Why are the American men struggling at Roland Garros and on the red clay of Europe?
The two Americans who advanced the farthest in the men’s draw were not who you would think – Wayne Odesnik, reached the third round, who is primarily a challenger level player, and Robby Ginepri, who reached the fourth round and is making his way back into the top flights of tennis after a slump.
Why aren’t the top two men like Blake and Roddick competing in the second week of this event? Yes, Roddick is injured but he has never faired well at Roland Garros and Blake is also never been a threat on the red clay. Roddick and Blake seem to blow off correct preparation for the European clay court season by playing events here in the U.S. Yes, Houston is on red clay but the quality of player that is far superior to any in Houston.
If you have ever played on clay then you will know that green clay is very different to red clay and you are fooling yourself. This is exactly what I think that Roddick and Blake are doing. They show up half way through the clay court season and expect to do well, or do they? I seem to feel that Blake and Roddick blow off the clay court season and only really show up to meet there requirements of not getting zeros for the masters series and show up for Roland Garros for the pay check. I do not doubt that they want to win but are they really expecting to with such mediocre preparation. They would both benefit playing more on the clay as it would help there point construction and patience for the hard court season.
The junior situation is just as poor in the U.S. as only really one state in the country has a vast amount of clay courts, Florida. Good luck finding a program that promotes playing on red clay on a regular basis. Saddlebrook does have the red stuff but how often are they making their juniors play on it?
The top three American male juniors (Ryan Harrison, Bradley Klahn and Chase Buchanan) are competing in the Junior French and all three have been eliminated by the second round. Klahn has a traditional hard court game. Harrison and Buchanan are both very steady from the back court but experience and movement on red clay is going to be the problem for them on clay. This was not solved with a few weeks of playing in some events in Europe.
Until the USTA starts to implement a game plan for developing players on clay by putting in and making there top players train on red clay on a regular basis, 3-4 months of the year then American men are going to continue to be the whipping boys on the clay court swing both on the pro circuit and the juniors. The red clay is such a great learning ground for juniors to learn how to play the game of tennis in terms of point construction and patience, it helps condition players to be able to play very long matches that are physically grueling without the wear and tear that you get from hard court play.
When I traveled with four top 100 boys, we were never to concerned when we had to play an American on red clay as we knew they have very little or no experience. This is the feeling of most non American players.
Wayne Odesnik
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.