DOHA
Three out of four best players in the world (Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray) arrived to Doha just after an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi where Murray (No. 4) beat Federer in the semis and Nadal in the final (in Doha this scenario can be repeated because Murray and Federer are in the same, bottom half of the draw). All three players won their first round matches very easily: Nadal dropped just one game against Fabrice Santoro who begins his 20th (!) and last season in the professional career; Federer lost 4 games to Potito Starace and defending champion, Andy Murray two more games against Albert Montanes.
Slovakian qualifier Karol Beck who was suspended for almost two years by taking clenbuterol, has won first ATP match since October 2005. Beck defeated 4-6 6-4 7-5 Michal Przysiezny of Poland being two points away from defeat at 4:5 in the third set on return. Also two points away from defeat was Belgian Kristof Vliegen but managed to win five consecutive points in a final tie-break against Oscar Hernandez.
First Round
(1)Rafael Nadal (ESP) d. Fabrice Santoro (FRA) 6-0 6-1
(q)Karol Beck (SVK) d. Michal Przysiezny (POL) 4-6 6-4 7-5
Nicolas Devilder (FRA) d. (WC)Abdulla Hajji (QAT) 6-0 6-3
(5)(WC)Gael Monfils (FRA) d. Jan Hernych (CZE) 6-2 6-2
(4)Andy Roddick (USA) d. Ivan Navarro-Pastor (ESP) 6-1 6-3
(WC)Arnaud Clement (FRA) d. Diego Junqueira (ARG) 6-1 6-2
Victor Hanescu (ROU) d. Viktor Troicki (SRB) 6-4 6-2
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) d. (6)Igor Andreev (RUS) 4-6 6-3 6-4
(q)Alexander Peya (AUT) d. (7)Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) 2-6 6-3 6-4
Sergey Stakhovsky (UKR) d. Christophe Rochus (BEL) 2-6 6-3 7-6(3)
Philipp Petzschner (GER) d. Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 7-6(2) 6-3
(3)Andy Murray (GBR) d. Albert Montanes (ESP) 6-2 6-4
(8)Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) d. (q)Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 6-4 6-3
Kristof Vliegen (BEL) d. Oscar Hernandez (ESP) 6-1 6-7(4) 7-6(5)
Andreas Seppi (ITA) d. Denis Gremelmayr (GER) 6-4 6-2
(2)Roger Federer (SUI) d. Potito Starace (ITA) 6-2 6-2
BRISBANE
The tournament has been moved from Adelaide to Brisbane and joined with the woman’s tournament. Ernests Gulbis made the biggest upset defeating 6-4 6-4 Novawk Djokovic. 20 year-old Gulbis broke Djokovic’s serve in the 5th game of the first set and held his serve to the end. The second set began with four breaks of serve. At 4:4 Djokovic lost his serve for the third time in this set, and Gulbis finished the match in the following game with an ace. “I’m not panicking. I’m not seriously a big doubt. The Australian Open is my highest goal for this part of the year” said Djokovic after losing an opportunity to overtake Federer in the ATP ranking this week.
American Taylor Dent has won first ATP match since February 2006. Dent, currently No. 865, didn’t play almost 2.5 years due to the recurring back and groin problems.
In the first all-tie-break match of this year, Mario Ancic edged past Amer Delic 7-6(2) 6-7(4) 7-6(6) after 2 hours 52 minutes with no break of serve. Ancic was two points away from closing out the match in two sets but in the third set he found himself in the reverse situation. Delic on three different occasions (5:4 deuce, 5:5 and 6:6 in the tie-break) was two points away from reaching second round but finally the Croat held his nerve and won for the first time in career a match composed of 3 tie-break sets. Ancic was better in aces (23-21) too.
