Archives for March 2018

Ostapenko vs. Stephens: Are they the future No. 1s?


We have all watched Stephens over the past eight years, at the Slams, playing bad at times, and playing great. Last year, we watched Sloane during the summer, after she came back due to her foot surgery. She didn’t play for nine months. It took her a couple months or so to be more comfortable, and then, she knew she was ready to leap. 

She won the 2017 US Open, showing strength, super speed and lethal shots. During the rest of the year, she failed quickly, because her body was tired and she needed to take a long rest. 

She did not, and in the beginning of 2018, she was shaky. But once again, her legs are strong, she began to be a little more aggressive, and she rarely missed. So now, she is right there again, cool, calm and collected.

Even though Ostapenko is ranked No. 5, the elder Stephens is the favorite over the 20-year-old Ostapenko. Without question, the American has matured. Now, she can be funny and real. 

Ostapenko is very young, and she will grow, but even so, she is an excellent player already. She is just a huge hitter, with her forehand and backhand. She hits so many winners, which is terrific, but when she is off, she also has numerous errors. Over the past 10 days, though, she was on it, not only running fast, but being more consistent and a little more patient. She is learning. Last year, she won Roland Garros on pure power. The fans were pretty surprised that the Latvian was so confident and she loved to slide on the clay. Just like Stephens, Ostapenko skidded in the first couple months. But here in Florida, she was patient and thoughtful.

Both of them can crack their backhands and forehands, crosscourt and down the line. There serves are so-so, but they can jump on the second serves and whack-em. 

They are certainly showing that they are here now, and both of then want to reach No. 1 this year. When? Hard to say, but Ostapenko is already in the top 5 and Stephens is in inching to the top 10. So, in a few more months, if they maintain their composure, they could be right there.

Who will win? They have to go into the third sets. Ostapenko will swing away, but Stephens will bring it back, and back, and back. Sloane will pick up a Premier Mandatory trophy. 

John Isner vs. Juan Martin del Potro: Coming down to the wire?

Finally, John Isner is back again. I mean, in the last nine days, he woke up in Miami. Prior to that during the past two and a half months, he was sadly down. He only won two matches, and he lost time and time again. Very early.

But after he played Indian Wells, he talked to his coach, and his friends, and they said, ‘C’mon, you are better than that. Don’t be so nervous and be  so depressed on court. When you get start the match, make sure to shake it off, even if you whiff. This is your life. You are 32-years-old now so it is time to believe in yourself, because in another five years, you might retire. So go to it.’”
He did and in the last three days, he played extremely well, knocking out the  No. 3 Marin Cilic, and the young rising Hyeon Chung in straight sets.

Isner and Cilic have been around for a very long time. Cilic has played pretty well in 2018, but he has not been terrific. So Isner hit some huge serves, his big forehand, and he was very patient. When he beat Chung fairly easily, he returned pretty decently, which is surprising, because over the past decade, Isner  rarely broke. But he did on Wednesday.

So now he will face Juan Martin del Potro. The Argentine won Indian Wells, and when he arrived in Miami, he said he was very tired and he wasn’t sure whether he can last. But he has, overcoming Milos Raonic in three very long set, 7-6 in the third.  The Canadian Raonic was right there, but he hesitated, or he just missed it. As Delpo said, I can go for my shots, anytime I want,  because I am riding the waves. He sure is.

They will play on Friday with Isner against Del Potro. Last year, they played each other twice, in Canada,  with Juan winning 7-5 7-5, and in Paris Bercy,  John won 6-4 6-7 6-4.

All of those contests were on hardcourts, and they will do it again in Florida. Obviously, del Potro is favored, as he has won the 2009 US Open, and almost two weeks ago, he won his first ATP 1000 in California. He is simply cracking the ball.

If Isner can crush it when DelPo hits a second serve, he might have a chance to break him. However, if he doesn’t, then he will go down in straights set. But if he does, he can go into the third set and then, who knows?   Obviously, Del Potro is favored, as he has won the 2009 US Open, and almost two weeks ago, he won his first ATP 1000 in California. He is simply cracking the ball.

