The 1st Round of the US Open is full of matches involving young, rising stars on the ATP World Tour. This post will look into Alexander Zverev, Borna Coric, Elias Ymer, Yoshihito Nishioka, and Frances Tiafoe's First Round matches and whether they will be moving onto the Second Round.
Alexander Zverev vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber
In this matchup, 18 year-old Alexander Zverev, currently ranked number 76 in the world but still had to play qualies due to his ranking at the cutoff date, takes on the established Philipp Kohlschreiber. Philipp is ranked number 29 presently. This match is in the Federer quarter of the bracket. These two played in a 250 event in Munich this year, with Kohlschreiber easily winning the match 6-2, 6-4. So, will this match be any different? Well, Zverev's form has certainly been better than Kohlschreiber's on hard courts. Kohlschreiber has only played one match on hard courts since Wimbledon, tepidly losing to Joao Sousa in three sets (but with game differential of -7). Zverev, meanwhile, has made the Quarterfinals of Washington, and qualified for the Cincy Masters 1000, losing in a third set tiebreaker to Borna Coric. And Zverev will also have a better feel for the Flushing Meadow hard courts, with three qualifying wins already under his belt. However, I don't feel as if it will be enough. Losing a set to Nils Langer was disturbing enough for me to feel as if Zverev has cooled down some from his previous form, and his match with Dodig was tight as well. Although Philipp might start slow from lack of play on hard, he will prevail in the end. Prediction: Kohlschreiber in four sets.
Borna Coric vs. Rafael Nadal
This is a classic matchup between a rising star and a hardened champion. Rafael Nadal, currently number seven in the world, will need to be playing his best tennis in order to take out Borna Coric, the highest ranked "young gun" at number 33. Rafa should be on high alert for this matchup not only due to Coric's ranked but also the head to head, which shows Borna leading 1-0, with a 6-2, 7-6(4) win over Nadal in Basel last year. Although, it should be noted that Rafa was carrying an internal injury for that match involving his appendix. Rafa and Borna have faired similarly on the North American hard courts, with Nadal boasting a 3-2 record and Coric having a 3-3 record. For both players, the results have just been average, certainly not up to Rafa's standards. You have to think that Rafa will be very fired-up for this match, as his loss to Coric last year was seen as embarrassing and was really the start to the questioning of Nadal's decline. I believe Nadal will play inspired tennis in front of a rowdy New York crowd, which could very well intimidate Coric. Prediction: Nadal in three tight sets.
Elias Ymer vs. Diego Schwartzman
The "young gun" Elias Ymer takes on grinder Diego Schwartzman in what seems to be a pretty even matchup. Ymer, ranked 131 in the world, and Schwartzman, ranked 73 in the world, have never played one another. This is Ymer's fourth time this year qualifying for a major, which can be looked at in two ways. Either you praise him for continuing to qualify for the major, or you wonder why he hasn't gotten direct entry into the majors yet. It is important to note that Ymer hasn't yet won a match at a major in his career and has one main-draw win at a hard court event all year. It should be noted that Schwartzman certainly prefers clay courts, while Ymer is an unknown at this point as to his preferred surface. Schwartzman skipped Montreal and Cincy, but did play Winston-Salem winning two matches before bowing out to Borna Coric. Schwartzman is a Sara Errani-type player in which his serve is not great, but his return is very good. Ymer has recently played two hard court challengers, going 1-2 and certainly not putting his best foot forward. He will have the experience of playing in the Flushing Meadows, however, with three qualifying wins, including a third set tiebreak win over Struff. Ultimately, the lack of wins outside of grand slam qualifying is disturbing for Ymer. And while Schwartzman is certainly not a world beater, he possesses a game in which he will expose the weaknesses in Ymer's game. I don't think Elias has the serve to overpower Diego, and his return isn't good enough to take the match, although he should be just good enough to take a set. Prediction: Schwartzman in four sets.
Yoshihito Nishioka vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu
In this matchup, the 150th ranked Nishioka faces the 81st ranked Mathieu (who had to qualify due to the time of the ranking deadline) in a battle between two qualifiers. Nishioka has played a lot of hard court tennis since failing to qualify for Wimbledon. Yoshihito has played in four hard court tournaments (three challengers and Washington), qualifying for Washington but losing in the First Round to Zverev in straight sets and reaching two quarters and a semi in the challenger events. This was all before playing three straight three-setters in qualifying to the US Open. Mathieu had great success on the clay after Wimbledon, making the Final of Kitzbuhel as a qualifier before losing in three sets to Kohlschreiber, and took this good form onto the hard courts, only losing one set in qualifying. Mathieu is having a great run, and Nishioka has played a ton of tennis recently, which could catch up to him in the best-of-five format. Prediction: Mathieu in three sets.
