Calvin Hemery and the Grind of Lower-Level Tennis

Calvin Hemery collapsed into the green dirt, limbs spread wide. It was partially in elation and partially in exhaustion, as evidenced by how hard it was for him to get up afterwards.

The Frenchman had just finished a ridiculous, come-from-behind 6-7(8), 7-6(4), 7-6(4) victory over Alexis Galarneau on the green clay of Savannah. At four hours and 21 minutes, it was the second-longest Challenger match since 2010.

Hemery had to come back from a set down. He was a break down twice in the second set. He was down a break in the third set. He let a *5-3 lead in the third turn into 5-5 *0-40 on his own serve.

Yet, Hemery persevered and ultimately triumphed, all for a measly seven ranking points and $1300 USD that likely was near-nothing after expenses.

The 28 year-old Hemery was once a promising talent. He seemed like he was set to make a later (by tennis standards) rise into the top 100 when, in 2018, his ranking peaked at World No. 116 in April of 2018.

Shortly thereafter, Hemery even got to compete in the main draw of the French Open, one of the four pinnacles of the sport. While Hemery lost his first-round match to Diego Schwartzman, he seemed as if he were on a path to success.

Yet, Hemery never made it to the promised land. By the end of the 2018 season, he was outside of the top 200 in the world. Throughout much of the rest of the 2018 and 2019 seasons, although there's a lack of clear information online, it's clear that the Frenchman was injured and playing less often than you would expect for what seemed like a fast-rising player.

In fact, in 2019, Hemery played just 35 matches all season.

Then, in 2020, any sort of momentum Hemery had was officially put to rest, as the coronavirus pandemic knocked out all professional playing opportunities for much of the year.

Perhaps, you could argue, that the pandemic hiatus came at the perfect time for Hemery. The lack of matchplay in 2019 had hit hard, as he had fallen solidly outside of the top 400 in the world. To start 2020, Hemery was just 1-1 at the Challenger level and 4-4 at the ITF level, losing to players such as David Perez Sanz and Baptiste Crepatte.

And, after returning from the pandemic, it took Hemery nine ITF events before he made a final and 11 ITF events to win a title, the $25k event in Caslano.

That August 2021 title in Caslano was the last professional tennis event that Hemery has won.

Hemery's ranking has waffled in the past couple of years. Even with the trophy in Caslano, he has been stuck between 295 and 500 in the world from June 2021 until the present, a far cry from being on the cusp of four guaranteed Slam paychecks a year back in 2018.

I bring up Hemery's history to put into context where his game, and quite possibly, his mind was at during the physical showdown with Galarneau. Savannah, like all tournaments at this point for the Frenchman, was very important for the future of his career.

Just last week, on the green clay of Tallahassee, Hemery had a disappointing 4-6, 2-6 defeat to Rio Noguchi. Hemery won just 51% of his service points and 33% of his return points, lacking the patience that clay-court tennis required. Noguchi ground him into the dirt.

And, to be frank, it seemed as if, by the time Noguchi went up 6-4, 2-0* in the second set, that Hemery had mentally given up on the match.

It seemed as if history was repeating itself in Savannah, as Galarneau survived a tough first set and surged ahead in the second.

Yet, this time, Hemery fought back.

It would have been easy for Hemery to succumb to mental demons in that second set or after blowing his lead in the third. But, this time, he showcased a steely determination. 

Hemery demonstrated a will to win that can only come from the desperation of knowing that there's a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode, on the careers of players who attempt outlast the inevitable in ITF's and on the Challenger Tour.

After playing such a physically-exhausting grind of a match against Galarneau, it would have been very easy for Hemery to feel as if he'd done his "job" for the week and give a haphazard effort in his second-round match with Bjorn Fratangelo.

Yet, Hemery put together another superhuman effort, showing very few signs of fatigue in a 7-6(1), 6-3 victory over Fratangelo. Even as the first set passed the one-hour mark, Hemery never seemed to slow. He kept pounding big serves and forehands, winning 81% of his first serves and not getting broken all match.

And that's been the key to success throughout Hemery's career. Regardless of the surface, the Frenchman has always wanted to take the racquet out of his opponents' hands with his huge first serve and powerful, punishing forehand.

Where Hemery has often gone awry is with his rally tolerance, as watching one of his matches often feels like going on a water slide, with ups, downs, twists, and turns. And, just when you're at the finish of the slide, you get dunked into a big, disorienting pool of water.

In other words, watching Hemery play is a topsy-turvey experience.

Yet, at least in Savannah, it was an experience worth having.

Hemery's Savannah quarterfinal match was against top-seed Zizou Bergs. Bergs had won the Tallahassee final the previous week and was coming into this match on a seven-match winning streak, having won 14 of his last 15 sets.

Yet, perhaps due to some fatigue, but certainly due to Hemery's controlled aggression, Bergs' winning streak stopped there.

Hemery put together another stunning performance, shocking Bergs 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. The Frenchman punished Bergs' big serve, winning 50% of his second-serve return points and breaking four times.

Hemery, once again, was crushing his forehand, controlling the baseline from this wing. Bergs' forehand has been so excellent on the green clay this season, yet it was Hemery's forehand making the bigger impact in this matchup.

In the semifinals, Hemery took on a relatively unknown player in Tristan Boyer, who came into Savannah at World No. 863. This was a different ball game for Hemery. Suddenly, the Frenchman was the favorite, expected to beat the unheralded American.

Hemery had established himself, by beating Fratangelo and Bergs, as a major contender for the title and, with a seemingly-overmatched player waiting in the semifinals, a second-career Challenger title was coming into view.

But, it wouldn't be easy. After playing just one game on Saturday, severe weather delayed the rest of the semifinal until Sunday. This means that both players, if they were to win the championship, would need to essentially play two matches in one day to do so.

Suddenly, that light at the end of the tunnel for Hemery started to cloud up.

But, on Sunday, the Frenchman started well, taking the opening set 6-2. He won 86% of his first serves in the set and wasn't broken.

Hemery wouldn't win even 65% of his first serves in either of the last two sets and was broken a combined four times. Hemery had become passive from the baseline, the spring in his step was gone. The wind, the crowd, and the windy conditions had combined to create a cinder block weight upon Hemery's tired legs.

Boyer completed the comeback victory, defeating Hemery 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. Even when Hemery went up a break early in the third, he never seemed to regain his form from prior days' matches, or even just from the first set.

Hemery was truly exhausted.

So, where does he go from here? Hemery's live ranking is currently at World No. 344, improving 31 spots after Hemery's semifinal appearance in Savannah.

I'm sure that it's far from where Hemery would like to be ranked, but it's a start. And, now, the Frenchman has regained the confidence in himself. He can be sure of his fitness, his serve, his forehand.