If Isner can crush it when DelPo hits a second serve, he might have a chance to break him. However, if he doesn’t, then the American will go down in straights set. But if he does, he can go into the third set and then, who knows?

Rising Borna Coric outlasts Shapovalov

The young 21-year-old Borna Coric has played so much better in the past month. Last year, he was all over the place, but now, he doesn’t get so angry and throw his rackets. No, when it is in to it, he just walks over and he refocuses.

On Tuesday, he edged Denis Shapovalov, 7-6 4-6 6-4. The Canadian was very enthusiastic, but he also can be pretty pissed off when he misses a shot or two. Coric has changed a few things, but really, he is just so steady and acurrate. For sure, he needs to come into the net a little bit more, but he can run forever…

 Alexander Zverev looked terrific against Nick Kyrgios and he won it 6-4 6-4. The tall Zverev is finally  becoming more happy, consistent, and he just rips the ball from both wings. He won Rome and Canada last year so clearly, when he is feeling good, he can beat anyone. I mean, everyone. But it is fairly early so if he wants to win Miami, he needs to breath and be more smart.
Kyrgios is hurt again. He has been hurt all the time this season, and a good amount last year, too. He is a damn good player when he feels healthy, but when he is not, he struggles. Who knows when he will play again…

The American Frances Tiafoe outlasted Tomas Berdych on Tuesday, but then he had to play again and he lost against Kevin Anderson. Tiafoe has had a terrific six weeks, and hopefully, he will continue to practice. We will see much more in the coming months…

Here comes a wild match tonight: Milos Raonic vs. Juan Martin del Potro. Raonic looks healthy, and JMDP is on fire and I mean he is totally smoking. Del Potro won Indian Wells, and he recently said that he is pretty tired, but he is locked in and he is not missing the tiny balls. Still, Raonic  wants to take him out, badly. He is going to have to return extremely well or he will lose in straight sets…
 
Talk about Vika Azarenka who is launching. She overcame  Katarina Pliskova 7-5 6-3. Her serve has improved — a little — her backhand can go anywhere she goes, and she is super optimistic at the net. She can win the title again, but she has to dig deep for hours to do it…

She will face Sloane Stephens in the semis on Thursday. Just like Azarenka, she is hopeful and self-assured. She is super steady,  she can really run and mix it up, which is why she destroyed Angie Kerber. However, against Azarenka, she has to attack early and keep it deep, or she will do down. Or perhaps Stephens can were her down in the third set. Perhaps.  

Federer lost, but you cannot win every time

Over the years, there are lost moments when the players go down hard. On Saturday in Miami, the great Roger Federer lost against Thanasi Kokkinakis 3-6 6-3 7-6(4) in a dramatic three-setter.

The Swiss has won so many times against everyone, but this time, he was out of bounds. On the past 14 months, Federer has been spectacular, but you cannot win every week. That is impossible. So now, he has decided that he will not play on clay once again, meaning that Federer won’t return on court on the grass in mid June. That is almost 3 months when he won’t be there, when the fans will be a little upset —or really upset — but perhaps they can watch some other people play. Yes, everyone knows that Federer has so much variety, and intelligence, but that doesn’t mean he is the only talent on tour with some great players. So, if you have an opportunity, watch pro tennis on TV, on the internet, or at the tournament. That would be nice.

You have to like Kokkinakis, the Aussie, who stunned Federer. Yes, Federer did not play great, but so what? The very young Kokkinakis nearly retired, but he did not, he recovered. He practices all the time. So, when he went on court, he was ready for battle. He served huge, returned pretty welland smoked his forehand. If he stays healthy, he will be a force the rest of this year.

