Roger Federer made excessively quick work in his third round match against Adrian Mannarino by a score of 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 in under 90 minutes. The Frenchman has been playing the best tennis of his career thus far but was made to look very average by the unrelenting attack of the 17-time Slam champ.
Right from the start the Swiss made his intentions known that he was going to attack Mannarino's 2nd serves. And attack them he did, over and over and over again. In the fourth game of the match he fired three forehand returns off weak 2nd serves and he emphatically grabbed the break. It was literally as easy a match as you could ask for after that. By the third set, Roger was in exhibition mode, trying some crowd-pleasing shots and looking completely untroubled.
34 winners, 20 errors, 19/24 at the net, 92% behind his first serve, all excellent numbers. He also hit 13 return winners and only lost 18 total points on return (in 12 service games).
The big point I want to get across from this match was that Roger was supremely aggressive on the return, many times running around his backhand on the ad side to hit forehands. He didn't want to start the point neutral or in a defensive position, he took the initiative. That is a great thing to see and he will need that effective returning if he wants to beat Nadal in the potential upcoming quarterfinal. But I will go into complete detail about the gameplan Roger must use if and when that time comes.
Up next in the round of 16 is the veteran Tommy Robredo who is the 19th seed at this tournament. He has found rejuvenation after a long battle with injuries. He reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, winning three straight matches from two sets down, the first man to do that since the great Henri Cochet did so in 1927. He will be a tough opponent for Fed and if we know anything, it's that he will force Roger to play well to win comfortably. I expect a tight three sets.
To finish up this post, I want to talk about Lleyton Hewitt's upset of Juan Martin del Potro on Friday. It was an awesome match from the 2001 US Open champion and his trademark fighting spirit was on full display against the 2009 champion.
While watching, I marveled at Hewitt's compact groundstrokes and his innate ability to change the direction of the ball - and many times he went for it on the big points, and it paid off. I had an absolute blast watching it and the Aussie reminded me why he was my first favourite player when I was just a decade old.
As for del Potro, it's clear that his left wrist is still bothering him. He can't hit through his backhand like he should be able to and he rarely ever goes down the line with it these days. His massive forehand is the one shot that has kept him at the top of the game. It must be disappointing having two exits before the Round of 16 this year and one missed Slam (which he would have had a great chance at going deep). He is one of my favourite players so I hope he can string some form together at the end of the year.
Hewitt will take on Evgeny Donskoy in the third round and he could play Tommy Haas in the fourth for the chance to take on the World #1. I would love to see a match between the 32 year-old Lleyton and the 35 year-old Tommy just to show all the new tennis fans the brilliance of the early 2000s.
Until next time,
Kyle.
PS - I am going to be having some news after the US Open about, well, I'll just say ... expansion.
Sunday, September 01, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Federer Sails into Round Three
Roger Federer made quick work of Carlos Berlocq 63 62 61 in the 2nd round of the US Open on Thursday to move on in the final major of the season.
The Swiss Maestro was in no mood to play around and was sharp right from the start of the match. He wound up taking the opening set in half an hour. They traded breaks in the first two games of the second before Roger went up another two breaks and it was much of the same in the third set as Roger handed out a breadstick to the veteran clay-court specialist from Argentina.
It was a better performance than his opening match and the quality of his opponent was much better also. Berlocq didn't really play that badly, but he was obviously overmatched. The 30 year-old handled himself well and the contest was sprinkled with some brilliant points throughout.
Federer hit 37 winners to 25 errors, was 28/40 at the net, and broke serve 7 times in 13 attempts. He didn't have his best serving day but he didn't need it either. If he practiced after his first round win because he felt the match had little rhythm, he didn't need to after this one as there were many baseline rallies with the consistent and intense Berclocq.
Next up for Fed is Adrian Mannarino, who upset American #2 Sam Querrey in 4 sets. The Frenchman is someone who makes the most out of his game but anything but a straight sets win would be a surprise - in their two previous meetings at Wimbledon and the Paris Indoors in 2011, Roger won comfortably.
Elsewhere in the draw....
On Wednesday, Andy Murray unsurprisingly rolled by Michael Llodra in a highly entertaining match that featured many cat-and-mouse points and creative shotmaking. Juan Martin del Potro had a tougher go of things, needing 4 sets and 4 hours to beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Rafael Nadal cruised into the third round with a simple victory over Rogerio Dutra Silva in the Thursday night session.