The ending of the Boyer match didn't define Hemery's entire week of tennis. The road to get there was much more important.

It's not easy in the lower ranks of tennis, playing for tiny prize pots that go directly into travel and equipment costs, and for minuscule ranking-point opportunities. Often, it can break a player down physically and, even scarier, mentally (check out Akira Santillan's meltdown).

But, through the grind, every once in a while, there's a moment that can propel a player forward. Hemery already responded to the physical victory over Galarneau well with his wins over Fratangelo and Bergs.

We will now have to wait and see where Hemery goes from here. Will this be the catalyst that helps find Hemery back within the top 200? Or merely a good story for the week, just another story Hemery can tell about a career that hasn't gone as planned?

We'll find out in the coming months. But this is certainly a step in the right direction.

Frances Tiafoe's First ATP Challenger Tour Title a Long Time Coming

*Note: this article is entirely about singles

Let me start off by saying that I have been a fan of Frances Tiafoe since I first read about his amazing story of a boy coming from poverty and becoming a success in the tennis universe.  Tiafoe is an inspiring person.

Upon first starting to watch Frances' matches during the green clay court Challenger swing of 2015, it was apparent that Tiafoe was ultra talented, although he needed to refine his skill set in order for his game to mature to the next level.  Tiafoe had already achieved moderate success upon jumping into the ATP Challenger Tour last spring, as he won an ITF Futures Tour tournament, and made the Final of two others.

When Tiafoe managed to qualify for the green clay Challenger event in Sarasota and make a run to the Quarterfinals, it was quite apparent that he had the potential to be a special tennis player.  As just a 17 year old at the time, for him to grind out wins not only in the main draw, but in the qualifying draw as well, was truly stunning to watch, and in hindsight, reminds me a lot of Taylor Fritz's successes in Challenger tournaments late last year.

What was even more impressive than his run in Sarasota was that he then made the Semifinals of a Challenger in Savannah (coming within one set of the Final) and then made the Final of a Challenger in Tallahassee.  Not only could Tiafoe have a big result, but he could back his result up with other, even better results.  This, in fact, gave Frances the victory in the wildcard challenge that the USTA puts on, and with it, a spot in the main draw of the French Open.  What was so impressive about Tiafoe, and continues to impress me, is his mental toughness during matches.  In the Savannah and Tallahassee Challenger tournaments alone, Tiafoe came back from a set down to win in four of the matches he played, and won in three sets in one additional match.

Frances even lead the Final of the Challenger tournament in Tallahassee by a set and a break, before the much more experienced, gritty Facundo Arguello eventually won the match in three sets.  Tiafoe managed to come back from two breaks down in the third set, but gave his serve up once more, and that was what Arguello needed to push through the end of the match.  While the loss was disappointing for Tiafoe, it was understandable given the difference in experience between the two.  However, it seemed inevitable at the time that Tiafoe would win a Challenger tournament soon thereafter.

However, the loss to Arguello was followed by some mixed results by Tiafoe until the very end of the season.  Without going through each event individually, I will say that Frances did very well to win his first main draw ATP World Tour match in Winston-Salem, qualifying and then beating James Duckworth in a third set tiebreak in the First Round, coming from a set down.  Tiafoe was even a set away from beating Thomaz Bellucci, a seasoned veteran, in his next match in North Carolina.  That result, along another ATP Challenger Tour semifinal appearance in Fairfield (coming a set away from the Final), were the major achievements for Tiafoe between Tallahassee and Knoxville.  However, a smattering of mixed results in addition to Wintson-Salem and Fairfield proved that Tiafoe might be rising in the rankings, but he would not skyrocket, like Taylor Fritz did towards the end of 2015.

And perhaps Fritz's results started to inspire Tiafoe, as in the Challenger at Knoxville, Tiafoe played great tennis.  After getting pushed to three sets in the first two rounds, Tiafoe came within one set of the title, again winning the first set against Dan Evans, fighting back in the third set to get the match back on serve from a set down, but ultimately losing in three sets.  From the parts of this match that I watched, I can assure y'all that Evans played really solid tennis, punishing Tiafoe from the baseline.  It was impressive to me that Frances could even win a set off of Daniel.  But, in any case, this sunk Tiafoe's record in ATP Challenger Tour finals to 0-2, and with a fairly early loss in Tiafoe's next tournament, somewhat surprisingly, his quest for a Challenger title would have to wait until 2016.

Tiafoe's 2016 up to the Challenger in Granby was marked by improved play and, generally speaking, good results.  The problem was just that, he was having good results, but not great results.  The big problem for Tiafoe in 2016, until Granby, was that he just couldn't win in the Final of a Challenger tourmament.

That's not to say the year up until Granby was not a success, as this would be far from accurate.  Tiafoe picked up his second ATP World Tour match win ever, beating fellow young American Taylor Fritz in the First Round before winning the first set against David Goffin (currently number 13 in the world), and even having two match points, before ultimately losing in a third set tiebreak.

However, Tiafoe's consistent good results on the ATP Challenger Tour was, in my opinion, more impressive than a couple good performances in Indian Wells.  Before Granby, Tiafoe had already made the Final of ATP Challenger Tour tournaments in Tallahassee, Winnetka, and in Lexington (which he played in the week prior to Granby).  The problem for Frances was, he lost in the Final in all three of his Final appearances.

In Tallahassee, Tiafoe lost to a player he struggles playing against, Quentin Halys.  From watching Halys' game, I think that the problem for Tiafoe is that Halys has a very strong backhand, while Tiafoe's backhand, while MUCH improved and a shot which has turned into a weapon for him as 2016 has progressed, is still a weaker part of his game.

Therefore, Halys' ability to maneuver himself into backhand-to-backhand rally situations, along with his all-court, powerful game allow him to gain the upper hand in this matchup.  In terms of this particular matchup in Tallahassee, Tiafoe once again took the first set of the Final, before fading towards the end.  Becuase Tiafoe's backhand, and volleys have substantially improved since this match in Tallahassee, I think that Frances will win their next matchup.  However, I still don't think Tiafoe wants to see Halys in his section of the draw.

In Winnetka, Tiafoe lost to Yoshihito Nishioka in straight sets, in a match that was won by Nishioka in a very straightforward manner.  Nishioka in an ATP World Tour tournament in Atlanta came within one set of the Final, losing to Nicholas Kyrgios in straight sets and has never lost a singles ATP Challenger Tour Final, going 3-0 in his career so far.  What I am trying to say is that there is no shame in Frances losing this match.  The real problem that this match caused was not that Tiafoe lost to Nishioka, but rather that Frances lost another ATP Challenger Tour Final.  Mentally, it must have been tough for him to continue losing in the final stage of Challenger tournaments.  However, the bitter losses must have made his first Challenger title even sweeter than if Tiafoe won a Challenger in his first Final (more on this later).

