The cool vets: American Querrey to face Frenchman Monfils

FROM WIMBLEDON — Sam Querrey is lurking. The big hitter will have to face the other good — or at times, great — Gael Monfils. The American has a gigantic serve and forehand, and now, he is pretty decent at the net. That is why he is currently No. 11. He is a happy, go-lucky person.

The same goes with the Frenchman, who doesn’t lover grass. When he is mentally sound, he can throw in his massive first serve, whale on his forehand, and he is so, so fast, running up and back. There will be some short points. Whomever can read the other’s strengths and weaknesses will win, in five tough sets. It will be Querrey.

Serena Williams is rising, slowly but surely. On Friday, she will go up against Kristina Mladenovic, which could be a fun match. The Parisian hasn’t played very well during the last year. She loves to crack the ball, and she can rush the net a lot, but she is erratic, and she is not too quick. But she is really looking forward to challenging Williams.

“Well, I expect a very difficult match. Even if [Serena] on her way back, I definitely think she’s a favorite of our match. If she plays her best, she’s, for me, the best in our sport. And, first of all, it’s great to see her back even after giving birth. It’s great for tennis. It’s a very big privilege to play her, especially at this stage. We kind of both earned two matches to get to the third round, so will be a very nice challenge. I’m not getting too excited. I just would like to be able to produce my game and what I have been working on for some weeks now.”

I would think that Serena will win in straight sets, but maybe Mladenovic will shock her. She has to attack quickly and often.

Thursday Picks

Alexandra Zverev vs Taylor Fritz
No. 4 Zverev is incredibly powerful, with his first serve, with his forehand and backhand, down the line or crosscourt. Over the past two years, he has improved by becoming much more consistent. The San Diego native Fritz is also young and is pretty bright. He is also powerful, and he likes to go for it. Neither of them totally understand how to play at Wimbledon yet, but Zverev will win in four sets.

Jelena Ostapenko vs Kirsten Flipkens
The Belgian Flipkens has been around forever. She has gone deep at Wimby, as she loves to mix it up, to spin it, to whack it. The former 2017 RG champ Ostapenko is still learning, as she is very young and while she can blast the balls everywhere, still, she makes a lot of mistakes. Flipkens will fool her, and take her out in three sets.

The Davis Cup preview: USA, Italy, France, Spain, Germany & more

John Isner must be thrilled, winning Miami, his best two consecutive weeks ever. But now, it is time for Davis Cup. In Nashville, against Belgium, the Americans are a huge favorite, with teammates Jack Sock, Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson and Ryan Harrison. They are playing indoors, which will probably be pretty fast on the hard court. If they play decently, the USA will win, hands down.

Any of the five guys can win it in the singles, given that Belgium are pretty slim. The very good David Goffin isn’t playing because he is still hurt. The two singles player, Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore, will play, and they will have a small chance to win. Bemelmans is very decent, but he is not that great.

American captain Jim Courier has chosen Isner and Querrey for singles. On Friday, Isner will face De Loore, and Querrey versus. Bemelmans. On Saturday, it will be Sock and Harrison in doubles against a pair of unknown Belgium players.

Courier is darn smart, so if the players listen to what he says, they will move on, quickly.

In Spain, Rafa Nadal will be playing in Valencia against the Germans. On Wednesday, the No. 1 Nadal hadn’t decided whether he would play on Friday, but he decided to. He will face off against Philipp Kohlschreiber. He appears to be very excited, which is great, but over the past three months, he has been hurt, significantly. Hopefully, he won’t pull out again. As the fans say, ‘Pray.’

Before that, it looked like Pablo Carreno Busta was going to play, but he became injured. (Everyone gets injured, right?) He pulled out, so David Ferrer has brought him in, and will play the flashy No. 4, Alexander Zverev. The one-time Roland Garros finalist Ferrer loves to grind, and while Zverev likes to chase the balls and whack-em, he cannot get lose his cool, just like he did when he lost in the Indian Wells final against Isner. He must focus. Zverev and Kohlschreiber need to be on fire and enthusiastic. It should be a great contest.

Here is another terrific tie: home team Italy versus France on clay, in Genoa. Fabio Fognini is certainly playing in singles, and the captain Corrado Barazzutti chose Andreas Seppi. It will be a very tight match, either way. The French captain Yannick Noah choose the No. 11 Lucas Pouille and Jeremy Chardy, who played pretty well in the past month. Teu have to chop it around and mix it up anywhere you want to. A toss up overall?  You bet.