First Round
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) d. (1)Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-4 6-4
Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) d. (q)Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 6-3 6-3
Kei Nishikori (JPN) d. (q)Bobby Reynolds (USA) 6-3 6-2
(5)Tomas Berdych (CZE) d. (WC)Brydan Klein (AUS) 6-0 6-4
(3)Fernando Verdasco (ESP) d. (WC)Bernard Tomic (AUS) 6-4 6-2
Mario Ancic (CRO) d. (q)Amer Delic (USA) 7-6(2) 6-7(4) 7-6(6)
Florent Serra (FRA) d. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) 6-3 7-6(3)
Jurgen Melzer (AUT) d. (6)Mardy Fish (USA) 6-4 4-6 7-6(4)
(8)Radek Stepanek (CZE) d. Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) 6-2 6-2
Michael Llodra (FRA) d. (q)Joseph Sirianni (AUS) 5-7 7-6(3) 6-2
Julien Benneteau (FRA) d. Robby Ginepri (USA) 3-6 6-3 7-5
(4)Robin Soderling (SWE) d. Samuel Querrey (USA) 6-3 6-3
(7)Richard Gasquet (FRA) d. Marc Gicquel (FRA) 4-6 6-2 6-2
(PR)Taylor Dent (USA) d. Steve Darcis (BEL) 7-6(0) 6-2
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) d. (WC)Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 5-7 6-1 6-4
(2)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) d. Agustin Calleri (ARG) 6-2 7-5
CHENNAI
Nikolay Davydenko as only Top 10 player arrived to India, and won his first match in Chennai Open convincingly 6-2 6-3 over Daniel Kollerer. In the most dramatic match of the first round, Dudi Sela eliminated Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo despite 4-6 4:5 (0-40) on return. Ramirez-Hidalgo was one out of 7 Spaniards who entered the draw, only two of them have won first round matches, Marcel Granollers and Carlos Moya. Two-time champion (2004-05), Moya was pushed to play a tie-break of the second set in a match against Danai Udomchoke. Moya in the second raound will take on local favorite Somdev K. Dev Varman who posted third ATP win in career but first in straight sets.
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First Round
(1)Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) d. Daniel Kollerer (AUT) 6-2 6-3
(WC)Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) d. Go Soeda (JPN) 3-6 6-2 6-4
Andreas Beck (GER) d. Roko Karanusic (CRO) 6-1 6-0
(8)Marcel Granollers (ESP) vs Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR) 6-4 7-5
(3)Marin Cilic (CRO) d. Alberto Martin (ESP) 6-4 6-4
Denis Istomin (UZB) d. (q)Rohan Bopanna (IND) 6-4 7-6(3)
Dudi Sela (ISR) d. Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo (ESP) 4-6 7-6(3) 6-1 – 4 M.P.
(7)Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) d. Pablo Andujar (ESP) 6-3 6-2
(6)Carlos Moya (ESP) d. (q)Danai Udomchoke (THA) 6-3 7-6(4)
(WC)Somdev K. Dev Varman (IND) d. Kevin Kim (USA) 6-3 6-3
Ivo Minar (CZE) d. Wayne Odesnik (USA) 6-3 6-0
(4)Ivo Karlovic (CRO) d. (q)Rajeev Ram (USA) 6-4 6-3
(5)Rainer Schuettler (GER) d. (WC)Prakash Amritraj (IND) 6-2 4-6 6-1
Simon Greul (GER) d. Daniel Gimeno (ESP) 6-3 6-4
Bjorn Phau (GER) d. Santiago Ventura (ESP) 6-2 7-5
(q)Flavio Cipolla (ITA) d. (2)Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 6-4 6-1
Taylor Dent
The Return of Taylor Dent and Part 1 of 7 Part Series: Why I have always compared Road Cycling to Tennis
Hello everyone! Off to a little late start here this week with the blog. I’ve had a junior fly in from Louisiana to train for the week, had a visit from a friend and old client, Amer Delic, and of course non stop management of my 1 year old, Maximus.
Let me get right down to business because there is an awful lot to talk about! As you saw in my headline, I will be talking about the very badly missed Taylor Dent, and the first part of a 7 series , “Why I have always Tennis to Professional Road Cycling.”
Taylor Dent happens to be one of my favorite players to watch and to be around. He’s very laid back, extremely talented, and his game is like a venomous cobra, it’s starts very slow and still, but in less that a blink of an eye, it can attack and bite you!