Lexington was a very close Final.  Tiafoe's opponent was Ernesto Escobedo, a guy who was 0-6 combined in ITF Futures Tour and ATP Challenger Tour Finals before this match.  Therefore, Escobedo had an even tougher mental barrier to get over than Tiafoe, a victory in a Futures event had even eluded him.  However, in Lexington, Escobedo played excellent tennis, utilizing his powerful serve and forehand to force Tiafoe to be on the defensive, and playing punishing first-strike tennis, winning 7-6(3) in the third set.  Because Escobedo took the racquet out of Frances' hands so often, it was more of how well Ernesto played than how bad Frances played.  However, the weight of yet another Challenger Final loss almost certainly weighed heavily on Tiafoe's mind, no matter how well his opponent played.

Finally, in an ATP Challenger event in Granby, Tiafoe had his breakthrough.  Putting the disappointment of his loss to Escobedo aside, Tiafoe won the tournament in Granby for his first title on the ATP Challenger Tour.  Frances won five matches in a row to win Granby, including a very impressive win in the Round of 16, where he came back from a set down to beat James Ward.  Tiafoe was broken serving for the match against Ward at *5-4 in the third set, however, he did not get down on himself and mentally checkout like he might have in the past, and instead, had the mental fortitude to break back immediately, and win 7-5 in the third set.

The set lost against Ward was the only set Tiafoe lost all tournament, meaning that from his first set loss to Ward, Tiafoe won the next eight sets to win the title.  That is a very impressive feat and something that Frances should feel especially proud of.  The Final was an emphatic win for Tiafoe.  Taking on Marcelo Arevalo, Tiafoe lost only two games on the way to a 6-1, 6-1 victory.  Frances never let Arevalo in the match, breaking Marcelo's serve in the first game, and never letting the nerves that come from playing in a Final, nor his history in Challenger Finals to drop his high level of play.

It was just so apparent watching the match just how far Tiafoe has come since he first started out on the ATP Challenger Tour last spring.  The most amazing improvement in Tiafoe's game has definitely been his backhand.  The improvement his ability to not only can he crack backhand winners, but also to play on the defensive on the backhand side has been astonishing.  I'm starting to wonder if, one day, Frances' backhand will overtake his forehand as Tiafoe's better groundstroke.

It must have been really hard on Frances Tiafoe to lose so many ATP Challenger Tour Finals.  To come so close, so many times, and not win a single Challenger before Granby almost certainly weighed on Tiafoe mentally.  However, any mental on Tiafoe has now been lifted.

Frances Tiafoe won his first ATP  Challenger Tour title yesterday in Granby.  And the title was definitely a long time coming.

Growing Pains Part of the Process for Taylor Fritz

Throughout the second half of 2015, things were almost coming too easily for American Taylor Fritz, currently number 73 in the live rankings.  Playing in, from what I can, only his second ATP Challenger Tour event ever, the essentially unknown Fritz blitzed the field in Sacramento.  The surprises really started in the Second Round when he beat Dustin Brown in a tight three-set match before then taking out Jared Donaldson, another young American talent much higher in the rankings at the time, in the Final, showing mental resiliency from a blown second set.

This was followed by an astonishing run in the Fairfield Challenger, where he didn't drop a set.  In fact, no opponent even got five games in a set against Taylor in that tournament.  He beat Brown in the Final there, proving that the previous week was anything but a fluke.  Then, just a few tournaments later for Fritz, when his results seemed to have slowed, Taylor made the Final of the Champaign Challenger, barely losing in three sets to Henri Laaksonen in the Final there, and thus ending a very successful 2015 campaign for Fritz.

With little points to defend in 2016, Fritz kept up his frantic pace of picking up points.  His first challenger tournament in 2016 resulted in a win in Happy Valley, a tournament in which he only dropped one set and beat veteran Dudi Sela in the Final.  Fritz then qualified for the Australian Open and took Jack Sock to five sets, before then reaching the Final in an ATP World Tour 250 event, losing in a tight battle to Kei Nishikori.  It seemed like everything was clicking for Fritz, he reached as high as number 69 in the world (still very close to what he is now), and his climb to the Top 50 seemed inevitable at that point.  So, what happened?

Well, initially, nothing happened. After an early loss in Delray Beach, Taylor still had an impressive run as a qualifier to the Quarterfinals of Acapulco and was a set away from the semis.  And while Fritz then lost in the First Round of Indian Wells, that was a very understandable loss, as his opponent, Frances Tiafoe knew him very well from their days playing junior tennis.  Fritz qualified in Miami and came within a point of winning the first set in the Second Round against hardened veteran, and a player near the top of the game, David Ferrer.

However, this is about where the good results end for Taylor.  He shockingly lost in the First Round of a challenger event in Leon to Agustin Velotti and lost to Malek Jaziri in the semis of the next challenger he played, struggling with a couple lower ranked players in previous rounds just to get to that point.  Obviously, something was changing in either Taylor's level of play, or, more interestingly, in how opponents approached playing Fritz.  This was further exemplified in Taylor's losses in the First Round of qualies of both Madrid and Rome to Radek Stepanek, his first ventures to the European clay (and Europe in general) as an ATP-level player.

I think that there are two main factors in play as to why Taylor is starting to stagnate in terms of results, beyond just a dip in his level of play.  The first is that, I believe, opponents are finally starting to get good tape of Taylor and are figuring out how to play him effectively.  Fritz essentially barnstormed the challenger circuit when he first started playing ATP Challenger Tour matches.  Here was a guy who hit the ball with such power, had a rocket serve, and who just seemed to overpower opponents, despite, in my opinion, not really utilizing the width of the court or incorporating much variety in his game.  But, at first it didn't matter, as opponents didn't know much about Taylor's game, and quite frankly, weren't ready for what he brought to the table.  So, all Fritz had to do was go out there and play his game, and that was usually good enough to win, and win handedly at that.

However, as time goes on, match film comes out that players, and coaches can study, a larger sample size gives a player and his team more information on Fritz's tendencies, and therefore, what parts of his game can be exploited.  And so, if Taylor doesn't adjust, players will gradually catch on to his game, and thus, start to beat him.  And so, perhaps Fritz naively thought that he could keep playing without making adjustments and this would allow him to rise to the top of the men's game unhindered, I don't know, but I think this is a major reason why his results have slowed, and a guy like Tiafoe was just ahead of the rest of the field in exploiting this in Indian Wells.  It's up to Taylor to adjust his tendencies not only to opponents, but ultimately to surfaces other than hard courts in order to keep up his ascent in men's tennis.

