Taylor Fritz vs Brandon Nakashima: An All-American Showdown at Wimbledon

The Wimbledon draws have come out and they're full of exciting matchups that will have tennis fans glued to the action. However, the first-round matchup that excited me the most has to be a battle of Americans: Taylor Fritz vs Brandon Nakashima.

Seed vs qualifier. One of the players who used to be considered the future of American tennis vs someone who is currently seen as part of the future of American tennis. A battle of players who can impose themselves from the baseline and hit their spots on-serve.

How will this matchup play out? Who will come out on top? Read on for my thoughts!

No. 31 seed Taylor Fritz is certainly grateful that this match is happening at all. The 23 year-old American suffered a massive injury during Roland Garros, tearing his meniscus during his second round Roland Garros match against Dominik Koepfer. The injury was so severe that he had to have a wheelchair take him off the court. Fritz even needed surgery, but somehow has found the strength and willpower to find a way to get ready for the meeting.

Fritz's health is certainly no guarantee. But, if he's in the draw, I'm going to assume he's healthy enough to at least compete at a good level. And if that's the case, then he certainly will present a massive challenge to Nakashima.

Fritz has won 1 ATP Tour title in his career and he lifted that winner's trophy on the grass of Eastbourne. In 2019, Fritz beat fellow American Sam Querrey in the final 6-3, 6-4.

After the match, Fritz told the ATP, "It's so amazing. I almost can't even believe it. I'm still trying to take it in...I really hope that I can continue on and progress the way Andy (Roddick) did and follow in his footsteps."

Fritz clearly saw the last Eastbourne champion from the United States, Andy Roddick, as a role model for his grass-court career.

In that Eastbourne event, Fritz served really well. He won at least 75% of his first-serve points in all 5 matches he played in the event. From the quarterfinals onwards, Fritz was only broken once. In the final against Querrey, Fritz won 89% of his first-serve points, facing only 1 break point, and he didn't get broken in that final.

However, at Wimbledon, Fritz has only made the 2nd round a couple times in his 4 appearances in the main draw. So, why has this been the case?

On the positive side, as mentioned before, Fritz's first serve is a huge weapon on faster surfaces, and is an area of his game where he's rapidly improved. Fritz's groundstrokes also are flatter and can really cut through the court on grass.

On the other hand, at times, it feels like the Fritz's backswings are little too far back for the quicker grass surface and he doesn't have an effective, low-skidding backhand slice that can do so much damage on the grass. In addition, Fritz isn't totally comfortable at the net.

So, there are aspects of Fritz's game that work supremely well on the grass, while there are other aspects that cause some concern. I guess that partially explains why, at times when he's able to play to his strengths on grass he can be dominant, while at other times, his weaknesses get exposed.

Perhaps some more time on grass last season and in the lead-up to Wimbledon this season would have been good for Fritz to continue to develop his grass-court game and try to continue to live up to the standard that Andy Roddick has set for American men, but a global pandemic and a fluke injury blew those chances.

On the other side of the net will be qualifier Brandon Nakashima. The 19 year-old American hadn't played a professional match on grass, having only competed in the juniors on grass.

And, in the Challengers leading up to Wimbledon qualifying, Nakashima showed some growing pains. Nakashima went 1-2 in the Challengers preceding Wimbledon qualifying, beat Mario Vilella Martinez and losing to Evgeny Donskoy and Thomas Fabbiano.

While Donskoy and Fabbiano are not the easiest matchups on grass, given the progression that Nakashima has shown, it was a bit disappointing that he lost those matches.

However, Nakashima seemed to put it all together during his time at qualifying in Roehampton.

The American doesn't have the biggest serve, but he hits his spots very well. He won 75% of his first-serve points in all three of his qualifying wins over Aleksander Vukic, Viktor Troicki, and Ernests Gulbis.

Nakashima also took advantage of second-serve returns. In every match Nakashima played in Roehampton, his opponents won 35% or fewer of his second-serve returns and broke 15 times over the course of the tournament.

In addition to his solid serving and returning, there are other aspects of Nakashima's game that work well on grass. Nakashima's groundstrokes are very flat and he hits his targets. Finally, Nakashima has really made it a point to improve his net-game, an aspect of tennis that is particularly important on grass. Nakashima attacks the net with authority and hits razor-sharp volleys.