Croatia is a serious favorite against Kazakhstan, with Marin Cilic and Borna Coric leading the pack. Coric is playing much better than he did last year.

MORE NOTES
Charleston, South Carolina is a terrific area, near the great water. On court at the Volvo Car Open on green hardcourts, they slide a lot, and on occasion, they fall down. But they get back up, wipe up your towels, and run. Some of the top players don’t come much anymore, but still, there are some very good players, like the US Open finalist Madison Keys, who has struggled this season, but she is trying. She beat Lara Arruabarrena and then on Thursday, she beat the some-times good Camila Giorgi. Not bad. She needs to win a lot this week, because very soon, here comes the European clay. There, she has to hustle a lot…
Brit Jo Konta is really struggling and she lost against Fanny Stollar 6-3 6-4. She is 7-6 this season and now she is ranked No. 22. She has to get back on track…
The ‘other’ Kristyna Pliskova shocked the No. 10 Petra Kvitova 1-6, 6-1, 6-3. The next day, she upset Elena Vesnina. On fire, huh?

Kvitova can look great, or she can fold. She needs to rest for a while. At least a few weeks. … One more good win: American Bernarda Pera upset Sara Errani. Another American is on the rise.

2017 top players: men’s 11-15

TennisReporters.net will review 2017’s top 30 women and men, our annual feature.

No. 11: Juan Martin Del Potro
The Argentine actually thinks that he can win his second major soon. He did it at the the 2010 US Open, and before he began to get hurt all the time — heavy surgeries— it looked like he would win many Grand Slams. He almost retired, twice, but he kept battlingon. Now, he could actually play the entire year.  It is amazing that three years ago, he could only chip his one-handed backhand. This season, his favorte two-hander is back. Not all the time, but some of the time. As long as he progresses, then yes, he can win a Grand Slam again. However, he could improve his return.   

No. 12: Novak Djokovic
The Serbian was dominated for a solid three years. Then, in 2017, he started to slip. Not immediately, but you could tell  that something inside his body was painful. So, in the summer, he had to stop for the rest of the year. It happens to almost all of them at some point. When he was winning Slam after Slam, he was almost impossible to beat. His backhand and forehand were so strong and very deep, his serves was huge and it was so hard for the opponents to find out where to go.  Plus, he was efficient at the net. But now in 2018, who knows? Will he play as well as he could when he’s 100 percent? Will he become aggressive again? Confident? Happy? We will find in the first six months in 2018. It will be fascinating.

No. 13: Sam Querrey
Who would have thought that the American would finally rise up? His backhand was going deep, he returned more consistently, and he was actually focused. Just like with Kevin Anderson, he just isn’t very fast, which drags down any player’s game. But, he can chip-and-charge on occasion, and he can be steady at times. He is very calm, a happy-go-lucky. Can he reach the final at a Slam, or win an ATP 1000? Possible, but tough.    

No. 14: Kevin Anderson
The South African had a very good year, reaching the US Open final, for the first time ever. Yes, over the past decade, he has been pretty solid, but not spectacular. Now, though, he is more patient, and he has improved his attack at the net, too. He might be too tall, though; so it is hard to get down on the ground. However, he is now more efficient, so maybe he will crack the top 10, again. But top 5? I cannot see it.

No. 15: Jo-Wilfred Tsonga
The thoughtful Frenchman always changes tactics. Over the years, he has come close to win a Grand Slam , but he has fallen short. This is because he is frequently injured, and he also panics when he goes deep in the majors. Yes, he has a great first serve, a gigantic forehand, and he returns fairly well, but he isn’t incredable fast. Plus, his backhand is so-so. Still. You have to give him another shot to grab a Grand Slam. Maybe at the Aussie Open, or Roland Garros.

Mischa Zverev: Persevere and volley

FROM THE US OPEN – If there’s anyone still wondering why so few players serve and volley on the tour these days, just play back Sam Querrey demolishing Mischa Zverev during their round of 16 meeting at Flushing Meadows.

Querrey won 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in an hour and 17 minutes. While his exceptional level of play indeed contributed to the scoreline, it also demonstrated why rushing the net has become such a difficult task in today’s game.