The other big factor in why I think Taylor has stalled in the rankings a bit is because he is now playing on European clay courts, definitely not in his comfort zone.  Those hard courts in North America, but especially the US, were Fritz's bread-and-butter.  It was his best surface (at least compared to clay, the jury is still out regarding grass) and he was playing in front of friendly fans, and overall, in a very comfortable environment.  There seems to be no better place in this world for Fritz to rise in the rankings and breakthrough.  But, alas, you can't get by only playing on one surface and in one area of the world.  I commend Taylor for his good results in Australia, but I think that when he struggled with his surroundings, the hard court surface was there to bail him out a bit.  Things aren't coming so easily for him on European clay, but to be honest, that's to be expected.

Because, to be completely honest, I commend Taylor for giving European clay a try, instead of just staying in his comfort zone in the United States, playing the US green clay events and, instead, challenging himself in Europe.  And, yes, the results weren't there this time around, but I think that playing in Europe on a surface he isn't totally comfortable on was a great idea.  Taylor is getting used to unfamiliar surroundings and competition, in Stepanek, that is unlike what he would see normally on the challenger tour, despite Radek's current live ranking of 132.  Because Stepanek is crafty veteran who won't wilt to Fritz's power game, a player who will try to outwit Taylor.  And it's good for Fritz to get experience playing a guy like Radek, as it can only help him adjust to the level of play he will see on the main tour, and ultimately, make him better.

I think Fritz's run in Memphis was a little bit of fool's gold, I'm not going to lie.  Despite the fact that he was playing in very friendly surroundings, something that I think is irrelevant in this case, Fritz played a Futures/Challenger level player in his first match against Michael Mmoh, a stagnant Steve Johnson in the Second Round.  Then, Fritz played a Challenger-level player, Benjamin Becker in the Quarterfinals, before taking Ricardas Berankis in the Semifinals, who I believe to having a very inflated ranking due to the number of challenger events he plays.  So, while Taylor should be commended for reaching the Final, let's not pretend like he faced top competition in getting there.

And, because of this, I think the American tennis media did Fritz a huge disservice by pumping him up and putting so much additional pressure on his back, when he's only 18 years old, much like the hype that Ryan Harrison and Donald Young got in his early days playing professional.  Sometimes, it's good to praise a young man for a good tournament, without proclaiming that he will be a top-tier player very shortly, instead letting the talented player to mature at his own pace and go through the ups and downs of professional tennis.

Because, it would be impossible for a tennis player to not have any growing pains in his or her career.  And that's just what these results are for Taylor: growing pains.  Yes, losing in the First Rounds of qualies to the same player twice might not feel good for Fritz right now, but it is ultimately necessary for him to go through stretches like this in order to get to the top of the game.  And while I think that Taylor might need to adapt his game to the growing knowledge of what he brings to the table, that's a fix that can be done, and will be done, with time.

I understand why the American tennis media wants the next "star" American urgently.  The top players on the men's side right now are on a downward swing.  John Isner is showing zero ambition by not going the Olympics, instead opting to stay in his comfort zone by play an ATP 250 event in Atlanta.  Jack Sock is turning out to be an unfit, petulant, whiner who refuses to improve his backhand.  Sam Querrey, while showing glimmers of hope by winning Delray Beach, continues to be all serve, but little else to offer.  Donald Young's forehand has turned out to be absolutely horrific, and Ryan Harrison has a horrific attitude, like Sock, but without the good attributes of Jack's game.  And ultimately, guys like Fritz and Tiafoe have to take the heat for the generation before them.  Because, the tennis media in the US know that they need someone to hype up, someone to save American men's tennis from going down the tubes.

So, what they do is push the envelope, ignoring the benefits of giving these young talents time to improve, and ultimately, find themselves.  And, ultimately, that's all I think Taylor Fritz needs: time to work out the kinks in his game and get comfortable playing on any surface, anywhere.  Because, whether people like to admit it or not, growing pains are part of the process, even for someone as talented as Taylor Fritz.

Inigo Cervantes' Scheduling Issues and Why The ATP Needs a Rule Change

If you have been an avid follower of my blog, you know that last summer I ripped into Hyeon Chung.  Now, I didn't do it because I don't like the guy, nor did I do it because he was playing poorly.  I blasted him for artificially padding his ranking by playing in ATP Challenger Tour events in which he was miles better than the competition, and while this gave him what were essentially free ranking points, it wouldn't bode well for him on the main tour.

Well, after writing my article, Chung did slow down, and seemingly stopped playing challengers for good.  However, like I predicted, he has struggled on the main tour, despite what "young gun enthusiasts" will tell you.  Beginning with the grass season of last year, Chung has only won ten, non-qualifying matches on the main tour, posting a 10-13 record, and failing to make the Semifinals of any non-challenger tournament he has played.  Since 2016 started, Chung has won three matches and hasn't won multiple matches in the same tournament.  Obviously, how you plan your schedule as you try to make the transition from the main tour from the challenger ranks is very important.  Trying to ease your way into the main tour, where you aren't throwing yourself in the fire, yet you are actually making the transition, is an art.  And, if you fail to master this art, like Chung did, then you are in for a troublesome transition.

This brings me to Inigo Cervantes.  More specifically, I think his scheduling, like Chung, has been horrible.  Let's start off with how  Inigo Cervantes is  somehow currently ranked number 59 in the world.  Looking since the beginning of 2014, Inigo has not won an ATP Tour, main-draw match off of clay.  In fact, if we qualifying, he has only won five qualifying matches off of the dirt since 2014 began.  So, how is this guy ranked number 59 in the world?  By virtue of clay court challenger tournaments and, this year, weak ATP 250 fields on the clay too.  That, and by playing extremely often.

Just this year alone, for instance, Cervantes has played seven tournaments (the good thing is that none are challengers, but my point remains), the only week when he didn't play was during the second week of the Australian Open.  Last season, Cervantes played 32 tournaments, which included 24 ATP Challenger Tour events, of which 21 of those were on clay.  In all, Cervantes played 24 events on clay, which accounts for 75% of all tournaments played in 2015. And since he generally went further in the clay court tournaments he played, most of which was against lower level opposition, the ratio of matches on clay to matches on hard/grass is even more stark.

Now, this isn't to say that Inigo was losing in all of these tournaments that he entered in.  Cervantes won a ridiculous (by my count) 62 matches last season.  This included four challenger titles last year, which is a very impressive feat.  However, it is important to note that three of the four Cervantes' titles were either before or right after Wimbledon, so it is a bit odd that Inigo decided not to try to play more ATP Tour 250 level events following all of these victories, instead sticking mostly to the clay court challenger events.