Round three will see an interesting match between del Potro and Lleyton Hewitt, a battle of two US Open champions. It could be a tricky test for the big man but he should come through.
As it stands, Djokovic should make the quarters with ease as he plays Benjamin Becker in the second round, then Jarkko Nieminen or Joao Sousa, and then Marcel Granollers or Rajeev Ram. Murray has a similarly smooth path, with Leonardo Mayer in the second round, then Donald Young or Florian Mayer, and then Tobias Kamke or Denis Istomin. Del Potro's biggest test to the quarters could be Tommy Haas in the 4th round, and for Tomas Berdych, it could be Stan Wawrinka.
On the sadder side, James Blake was defeated by Ivo Karlovic on Wednesday night in 5 sets to send his proud career into the sunset. The American lost a two set lead but it has to be said that the tall Croatian has improved his overall game a lot over the years. His serve may not be as powerful as it once was, but his forehand, movement, and net game are all improved. Even his return has stepped up, and many times the big man ran around his slice backhand return to hammer a forehand to which Blake had no answer.
It's always sad when a player you enjoy watching retires, and there have certainly been many of them over the last few years - Marat Safin, Carlos Moya, Ivan Ljubicic, Fernando Gonzalez, Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and now Blake.
Blake's career may not have been as good as it could have been, be played the game big and on his terms, with his massive forehand and athletic quickness. But as much as he was a joy to watch on the court, he was even better off it, and to see him have as successful a career as he has had after his broken neck in 2004 and the death of his father.
You will be missed James, from a big fan.
The Swiss Maestro was in no mood to play around and was sharp right from the start of the match. He wound up taking the opening set in half an hour. They traded breaks in the first two games of the second before Roger went up another two breaks and it was much of the same in the third set as Roger handed out a breadstick to the veteran clay-court specialist from Argentina.
It was a better performance than his opening match and the quality of his opponent was much better also. Berlocq didn't really play that badly, but he was obviously overmatched. The 30 year-old handled himself well and the contest was sprinkled with some brilliant points throughout.
Federer hit 37 winners to 25 errors, was 28/40 at the net, and broke serve 7 times in 13 attempts. He didn't have his best serving day but he didn't need it either. If he practiced after his first round win because he felt the match had little rhythm, he didn't need to after this one as there were many baseline rallies with the consistent and intense Berclocq.
Next up for Fed is Adrian Mannarino, who upset American #2 Sam Querrey in 4 sets. The Frenchman is someone who makes the most out of his game but anything but a straight sets win would be a surprise - in their two previous meetings at Wimbledon and the Paris Indoors in 2011, Roger won comfortably.
Elsewhere in the draw....
On Wednesday, Andy Murray unsurprisingly rolled by Michael Llodra in a highly entertaining match that featured many cat-and-mouse points and creative shotmaking. Juan Martin del Potro had a tougher go of things, needing 4 sets and 4 hours to beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Rafael Nadal cruised into the third round with a simple victory over Rogerio Dutra Silva in the Thursday night session.
Round three will see an interesting match between del Potro and Lleyton Hewitt, a battle of two US Open champions. It could be a tricky test for the big man but he should come through.
As it stands, Djokovic should make the quarters with ease as he plays Benjamin Becker in the second round, then Jarkko Nieminen or Joao Sousa, and then Marcel Granollers or Rajeev Ram. Murray has a similarly smooth path, with Leonardo Mayer in the second round, then Donald Young or Florian Mayer, and then Tobias Kamke or Denis Istomin. Del Potro's biggest test to the quarters could be Tommy Haas in the 4th round, and for Tomas Berdych, it could be Stan Wawrinka.
On the sadder side, James Blake was defeated by Ivo Karlovic on Wednesday night in 5 sets to send his proud career into the sunset. The American lost a two set lead but it has to be said that the tall Croatian has improved his overall game a lot over the years. His serve may not be as powerful as it once was, but his forehand, movement, and net game are all improved. Even his return has stepped up, and many times the big man ran around his slice backhand return to hammer a forehand to which Blake had no answer.
It's always sad when a player you enjoy watching retires, and there have certainly been many of them over the last few years - Marat Safin, Carlos Moya, Ivan Ljubicic, Fernando Gonzalez, Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and now Blake.