The only time that I have ever had to coach against him was back in 2005 at the Indianapolis RCA Finals. I was working with Ginepri and I remembered waking up in the morning and getting on my computer and looking at www.drudgreport.com, and seeing a huge black headline in the middle of the page, “Chicago 111 degrees!”
You have to know that it was hot pretty much all week in Indy…REALLY hot, and this was going to be the hottest day. This is one of the things that I will point out in Part 2. In order to win a tennis tournament, or even go deep in a tourny, you need to win many matches, in a row. And that takes stamina, that takes endurance, and that takes the ability to not have a bad day.
In cycling, there is an event known as a Stage Race. All of you have heard of the Stage Race called Le Tour de France. Well, a Stage Race, is where you have to race day in and day out, and if you have 1 bad day, you are done. This was the end of the week in Indy, and if one of the boy’s was going to have a bad day, it would be today.
So I read the DrudgeReport, and quickly I develop an ear to ear grin, and then proceed to do few back flips in the middle of our hotel room. Ok, that may sound mean and sadistic, but the bottom line is, tennis in the heat, especially THAT kind of heat, is much more of a physical battle, and I knew that would favor Robby in a very big, and shall I say, EVIL way….MUHAUHAUHAUHAUHAUH!!!!!!!
Ok, I have to write about this now, because it is all coming back to me…get this!!!…get this, ok, so Taylor wins the first set, 6-4. Not a routine 6-4 by any means. It was a hard fought 6-4…Robby begins the second set and just starts steam rolling over T, 6-0 …like in NO time! I think it was the beginning of the 3rd set and Taylor looks up at his coach and starts asking for some candy bars! 🙂 I’m not going to say that I couldn’t believe it, because I know these kids were just naive, but I was definitely a little shocked.
So after scurrying all over the stadium, Tommy Floyd, manages to wrangle T up a snickers bar or something. Ok folks, it’s not rocket science to know that you don’t want anything like that when it’s that hot and humid and you have another set to play! I would go into details as to WHY but I will say this, and this is something that I would even tell my players, “Do you think Lance Armstrong would eat a cookie before he attacked Alp D’Huez in the Tour de France!?!?!?!?!?!!”
Ok so back to the title, The RETURN of TD. I was very excited to see that Taylor was back in action at the Challenger last week in Champaign, IL. Ironically enough, it was Taylor who beat last weeks cover boy, Robert Kendrick, 7-6, 7-6 in a second round thriller. Boy, I tell you, that Challenger should really appreciate the talent they have in it, because that could be a great night match at the USOpen baby!
Unfortunately, Taylor had to retire from his next match with an injury. Hopefully Taylor can find someone that can really take care of that body for him and get him in really “Taylor Dent specific shape” because we desperately need him back in the game….
Part 1 : Tennis to Cycling: A comparison
Endurance – There are a few parts to Endurance that I will cover
1. Length of time during a match endurance
2. Day in and Day out recovery
In cycling, everyone starts the race together, but not everyone finishes together! Sometimes you have to play a 3 hour match and you don’t want to fatigue late in the last set. You have to train for time. A good way to do this is to schedule your off court training immediately after your tennis match or practice. For instance, say you have a match that takes you 90 mins, have a small snack, like a Powerbar, not a Snickers Bar, and go into the gym, for a interval workout on the bike and then hit the weights hard.
Ok, Maximus is now awake and it is time for Gladiator training! VAMOS!
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On This Day In Tennis History Is Latest Book Release From New Chapter Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. – New Chapter Press has announced the publication of its latest book – On This Day In Tennis History -a calendar-like compilation of historical and unique anniversaries, events and happenings from the world of tennis through the years – written by Randy Walker, the sports marketing and media specialist, tennis historian and former U.S. Tennis Association press officer.
