all the sweat and everything that goes into tennis. You have to eat right, and you can’t eat chocolate cake all the time! And they don’t usually see that. They only see the cute person with the perfect hair that goes on the court. I think to see something that happens in preparation for a match, I think, that would be pretty interesting.

Popcorn tennis: lets, winners and aces from Thursday at the Citi Open

August 2, 2012 by tennisbloggers

By Romi Cvitkovic

A quick report on the happenings and results of the Citi Open including winners, wildcards, aces and overrules of various events around the grounds.
Major Hold: We’ve all by now heard about Sam Querrey’s great comeback to catapult up the rankings to world No. 38 after being outside of the top 100 just four months ago. But today at the Citi Open versus Benjamin Becker, Querrey managed to win all, yes ALL, 24 of his first serves for the match. By no means an easy opponent, Becker stayed with Querrey exchanging four breaks of serve between the two, and only lost 6-4, 6-3. The summer season continues to favor the young American and perhaps he can repeat his stellar 2010 when he won three titles in the summer alone.
Overrule: As the first women’s match of the whole week on stadium court, Eugenie Bouchard and Sloane Stephens did not disappoint. What did, however, was the scheduling. Although the men’s tournament is at a higher level, the women should have at least been given a handful of matches on stadium court prior to today’s quarterfinal round. What is of note though is that Stephens was placed on stadium court, while fellow American Sam Querrey and his doubles partner Kevin Anderson took on the duo of Eric Butorac and Paul Hanley on Grandstand 2 in an overcapacity crowd.
Winner: After looking a bit rough around the edges in his first match in D.C., Mardy Fish slipped past wildcard and Los Angeles finalist Ricardas Berankis in an easy 6-3, 6-1 victory. Not visibly hampered by his ankle injury sustained in Atlanta, Fish is favorable to reach the semifinals where he could potentially meet another veteran of the Tour, Tommy Haas. But he’ll have to work on his baseline game a bit, as he won just 16 of 36 points from the back of the court.
Wildcards: Steve Johnson and his doubles partner Drew Courtney are living the dream in Washington, D.C. Johnson, currently No. 360 in singles and No. 171 in doubles, and Courtney, No. 827 in doubles and unranked in singles were handed some luck when their second round opponent and No. 4 seed pulled out due to injury. They were replaced by a valiant alternate team, but the American duo was already well-adjusted to the courts and they pulled out a significant win today to land a spot in the men’s doubles quarterfinals. They next face Treat Huey and Dominic Inglot, who themselves pulled off an upset as they defeated the No. 2 seed of Robert Farah and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.

James Blake (L) with doubles partner Tim Smyczek at the Citi Open (Photo credit Romana Cvitkovic)

Let: Just two days after defeating the No. 1 seed, James Blake and his doubles partner Tim Smyczek went out in a tiebreak blaze versus Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 5-7, 6-3, 10-8. What is comforting for Blake fans though is that the loss was more due to Smyczek’s inexperienced hands than Blake’s errors. This ultimately opens up Blake to do well in the singles draw, but he’ll need to get past No. 2 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov tomorrow.
Ace: South African player Kevin Anderson, who was forced to skip the Olympics due to ITF ineligibility, redeemed his week by reaching the quarterfinals when he defeated French qualifier Florent Serra en route bombing 12 aces and winning 85% of first serves.
Deuce: Although not a clear out winner or ace, the five newly-surfaced practice courts on the southeast corner of the grounds are reminiscent of the ones at the U.S. Open, and may perhaps be even better for fans. There are no immense crowds jamming up against the barrier fence, and there is a walkway along the entire baseline of the courts as well. The players, however, stand in conflict with each other. While most of the female players have expressed their relief to have availability of courts for practice, some of the men have stated that there is not enough availability now that the women’s event has been added. As next year’s ATP level tournament is sure to boast more top players with the Olympics no longer a factor, the difference in opinions between the two tours is sure to escalate.

Coco Vandeweghe on her pre-match rituals, her U.S. Open debut, and wanting to party with Novak Djokovic