Nakashima, however, doesn't have the power that would let him hit opponents off the court at times his forehand can get a little bit shaky, and like Fritz, his backhand slice could also use some work.

But, ultimately, Nakashima's qualifying campaign was a massive achievement. It was the first time in his career that he had qualified for a Major and Nakashima was clearly happy with his level of play.

Having had success at Roehampton as a junior, Nakashima explained to the ATP during his qualifying campaign, "It definitely feels pretty good coming back here. I feel comfortable with the courts..."

And, given how he performed, his comfort on the grass was very evident.

***

So, how will this matchup play out?

They've never played in a non-exhibition event, although Fritz leads 2-1 in exhibitions. However, all 3 of those matches were on hard courts and there's really not much to take away from them.

Fritz will have the power advantage from the baseline, but Nakashima is more comfortable at the net and will look to impose himself on Fritz when he can.

In terms of the serve, Fritz's first serve has evolved into one of the best in the game. He won't give Nakashima many opportunities on return and Nakashima will have to be clutch in converting the opportunities given to him.

Fritz's health is certainly the biggest question mark. Will he be ready physically for best-of-five? Will he have enough time on the practice courts to hone his game? How will he respond to not playing a grass-court match in 2 years?

Given Fritz's health concerns and lack of matchplay, it's hard to expect too much from him in this one. And an in-form Nakashima who has already played 6 matches on the grass this season.

For Nakashima, he's inexperienced at the Grand Slam level. He's only played in one Major before and never outside of the United States.

Ultimately, I trust Nakashima to pull through in this match. His improved net game and aggressive attitude will come through for him here and will be the steadier player from the baseline, as a rusty Fritz will spray unforced errors.

It won't be entirely straightforward, but expect Brandon Nakashima to win in 4 sets and set up a 2nd round showdown with fellow American Steve Johnson or Dennis Novak!

United States Davis Cup Disappointment: What Went Wrong and What's Next?

The entire situation was sort of surreal.  The United States couldn't possibly have blown a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Davis Cup, could they have?  As I sat last night pondering what happened in the United States-Croatia Davis Cup Quarterfinals, I just couldn't wrap my brain around the total collapse that occurred for the United States in this competition.  And, when you combine the collapse with the reality of the current state of American male tennis, it makes the loss all the more frustrating.

The Davis Cup campaign for the US men started out promising.  After losing in the Round of 16 of the World Group to Great Britain the past two years, in 2016, the team won their Round of 16 tie against Australia, beating the Australians in their home country on the grass in four matches.  John Isner beat Sam Groth, the Bryan Brothers won the doubles match in five sets, and the Isner took down Bernard Tomic to win the tie for the Americans.  This was a huge win for the United States, as a very winnable next tie against Croatia loomed.

The tie against Crotia started out amazingly well for the United States.  After losing the first two sets, Jack Sock proceeded to win the next three to beat Marin Cilic in a dramatic five set victory to give America a 1-0 lead in the tie.  Considering how Cilic also lost in five sets to Roger Federer in his previous match at Wimbledon (also leading two sets to none), this was a greatly damaging loss to his psyche.  John Isner then took the second rubber of the tie over Borna Coric in three fairly straight-forward sets to give the United States a commanding lead.

In my mind, and I imagine in the minds of many American tennis fans and even the players, it was a matter of "when" rather than "if" in regards to when the United States would finish off this tie, with the Bryan Brothers having a great shot to win the doubles rubber and make sure there would not be a live rubber on Sunday.  This is when things went awry.

Bob and Mike Bryan took on Ivan Dodig and Marin Cilic in the doubles rubber.  The Bryans, obviously, are doubles legends.  They have won 16 doubles majors, and an Olympic goal together, while also winning 11 mixed doubles majors split between the two (Bob with seven mixed titles and Mike with four).  It is a great luxury for the United States to be able to put such an amazing doubles team out there every time Davis Cup rolls around, and it is almost to be expected that America will take the doubles rubber.

It must be said that Ivan Dodig was a player not to be underestimated.  He has been as high as number four in the world in doubles, and won the 2015 French Open with Marcelo Melo.  However, Dodig's doubles partner in this match, Marin Cilic, scarcely plays doubles, as shown by his doubles ranking of number 256 in the world.  Therefore, presumably, he would be the major weakness on the court.  However, that did not turn out to be the case.