On This Day In Tennis History ($19.95, 528 pages), is a fun and fact-filled, this compilation offers anniversaries, summaries, and anecdotes of events from the world of tennis for every day in the calendar year. Presented in a day-by-day format, the entries into this mini-encyclopedia include major tournament victory dates, summaries of the greatest matches ever played, trivia, and statistics as well as little-known and quirky happenings. Easy-to-use and packed with fascinating details, the book is the perfect companion for tennis and general sports fans alike and is an excellent gift idea for the holiday season. The book features fascinating and unique stories of players such as John McEnroe, Don Budge, Bill Tilden, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Anna Kournikova among many others. On This Day In Tennis History is available for purchase via on-line book retailers and in bookstores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. More information on the book can be found at www.tennishistorybook.com
Said Hall of Famer Jim Courier of the book, “On This Day In Tennis History is a fun read that chronicles some of the most important-and unusual-moments in the annals of tennis. Randy Walker is an excellent narrator of tennis history and has done an incredible job of researching and compiling this entertaining volume.” Said tennis historian Joel Drucker, author of Jimmy Connors Saved My Life, “An addictive feast that you can enjoy every possible way-dipping in for various morsels, devouring it day-by-day, or selectively finding essential ingredients. As a tennis writer, I will always keep this book at the head of my table.” Said Bill Mountford, former Director of Tennis of the USTA National Tennis Center, “On This Day In Tennis History is an easy and unique way to absorb the greatest-and most quirky-moments in tennis history. It’s best read a page a day!”
Walker is a writer, tennis historian and freelance publicist and sports marketer. A 12-year veteran of the U.S. Tennis Association’s Marketing and Communications Division, he served as the press officer for the U.S. Davis Cup team from 1997 to 2005 and for the U.S. Olympic tennis teams in 1996, 2000 and 2004. He also served as the long-time editor of the U.S. Open Record Book during his tenure at the USTA from 1993 to 2005.
More information on the book can be found at www.tennistomes.com as well as on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1627089030&ref=name and on myspace at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=428100548
People mentioned in the book include, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Goran Ivanisevic, Andre Agassi, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Amelie Mauresmo, Anna Kounikova, Jennifer Capriati, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Martina Hingis, Gustavo Kuerten, Svetlana Kuznetsova, James Blake, Wilmer Allison, Mal Anderson, Arthur Ashe, Juliette Atkinson, Henry “Bunny” Austin, Tracy Austin, Boris Becker, Kark Behr, Pauline Betz, Bjorn Borg, Jean Borotra, John Bromwich, Norman Brookes, Louise Brough, Jacques Brugnon, Butch Buchholz, Don Budge, Maria Bueno, Rosie Casals, Michael Chang, Philippe Chatrier, Dodo Cheney, Henri Cochet, Maureen Connolly, Jimmy Connors, Jim Courier, Ashley Cooper, Margaret Court, Jack Crawford, Allison Danzig, Dwight Davis, Lottie Dod, John Doeg, Laurence Doherty, Reggie Doherty, Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers, Jaroslav Drobny, Margaret duPont, Francoise Durr, James Dwight, Stefan Edberg, Roy