August 2, 2012 by tennisbloggers

Coco Vandeweghe in action at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. this week. (Photo credit Romana Cvitkovic)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — American Coco Vandeweghe, who shot up 50 spots in the the WTA Tour rankings after reaching the Stanford final three weeks ago, is in action this week at the Citi Open. After receiving the tournament’s last wildcard and her highest career seeding, Vandeweghe finds herself in the quarterfinals with fellow American Vania King as her next opponent.
I had a chance to chat with the rising star and she cheerfully reminisced about her greatest on-court moment, admitted she would want to party with Novak Djokovic, and disclosed some funny pre-match rituals she has.
What is your most memorable moment in your career?
Playing on opening night in Arthur Ashe stadium against Jelena Jankovic when she was no. 1 in the world, and I was 16 years old.
What would you do if you weren’t a tennis player?
I would be in college – playing basketball, probably.
If you could play against any player in history, who would it be and why?
I’d want to play against a couple: Chris Evert, Lindsay Davenport, and Martina Navratilova because they’re all great players. I’ve looked up to Lindsay for a long time and she’s been a great friend, and so has Chris Evert.
If you were hosting a party, what three tennis players would you invite and why?
I would invite my coach who is an ex-tennis play, Jan-Michael Gambill, Irina Falconi who is a great friend of mine on the WTA Tour, and Novak Djokovic because he’s seems like a lot of fun. [Laughs]
What are two things you couldn’t live without?
Music and probably my family.
What do you to get ready in the day before a match?
I enjoy my sleep. [Smiles] And then I have my own little rituals and different tedious things that I do, like tying my left shoe before my right shoe.
If you could invite any three people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be?
I would invite my grandmother who died two years ago – pretty much just family members, my grandfather, my mom, my family.
No famous people?
No, probably not. [Laughs]
If you were given a camera crew and unlimited access to the WTA Tour, what would you want to show the public about pro tennis?
Just how fun the women’s tour is. We have great personalities, but we do dumb stuff sometimes. Even myself – dumb little fights like with the airline attendant, and me trying to sneak my tennis bag onto the airplane without trying to check it because it’s a pain in the butt! There’s a lot of fun stuff on Tour, and I would want to capture that.

Would James Blake recommend tennis to his daughter?

August 1, 2012 by tennisbloggers

James Blake in press Wednesday evening at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — American James Blake, a thirteen-year veteran of the ATP Tour, is back in action this week at the Citi Open for the ninth time in his career, and he candidly opened up whether he would want his new daughter to play tennis.
Currently ranked world No. 116, Blake has posted his best results since October of last year by beating Marco Chuidinelli, 6-2, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals at the Citi Open.
Blake and his fiancee, Emily Snider, welcomed a new daughter on June 10th of this year. According to an interview done by Kelyn Soong for the Emirates US Open Series, Blake admits that having a new addition to the family “changes everything” and “puts the rest of your life before in perspective.”
So, tonight I put Blake to the test, and asked him as a new father if he would recommend tennis to his daughter. What ensued was an amusing and honest answer by the American.
“I recommend her doing anything she wants to do – preferably not the drums! I have a feeling that since she’ll be around tennis, she’ll probably be interested in it, but I absolutely don’t want to put any pressure on her. I know if she did play tennis, there would already be pressure on her being my daughter. If I’m the one taking her to local tennis tournaments, people might expect a lot out of her. If she’s ok with that, I’m ok with that.”
Although Blake lives, breathes, and sleeps tennis, he might, in the end, recommend a different sport to his daughter for his own leisure.
“To be honest,” Blake admits, “I’m hoping she picks up golf so I get an excuse to go out on the golf course with her!”

Melanie Oudin regains confidence, talks about coaching change, and admits to being “so nervous” playing U.S. Open

July 31, 2012 by tennisbloggers

Melanie Oudin in press Tuesday evening at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – To some tennis fans, American Melanie Oudin may be an old story after her quarterfinal run at the 2009 U.S. Open and subsequent decline due to pressure. But after winning her first title in Birmingham recently and with her stellar results this summer, she is re-energized, radiant, and open about her journey in regaining confidence in her game.
Given that Oudin is currently ranked No. 109 in the world and only 20 years old, it’s easy to mistake her for a rising junior. And you wouldn’t be that far off. After attaining world No. 2 on the junior circuit in 2008, she ventured her hand into the professional circuit and had her breakthrough at the 2009 U.S. Open. But due to problems at home and the pressures to live up to her Cinderella U.S. Open run, Oudin struggled to solidify herself on the Tour as a threat.
It wasn’t until the end of last year – when she made a coaching change – that her game and confidence slowly started to take form.
“The USTA Training Center in Boca Raton was the first place I really tried – new place, new coaches – but nothing really clicked at first, and the results weren’t there either,” Oudin admitted. “It was just about finding the right coach for me. One that helped me, believed in me, gave me confidence, helped me get my game back again. And I feel like in New York [at the USTA National Center], they’ve definitely helped me. I started with them in March and since then — the way I’ve played and my results — everything has been so much better. I definitely give them credit. [When I made the coaching change,] I was ranked 300, and now I think I am at 109 after two months.”
Oudin’s demeanor during the press conference was optimistic, light, and much removed from the intense frowns and tears from last year.
“I’m a lot more confident than last year. Even with the losses I’ve had recently, I think I am just playing so much better than I did last year… I’m in much better shape now. Everything in my game is moving forward. Everything is just coming together.”
With the upcoming U.S. Open less than one month away in New York, it could have been daunting to return to the site of her biggest glories and biggest letdowns. But not Oudin.
Last year, when entered into the mixed doubles tournament as a wildcard with friend and junior player Jack Sock, the duo went on to win the whole event. And perhaps this is where all the good vibes for Oudin started.
Looking forward, she anticipates the calling to perform well at the U.S. Open with hunger.
“It’s going to be interesting this year because I have been training on-site. Last year, I was so nervous playing there. Ever since I did well in 2009, I have been so nervous when I go play there. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I’m really hoping that this year’s US Open will be different since I’ve been playing and practicing there every day when I’m in New York.”
She went on: “I’m not going to look at it as “I really want to get to the fourth round.” I want to go match by match like I did at the ’09 US Open. I wasn’t even thinking ahead, but just one point at a time and hoping to do well… I know that I can do it again.”
And when asked if she would partner up with Sock again this summer, she emphatically answered, “Yes, Jack and I are going to play mixed doubles again. We have to defend the title!”