With a shoulder problem slightly hampering Zverev’s serving, the tall, free-swinging Querrey could drill back returns and run down Zverev’s deep volleys to send them back in whichever direction. While Zverev had more success using angles and drop volleys to move his opponent forward, Querrey’s power made such shots harder to control, frequently producing balls that sat up for him to put away. Meanwhile, Querrey was sending down 130-mph blasts that were difficult just to return, scarcely return and charge.

Zverev, who broke into the Top 30 this season at age 30, is the highest-ranked player serving and volleying with regularity, and among just a handful in the top 100 in the ATP singles rankings. The German has seen his style of play declining since he first arrived on tour as a teenager, and says it is being squeezed from two sides, not just the slowing down of the courts, but also the speeding up of equipment.

“Even then the courts were getting slower,” Zverev recalled in an interview this season. “The balls were getting maybe a little slow. But, the equipment and racquets were getting more powerful. I always say it became little tougher for s&v because the ball travels [at a higher speed] through the air, but then kind of slows down a little bit when it bounces, which is not good for the serve-volleyer but is good for the baseliner.” 

Slower hard courts tend to be more gritty, and increase the effect of spin-producing poly strings, making it even tougher at net.

“Because the courts are so grippy, it really is good for topspin, the heavy topspin like Rafa (Nadal) or like (Roger) Federer also. So it’s been changing a little bit,” he said.

Hardly any players re eager to contend with this double whammy, but Zverev is still rushing in where others will not tread.

Zverev’s 20-year-old brother, Alexander, plays a contemporary baseline style and is in the Top 10 in the rankings. But it wasn’t for him. 

“I realized I wasn’t as effective from the baseline as I needed to be to win matches,” said Zverev. “Even when I was 15, 16, I felt like, coming in I win a lot of points and a lot of opponents get frustrated. I always felt it’s something I enjoy doing also because it’s like gambling a little bit … crosscourt, down-the-line, is he going to – I like that attitude, that gamestyle.”

Zverev was taught the net game by his father, Alexander Sr., who also played that way in a more conducive era. And despite all the obstacles, he’s found ways to make it work in today’s game. Having almost stopped playing a few years ago because of injuries, he climbed his way back to playing ATP tournaments in 2016 and has notched wins against Andy Murray at the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic at Shanghai, and Stan Wawrinka at Basel, also twice making the second week of the majors.

“I just try to read players,” said Zverev, adding that there’s an advantage to having an unusual game. “Which is good for me, because not a lot of players get to play someone like me.” 

And for any youngsters looking to pick up the tradition, he would tell them to commit even if takes a while before they get the hang of it. “To stick to it, do it for a couple of months,” he said.

Seeing him play might get a few of them doing just that.

Phenomenal Federer crushes Raonic, to face Berdych in semis


Wimbledon, Day 11 — Roger Federer keeps on cook’n. The Swiss essentially destroyed Milos Raonic 6-4 6-2 7-6(4). Going into the match, Raonic thought he could beat him into his own game, but Federer out-thought him; he was so precise, his serve was excellent, he could mix it around or hammer it. Spin, slice, drop shots, essentially, anything he wanted to.

Once again, the 36-year-old Federer is already the clear favorite to win Wimbledon. If he wins on Sunday, he will have 19 Grand Slams. That is beyond phenomenal.

“I can’t believe it’s 100 matches. It’s a lot but I’m very happy my body has kept me going all these years,” said Federer about playing in his 100th Wimbledon match. “You have to make sure you average is as high as possible every day and I think I’m doing a great job this week.”

Raonic, who reached the final last year at SW19, said that he tried, but he couldn’t shake him.

“He kept a very high gear the whole entire time without giving many real glimpses. I think that was the most defeating thing,” the Canadian said.

On Friday in the semis, Federer has to play Tomas Berdych, who moved on after Novak Djokovic retired in the second set with an arm injury. That is a tough blow for Djokovic, who can’t find out exactly what he needs to do, and why? His body hurts, and he isn’t sure which way he should hit the ball. He has to sit down and really think about how he should approach it. Win or lose, he has to take a deep breath and think…

Good for Berdych, who was pretty slow early this year, but he is getting better and better. He did reach the final here before, so maybe the Czech has a chance to upended Federer. Yes, Berdych has beaten him few times, but not a lot (18-6 for the Swiss, 1-1 at Wimbledon). So Tomas has to change a few tactics and jump on the Swiss as fast as he can.