Emerson, Chis Evert, Bob Falkenburg, Neale Fraser, Shirley Fry, Althea Gibson, Pancho Gonzalez, Evonne Goolagong, Arthur Gore, Steffi Graf, Bitsy Grant, Darlene Hard, Doris Hart, Anne Jones, Gladys Heldman, Slew Hester, Bob Hewitt, Lew Hoad, Harry Hopman, Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, Joe Hunt, Frank Hunter, Helen Jacobs, Bill Johnston, Perry Jones, Bob Kelleher, Billie Jean King, Jan Kodes, Karel Kozeluh, Jack Kramer, Rene Lacoste, Bill Larned, Art Larsen, Rod Laver, Ivan Lendl, Suzanne Lenglen, George Lott, Gene Mako, Molla Mallory, Hana Mandlikova, Alice Marble, Dan Maskell, Simone Mathieu, Mark McCormack, John McEnroe, Ken McGregor, Kitty Godfree, Chuck McKinley, Maurice McLoughlin, Frew McMillian, Don McNeill, Elisabeth Moore, Angela Mortimer, Gardnar Mulloy, Ilie Nastase, Martina Navratilova, John Newcombe, Yannick Noah, Jana Novotna, Betty Nuthall, Alex Olmedo, Rafael Osuna, Frank Parker, Gerald Patterson, Budge Patty, Fred Perry, Nicola Pietrangeli, Adrian Quist, Patrick Rafter, Dennis Ralson, Vinnie Richards, Nancy Richey, Cliff Richey, Bobby Riggs, Tony Roche, Mervyn Rose, Ken Rosewall, Elizbeth Ryan, Gabriela Sabatini, Pete Sampras, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Manuel Santana, Dick Savitt, Ted Schroeder, Gene Scott, Richard Sears, Frank Sedgman, Pancho Segura, Vic Seixas, Frank Shields, Pam Shriver, Stan Smith, Fred Stolle, Bill Talbert, Bill Tilden, Tony Trabert, Lesley Turner, Jimmy Van Alen, John Van Ryn, Guillermo Vilas, Ellsworth Vines, Brian Gottfried, Virginia Wade, Holcombe Ward, Watson Washburn, Mal Whitman, Mats Wilander, Tony Wilding, Helen Wills Moody, Sidney Wood, Robert Wrenn, Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, Todd Woodbridge, Marat Safin, Leslie Allen, Sue Barker, Jonas Bjorkman, Mahesh Bhupathi, Donald Dell, Albert Costa, Mark Cox, Owen Davidson, Pat Cash, Mary Carillo, John Isner, Roscoe Tanner, Vijay Amritraj, Mark Woodforde, Tim Henman, Richard Krajicek, Conchita Martinez, Mary Joe Fernandez, Cliff Drysdale, Mark Edmondson, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Zina Garrson, Roland Garros, Wojtek Fibak, Tom Gullikson, Andres Gimeno, Vitas Gerulaitis, Fernando Gonzalez, Tim Henman, Goran Ivanisevic, Andrea Jaeger, Ivo Karlovic, Richard Krajicek, Petr Korda, Luke Jensen, Murphy Jensen, Rick Leach, Iva Majoil, Barry MacKay, Ivan Ljubicic, Cecil Mamiit, David Caldwell, Alex Metreveli, Nicolas Massu, Todd Martin, Gene Mayer, Thomas Muster, Tom Okker, Charlie Pasarell, Mary Pierce, Whitney Reed, Leander Paes, Renee Richards, Helen Sukova, Michael Stich, Betty Stove, Ion Tiriac, Brian Teacher, Wendy Turnbull, Richards, Fabrice Santoro, Ai Sugiyama, Patrick McEnroe, Camille Pin, Phil Dent, Jelena Dokic, Mark Edmondson, Gael Monfils, Xavier Malisse, Dinara Safina, Barry Lorge, Stefano Pescosolido, Fabrice Santoro, Roscoe Tanner, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Roger Smith, Erik van Dillen, Gene Mayer, Tamara Pasek, Stefan Koubek, Jie Zheng, Gisela Dulko, Kristian Pless, Chuck McKinley, Marty Riessen, Brad Gilbert, Tim Mayotte, Andrea Petkovic, Klara Koukalova, Bobby Reynolds, Dominik Hrbaty, Andreas Seppi, Christopher Clarey, Casey Dellacqua, Anders Jarryd, Janko Tipsarevic, Nadia Petrova, Christian Bergstrom, Ramesh Krishnan, Emily Sanchez, Marcos Baghdatis, Mark Philippousssis, Wally Masur, Paul McNamee, Daniela Hantuchova, Gerry Armstrong, Younes El Aynaoui, Thomas Johansson, Pat Cash, Lisa Raymond, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Chanda Rubin, Tony Roche, Alex