Frances Tiafoe vs. Viktor Troicki
Frances Tiafoe, a wildcard ranked number 248 in the world, battles Viktor Troicki, currently ranked number 21. While on paper, this might seem like a mismatch, when one looks deeper, it turns out to be a tight matchup. Tiafoe earned his wildcard by winning the prestigious junior event in Kalamazoo, showing that the best-of-five format will not trouble him, as he beat Kozlov in the Final in five sets. Tiafoe continued with this good form at Winston-Salem, qualifying for the tournament (including impressive wins over Albot and Harrison), before winning his first-ever ATP main draw match against Duckworth and taking the established Bellucci to a third-set tiebreak after being up a break in the third set. Triocki has been dreadful during the summer hard court season, losing all four matches he has played on hard, only managing to take a single set. This poor run included shocking losses to Youznhy, Fish, and Jaziri, so a loss to Tiafoe is certainly not out of the question. It's also important to remember that Tiafoe will have all of the crowd support in this match, and will certainly be buoyed on by the crowd. Frances has certainly had his share of dramatic matches this season, and this match will be no different. Viktor will certainly not be in the right state of mind, and the crowd will further this feeling. This will be the upset of the tournament. Prediction: Tiafoe in five sets.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
A Look into Tim Smyczek's Troubles
When qualifier Tim Smyczek took a two sets to one lead over Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, his career was clearly on the upswing. Although Rafa was certainly not the beast he has been in the past, to get two sets off of one of the all-time greats represented a culmination into everything the Tim had worked for.
And for a little while longer, it seemed as if the Nadal battle was just a stepping stone for Smyczek as he won an ATP Challenger Tour title in Dallas, and made the Final of another Challenger event in Irving. However, for some reason, following the win in Irving Smyczek's career stalled, and big time. It's time to take a look into Tim Smyzcek's troubles.
Smyczek's issues didn't totally show the week after Irving, at the Masters 1000 event in Miami. But perhaps tennis fans should have knew, after winning a tight battle against Menendez-Maceiras before bowing out to a rusty (at the time) Jo-Wilfred Tsonga that perhaps Tim's momentum was running out. Perhaps the spring hard court season was finally starting to wear on Smyczek, and a trip to the clay at Houston would give him a boost.
I witnessed first hand Tim's 6-3, 6-3 loss to Teymuraz Gabashvili in Houston. Although the crowd was small, it was definitely a pro-Smyzcek bunch, with fans willing Tim on to victory. It looked, however, as if Tim wasn't embracing the crowd, almost shutting the crowd out in a way. He was irritable throughout the entire match and had a very negative attitude. Smyczek's level of play matched his poor attitude, as Gabashvili completely controlled the rallies and left Smyczek on the defense for nearly the entire match. Tim's serves did not penetrate through the court and acted as the points were almost always started on Smyczek's serve in a neutral-rally position. It seemed as if Teymuraz went out there with an aggressive mindset, while Tim was waiting for his opponent to make errors, which lead to a convincing victory for Gabashvili.
Tim went on to go a very pedestrian 2-2 in the green clay challenger events in Sarasota and Savannah, before only winning three games in Nice and losing in straight sets to Lucas Pouille and then going on to lose in straight sets to Kevin Anderson at the French Open. I watched a good portion of his embarrassing match against James McGee at the Savannah Challenger, a 6-0, 6-3 loss. Like against Gabashvili, Smyczek was always on the defensive and even a player like McGee could cause Smyczek major issues.
The best way to show this would be for readers to watch the match themselves (scroll down a little ways), although I think the first game essentially summarizes the entire match. In the first game, one can see the ineffectiveness of the Smyczek serve, and really, the problems that Tim has with maintaining control of the points. Tim does a slightly better job in this match than in Houston in regards to wrestling control of the points with the serve, but upon gaining the upper hand in the rallies, Smyczek never utilized his position and eventually gave control back to McGee, who utilized this control to win the point. McGee played with risk in his game, like Gabashvili did in Houston, while Smyczek played entirely too safe.
But, maybe the clay gave Tim the non-risk mindset that was ever-so present during the clay court season. The grass could have forced him to play with a much more aggressive mindset. But, alas, that did not occur. For Tim Smyczek went 1-4 during the grass court season, with his only victory being a three-setter over James Ward at a 250 event in Nottingham. However, in his other four matches on grass, he won a measly one set, including a straight set loss to Fabio Fognini at Wimbledon. Although Fabio is certainly the better player in this instance, his defensive tendencies and mediocre performances on grass gave Tim the perfect opportunity to try to step up and take the match. But, alas, Smyczek couldn't capitalize on this potential confidence-building opportunity.