No. 1 Simons Halep went down to Aga Radwanska. Stunned? I am not. The Pole is a very, very fine player when she is healthy and motivated. She has been on tour for more than a decade. She has come close to winning a major, but she hesitated too often. Her forehand is pretty mediocre. Still, maybe she can change it in the next couple of years, because if she cannot, then the former No. 2 Aga will not grab a Grand Slam. 

But, in Florida, she can make some noise, if she manages to knock out Vika Azarenka on Monday, who is rising fast. Radwanska has to push her back and run down shots because when Azarenka is on top of the ball, she can totally rip it, down the line and cross court. Another note: If Azarenka can play every month this season, she will go right back into the top 5. 

So what about Halep? She is a true grinder, and never gives up, which is good. But mentally, she gets upset and confused. Being No. 1 is terrific, but at this point, she has to find a way to win a Grand Slam. Somehow. However, she does love clay, so maybe she can take a deep breath and get on the Roland Garros winner’s stand. 

Here’s a fantastic match on Monday: Sloane Stephens against Garbine Muguruza. Both of them has won Slams, both of them love rallies. Ashleigh Barty is rising all the time. I bet she will crack the top 10 soon. … Finally, the frequency injured Nick Kyrgios came back. He will face Fabio Fognini and the Italian wants to yank him around. … So you like long matches? If you do, Jack Sock will face Borna Coric. Sock now comes into the net quite a bit, which can be good, but he has to put it away because Coric is getting better all the time.

Federer and del Potro: ‘It’s a great story’

Remember back when Juan Martin del Potro couldn’t even nail a winner with his one-handed backhand? But recently, his arm and wrist have recovered. His confidence grew and grew. After his multiple surgeries, del Potro stopped his two-handed backhand and he chipped the one-hander almost all the time. But over the last year or so, he became to use a two-hander here and there. He uses it more and more frequently. Last week, he won Indian Wells over Roger Federer in the final. The two-hander is back.

In Miami, Federer wasn’t that surprised.  

“In the beginning he was chipping a lot, for quite a while, actually. I was surprised how long it took him to get more and more confident coming over, but I feel like he’s finally there,” Federer said. “I feel like he looks good on the backhand now. Basically to his old self, probably a confidence thing. But what’s interesting is that he put himself out there with no double-hander almost, but just happy to slice and still take losses. I guess because he knew it was going to probably not be enough against some players, but he was happy enough playing this way, which I admire a lot. He’s won a Masters 1000. It’s a great story.”

Yes, really great story.

Federer has won 20 Grand Slams, while del Potro has won just one. However, del Potro is 4 to 2 in the finals against the Swiss. Overall, though, Federer has won 18 wins and seven losses against the Argentine. It is very likely play against each other sometime. Perhaps in Miami next week? Possible.

As Federer said, the Indian Wells final was as tough match.

“Should I have won the [2009] US Open finals [which del Potro won]? I could have, should have. I didn’t,” Federer said. “Same [at Indian Wells]. So that would have changed the whole thing around.

“But he stuck around, like most players who go deep in a tournament, the better they start playing. So clearly the tougher they [are] to beat. But, of course, I have had a few wins against him when he was still younger, where I almost had to win because, he wasn’t quite there yet. So that’s why I also have a better head-to-head. I’m not sure why the final record is the way it is. A lot of them have been extremely tight. Most of them have gone the distance, so it’s been tough against him.”

Notes
Reporter Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald, talking with Roger Federer:

Q: If you weren’t a tennis player, what would you be?
A: A retired soccer player by now. I was hoping to be a soccer player once upon a time. I liked midfield and scoring goals, but in the end I chose tennis because I didn’t want to blame the goalie or defender, I wanted to be in total control.”

Me, too, being in control.

Simona Halep likes to grind, and she does, but to start the tournament when it took more than two hours to beat Oceane Dodin 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, it won’t be easy to go all the way now. … Madison Keys retired in the second set against Vika Azarenka because her leg was pretty sore. Or worse. The first three months on the hardcourts haven’t helped Keys. … Sloane Stephens won easily against Ajla Tomljanovic. She says that it is one of her favorite tournaments. Really? Truly? Then win it. … Australian Matthew Ebden overcame Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-5. Will he go deeper? … American Ryan Harrison lost against Joao Sousa 7-6, 7-6. The tiebreaks can be so worrisome for Harrison. 