Instead, it was Mike Bryan who was the weak spot out there, causing major issue for the American squad.  With a serve that was broken often, and which I could not say was even at the level of serve you'd see on the ATP Challenger Tour, while doing enough with the rest of his game to make up for his serving deficiencies, it was a disastrous day for Mike.  It was very upsetting watching the match, as the Bryan Brothers as a tandem have clearly lost a step out there, which an experienced doubles player like Dodig was quick to exploit.  And while Cilic played well, the Bryans just couldn't seem to put him in tough positions at the net, which might have also allowed his recent best-of-five issues to enter the front of his mind.  But, In the end, Dodig/Cilic won the match in four sets, and the tie would go on to Sunday.

I must say, my expectations for John Isner beating a rejuvenated Marin Cilic were not high.  I thought John had a chance, and certainly felt like he would take a set, but Cilic is a singles major champion and certainly not someone to be underestimated.  John, however, put in a slightly disheartening performance, losing in straights sets, and only even being able to reach a tiebreak in the first set.  In that first set John had a set point on Cilic's serve in the tiebreak, but couldn't convert, as Cilic managed to win the point after initially being on the defensive. In the second and third sets, Isner's huge serve was broken.  Isner also never managed to break Cilic's big serve, losing out on his first, and only break chance.  The tie was all-square, two apiece.

It seemed, to me, as if Isner felt he had done his job when he beat Coric on Friday, and never truly believed that he had what it took to beat Cilic.  And this same lack of belief is what makes it disappointing that John pulled out of the Olympics and an ATP 250 event in Atlanta instead.  It seems as if John's thinking is, "I don't think I can beat those top guys, so why try?"  And I believe it is this type of mindset which has hindered John throughout his career, and was in full display yesterday, once more, against Marin.

The fifth rubber was between Jack Sock and Borna Coric.  Sock came into the match with all of the momentum with his huge comeback victory over Cilic.  That was the type of match which changes a career, as Sock not only beat a major champion in the best-of-five format, but did so when the odds were certainly against him.  I expected him to come into this match oozing with confidence.  And against Coric, a solid player, but not a guy with big weapons, I thought that Jack would be able to dictate play and pull out the victory.  However, from the very start, Sock looked very low-energy out there, as if he were physically done from the match against Cilic.

All Coric really had to do was play good defense, get balls back in play, and wait for Sock to implode.  The forehand that Jack is known for did not have the same bite as we are accustomed to seeing.  And, I believe, it all stems back to Jack's fitness.  I have been very critical of Sock in the past for not being fit enough to compete at the highest level on tour.  His performances in Atlanta last year and in the Houston Final this year were a real indicator that Jack needs to be working harder on his fitness.  Yesterday was yet another example of how he needs to be in better shape.  Now, it seems like adrenaline during the Cilic match is what got him through that match, and when that adrenaline was gone, Sock could not handle the physical demands of another best-of-five match, especially against a defensive-minded Coric.  Borna won the match in four sets, winning tie for Croatia 3-2.  Croatia moved on to the Davis Cup Semifinals.

So, what can be done to make sure that a disappointing tie like this never happens again?  I think that the United States should adjust who is playing on the team.  I will start off by saying that I think that the Bryans should get to continue to play the doubles rubber until they retire.  They have earned the right to have this opportunity, and there is no other American doubles player that is good enough to even approach the current level of Mike and Bob Bryan.

However, I would put different players in for John Isner and Jack Sock.  I think American tennis should start looking to the future.  Players such as Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Stefan Kozlov, and Tommy Paul should be given an early start playing for the United States Davis Cup team.  Yes, these guys might not be winning matches immediately, but they are the building blocks for American tennis, and while the United States might not win the Davis Cup this year, if you allow young players such as Fritz, Tiafoe, Kozlov, and Paul to get Davis Cup experience early in their careers, then this will be beneficial for years down the road, and maybe in five years the United States can win Davis Cup once more.

Putting some of these young players out there might not be a popular choice, initially.  I understand that, but with the game that these young Americans have shown, I think they could surprise some folks, possibly even winning a round or two next year, if a combination of these four players, based on the surface played on, were the singles players for the United States Davis Cup team next season.

But, even if you don't like my idea for how to change up the United States Davis Cup team, based on the disappointment this past weekend, it is quite clear that a change of some sort, either with in regards to who is in the lineup or who is our captain, must occur.

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.

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.