Blake's career may not have been as good as it could have been, be played the game big and on his terms, with his massive forehand and athletic quickness. But as much as he was a joy to watch on the court, he was even better off it, and to see him have as successful a career as he has had after his broken neck in 2004 and the death of his father.
You will be missed James, from a big fan.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Federer into R2 at US Open
Roger Federer's path towards a 6th US Open started comfortably on Tuesday with a 63 62 75 win over Slovenian Grega Zemlja in an hour and a half. The match was scheduled for opening night but rain postponed it.
It was hardly a masterclass from the 7th seed (that sounds weird, doesn't it?), but he got the job done without much difficulty at all. With the exception of one game in the third set where he was broken his serve was solid, and he shortened points frequently by coming to net, winning 20 of 21 points in the forecourt and hitting 33 winners to 16 errors.
From my experience in watching majors, fans try to judge too quickly how a player will play in the later rounds of a tournament by how he does in the first and second rounds against, for the majority of the time, opponents who pose very little threat. If a player wins 62 62 62, then he looks great and the predictions start about the second week - but if he struggles even the slightest bit then that doubt creeps in.
Right now, we know that Federer has a potential meeting with Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. But how he does in the first four rounds does not in any way give us the ability to predict how he might play vs Nadal in the quarters. The win today was solid and he faced no real trouble, and that's what matters. None of the top guys aim to play their absolute best in the early rounds unless, of course, they are forced to.
Federer will play Carlos Berlocq of Argentina, the intense ball of fire who is playing his best tennis now at 30 years of age. It should be a straightforward win along the lines of 63 62 64 unless the Warclocq brings out some of his magic.
Elsewhere in the draw so far, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, and Richard Gasquet have all advanced easily to the 2nd round. Other notables advancing were Milos Raonic, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Tommy Haas, John Isner, Julien Benneteau, Bernard Tomic, Feliciano Lopez, Nikolay Davydenko, Tommy Robredo, and American Jack Sock. Nicolas Almagro was upset while 28th seed Juan Monaco retired. Ernests Gulbis, the 30th seed, was upset in 5 sets and Fernando Verdasco was outed by Ivan Dodig.
While the top guys had smooth matches to the round of 64, many young guns bowed out in the opening round disappointingly. 11th seed Kei Nishikori lost in straights to Dan Evans. 14th seed Jerzy Janowicz, semifinalist at Wimbledon, crashed out to Maximo Gonzalez, who may be best known for being Roger Federer's first round opponent in his 13th Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2008. Granted, the Pole had a back injury, but it's still disappointing. Grigor Dimitrov, who now may be most famous for dating Maria Sharapova, lost to Joao Sousa in 5 sets, 6-2 in the 5th. The Bulgarian, who has tons of untapped potential, still hasn't advanced past the 3rd round in a major and is now 22. Finally, Vasek Pospisil lost a two sets to none lead to Rogerio Dutra Silva, wasting 7 match points in the process. The Canadian who entered the top 40 with his semifinal run in Montreal a few weeks ago, lived up to the ever-persistent choker label and has proven again to still struggle outside Canada.
That paragraph will lead to another article about the rise (or lack thereof) of young talent in the game, but that is for another time.
Until Roger's next match,
Kyle.
PS - I heard that Roger practiced after his win, and if that was the case, then you know he's dead serious about giving everything at this US Open.
It was hardly a masterclass from the 7th seed (that sounds weird, doesn't it?), but he got the job done without much difficulty at all. With the exception of one game in the third set where he was broken his serve was solid, and he shortened points frequently by coming to net, winning 20 of 21 points in the forecourt and hitting 33 winners to 16 errors.
From my experience in watching majors, fans try to judge too quickly how a player will play in the later rounds of a tournament by how he does in the first and second rounds against, for the majority of the time, opponents who pose very little threat. If a player wins 62 62 62, then he looks great and the predictions start about the second week - but if he struggles even the slightest bit then that doubt creeps in.
Right now, we know that Federer has a potential meeting with Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. But how he does in the first four rounds does not in any way give us the ability to predict how he might play vs Nadal in the quarters. The win today was solid and he faced no real trouble, and that's what matters. None of the top guys aim to play their absolute best in the early rounds unless, of course, they are forced to.
Federer will play Carlos Berlocq of Argentina, the intense ball of fire who is playing his best tennis now at 30 years of age. It should be a straightforward win along the lines of 63 62 64 unless the Warclocq brings out some of his magic.