 

Verdasco: ‘Hopefully and stay for few more years on the tour’

The 34-year-old Fernando Verdasco took down the No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov and eventually, lost in Indian Wells to Taylor Fritz. On the plus side, he says that he is not ready to retire now. The former top 10 Verdasco reached the ’09 Australian Open against Rafa Nadal, losing in five incredible sets, that lasted more than five hours.

After he rests and goes on vacation Verdasco, wants to walk on the court and begin hitting again. He is playing Miami this week, and he is hoping that he will be hitting the ball next week, too.

“Tennis was always my life since I’m a baby. I always love this sport. I always love to play,” Verdasco said. “Of course, you always have some crisis in your life that, you like to play but maybe you just want to go on a beach and just relax some days with friends. But, actually, when I’m away for maybe a week, maybe 10 days, I miss it. And then I just want to go back to the court, to the gym, and work and try to keep improving and working hard to stay in the top level and being able to fight against the best players in the world, no? Now I’m 34 and I have to fight against players with 21, 22, 23 (of age) that that they are much younger. They have much less miles or kilometers in his legs.”

Verdasco admits that one of the reason he lost to Fritz is because he didn’t go for the lines often enough. He can be steady, and aggressive, but there have been some matches when he backed off.

“I was sometimes losing matches because, in the important moments with my serve, I was just kind of like not pushing. But just playing with first serves maybe 100 miles, and maybe I need to serve 125, 130, 135 sometimes, even if I miss.” Verdasco said. “But that’s what really makes you improve, and sometimes you have to take the risk. One match with Andy Murray, fourth round in Australia when I did semifinals, the fifth set against him, I start serving, 130 all the time. And, I surprised his return, because he was waiting for me wide, wide, wide, and then I start to do T hard, and many free points I got. Is not easy with pressure. And, hopefully, I will still have time to improve in more things and stay for few more years on the tour.”

Verdasco has always had a huge forehand, and his first serve, but his backhand has been mediocre. The Spaniard continues to work on it, to mix it up and hit it reasonably deep.
 
“My forehand was always there, or feeling good. The backhand, sometimes not that regular or maybe hurting that much. So, maybe I have to work my footwork to try to play with my forehand as much as possible. Backhand be aggressive. Changing, mix it up, high, low, slice. … It depending on who you play. Everything change about that. You try to change your game to hurt him, and at the end you’re hurting yourself because you’re not doing what you know how to do the best. So, in the end, it’s kind of like confusion because you lose because you don’t know what you’re doing on the court. That’s the worst feeling when you jump on court and you lose doing that.”

Miami notes
Vika Azarenka crushed CiCi Bellis in the first round. Azarenka admitted that she was pretty nervous, but once she went on court, she immediately locked in. Can she win Miami once again? It is a little early, but you never now with her. She faces Madison Keys in the next round. Keys has to get going. Azarenka already has.

Monica Puig took down Sam Stosur 6-3, 6-4. Puig loves Miami, where she lives.

Katarina Pliskova will face Ekaterina Makarova on Thursday. The Czech has to keep her head down because during some days, she doesn’t focus. The same thing goes with Makarova, but both of them are very good.

Roger Federer, who let the final against Juan Martin del Potro at Indian Wells slip away, says after Miami is done, he will decide whether to play Roland Garros. Now that would be nice to have play the Slam he didn’t play last year. Here are two very good matchups in doubles: John Isner/Donald Young v. Kyle Edmund/Nenad Zimonjic; Zverev brothers vs. Santiago Gonzalez/Verdasco.