I am not shocked that Andy Murray lost, going down against the American, Sam Querrey, 3-6 6-4 6-7(4) 6-1 6-1. Look, we all knew that Murray was out of it this season. He has been OK, but not great, and clearly, his hip is very sore and he cannot run as he used to. If he can rest, and be patient, and feel 100 percent, then yes, eventually, he can win a Grand Slam again. But if he wants to play all the time, and he isn’t 100 percent because his body is a little bit messed up, then maybe he cannot win some huge events for a long time.

It is up to Murray.

He loves tennis, and he loves competing, but when you get older, you have to stop once in a while. Then, when you return, you can be healthy. Just like Federer…

That is a huge win by Querrey. It took him 10 years to reach a Grand Slam semi. Finally, he has improved his speed and his backhand. Plus, when he gets up to the net, he can put it away. He is a happy-go-lucky boy/man, and he smiles a lot, but tonight, he is thinking that if he can play as well as he can, he can actually reach the final.

Really, he can, because of Friday he will go up against Marin Cilic, who also is playing fantastic ball. But, the former US Open champion can go way down and fast. Querrey has to be patient and look for openings.

Cilic is the favorite because this year, he has played smart and intelligent. With these two, it’s all about who serves into the corners, and nail forehands on the lines. It’ll be smash ball tennis.

American men have to step up now

The young American men are coming up fairly fast, but it is hard to know when the boys will win some major tournaments.

Players like Jared Donaldson, Frances Tiafoe, Ernesto Escobedo and Taylor Fritz show great promise but they have a ways to go before advancing from the top 90 to 130 range into the impact player group

Forget about the Grand Slams right now — it is very early. Nobody knows if they are good enough to beat spectacular players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.  

Let’s look the veteran Americans, who are pretty good, but not good enough.

Way back when, the Americans dominated: Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang. After they all retired, Andy Roddick was darn good, too. But that was the last one. In 2003, Roddick won the US Open. Since then, no Americans won it again.

Now, it is 2017, almost 15 years gone dry.

Currently, the American guys – John Isner, Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson and Donald Young – have not reached the semifinals at the Grand Slam. Ever. Even though he’s only 24, Jack Sock may be the U.S. man at No. 17, but he has also not shown the promise of rising Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios.

In fact, they haven’t won an ATP 1000.

Time to change?

On Sunday at Miami, the very young American Donaldson will face against the huge-hitter Canadian Milos Raonic. Sock, who reached the semis at Indian Wells. He is coming up, better and better, and will play Jiri Vesely

On Monday, John Isner will face the boy-wonder Zverev. Will the German show why he’s ranked the spots higher than the American?

Querrey has a legitimate shot against Roberto Bautista Abut.
The American vets do like Miami, so perhaps they can go very deep and possibly win it all?
Maybe, but they have to prove it.

NOTES
Bethanie Mattek-Sands is playing well again and she has a fine shot against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, but given that Lucic-Baroni played incredibly well by stunning Aga Radwanska, it will be a very intense contest.

Also on Sunday, Venus Williams and the 19-year-old Taylor Townsend will play against different foes and may face off in the fourth round. Venus is the favorite in that potential clash.

Tough one for Shelby Rogers, who has to play against No. 1 Angie Kerber.

7 US Men on clay: All have tough matches in first round at Roland Garros, Day 1

johnson_steve_rc_aowcp_13_3

In 2006, the last great U.S. player Andre Agassi retired and there were no competitors left who still loved the clay. Agassi won Roland Garros in 1999, and the other fantastic males had grown up together on the hard courts and very quickly, they learned how to play on the clay. Michael Chang won Roland Garros when he was just 17 years old, shocking the world in 1989. Jim Courier pounded his forehand into the corner and he won two straight titles in 1991 and 1992. His best players, the 14 Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras never reached the final on clay in Paris but at least he reached the semifinal in 1996.

But when the American’s Big 4 retired, only Andy Roddick had won a major, winning the 2003 US Open, so it looked like he would change it up and go deep in Roland Garros. But he could not manage to reach a quarterfinal. Two of the top 10, James Blake and Mardy Fish, couldn’t do it either.

This current US males group would love to reach the second week in Paris, but they have to play extremely well from the    outset because everyone they are facing are either ranked in the top 32, nearly ranked or coming soon.