Elsewhere in the draw so far, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, and Richard Gasquet have all advanced easily to the 2nd round. Other notables advancing were Milos Raonic, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Tommy Haas, John Isner, Julien Benneteau, Bernard Tomic, Feliciano Lopez, Nikolay Davydenko, Tommy Robredo, and American Jack Sock. Nicolas Almagro was upset while 28th seed Juan Monaco retired. Ernests Gulbis, the 30th seed, was upset in 5 sets and Fernando Verdasco was outed by Ivan Dodig.
While the top guys had smooth matches to the round of 64, many young guns bowed out in the opening round disappointingly. 11th seed Kei Nishikori lost in straights to Dan Evans. 14th seed Jerzy Janowicz, semifinalist at Wimbledon, crashed out to Maximo Gonzalez, who may be best known for being Roger Federer's first round opponent in his 13th Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2008. Granted, the Pole had a back injury, but it's still disappointing. Grigor Dimitrov, who now may be most famous for dating Maria Sharapova, lost to Joao Sousa in 5 sets, 6-2 in the 5th. The Bulgarian, who has tons of untapped potential, still hasn't advanced past the 3rd round in a major and is now 22. Finally, Vasek Pospisil lost a two sets to none lead to Rogerio Dutra Silva, wasting 7 match points in the process. The Canadian who entered the top 40 with his semifinal run in Montreal a few weeks ago, lived up to the ever-persistent choker label and has proven again to still struggle outside Canada.
That paragraph will lead to another article about the rise (or lack thereof) of young talent in the game, but that is for another time.
Until Roger's next match,
Kyle.
PS - I heard that Roger practiced after his win, and if that was the case, then you know he's dead serious about giving everything at this US Open.
Friday, August 23, 2013
2013 US Open Draw Preview
If Roger Federer is going to come close to winning his 6th US Open and 18th major title, he may need to go through his biggest rival Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals.
This is the Swiss' projected path:
Round 1 – Grega Zemlja
Round 2 – Carlos Berlocq or Santiago Geraldo
Round 3 – Sam Querrey or Horacio Zeballos
Round 4 – Kei Nishikori or Tommy Robredo
Quarterfinals – Rafael Nadal or John Isner
Semifinals – David Ferrer or Richard Gasquet
Final – Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray
The first four rounds could have been a lot harder, so I'm pleased with that aspect of the draw. Having said that though, an easy draw on paper can turn dangerous and a hard draw can open up so you can never base too much on paper.
A match against Sam Querrey in the 3rd round should be the first test Roger faces in the tournament because of the American's big serve. Then playing in the 4th round against Nishikori would be a challenge, but also a chance at revenge after the Madrid upset. However, the Japanese youngster may have to go through Marinko Matosevic or Tommy Robredo and that won't be any easy match.
The big match with Nadal awaits in the quarters, but we can't count the chickens before they hatch. They were set to play in the Wimbledon quarterfinals and of course they both went out early in surprising defeats.
The 2010 US Open champion starts his campaign against Ryan Harrison and then will very likely play Vasek Pospisil, who saw his ranking rise stratospherically with his semifinal run in Montreal a few weeks ago. One of Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco should be his 3rd round opponent, and then he may face big John Isner in a rematch of the Cincinnati final (or Philipp Kohlschreiber, the 22nd seed).
One thing I'm more than pleased about is that should Federer get by Nadal, or if Nadal goes out early, then his semifinal opponent based on seeding would be David Ferrer or Richard Gasquet. However, Ferrer has been in bad form recently since his French Open final and Gasquet hasn't made a Grand Slam quarter since Wimbledon 2007 when he made the semis. There is a very good chance we see a surprise in that quarter.
Bottom line is, if Federer had to go through Nadal, Murray, and Djokovic to win the title, that would be near impossible at this point with him being 32 and with it being so hard to handle the best-of-5 grind in Slams. With this draw set up though, if he can make the semis and play Ferrer, Gasquet, or anyone else, it would be a much easier task than facing Murray and he would hopefully have an easier match to prepare for a final against likely Murray or Djokovic.
As for the top half featuring last year's US Open final competitors, they both should make the quarterfinals with ease but there are a few speed bumps along the way.
For Djokovic, he could gace Grigor Dimitrov in the 3rd round, which could be a hard match or it could be simple, just like their 3rd round match at Roland Garros was, which the #1 won 62 62 63. His 4th round is projected to be played against Benoit Paire or Fabio Fognini while his quarterfinal opponent based on seeding should be Juan Martin del Potro.