And so, with a straight set loss to open the summer hard court season in Atlanta to Ricardas Berankis, Smyzcek currently finds himself as a heavy underdog in his match today against Alexandr Dolgopolov, where a loss could even further hurt his confidence and make a resurgence even tougher. The key for Smyczek, in my opinion, is two-fold. I think that Tim not only has to play more aggressive to gain better control of the points, but also that when he gets control of the points, he has to continue to play with enough aggression to keep control of the points.
Tim Smyczek can be very successful on that ATP World Tour. He has shown in the past that he has what it takes to be a great player. However, I believe his mindset within the points are what is currently holding him back, and I think that if he makes slight adjustments, he will rise up the ATP rankings very quickly.
And for a little while longer, it seemed as if the Nadal battle was just a stepping stone for Smyczek as he won an ATP Challenger Tour title in Dallas, and made the Final of another Challenger event in Irving. However, for some reason, following the win in Irving Smyczek's career stalled, and big time. It's time to take a look into Tim Smyzcek's troubles.
Smyczek's issues didn't totally show the week after Irving, at the Masters 1000 event in Miami. But perhaps tennis fans should have knew, after winning a tight battle against Menendez-Maceiras before bowing out to a rusty (at the time) Jo-Wilfred Tsonga that perhaps Tim's momentum was running out. Perhaps the spring hard court season was finally starting to wear on Smyczek, and a trip to the clay at Houston would give him a boost.
I witnessed first hand Tim's 6-3, 6-3 loss to Teymuraz Gabashvili in Houston. Although the crowd was small, it was definitely a pro-Smyzcek bunch, with fans willing Tim on to victory. It looked, however, as if Tim wasn't embracing the crowd, almost shutting the crowd out in a way. He was irritable throughout the entire match and had a very negative attitude. Smyczek's level of play matched his poor attitude, as Gabashvili completely controlled the rallies and left Smyczek on the defense for nearly the entire match. Tim's serves did not penetrate through the court and acted as the points were almost always started on Smyczek's serve in a neutral-rally position. It seemed as if Teymuraz went out there with an aggressive mindset, while Tim was waiting for his opponent to make errors, which lead to a convincing victory for Gabashvili.
Tim went on to go a very pedestrian 2-2 in the green clay challenger events in Sarasota and Savannah, before only winning three games in Nice and losing in straight sets to Lucas Pouille and then going on to lose in straight sets to Kevin Anderson at the French Open. I watched a good portion of his embarrassing match against James McGee at the Savannah Challenger, a 6-0, 6-3 loss. Like against Gabashvili, Smyczek was always on the defensive and even a player like McGee could cause Smyczek major issues.
The best way to show this would be for readers to watch the match themselves (scroll down a little ways), although I think the first game essentially summarizes the entire match. In the first game, one can see the ineffectiveness of the Smyczek serve, and really, the problems that Tim has with maintaining control of the points. Tim does a slightly better job in this match than in Houston in regards to wrestling control of the points with the serve, but upon gaining the upper hand in the rallies, Smyczek never utilized his position and eventually gave control back to McGee, who utilized this control to win the point. McGee played with risk in his game, like Gabashvili did in Houston, while Smyczek played entirely too safe.
But, maybe the clay gave Tim the non-risk mindset that was ever-so present during the clay court season. The grass could have forced him to play with a much more aggressive mindset. But, alas, that did not occur. For Tim Smyczek went 1-4 during the grass court season, with his only victory being a three-setter over James Ward at a 250 event in Nottingham. However, in his other four matches on grass, he won a measly one set, including a straight set loss to Fabio Fognini at Wimbledon. Although Fabio is certainly the better player in this instance, his defensive tendencies and mediocre performances on grass gave Tim the perfect opportunity to try to step up and take the match. But, alas, Smyczek couldn't capitalize on this potential confidence-building opportunity.
And so, with a straight set loss to open the summer hard court season in Atlanta to Ricardas Berankis, Smyzcek currently finds himself as a heavy underdog in his match today against Alexandr Dolgopolov, where a loss could even further hurt his confidence and make a resurgence even tougher. The key for Smyczek, in my opinion, is two-fold. I think that Tim not only has to play more aggressive to gain better control of the points, but also that when he gets control of the points, he has to continue to play with enough aggression to keep control of the points.
Tim Smyczek can be very successful on that ATP World Tour. He has shown in the past that he has what it takes to be a great player. However, I believe his mindset within the points are what is currently holding him back, and I think that if he makes slight adjustments, he will rise up the ATP rankings very quickly.
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