Playing almost exclusively on clay courts at the challenger level, when one's ranking is high enough to at least enter the qualies for 250 events on other surfaces, seems like a handicap and very weird.  Also, playing as often as Cervantes played could lead to burnout, and while Cervantes didn't show any signs of burnout when winning the ATP Challenger Tour Finals, perhaps his slower start to 2016 was residue from last season's high workload.  Yes, I know he made the semis of the 250 in Sao Paulo, but it's not as if he were beating the Top 10 to get there, as the field in Sao Paulo was laughable.  The reason I even decided to write this piece was because I saw Cervantes getting demolished by Pablo Carreno Busta, a guy only seven places ahead of him in the rankings, currently, but playing at level that made him seem 50 spots above Cervantes.

So, why is this a problem?  Shouldn't we just be happy for the guy that he is making a career for himself playing tennis?  Well, yes and no.  I will admit, Cervantes is manipulating the system brilliantly, just like Chung also has.  I will give Cervantes credit, at least the challenger fields he has played have solid clay court players entered, which we cannot say the same for the Asian challengers that Chung entered last year.  However, that doesn't excuse the fact that they are just that, challenger tournaments.  The design of  ATP Tour is supposed to work is that a player is supposed to have to qualify for ATP Futures Tour events, then get direct entry into the futures tournaments until they can try to qualify for challengers, and then get into the main draw of challengers until they can qualify for 250 events, and at that point trying to make the full jump into the "major leagues" and get direct entry into 250 events.

However, I believe Cervantes gamed the system, but ultimately hurt himself, by making the jump too late.  He hung out on the challenger circuit for all of last year, fairly easily accumulating points and building his ranking up well into the Top 100.  But, because Cervantes has never really challenged himself with consistently trying to qualify for ATP World Tour events and try to gradually make the transition to the main tour, he has for the most part hopped the "trying to qualify for 250 events" stage of the process, and because of this, I believe he has bitten off more than he can chew.  Before boosting his stats this week at an event in which two of his three opponents were ranked over number 90 in the world, and an extremely (what was essentially a) 50-50 win over Delbonis being his other victory, Cervantes started out the year going 3-7 with only two main-draw victories.  On hard court, Cervantes went 1-4 and didn't a main draw match.

This brings me to my next point.  Besides boosting his ranking with challengers, how does Inigo expect to be successful on the main tour by almost exclusively playing on clay and by largely ignoring the most popular surface on the main tour: hard court.  The scheduling just doesn't make sense to me.  Yes, I get it, Cervantes is much more comfortable on clay than any other surface.  However, as he saw his ranking rising, it would make a lot of sense for him to start at least giving hard courts a shot for ATP 250 events on hard courts.  Going to an event like ATP Atlanta or ATP Winston Salem would not only give him a chance to warm up for the US Open, in which the money is too big for Cervantes to pass up, but would also help ease the transition onto the main tour.  I know that becoming a grass courter is extremely unlikely for Inigo, but it seems self-mutilating for him to largely ignore hard courts for much of last year.

And the effects of him ignoring hard courts last year are seen this year when he can barely win a match on a hard court.  Cervantes' only win on hard this year has come against (currently) world number 185 Luke Saville and other than that, Inigo is finding is extremely tough to even win a qualifying match for a ATP 250 event.

In addition, like I mentioned earlier, it has also been foolish of Cervantes to play as many tournaments as he has played.  32 tournaments is a ton of match play, and given the start to this year, Inigo is not planning on slowing down.  When you play as often as Inigo does, wear-and-tear starts to occur, and if Cervantes is not more careful in the future, the stress he is putting on his body could lead to full-blown injury which is extremely damaging to his career.  However, his huge amounts of matchplay indicate to me that he is not confident that he can maintain his ranking without it, and thus I suspect it will continue, as Inigo knows that he is not good enough to go even deep in most of the tournaments he is playing (again, I suspect Sao Paulo to be an outlier when all is set and done), and thus will continue pushing his body until it gives out.

So, is there anything the ATP can do to avoid having rankings inflated like Cervantes has now (and that Chung had last year)?  I believe there is action that can be taken, and I think a rule change is desperately needed.  I believe I have come up with a solution to these issues.  I think that a good new rule would be that if a player wins a certain number of challenger event tournaments (and the same could be applied to futures events too, but I am just focusing on challengers), say two or three, in a given year, then if their rankings allows them to enter ATP 250 qualifying events, then they should be banned from challenger events for a month or two and only allowed to enter main tour events.  The "if the ranking allows them" clause gives fast-risers like Taylor Fritz time to move up the rankings before being barred from challenger events and exceptions can be made to this rule in extraordinary circumstances (which Cervantes certainly doesn't have).

I also think that there should be disincentives for playing almost exclusively on one surface.  Yes, this is a radical idea, but I think it is necessary in order to produce more well-rounded players on tour, or at least players who are more respectful of the tour.  I believe that players who are entered into a major should be fined for playing on a different surface in their tournament before playing a major.  So, when a guy like Cervantes (or more blatantly Delbonis) disrespect Wimbledon by not only not playing a grass warmup tournament, but by their last tournament before Wimbledon being on clay, which anyone who knows tennis realizes are extremely different surfaces.

And finally, I believe that there should be incentives in place to reward players for gaining a certain amount of ranking points while playing less tournaments.  This would give players a reward for really focusing in on tournaments that are important to them instead of just putting their names down on entry lists and playing as many tournaments as they possibly can.  And while it wouldn't hurt players for playing a huge number of tournaments, it might make them think twice before putting their name down on another entry list.

Now, I don't want to make this issue seem like it's exclusive to Cervantes.  In addition to Chung, someone like Daniel Munoz De La Nava is also guilt for the similar manipulation of the ATP Tour and poor scheduling.  However, Cervantes is the best example of this problem, as he is ranked inside of the top 60, and I think it is more than fair to call him on what he's done.

Because, it's quite obvious, Inigo Cervantes should not be the 59th ranked tennis player in the world.

Russian Men's Tennis Will Again Rise in 2016

2015 was a year to forget for Russian men's tennis.  Long gone were the days of Safin, Youhzny )at his peak), and Davydenko.  In 2015, there were only three Russians in the ATP World Tour Top 100, with the highest being Gabashvili at #50, and Kuznetsov and Donskoy at numbers 79 and 90 respectively.  However, I think 2016 will bring lots of good fortunes for Russians ranked between 100 and 200 in the world, with many breakthroughs in this bunch.

