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.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Remembering Serena Williams' Close Calls At Majors This Season
With Serena Williams completing the "Serena Slam" and moving on to the US Open for the "Calendar Year Slam", it is safe to say she is having one of the greatest seasons of all time. But, it hasn't always been easy for Serena at tennis' major championships. There have been ten separate times this season when Williams has been either down a set point in the first set, down at least one break in the third set, or down a set (and possibly a break). Let's take a look back at Serena's greatest escapes at majors this season.
Australian Open
vs. Vera Zvonareva (R2): Broken in two of her first four service game in the match, Serena Williams struggling greatly on serve during the first set of her Second Round encounter with Vera Zvonareva, a former world number 2 in the world. However, even as she took the break lead against Serena, it was more due to Williams playing poorly than Zvonareva conjuring even near what she once was. Vera eventually took a 5-3 lead in the match and had three set points on Serena's serve, all of which were missed opportunities. She then, in the 5-4 game, got to 30-0 on her own serve, but lost four straight points to not only lose the game, but in hindsight, the match. For Zvonareva didn't win a single game from 5-3 up (losing 7-5, 6-0). However, for quite some time in the first set, Vera Zvonareva had Serena Williams in deep trouble.
vs. Elina Svitolina (R3): This was a match no one saw coming. Broken in three of her first four service games, Serena Williams was lifeless in a 6-4 opening set to young riser Elina Svitolina. Svitolina was even up 0-30 on Serena's serve in the first game of the second set, but at that point, something clicked and Serena made the turnaround that the world would know much better in the coming months. Williams only dropped serve one additional time in the rest of match, losing only two games total, and beat Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 to get to the Australian Open Round of 16.
vs. Garbine Muguruza (R4; apologies for the lack of accents): This match was Serena's toughest match of the tournament, and considering how she won only four games in her previous match with Muguruza, the stakes for this match were even higher. While the first four games of the match went on-serve, Serena was broken in the fifth game of the match and was subsequently broken in the seventh game of the match, as well. The glaring stat in the first set for Serena was that she was 0/6 on break chance opportunities in the first set, while Muguruza was 2/3. She had more chances, but just couldn't break Muguruza's hard, body serves. What did this all mean? Serena lost yet another set to Garbine 6-2. And while Williams' game rose in the second set, she still couldn't break away from Muguruza until the eighth game of the set, where Serena broke to 15 and held her next service game to win the set. In the third set, with Muguruza up 1-0, Serena had to save six break points in order to hold. And from there, Williams imposed her game, taking five of the last games of the match to win the match 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
French Open
vs. Anna-Lena Friedsam (R2): In a "here we go again" match for Serena fans, Williams struggled again in an early round of the French Open. She held in only 50% of her service games, being broken three times to lose the first to Anna-Lena in what was looking like it could be the shock of the tournament. But, like any match when Serena is losing, Williams' game was lackluster and not close to how she played to win the Australian Open and Miami earlier in the season. Friedsam even had two break points in the first game of the second set, but couldn't convert. Even then, Serena just couldn't seem to break Anna-Lena's spirit. The second set was on serve even at 4-3 in the second set, with Friedsam to serve. That's when Serena pounced, winning a tough break of serve and serving out the set to 30. The third set was all but inevitable, with Serena breaking in the first game of the set. And when Anna-Lena did not convert her two break points in the second game of the set, the match was essentially over. Down 3-5, Friedsam was broken once more to lose the match 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
vs. Viktoria Azarenka (R3): This match was the closest-call of the tournament, not only because of how the scoreline looked at one point, but because of how Serena was playing. This was a match where Serena was playing pretty well, but yet still was a couple games away from losing. Azarenka served the ball beautifully in the first set, only being broken once, and going 2/2 in break point opportunities to take the first set 6-3 against Serena. Playing well would not be good enough for Williams, she would need to raise her level even higher. And for much of the second set, that just didn't happen. Serena was broken in the third game of the second set, and Vika even got the scoreline up to 6-3, 4-2, needing just two holds to win the match. However, a break to 30 got the match back on serve, and Serena broke again in Vika's next service game to win the second set 6-4. But, Azarenka did not waver, breaking Williams in the first game of the third set and holding to love to go up 2-0. From 2-0 on, Serena raised her game to an un-playable level, only losing four points in her final three return games, and coupled with a rise in the level of her service games, won six straight games (beating Azarenka 3-6, 6-4, 6-2).
vs. Sloane Stephens (R4): This match was another very close-call for Serena, as she was one game away from losing it. Williams was lifeless in the first set, not even coming close to breaking Stephens, and dropping three of her first four service games. The first set of this match was the worst Serena played all tournament, and it seemed for a little while as if Williams was a bit disinterested in the match. And when Stephens held to take a 6-1. 5-4 lead, there were questions in my mind as to whether Serena would be able to hold in that tenth game. Williams came through, however, holding a tense game to 30, and then only losing two points in her next two games to take the second set 7-5. And when Serena saved two break points down 0-1 in the third set, the end seemed near for Sloane. Stephens was broken a couple service games later, and then once more to end the match. The final score: Williams wins 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
vs. Timea Bacsinzky (SF; to be referred to solely as Timea in this post): Fighting a terrible illness, Williams had a very tough time with Timea in this scintillating semifinal matchup. After a few holds to start the match, Williams was broken to 40 in a tense game to go down 3-2. And while Serena would get another chance to break down 4-5 in the first set, she could not convert and Timea took the opening set by a score of 6-4. With how sick Serena looked, there were questions in my mind, at least, as to whether or not she would continue. And when Williams was broken in a long deuce game to go down 3-2 in the second set, the end seemed all but inevitable. However, perhaps being so far down and sick allowed Serena to really hit out and not worry about the pressure of winning a grand slam anymore, as Williams did not lose another game in the match. Serena won 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
vs. Lucie Safarova (F): A still-sick Serena Williams played a tense Final against Lucie Safarova. Williams broke Safarova quickly to take a 3-1 lead and did not give the break back for the rest of the set, winning it 6-3. And when Serena got the double break lead in the second set to lead 4-1, her 20th grand slam was seemingly in hand. But, nerves got the best of Williams for the moment and Safarova broke twice (and was not broken) to take a 5-4 lead in the second set. Even when Serena broke Lucie's serve once more to take a 6-5 lead in the second set, she could not grab the opportunity and lost the second set in a tiebreak, 7-6(2). And when Safarova broke Serena's serve in the first game of the third set and easily hold the game after, it seemed for a moment as if Lucie would be the one holding the trophy a little while later. However, Williams would not be denied, breaking the Safarova serve in every return game for the rest of the match (going 3/4 on break points) and not facing a break point herself to win the match 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-2 and capture her 21st major championship.