Situation normal: Roger Federer is in control

INDIAN WELLS – Once again, Roger Federer is a seriously favorite to win another huge title. It is possible that someone will play perfectly, and the Swiss is a little bit off, and at the third set, the guy hits the lines all the time while Federer cannot keep his first serve in, and soon enough, he will get frustrated and he will miss point after point. 

Not these days, though. However, even though Federer has won 20 Grand Slams, and 97 victories overall, there have been losses. All the great champions have a few in the “L” column.

So this week, Federer can lose, but who exactly can run past Roger?
He will face Jeremy Chardy on Wednesday and while the Frenchman is pretty wily, he won’t be able to out-hit him, especially with the forehand. In the quarters, Federer would face either Hyeon Chung or Pablo Cuevas. The young Chung likes to be on the big stage, so he will put together some intense rallies, but in the end, Federer will confuse him. Unless …

One more terrific match coming up Wednesday is American Taylor Fritz versus Borna Coric. That is almost a tossup, but Coric is more driven this year. … How about this: Dominic Thiem and Gail Monfils retired. Nick Kyrgios and Kei Nishikori pulled out last week. Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka are all injured and couldn’t come, while Grigor Dmitrov and Alexandra Zverev both lost. Wow, is playing tennis that difficult for everyone?

Federer and DelPo talk about worrying Djokovic 
Many of the top American players are hurt, and couldn’t come to compete at Indian Wells, and a few retired — important players, too. But at least three very significant guys are here: Federer, Juan Martin del Potro and the former No. 1 Novak Djokovic. The Serbian lost early. He had a ton of unforced errors and, as he said, he was very shaky. He hadn’t played for months, but he really wanted to get back on court and swing away.  H  is struggling mentally, but that doesn’t mean that he will panic forever. He just has to be patient.  

Here is Federer’s take on Djokovic’s situation: “When you do come back, it’s like, ‘Oh, those break points; oh, those deuce points; those 30-all points; 15-30s; first point of the game.’ Where normally, when you’ve played a lot of matches, you just rock up, you hit a good serve, play a good point, 15-love, you just move along with the score.

“But you put extra effort to manage all that’s happening in your head. I feel like when you do come back from injury or when you haven’t played in a long time, it just takes extra effort. That’s probably also what he’s also feeling. And maybe was tired in the end a bit because, the focus you need to have is greater. Look, still such early stages for Novak coming back and the first one after surgery. He’s only going to get better from here. He knows that. We all know that. But it was nice to see him playing again.”

Del Potro has been there, too. Over the last eight years, he was in and out all the time. Multiple surgeries, leaving, coming back, winning, some big wins and some mediocre losses. He could have retired, but he has not. He is still very good, and he might be able to win a major again, but as he says, it can be difficult. Del Potro says that Djokovic just has to be patient,
 
“It’s not easy to come back and play good tennis, as everybody expect Novak’s game. And mentally you must be strong enough to deal with these kind of losses in this big of tournaments,” del Potro said. “It’s only time to get where he deserve to be. And if his body feels good, the tennis come along and the confidence come along, too. But is not easy to deal with this kind of frustrations after injuries or when you always be the favorite to win a tournament, you come here and you lose in first round. Is not easy. But he’s strong enough to deal with that, and I love him and I want to see him in the top positions very soon.”

The Women
No. 1 Simona Halep was very happy after beating Qiang Wang in straight sets, and she joked a lot in the press conference.
On Monday, she actually watched Serena and Venus Williams playing each other. Some people almost never watch the matches, but many of the players stop and watch the famous Williamses. Their matchups are pretty darn intense.
“I’m the world No. 1 in this moment, but I just watched the best player in the world,” Halep said. “I just do what I feel. I felt to come because I admire a lot the sisters.”
 
Venus knocked down Serena in straight sets on Monday, as the younger sister couldn’t control her ground strokes. Venus was pounding the ball very deep and hard. Plus, she was running well. 