Mikhail Youhzny is old and on the decline, so he will be excluded from my discussion.  And while I do Kudraytsev and Kravchuk can slightly improve his ranking position with continued work, I don't think time is on either of their sides. I think that the three biggest "movers" this year from Russia will be Aslan Karatsev, Andrey Rublev, and Karen Khachanov .  Let's take a look at each one individually.

Aslan Karatsev
Currently 22 years old and ranked the lowest out of the three at #195, including him on the list might surprise some.  After all, he did not have particularly inspiring results to end the season.  But, I see a lot to like in his game.  His return of serve is on the level of an ATP top 100 player.  Now, you might say, "that's because he's going up against challenger competition", but even in Moscow when going up against the Kohlschreiber serve, he stayed strong.  He broke serve six times in three sets in that match and was very close to winning it.  That match showed me that, when Aslan plays to his abilities, he can play at a Top 50 level.

The key for Aslan will be to improve his serve.  If a guy is having a particularly hot service game, such as Gombos in Bratislava in his last match of the 2015 season, then Karatsev's mediocre serves can have a debilitating effect on his game.  However, as I mentioned before, when the return of serve is going and the serve is consistent enough, Aslan can soar, as evidenced by his challenger title in Kazan last year, an event in which he beat three players currently in the Top 100 in Kuznetsov, Donskoy, and Bhambri, along with beating fellow Russian (and star of this post) Kravchuk in the Final.

So, how do I predict this season will go for Aslan?  Well, he's off to a good start, easily upsetting Bemelmans, a player just outside the Top 100, breaking serve four times while only getting broken once.  I expect, as Karatsev continues to improve his serve, that results like this will continue.  I expect Aslan to break the Top 100 in 2016 and win a grand slam match.

Andrey Rublev
2015 was a good year for Andrey Rublev (currently ranked number 185).  He really announced himself in Barcelona, qualifying and then taking out Fernando Verdasco in straight sets before then taking a set off of Fabio Fognini, who once again proved this year that he can at an elite level on clay.  And while Rublev did not have great results following the result in Barcelona, he did continue to have pretty good form throughout the clay season, beating top 70 player Pablo Carreno-Busta in the masters event at Rome, and then coming extremely close to beating Marin Cilic in Geneva.

But, perhaps what was most impressive for me was the scare he put into Anderson after beating higher ranked players in qualifying of the US Open.  He took a set off of Kevin (a player who eventually beat Andy Murray) and even got him to 5-5 in the third set, but just couldn't pull it off.  Watching some of that match, I was amazed that Rublev was able to match the power game that Anderson possesses.  It showed me that he could match the level of a Top 15 player and even, if he plays his cards right, pick up the occasional victory.  So, while his losses to Cilic and Anderson are just that, losses, the manner in which he competed is encouraging and definitely something to build on in the coming season.

I believe that Rublev will crack the Top 90 this season, giving him a solid base to work on for the rest of his career.

Karen Khachanov
While I, admittedly, don't know much about Karen (ranked 152 currently), I would be remiss to leave him off of this list.  The 19 year old has handled the transition between being an ATP Futures Tour player to being an ATP Challenger Tour player beautifully.  His year on the Challenger Tour (three titles on the Futures Tour in 2015) really went on the upswing following after the US Open.  He won a Challenger event in Istanbul, shocking Sergiy Stakhovsky in the Final and sending a message to the rest of the tennis world that he will have what it takes to make it to the Top 100 (and beyond).   This title included a straight set win over fellow rising star Karatsev.

And despite not making it further than the Quarterfinals of another Challenger event last season, there were glimpses of promise for Karen.  Whether it be the wins over Dodig and Ward in Mons, the victory against Marchenko (albeit there was a retirement in the second set) against Marchenko in Brest, the straight set victory over Bemelmans (like Karatsev) and Ilhan in Mouilleron Le Captif, I think that Khachanov has shown that he is becoming one of the better players on the ATP Challenger Tour.  His hard hitting game is showing to be especially effective on a hard too (whether indoor or outdoor), so I am excited to see what he can do in Australia!

I believe, given Khachanov's quick rise already, that he can possibly crack the Top 100 this season, although I do expect, as a young player (and explained thoroughly in my previous piece), that there will be many growing pains in 2016.

With Karatsev, Rublev, and Khachanov playing well, 2016 is looking like the year Russian tennis will again rise.

For Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, 2016 Will Be A Telling Year

Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe are both young Americans, a part of the future landscape of tennis, and fast-rising in the ATP World Tour Rankings.  In fact, Fritz and Tiafoe are right next to each other in these rankings, with Taylor at 175 and Frances at 176 (with only four points separating the teens).  It certainly seems as if these two have the chance to shoot up the rankings together.  The real question is, will they deliver on their promise?

Fritz got his name into the mainstream tennis media by having an amazing run in the fall, US Challenger hard court season.  He won two Challenger tournaments in a row, in Sacramento and Fairfield before making the Final of a Challenger in Champaign later in the season, coming one set from the title.  What made his titles most impressive was the manner in which he won them.  He only dropped two sets in Sacramento, to Dustin Brown and Jared Donaldson, neither a player to disregard, before winning the championship in Fairfield without dropping a set.  In fact, in Fairfield, he never lost more than four games!  That's very impressive for someone who turned 18 towards the end of October.

Tiafoe's resume this year has been less impressive, but he has shown a greater variety in his game, with successes coming on both hard courts and clay courts.  Tiafoe burst onto the scene during the US Challenger clay court season, where he reached the Quarterfinals or better in all three tournaments he played, including reaching the Final in Tallahassee.  He was a few holds away from winning that title against Facundo Arguello, a tough cookie on clay.  But, despite winning his first ATP Tour match in Winston-Salem, his results were quite disappointing for the rest of the summer, but with consistent hard work, he was able to turn his results around during the fall, US Challenger hard court season, making the Semifinals in Fairfield, before going on to make the Finals of the indoor event in Knoxville (and coming a set away from winning the title).  It seems like just a matter of time before the 17 year old wins a Challenger title.

So, while that's a glance at the past, I am more interested in the future for these two young Americans.  Will they continue to rise in the rankings, or will the good results slow as players continue to figure out how to beat these two players?

I would caution against setting expectations too high for either player.  While both players had very impressive 2015s, as Tiafoe started to learn over the summer, it isn't easy to sustain those results over a prolonged period of time.  Players do, in fact, figure out players' games and form new strategies to win, so while an initial run of good results is a good sign, keeping those results, or getting those results back during setbacks, over a long period of time is vital to prolonging a successful tennis career.