For Murray, he has a smooth path until the quarterfinals where a match with Tomas Berdych or Stan Wawrinka could await. He could play Juan Monaco in the 3rd round and Nicolas Almagro or Andreas Seppi in the 4th round.
Overall, as a Federer fan I am pleased with his draw. Sure, it's not ideal that he got drawn with Nadal, but you never know what might happen. As for if they face off, I think Rafa would have the decided edge because of the best-of-5 format and his recent run of form, but I would not count Roger out. If he could play as he did in Cincinnati and keep his nerve in the big moments, he would have a chance. But that's a long way away and all this talk is best saved for later.
Have a good time watching the US Open. I will be in Maine on vacation for the first week of the tournament but I'll be writing and keeping up to date with everything that is going on.
Cheers, Kyle.
This is the Swiss' projected path:
Round 1 – Grega Zemlja
Round 2 – Carlos Berlocq or Santiago Geraldo
Round 3 – Sam Querrey or Horacio Zeballos
Round 4 – Kei Nishikori or Tommy Robredo
Quarterfinals – Rafael Nadal or John Isner
Semifinals – David Ferrer or Richard Gasquet
Final – Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray
The first four rounds could have been a lot harder, so I'm pleased with that aspect of the draw. Having said that though, an easy draw on paper can turn dangerous and a hard draw can open up so you can never base too much on paper.
A match against Sam Querrey in the 3rd round should be the first test Roger faces in the tournament because of the American's big serve. Then playing in the 4th round against Nishikori would be a challenge, but also a chance at revenge after the Madrid upset. However, the Japanese youngster may have to go through Marinko Matosevic or Tommy Robredo and that won't be any easy match.
The big match with Nadal awaits in the quarters, but we can't count the chickens before they hatch. They were set to play in the Wimbledon quarterfinals and of course they both went out early in surprising defeats.
The 2010 US Open champion starts his campaign against Ryan Harrison and then will very likely play Vasek Pospisil, who saw his ranking rise stratospherically with his semifinal run in Montreal a few weeks ago. One of Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco should be his 3rd round opponent, and then he may face big John Isner in a rematch of the Cincinnati final (or Philipp Kohlschreiber, the 22nd seed).
One thing I'm more than pleased about is that should Federer get by Nadal, or if Nadal goes out early, then his semifinal opponent based on seeding would be David Ferrer or Richard Gasquet. However, Ferrer has been in bad form recently since his French Open final and Gasquet hasn't made a Grand Slam quarter since Wimbledon 2007 when he made the semis. There is a very good chance we see a surprise in that quarter.
Bottom line is, if Federer had to go through Nadal, Murray, and Djokovic to win the title, that would be near impossible at this point with him being 32 and with it being so hard to handle the best-of-5 grind in Slams. With this draw set up though, if he can make the semis and play Ferrer, Gasquet, or anyone else, it would be a much easier task than facing Murray and he would hopefully have an easier match to prepare for a final against likely Murray or Djokovic.
As for the top half featuring last year's US Open final competitors, they both should make the quarterfinals with ease but there are a few speed bumps along the way.
For Djokovic, he could gace Grigor Dimitrov in the 3rd round, which could be a hard match or it could be simple, just like their 3rd round match at Roland Garros was, which the #1 won 62 62 63. His 4th round is projected to be played against Benoit Paire or Fabio Fognini while his quarterfinal opponent based on seeding should be Juan Martin del Potro.
For Murray, he has a smooth path until the quarterfinals where a match with Tomas Berdych or Stan Wawrinka could await. He could play Juan Monaco in the 3rd round and Nicolas Almagro or Andreas Seppi in the 4th round.
Overall, as a Federer fan I am pleased with his draw. Sure, it's not ideal that he got drawn with Nadal, but you never know what might happen. As for if they face off, I think Rafa would have the decided edge because of the best-of-5 format and his recent run of form, but I would not count Roger out. If he could play as he did in Cincinnati and keep his nerve in the big moments, he would have a chance. But that's a long way away and all this talk is best saved for later.
Have a good time watching the US Open. I will be in Maine on vacation for the first week of the tournament but I'll be writing and keeping up to date with everything that is going on.
Cheers, Kyle.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)