Here at the 7 US men:

No. 16 John Isner vs. Andreas Seppi: Isner is favored but Seppi stunned Roger Federer at the Aussie Open. Dangerous.

Jack Sock vs. No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov: The Bulgarian Dimitrov hasn’t played well at all this year but of he is on, Sock is going to have to be very patient to win it.

 Sam Querrey vs. Borna Coric: Querrey is super aggressive, but so can the 18 year old Croation also be able to bomb away.

Donald Young vs. Santiago Giraldo: The Columbian cracked the top 30 last year and while he has slipped this year, Young will hang in there for hours to best Giraldo.

Steve Johnson vs. No. 27 Guillermo Garcia Lopez: Johnson has improved over the past two years on clay, but if he can upend the Spaniard he will have to play very aggressive.

Tim Smyczek vs. No. 15 Kevin Andersons: The tall South African doesn’t love the clay but he is consistent on every surface, which means that Smyczek has to run him as much as possible.

Frances Tiafoe vs. Martin Klizan: Another teen, Tiafoe, has potential and he looked pretty good on the hard courts, but in order to best the No. 35 Klizan he must return very well to take him down.

Jack Sock is coming alive, wins Houston title

Jack Sock won his first big Challenger title.

Jack Sock won his first ATP title.

The young American males haven’t won a title in quite some time. But the 22-year-old Jack Sock is moving very fast, making progress in Indian Wells, Miami and now winning the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, beating Sam Querrey 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2).

Not only were many fans were surprised how good he was on the hard courts at Indian Wells and Miami To see the 22-year-old running back and forth on the clay, they were definitely surprised.

Some of the players can’t handle sliding all day, but he actually likes it.

“It feels incredible,” said Sock. “Clay is my favorite surface. It feels surreal. It feels incredible, and to have friends and family here to share it with me feels even better.”

The 22-year-old played OK last season, reaching the Challenger final in Savannah and he qualified at Nice, where he lost to John Isner. He did reach the third round at Roland Garros, going down to Dusan Lajovic.

He wasn’t perfect and, as he admitted recently, he should have been in better shape. However, he kept plugging away, reaching the semifinal at Newport and Atlanta, before he skidded a bit, losing in the first round of the US Open. But he played well in the fall, upsetting Kei Nishikori in the Masters 1000 Shanghai and qualifying at the Masters 1000 Paris, where he almost beat Milos Raonic.

This season, he missed the first two months due to an injury but when he came back at Indian Wells, he felt like he was faster and  concentrating more. He reached the fourth round before falling to Roger Federer, and in Miami, he upset the No. 22 Fabio Fognini before going down in the third round.

“This is the best I’ve felt physically by far off the court and on the court,” Sock said.

In the doubles, he shined, when he and his Canadian Vasek Pospisil won Indian Wells over the legendary Bob and Mike Bryan and in Miami, they reached the final, and barely lost to the Bryan Brothers

He has a massive serve and a big forehand. He’s a fine volley but he knew in Houston that he had to be patient because on the clay courts, it takes time to set it up and then go for his shots.

That is what he exactly did in U.S. Men’s Clay Court. He beat No. 15 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 32 Santiago Giraldo and No. 16 Kevin Anderson before besting his fellow American Querrey.

He beat a series of solid players and he never looked nervous at all. Sock has climbed to a career-high 36th and he is now the No. 2 American, behind Isner. Very likely, he will continue with rapid rate.

“I put in a lot of hard work before I came back,” said Sock. “I had almost nine weeks in a row off the court in the gym getting my body ready to come back. To come here and win is a very incredible feeling and I’m going to savor it for a while.”

Refreshed Querrey ready to take more risks

Querrey IW 11 MALT4133

All Pain, Big Gain

Djokovic IW 12 MALT0176

Nole overcomes a sprained ankle to move Serbia into the semis. MALTphoto

Injured Djokovic Carries Serbia over US

FROM THE US VS. SERBIA DAVIS CUP TIE IN BOISE, IDAHO — Sam Querrey has enough weapons to hurt most players and perhaps in a year or two when he adds more weight to his backhand he will be able to shut down the likes of No. 1 Novak Djokovic down in a three-out-of- five-set match. But he does not have the skill or experience to be able to pull that off yet, not even if the world No. 1 was playing on a sprained ankle and especially not when he was dealing a with a right sore pectoral muscle himself.

Djokovic