On Tuesday, Venus rose up again, beating Anastasija Sevastova. Serena is gone, so Venus has an opportunity to win it all, but most of the very good players still left. Like Karolina Pliskova, who beat the 16-year-old American Amanda Anisimova in straight sets. Anisimova is already tall and strong, so watch her, if you get a chance. She does need a few more years to improve, but she is already very talented. “I think this will change a little bit in the future, but for sure the game is good and not really any weakness,” Pliskova said. The Czech will play the Japanese Naomi Osaka, who lives in the United States. What a basher.  

Stephens knocks down Azarenka, rising again?

INDIAN WELLS – American Sloane Stephens finally looked very good, turning around a nasty stretch of losses following her 2017 US Open victory. Over the past six months, she was out of it, physically and mentally. But finally, her body feels OK, and a little bit more confident. She beat Vika Azarenka 6-1, 7-5, which is very good, given that Belarusian had knocked Stephens out of the Aussie Open three times without dropping a set. But this time, Stephens was not only consistent, but lethal.

She says that this year, she won’t push herself because in 2016, she became seriously injured and she was out for almost an entire year.  Stephens doesn’t want to do that again.

“I’m going to listen to my body and make sure that I can do everything possible not to get injured again and make sure that I take care of myself mentally and physically the best way I know how,” she said. “Whatever schedule I play is what I play.

Obviously nothing’s ever set in stone. You can say, ‘Oh, I want to play here,’ and then not get enough matches and you want to play a different tournament. It’s kind of up in the air. My main priority is just making sure that I’m good and just staying happy.”

The two-time major champ Angie Kerber wore down Ekaterina Makarova, and on Monday, she will face defending champ Elena Vesnina. Kerber is the fav, but the Russian Vesnina has improved a lot in the past two years. … The 22-year-old Maria Sakkari upset Coco Vandeweghe, a great win by Greek, but a sloppy day by the American…
Karolina Pliskova dug deep to win in three sets over Shuai Zhang, who was seeded 32. The Czech stood strong, even though they went into a brutal third set. Can she go deep? Impossible to know with her, but if she does, watch out. …  20-year-old Jelena Ostapenko is skidding, losing against to the vet Petra Martic is straight sets. Maybe the Roland Garros champion need to relax once in a while.

The Men
Novak Djokovic showed up and did little more than that. He walked on the court against Taro Daniel and made so many errors, try 62. He lost and as he says he is mentally all over the place. However, he just started playing again, so give him some time, like a few more months. Then we will know how good he can really be again. … Gael Monfils took down John Isner. When the Frenchman is playing well, the fans will love watching him play. Isner has only won one match this year and seven losses and lost his confidence. … Brit Kyle Edmund returned after five weeks off due to injury, and he lost Dudi Sela. Still, Edmund should continue to improve. … Another difficult turn of events when Kei Nishikori pulled out. He is hurt all time. “I’m still not strong enough to go play a match. I’m very sorry as I love this tournament,” he said. Will he try to play Miami? Maybe not.

Serena: ‘I just felt like my story wasn’t over’

March 08, 2018: Serena Williams (USA) hits a backhand in her match against Zarina Diyas (KAZ) at the BNP Paribas Open played at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California. ©Mal Taam/TennisClix/CSM

INDIAN WELLS – It felt like forever that Serena Williams couldn’t play last year when she stopped because she was going to have a child. She did, her first baby, in September,  and she was having a great time being a first-time mother.

When it was time, she started to practice again, but in January, she knew that her legs wasn’t ready to compete, so she didn’t play at the Australian Open. So she waited and as she said, she practiced all the time. “The timing was so hard, but I wanted to get back,” she said.

On Thursday night she beat Zarina Diyas 7-5, 6-3.  It has been 14 months, the last time that she has played on court. She looked pretty good, moving fairly well, her serve was strong and she hustled. As she said,  she is trying to be very calm and not push herself.  When she was not playing last year, she actually watched a ton of matches on TV.