O’Brien, Petr Korda, Karol Kucera, Amelie Mauresmo, Juan Gisbert, Pablo Cuevas, Jim Pugh, Rick Leach, Julien Boutter, Larry Stefanki, Chris Woodruff, Jill Craybas, Sania Mirza, Mike Leach, Maggie Maleeva, Guillermo Canas, Guillermo Coria, Donald Young, Dick Stockton, Johan Kriek, Milan Srejber, Zina Garrison, Slyvia Hanika, Karin Knapp, Laura Granville, Kei Nishikori, Scott Davis, Paul Goldstein, Alberto Martin, Nicolas Kiefer, Joachim Johansson, Jonathan Stark, Jakob Hlasek, Jeff Tarango, Amanda Coetzer, Andres Gomez, Richey Reneberg, Francisco Clavet, Radek Stepanek, Miloslav Mecir, Jose-Luis Clerc, Colin Dibley, Mikael Pernfors, Martin Mulligan, Robbie Weiss, Hugo Chapacu, Victor Pecci, Charlie Bricker, Greg Rusedski, Robin Finn, Kimiko Date, David Nalbandian, Goran Ivanisevic, Mikhail Youzhny, Nicole Pratt, Bryanne Stewart, Novak Djokovic, Rennae Stubbs, Corina Morariu, Marc Rosset, Kenneth Carlsen, Kimiko Date, Ryan Harrison, Richard Gasquet, Jimmy Arias, Jim Leohr, Felix Mantilla, Cedric Pioline, Annabel Croft, Brooke Shields, Jaime Yzaga, Slobodan Zivojinovic, Alberto Mancini, Peter McNamara, Andrei Chesnokov, Fabrice Santoro, Bud Collins, Mardy Fish, Sebastien Grosjean, Donald Dell, Petr Kuczak, Magnus Norman, Hicham Arazi, Nduka Odizor, Lori McNeil, Horst Skoff, Karolina Sprem, Ros Fairbank, Linda Siegel, Chris Lewis, Kevin Curren, Thierry Tulasne, Guy Forget, Fred Tupper, Jaime Fillol, Belus Prajoux, Ricardo Cano, Georges Goven, Ray Moore, Charlie Pasarell, Paul Annacone, Tomas Smid, Dmitry Tursunov, Elena Dementieva, Arnaud DiPasquale, Carl Uwe Steeb, Bill Scanlon, Jose Higueras, Jay Berger, Jana Novotna, Bill Dwyre, Lisa Dillman, Sean Sorensen, Paul McNamee, Jiri Novak, Benjamin Becker, Ion Tiriac, Neil Amdur, Tim Gullikson, Jan-Michael Gambill, Taylor Dent, Bryan Shelton, Vijay Amritraj, Martin Verkerk, Brian Gottfried, Carlos Moya, Jacco Eltingh, Adriano Panatta, John Feinstein, Aaron Krickstein, Wilhelm Bungert, Derrick Rostagno, Torben Ulrich, Daniel Nestor, Ray Ruffels, Cliff Drysdale, James Reilly, Andy Murray, Leander Paes, Alicia Molik, Barry MacKay among others.
New Chapter Press is also the publisher of The Bud Colins History of Tennis by Bud Collins, The Roger Federer Story, Quest for Perfection by Rene Stauffer and Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games by Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli and the soon to be released title The Lennon Prophecy by Joe Niezgoda. Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press is an independent publisher of books and part of the Independent Publishers Group. More information can be found at www.newchapterpressmedia.com
Devvarman puts a Dent in Taylor's Comeback
If you haven’t heard of Indian tennis player Somdev Devvarman, you might want to start taking notice. American Taylor Dent certainly did today as he went down in defeat in three sets during the first round of the Legg Mason Classic in Washington, DC.
Devvarman who just turned pro in June, won the match 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-1 to advance to the next round. While you might be wondering if Devvarman belongs to the rising group of youngsters currently making noise on the ATP tour, he is in fact already 23 years old and a veteran of College tennis in the United States.
While playing for the University of Virginia, Devvarman amassed am impressive 44-1 record at the College level this past year. He made college tennis history by making it to the NCAA finals three times in a row, and came away a winner on the last two.