“Comeback Kid” Brian Baker trips up while Sloane Stephens through in first round of Citi Open

July 30, 2012 by tennisbloggers

Brian Baker crashes out in first round of Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

“Comeback Kid” Brian Baker trips up in first round of the Citi Open

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hot off his stellar fourth round appearance at this year’s Wimbledon Championships, Baker has failed to progress past the first round in his last two events in Atlanta and Los Angeles, and he can now add Washington, D.C. to this list.
Ranked outside of the top 300 just three months ago, and not having played a full ATP schedule since 2005 due to numerous injuries, the comeback kid’s dream to the top is taking a temporary detour this summer.
With such great results earlier in the year, the question arises whether it’s more of a physical or mental hurdle that is slowing him down currently.
“Fitness-wise, I was fine today. It wasn’t an issue. I definitely took some time off after Wimbledon – had some aches and pains. But it hasn’t been the physical aspect of [playing so much], it’s just been maybe more the mental aspect coming back after such a high [at Wimbledon], and then starting over… I definitely haven’t played my best tennis in all the last three weeks. I don’t think I’ve competed poorly, … I just haven’t given myself a lot of chances on the big points.”
Prior to Atlanta, Baker has had to go through qualifying matches in most of his Tour-level events and he admits that “I tend to play my best tennis if I get a couple of matches under my belt.” It seems that with every tournament, he needs to build his confidence and get familiar with his settings. But if he is to keep up his ranking at world No. 78 or better, he’ll have to get used to jumping into tournaments quickly and adjusting to the conditions. Otherwise, he’ll continue dropping in the first round of tournaments this summer.
Surprisingly, in the first set, Baker was up a double break and held easy to win 6-4. In the second set he admits to not being “very sharp the first couple return games” and Serra took lead, winning 6-3. During the third set, Baker simply couldn’t string enough points together and his served failed him, double-faulting three times. He only converted 3-of-16 break points for the match, and had 43 unforced errors. Baker commented on these gaping holes, and said that “it’s not typical of me to make so many unforced errors. All summer, I played pretty clean matches… I had three pretty good draws, I should have won all three matches. I think it’s just been more [that] I haven’t been playing great – the confidence wasn’t there.”
Whatever happens during the rest of the hard court season, there’s no doubt that Baker still has hunger for the game after being away for so many years. He’s ready to battle and says that it’s “sometimes nice to go in being the underdog … being the hunter.”

Sloane Stephens pushed by Karatantcheva, but prevails in three

Sloane Stephens battles past Sesil Karatantcheva in Washington, D.C.

American golden girl Sloane Stephens, currently ranked No. 50 in the world and seeded third here, was given a scare when six breaks of serve were exchanged with her opponent Sesil Karatantcheva in the second set that saw the two split sets. Despite some strange line calls on a court that doesn’t have the Hawkeye challenge system, Stephens luckily kicked it into high gear by straight way breaking her opponent twice at the start of the final set.
Always a personable character both on and off-the-court, Stephens is quick to sign autographs or chat with fans during her down time. But when it comes to her game on court, she has a personal motto she lives by. After losing in the first round of the last two tournaments she played in at Stanford and Carlsbad, she joked that “You just can’t ever lose three [first round matches] in a row — it’s not even an option.”
With that attitude and a steadily increasing ranking that makes her the second youngest in the top 100, Stephens is sure to make a lasting impact in American women’s tennis. Like her self-proclaimed “bestie” Serena Williams, Stephens carries a powerful forehand, immense athletic ability and has a passion for the sport of tennis that will no doubt help her break into the top 10 soon.