“I was really surprised, and I watched it a lot, the women and the men, but when I started practicing a lot, I stopped,” Serena said. “The minute I realized that I was going to take some time off, I just wanted to stay fit and stay ready the best I could. It just wasn’t my time to retire yet, even though it would have been a great way to retire. I just felt like my story wasn’t over. … I am going to go with the flow.”

Azarenka emerges
Vika Azarenka finally played again at Indian Wells. The former two-time champion is living in Los Angeles; she has a new child, and with that, she feels pretty happy. She hadn’t played inthe past eight months, which was a pretty long time. Off court, she is still battling with her ex-boyfriend, and the lawyers, so she may not be able to leave the U.S. until they can settle it. When will that  happen? It is very hard to say. At least she is playing Indian Wells, and then she will play Miami, and very likely, at Charleston.

On Thursday night,  Azarenka looked very decent, beating Heather Watson  6-4, 6-2. The 28-year-old wants to be there as much as she can, but as she said, there are days when she cannot play, having to do with her body and other things. Really important things. 

“Unfortunately, this situation is a little bit out of my control, so I have to go with the flow and continue to be positive, continue to be optimistic and continue to just fight, because that’s what I’m best at — fighting,” Azarenka said. “One day, I’ll write a book about this because it’s Hollywood-worthy for sure. It truly means the world to me just to be here, and to play, and enjoy myself and do what I love to do.”

The men
The top men players aren’t playing yet, but it will happen very soon. However, there are a number of young competitors who are here, like Taylor Fritz, who overcame Reilly Opelka 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4. He thought he was going to lose, but he hung in there. But, he wasn’t sure why.

“I’m pretty lucky,” said Fritz. “I could have lost the first set 6-0. He almost broke me in the first three games I served. There wasn’t much I could do. I felt I was hitting my spots, but he was lasering returns back. I told myself, ‘Just play your game. If he keeps doing this, it’s too good. He’ll beat anybody playing like that.’ I was down a set and a match point in the second-set tiebreaker and I honestly didn’t think I was doing anything wrong. When somebody is playing like that, you just have to weather the storm … When someone like [Opelka] is on, someone who plays a big game, you just have to weather the storm as best as you can.” And he did, and then he won.

The 20-year-old from nearby San Diego is picking up his game. He won Newport Beach (an ATP Challenger Tour event), he reached the quarters at Delray Beach, upsetting Sam Querrey before he lost against Denis Shapovalov. Last week, he reached the semis at the Oracle Challenge Series in Indian Wells. Now he is ranked No 74. He believes that he is getting better all the time, as he can really listen when he is practicing with the coaches, Paul Annacona.  

When Fritz is playing, he says he can adapt his different styles. “Now, when I play somebody, if they hear that [I made that change], I can use reverse psychology and just go down the line on every one. It is mind games,” said Fritz. Fritz will face another very good young player, Andrey Rublev, on Saturday. 

Short shots
The Canadian Shapovalov won here and he will face Pablo Cuevas, which should be some long, tough rallies. … Borna Coric blew out Donald Young, which is a fine by Coric, but the American is way down mentally. Maybe he should take a break. He has been playing for a decade, all the time, and his body is breaking down. …Ryan Harrison went down, losing to Federico Delbonis 7-5 in the third. So close, but so far. … Props to Jared Donaldson, who overcame Evan King 6-4 in the third.

Throw in some other victories by the WTA players like: the vet Sorana Cirstea upseting Monica Niculescu, and it looks like Cirstea is getting quicker. … I keep thinking that the former No. 2 Vera Zvonareva was ready to rise, but Natalia Vikhlyantseva tooled her. Who knows why by the Russian decided to return. Ekaterina Makarova also won, and the former top-10-er will be back in the top 20 this season. She hopes. … Three good wins by the Americans such as the 18-year-old Catherine Bellis, who is ranked No. 45, as well as Jennifer Brady and Danielle Collins.