Referencing the longer road it took him to reach the pro tour, Devvarman said that he and fellow former College player John Isner have, ‘both done four years in school, we’ve experienced something different…from being a generic pro tennis player.’
‘I’ve had such a great time in college that I wouldn’t trade it in for anything.’
This year Devvarman has also enjoyed much success at the Futures and Challenger level. He won a hard court future and two clay court future’s earlier in the year. He then won the hard court Challenger tournament in Lexington three weeks ago, beating five players inside the top 200 in the world. Devvarman’s ranking at the time – 566. Some of the names he beat en route to the title are familiar in the tennis world; Bobby Reynolds, Andrea Stoppini, Xavier Malisse and Robert Kendrick. Impressive notches in the belt of someone so inexperienced at that level of play.
Although Dent has not had much match play after his two year injury layoff, he still represented a more powerful opponent than the 5’11’, 160lb Devvarman was accustomed to. Dent’s booming serves regularly topped 130mph while Devvarman’s were lucky to crack 115mph. Dent also brought a style of play rarely seen anymore. He is one of the few serve and volley guys left on tour.
Devvarman eventually took advantage of Dent’s lack of match play and waited for the American’s errors to pile up and his fitness level to drop. Dent acknowledged this in an interview we had after the match.
‘For playing me right now, for playing a guy like me who’s just coming back, not fresh, it’s a great strategy cause I’m gonna make a lot of errors and I’m gonna get tired out there.’
‘The adjustments I would have had to make today I just didn’t have the legs to make them…but that’s where it’s tough being a serve and volleyer, you have to move faster.’
All things being equal, Dent did put up a good fight for a guy who is still trying to find his game and his stamina. He plans now to return to Florida and work at the Bollettieri Academy on his legs and his cardio to prepare for a strong 2009 showing. He decided against asking for a wild card into the US Open later this month.
‘Right now just playing three sets out here is pretty taxing on my body and I just need a little more time to get ready for the three out of five sets.’
‘What I’m really aiming for, my big goal is the Australian Open.’
It sounds that while Taylor Dent still needs time for his body to return to form, mentally he has developed a well thought-out plan that we can only hope he can execute.
Ask Bill: Here Comes Taylor Dent
It is great to see Taylor Dent taking his first steps on the comeback trail. He entered $50,000 Challengers in Carson, Calif., last week (losing in three sets to former NCAA champion Cecil Mamiit) and will play Yuba City, Calif., next week. TD is a net-rushing Californian who has been sidetracked for over two years with a career-threatening back injury. In fact, his situation seemed so dire that he began a career as an on-court teaching professional.
Dent applied for, and easily passed, the U.S. Professional Tennis Association certification (his level: Professional 1). The fact that a young man in his mid-twenties who had won four ATP Tour titles would go through the studying, preparation, and two-day certification course along with other aspiring coaches says much about his character. He does not have a sense of entitlement.
I had pegged Taylor Dent to be the best prospect among his American generation, which includes Andy Roddick, James Blake, Mardy Fish, and Robby Ginepri. If Wimbledon had not slowed the grass courts down after the 2001 tournament (and, make no mistake, that formerly slick and uneven surface has played like a high-bouncing, slow hard court ever since) and the Slazenger balls that are currently used do not play like soft melons (and getting seemingly softer every year) then Dent probably would have already had some deep runs at SW19. Along with their penchant for excellence in old-school volleys, he could share this lament with Britain’s Tim Henman as well.
It would be wonderful to see him make a full recovery. If his back can handle the stresses of today’s game, then his mind certainly can. After the injury ordeal that he has been through, facing break points in a third set will not seem nearly as daunting.
My favorite Taylor Dent story was from when he did an appearance for a U.S. Open sponsor during his injury respite. At the time, he could do anything except serve. He participated in a Pro-Am and was the first to arrive and the last to leave. Suffice to say that usually the “pros” in the Pro-Ams do not share this same enthusiasm. He was definitely the star of the day, and left the amateur participants feeling great.