This is why I actually think Tiafoe is in a better spot than Fritz, despite not having the Challenger titles that he has (although Tiafoe did win an ATP Futures Tour title in 2015).  You have to remember that, just a few months ago, Taylor was ranked hundreds of spots lower than he is now.   I suspect that during the beginning portions of 2016, Taylor will find that a lot of the challenger players he has battled against at the tail end of 2015 will have adapted their games to bring a different challenge to Fritz than he has previously dealt with, and might not be prepared for.  And Fritz will find, as Tiafoe has during 2015, that forays onto the main tour are a completely different animal than on the challenger tour.  How Fritz deals with this in 2016 will determine the trajectory of his career.

Tiafoe has already dealt with the initial setbacks.  After that run on the US clay courts, Tiafoe learned that life wouldn't always be that easy.  He lost four of his next five matches, then he couldn't make it out of qualifying for a Challenger, and proceeded to struggle for the rest of the summer clay court and hard court season until Fairfield (sans Winston-Salem).  Frances was finding it hard to even win matches on the Challenger circuit.  But, Tiafoe didn't let the stream of losses define his season.  Starting in Fairfield, he started finding his game.  His serve was on point, his groundstrokes were finally finding the corners, and he finally seemed to have matured a bit, as shown by his apology to Eric Quigley following a series of outbursts.  That was a great step for him and bodes well for his reputation on tour.

This is not to say that I think Frances will be top 50 next year and Taylor will fall out of the top 300.  In fact, I think that Fritz will handle the challenges that will be presented perfectly fine.  I think Top 100 is very achievable for both he and Tiafoe, to be honest.  And this isn't to say that the bumps in Tiafoe's career are over, as there will be many more hurdles that Frances has to navigate.  I am merely saying that I think that Tiafoe is further down the road to being a professional tennis player than Fritz, despite being younger and not having a Challenger title to his name.

However, for both players, 2016 will be a telling year.

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.

Appreciating Bjorn Fratangelo

It isn't easy on the ATP Challenger Tour.  The lack of prize money causes players on the Challenger Tour to struggle having enough money for food, let alone the travel costs that have players in far-flung locations across the world for little reward.  Therefore, when a player starts to make a breakthrough and busts out of the tennis purgatory that is the Challenger Tour, it can be all the more rewarding, for both the player and his fans.

Bjorn Fratangelo is making that breakthrough as we speak.  Currently ranked number 123 in the world, just one spot away from tying his career best at number 122 in the world.  He is currently in the Quaterfinals of Binghampton, which is his tenth Quarterfinals appearance for 2015, a year in which he has already won a Challenger, and has finally announced himself to be a possible ATP World Tour mainstay in the years to come.  It's time to start appreciating players like Bjorn Fratangelo.

Although he is just 22 years of age, Bjorn Fratangelo has been around professional tennis for quite some time.  He was playing qualifying matches for ATP Futures events as early as in 2009, but never quite made any traction in Futures events through the 2009 and 2010 seasons.  Bjorn never even made the Quarterfinals of a Futures even during this time frame, and had a main draw win only once.  This might have disappointed some, caused some players to perhaps say that tennis wasn't the right path to pursue, but Fratangelo marched on.  Hard work would pay off, but just not at the moment.

2011 was where Bjorn started to make traction in the professional tennis ranks.  In April of 2011, Fratangelo won multiple main-draw matches at a Futures event for the first time, and did even better in the following Futures event that he played.  A tournament after making his first Futures quarterfinal, Bjorn Fratangelo made his first Futures Final, losing to Brian Baker, but proving that he can play tennis at a professional level.  And while the rest of the year saw Bjorn make only one Futures quarterfinal, the foundation of his career had been laid.

2012 and into2013 were the years in which Bjorn solidified himself on the ATP Futures Tour.  2012 saw Bjorn make 7 Futures Quarterfinals, a Futures semifinal, and  yet another Futures final, this time losing to Tennys Sandgren.  This Final appearance was arguably a better tournament for Bjorn than his previous Final, though, as he didn't drop a set until the his Final match.  If 2012 was a Futures Tour rise, then 2013 was a peak.  He made at least the Futures Tour Quarterfinals in all but two tournaments, made the Final of two tournaments,and finally won his first three ATP Futures Tour events. But, because 2013 was the pinnacle of Fratangelo's Futures Tour career, this also meant that he would be embarking on a scary journey: qualifying for Challenger events.

Upon summiting the ATP Futures Tour, any male professional tennis player has a decision to make.  Futures event winners can only get a maximum of 35 points, whereas ATP Challenger Tour winners get a minimum of 80 points, more than double that of the biggest Futures tournaments.  In addition, Challenger winners can receive 125 points at the biggest events, over triple than the largest point totals that a Futures tournament can provide.  The problem is, if a player doesn't succeed at Challengers, where the quality of players is much higher than those at the Futures level, then the decision to play on the Challenger Tour can be a disastrous one.  For instance, a First Round loser (let alone losing in qualies) gets the player 0 points and only 440 Euros, still barely enough to live on.

So, during much of the 2013 year, and throughout 2014, Bjorn was trying to balance this dilemma.  After having his great successes at Futures tournaments for most of the 2013 season, upon losing in Futures event in Holland,  Fratangelo played exclusively on the ATP Challenger Tour for the remainder of 2013 (besides US Open qualifying) and through much of the beginning of the 2014 year (playing one Futures event and also in ATP Houston qualies).  However, Bjorn did not have much success at this time in Challenger Tour events.  During this time span, Bjorn made two Challenger Round of 16s, and one Challenger Semfinal, neither which occurred in 2014 (he didn't win a Challenger match until late in the season).

When Fratangelo lost yet another main draw match at the 2014 Tallahassee Challenger, meaning that he still hadn't won a Challenger match since 2013, Bjorn made the mature decision to go back to the ATP Futures Tour.  Fratangelo was a model of how to handle his career.  He made every every effort to try to take the next step to the Challenger ranks, but upon repeated poor results, which was crippling to both his financial situation and his ranking, he put his pride aside and made the correct decision to go back to the Challengers, try to get his ranking up, and leave the Futures again as an even better player.

And after winning his fourth Futures title of the season, Bjorn jumped up to the Challenger Tour again, this time with much better results.  Fratangelo made the Quarterfinals in two of the four challengers he finished the year with, and continued his success into 2015 with repeated good results, and even a win at the Launceston Challenger, beating Hyeon Chung in the Final.  Considering Chung is currently number 78 in the world, this was a huge win for him.  Frantangelo has recently made his second ever Challenger Final, losing to Elias Ymer, and his currently in the Quarterfinals of the Binghampton Challenger with a real shot to win the entire tournament.

One could even see Fratangelo's rapid maturation today.  Earlier this season, Fratangelo played Frances Tiafoe, a fast-rising player (personally one of my favorites), but also a player who is distracting to play against, as he is very demonstrative on court and can easily distract opponents with his tomfoolery.  And Bjorn clearly let Tiafoe's antics get to him earlier in this, losing meekly in straight sets.