Teenager Auger-Aliassime ready to rock against Raonic

Felix Auger_Aliassime
INDIAN WELLS–Twenty years ago in Canada, there were a few very good players, but not that many. Now, there are a bunch. The teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime upset the veteran Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 7-6, and now he will go up against Milos Raonic on Sunday. Raonic has reached the final at Wimbledon a couple years ago. Without a doubt, he wants to win a gigantic tournament, but he gets hurt frequently, so the only way to do it and stay healthy this season, because if he doesn’t, he won’t be able to take down the big boys. 

Plus, Raonic must know that already Auger-Aliassime is very good, fast and strong. He is young, so it is hard to tell how great he will be over the years, but many folks that he is already darn good.   

He can’t wait to play Raonic at Indian Wells.

“I am exciting to see someone I have looked up to growing up. I’ll try do everything I can to return the serve and hang in there. It’s quite exciting. I’m looking forward to it, yeah,” Auger-Aliassime said.

When you are young, there is a lot to learn. Even if you are practicing everyday, you still have to try new shots. And stay with it. Look at Roger Federer, who has won 20 Grand Slams, but it took him 35 years to accept his leaping backhand. The Canadian has a ton of things to practice and learn. But already, he likes a few important swings.

“My strengths are probably my serve, forehand. I’m an aggressive player, but I think the coverage of the court is something I have been working on. And I think it’s paying off now with the big guys, you know, to be able to cover the court, to move well, and then to defend and stay in the points,” Auger-Aliassime said. “That’s something that helps me a lot. As a player, you try and be as complete as you can, so there is a lot of things I want to improve and just that consistency that I want to get over the matches and over the tournaments.”

The women
The two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza is once again struggling, up and down. She was pretty decent in Europe in February, reaching the final on Doha and in the semis in Dubai. But now, she is floundering. In the third set against Sachia Vickery, the American hustled and banged away, while Muguruza overhit and was inpatient. Good for Vickery, but so-so for Muguruza.

As the Spaniard said, there is a lot of depth now and almost anyone can be upset. Perhaps not, but maybe things are changing. Vickery is ranked No. 100, while Muguruza is ranked No. 3.  

“We always say that there are so many players that can be dangerous, that can be motivated and have a great day and face an opponent where maybe they don’t have a lot of pressure and play good,” Muguruza said. “Maybe the top player exits early. And we have seen this so many times.”

Muguruza says that before she played with Vickery, she watched her a little bit, but in the match,  the American jumped on the ball. Plus, Vickery was very motivated.

“I think she has a great physical skill. I just think that when players with not a lot of experience play against top players, they are very motivated,” Muguruza said. “They elevate always their game. She was getting a little bit more excited, and the key points went her way, and she was getting more into the match and, at the end, she had a lot more confidence.”

More notes
It is very surprising that Aga Radwanska lost early again, losing against Naomi Osaka. Aga is already outside of the top 30 and she could be unseeded at Roland Garros in a few months. Radwanska needs to rest, for a while, until her body is fully heals. …Venus and Serena Williams both won on Saturday. They will face each other on Monday, which should be a fascinating contest. Obviously, Serena hasn’t beaten her many times, but given that the younger sister hasn’t played on court for the past 14 months, she’s a little rusty. Venus has played a fair amount in 2017, and this year, too. So yes, if Venus plays extremely well, she can upset Serena. But to beat her, Venus must serve very big, return with depth, and control her forehand. … How about the unknown Danielle Collins who upset Madison Keys? Collins changed it up a lot, while Keys lost her touch. She needs to step it up — again. … Dominic Thiem overcame Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2 3-6 6-3 and now he will face Pablo Cuevas on hardcourts. Neither of them loves hardcourts, but they can move well on the courts and they can whack it away. Three sets for sure. … That was a quite a win by Fernando Verdasco, who took down Grigor Dimitrov. Verdasco might be a little bit older, but he is focusing, again. Plus, as he said, he still loves playing tennis. 15 years later. That’s a lot. More tomorrow …