Early in the day, Dent warmed up with one of the summer staff teaching professionals at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and their hitting session drew a small crowd of curiosity seekers. When he was done with his hit, a few of the teaching pros challenged him to try hitting a ball into Arthur Ashe stadium from the outside. To reach the upper deck of the massive stadium, it was probably 250 feet high and 100 feet away from the practice court where he was standing. A few of the teaching pros made attempts first, and failed miserably. Dent was amused. From the middle of court 5, he took a ball and with a smooth swing he generated enough force to loft the ball into the stadium. People looked surprised and gave him the ‘try that again’ look. He took another ball and did it again, perhaps even more easily. He smiled and walked away. There are onlookers from that day who still talk about that feat.
Sam Querrey is training with Gil Reyes, the long-time fitness guru for Andre Agassi. Sudden Sam is already moving better. This is a great career move for a determined American athlete. Querrey’s volleys remain suspect, but the grass courts of Wimbledon have been slowed sufficiently that this weakness will not be as pronounced. He will be a big factor at Wimbledon this summer.
If the US whips Spain on clay in the Davis Cup semifinals, will the media stop with the Americans Cannot Play On Clay theme? They will be underdogs, but it could happen. Every potential member of Captain Patrick McEnroe’s team – including potential members of the practice squad – has had some positive results on this “foreign” surface this spring.
Serena Williams looks fit, for what it’s worth. Aside from maybe her sister Venus, there has never been another player who gives her opponent so little say in the matter. If Serena is playing well, then she wins. It is as simple as that.
Lefty Wayne Odesnik beating Argentine Guillermo Canas in straight sets at Roland Garros was pretty damn impressive. Recall that Canas bullied Federer twice last year on American hard courts. As John McEnroe quipped, Americans are not supposed to dominate Argentines on clay.
In college tennis, it was a great week in the NCAA team tournament for UCLA and Georgia. It is also a dreadful time at Arizona State and Arkansas-Little Rock.
The coverage of the NCAA team tourney on ESPN-U was a welcome sight. The good people of Tulsa, Oklahoma were treated to a special week of team tennis, with the individual singles and doubles tournaments following the team competitions.
Firstly, the good news: Congratulations to coach Stella Sampras Webster, who led the UCLA Lady Bruins to their first-ever NCAA title with a decisive victory over Pac-10 rival California in the finals. Stella’s little brother Pete, a big supporter of the UCLA team, knows more about tennis championships than anyone and he must be so proud of his sister.
Manuel Diaz led his University of Georgia men to their second straight NCAA title. The Bulldogs are the first team to go back-to-back in a decade, and this is the first title UGA has garnered outside of Athens, Ga. Georgia has now won six titles, with Diaz at the helm for four of those. They defeated a game Texas Longhorns squad in a nail-biter of a match.
Sadly, that very same Pac-10 conference that produced the two women’s finalists has suffered the loss of the Arizona State men’s program. ASU announced that it was being cut for budgetary reasons. Also getting unceremoniously dumped was the University of Arkansas-Little Rock men’s program. This really, really sucks.
People lament the fact that foreign-born players are dominating collegiate tennis in this era. Well, maybe. I agree that this is an issue, and I will address it later. It is a secondary issue, however, to the number of programs (especially men’s teams) that are getting euthanized.
These cuts are having a dramatic and negative effect on the number of young children who are getting steered toward competitive tennis. This is understandable. If you are an American parent with an athletic child, or athletic children, and you are choosing a sport that might lead to someday getting financial assistance- or even a scholarship- in college, then tennis is looking like an increasingly crappy option.
Title IX has been brilliant, in so many ways, for young women. It was not (never, ever) created to deny young men equal opportunities.
The colleges and universities that have been dropping tennis programs has become epidemic. The arrogance of athletic directors who justify their decisions by stating that it is based on budgetary concerns is insulting. Lousy football teams cost millions of dollars per season. This bounty includes a massive number of scholarships, remuneration packages for head coaches that are out of proportion with reality, constant stadium and facility upgrades, etc. It is sickening. Collegiate tennis programs cost a mere fraction of the other sports.