Today, however, Fratangelo would not be denied.  After losing the first set to Tiafoe, Bjorn dug his heels in and grinded out a very tense three-set win.  Even upon losing his break lead in the third set, Fratangelo tuned Tiafoe out and focused in, breaking Frances soon thereafter and holding a tight service game to win the match.  This time, Bjorn Fratangelo did not crack.  This time, Bjorn Fratangelo rose to the challenge.

It's players like Bjorn Fratangelo that are to be appreciated.  Hard-working, mature, and ready to take on any player in his way, Fratangelo has worked his butt off to get from struggling at Futures events to thriving at Challenger tournaments.

Bjorn Fratangelo is on his way to the ATP World Tour.

What's the Deal With Hyeon Chung's Schedule?

On the ATP World Tour, the amount of points you earn determine your ranking on the tours.  However, it doesn't matter how you accumulate those points, just that you have them.  For instance, you could get 90 points for making the Semifinals of an ATP 250 event, or you could try to win a $75,000 dollar challenger to get those 90 points.  But, under this system, it doesn't matter how you get the points, only that you get them.

This brings me to Hyeon Chung  This 19 year old South Korean is quickly rising in the rankings, and is currently number 74 in the world.  Chung is heralded by the media, among others, as a "next generation" player, ready to take over once the Big Four + Stan Wawrinka decide to put away their rackets for good.  However, the paths that Hyeon has taken is not allowing him to maximize his abilities.  Let me explain.

Hyeon Chung burst onto the scene not for who he beat, but rather for how much he won.  Over the course of a three tournament span, Chung won 14 of 15 matches and won two of the three tournaments.  In fact, Hyeon only dropped four sets and went 12 straight matches without dropping a set. From the beginning of 2015 until now, Chung won three tournaments and made the Final of an additional two tournaments.

So, you might be asking yourself, "How come this kid hasn't rose to the Top Ten yet?"  The answer lies in what type of tournament Chung is playing in.  On the ATP World Tour, excluding special tournaments (Olympics, ATP Finals, etc.), there are six levels of tournaments.  The lowest level of is on the ATP Futures Tour, with point values for tournament winners ranging from 18 to 35 points.  Next is the ATP Challenger Tour, with point values for winners ranging from 80 to 125 points.  ATP 250 winners get 250 points, ATP 500 champions get 500 points, Masters 1000 winners get 1000 points, and Grand Slam champions get 2000 points.

Hyeon Chung has played in the main draw in 12 tournaments this year.  10 of those 12 tournaments have been ATP Challenger Tour matches, with another only being an ATP 250 tournament.  The 12th tournament Chung played in the main draw was when he received a wild card into Miami in March.  As a result, Hyeon has not challenged himself against some of the upper-echelon players in the men's game, and is therefore not ready for the struggles that playing at tennis' highest level brings.
 
To show this more fully, it is important to note that Hyeon Chung's best win is a three-set win over Marcel Granollers, who is only six spaces ahead of him in the rankings.  Chung only has had two matches against others players in the Top 50 (Berdych and Verdasco) and did not win a set in either of the matches.  Hyeon has also never qualified for a major, and has a pedestrian 3-3 record at major qualifying, along with a two game losing streak at these major qualifying events.  In addition, Chung has never actually qualified for a tournament bigger than an ATP 250 event and never won over two non-qualifying matches.

Despite Chung's rise in the rankings this year, it is quite apparent that he is still struggling to even qualify and win matches on the main tour, that he would realize that he actually has to consistently play main tour players in order to succeed at that level.  You have to play other guys in 250 and 500 events if you want to beat them and not expect to show up to the occasional ATP World Tour event expecting to succeed.  And given that Chung has had a lot of success in challengers since around this time last year, it is certainly time to make the leap.  Chung might take a dip in the rankings at first, after all he won't have these easier challenger points to win, bur in the long run, battling tougher players will, in turn, toughen up Chung's game.

So, it was definitely encouraging to see that Chung attempted to qualify for s'Hertogenbosch instead of playing in the numerous challengers this week.  It would have been easy for Chung to sign up for Surbiton, Prague, Moscow, or Caltanissetta and try to pick up some quick points.  After all, Caltanissetta is a worth the maximum amount of points for a challenger event, at 125 points.  Instead, Chung decided to put himself out there by not only trying to qualify for a grass tournament, in which he has never played a match before in his professional career, but also chose to attempt to play in a 250 instead of the grass challenger (Surbiton).  And while Hyeon lost in straight sets to Nicholas Monroe, playing in this event showed that Chung was serious about rising on the ATP World Tour.

An interesting case study to compare Hyeon Chung to is Thanasi Kokkinakis.  Kokkinakis is also 19 years old and is slightly ahead of Chung, at number 69 in the world.  Kokkinakis' schedule is the antithesis of Chung's schedule.  In 2015, Kokkinakis has played ten ATP World Tour events and only one challenger (which he won).  This includes winning at least one match in both the Australian Open and the French Open, where he actually made it to the Round of 32.  Another great tournament for Kokkinakis was when he made the Round of 16 at Indian Wells, beating tough veterans like Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Juan Monaco in the process.  What might be Thanasi's greatest feat, however, is how he's qualified every tournament he attempted to qualify for this year and has not had a losing streak this year of greater than two matches.  Kokkinakis is proving that, as a teenager attempting to make it on tour, playing mostly ATP World Tour matches with the occasional challenger or two thrown in there is the best course of action for young players.

Perhaps it is even a good thing that Chung is on a three match losing streak right now, the longest losing streak he's had since another three game losing streak ending in January. This small losing streak can be a wake up call for Chung without seriously damaging his ranking.  Chung needed to realize that playing as many challenger matches as he has played will not lead to automatic wins.  Hyeon needed to see that the challenger tour will only take him so far and that the main tour must be the next step, and quickly.  That's not to say that his last two losses were not especially embarrassing.  After all, Hyeon only won one game against Jared Donaldson and the previously mentioned straight set loss to Nicholas Monroe, doesn't even have a singles ranking on the ATP website at the time I was writing this article.  But, as more players hear about Chung's game and figure him out, Chung will need to adapt as well.  And this adaptability can only successfully occur on the main tour.  Hey, if Thanasi can do it, then so can Hyeon.

Hyeon Chung's schedule has not allowed him to make the most of his abilities so far.  However, if his appearance in s'Hertogebbosch is any indication of his future plans, then Chung is certainly on the right track

*Note: this post focuses exclusively on ranking points on the ATP Tour and not the WTA Tour.