Wimbledon
vs. Heather Watson (3R): Like the Safarova match at the French Open, this match seemed to be in hand for Williams until things got interesting in the second and third sets. In the first set, Serena only lost three points on serve and broke Watson two times to take a very easy, straight-forward set 6-2. And for the first two games of the second set, she had no serving problems either, only losing a couple points in the two games she served. However, she couldn't break Watson and was promptly broken herself in her third service game of the set to 40. And while she broke Watson right back, Serena never looked comfortable on the court, allowing the raucous crowd to get to her head. She struggled to serve in her next service game, and a couple games after that, was broken to 30. This gave Watson a 5-4 lead, which she made good on, winning the set in a tense final game. Watson used that momentum to take a 3-0 lead in the second sets, which put her three games up on Serena. However, upon blowing two game points in the fourth game of the set to give Serena one break back, the ending seemed inevitable for Watson. She eventually went down 4-3, and the crowd seemed dejected. However, out of nowhere, Serena lost her next game on serve to love, and Heather even got within two points of the match on two different occasions (both 40-40), but could not hold on to her serve, as Serena broke in one of the tensest games I have ever witnessed as a tennis fan/blogger. From there, Serena would not be denied as she closed out the match with a hold and a break. Serena Williams wins, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
vs. Viktoria Azarenka (QF): If Serena Williams thought she was in the clear after the win against Watson, she would be mistaken, as Viktoria Azarenka had other plans. In the first set, the margins were super thin, as Azarenka was playing some of the best tennis of her life to break Serena in the fourth game of the set and then manage to hold on to that break lead for the entirety of the set and win 6-3. Serena Williams was playing good tennis, but good wouldn't be enough to take down a fired-up Vika. So, Serena had to dig deep for the rest of the match, because even as she raised her level, Azarenka's level refused to dip. On serve in game five of the second set, Vika had a break point at 30-40, but just couldn't manage to break, as Williams barely escaped. And that game certainly was on Vika's mind for a little while longer, as she couldn't manage a hold for the rest of the set and lost it 6-2. And after being broken for a 2-0 lead in the third set, it seemed as if Azarenka's run at Wimbledon was basically over. But, Vika still fought. Viktoria Azarenka was not broken for the rest of the match, and despite incredible serving from Williams still had a break point down 3-5 in the final set. She couldn't convert it, however, and after a couple more incredible serves by Serena, the match was over. Serena won it 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Serena Williams has had an unbelievable season. She is more than doubling up the point total of number two in the world, Maria Sharapova, and playing at a level of tennis previously unheard of so late in her career. But, there were many times this season where the "Serena Slam" (and chance for the "Calendar Year Slam") could have easily been stopped, and this post shows just how deep Serena Williams had to dig to accomplish all that she has this season.
Australian Open
vs. Vera Zvonareva (R2): Broken in two of her first four service game in the match, Serena Williams struggling greatly on serve during the first set of her Second Round encounter with Vera Zvonareva, a former world number 2 in the world. However, even as she took the break lead against Serena, it was more due to Williams playing poorly than Zvonareva conjuring even near what she once was. Vera eventually took a 5-3 lead in the match and had three set points on Serena's serve, all of which were missed opportunities. She then, in the 5-4 game, got to 30-0 on her own serve, but lost four straight points to not only lose the game, but in hindsight, the match. For Zvonareva didn't win a single game from 5-3 up (losing 7-5, 6-0). However, for quite some time in the first set, Vera Zvonareva had Serena Williams in deep trouble.
vs. Elina Svitolina (R3): This was a match no one saw coming. Broken in three of her first four service games, Serena Williams was lifeless in a 6-4 opening set to young riser Elina Svitolina. Svitolina was even up 0-30 on Serena's serve in the first game of the second set, but at that point, something clicked and Serena made the turnaround that the world would know much better in the coming months. Williams only dropped serve one additional time in the rest of match, losing only two games total, and beat Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 to get to the Australian Open Round of 16.
vs. Garbine Muguruza (R4; apologies for the lack of accents): This match was Serena's toughest match of the tournament, and considering how she won only four games in her previous match with Muguruza, the stakes for this match were even higher. While the first four games of the match went on-serve, Serena was broken in the fifth game of the match and was subsequently broken in the seventh game of the match, as well. The glaring stat in the first set for Serena was that she was 0/6 on break chance opportunities in the first set, while Muguruza was 2/3. She had more chances, but just couldn't break Muguruza's hard, body serves. What did this all mean? Serena lost yet another set to Garbine 6-2. And while Williams' game rose in the second set, she still couldn't break away from Muguruza until the eighth game of the set, where Serena broke to 15 and held her next service game to win the set. In the third set, with Muguruza up 1-0, Serena had to save six break points in order to hold. And from there, Williams imposed her game, taking five of the last games of the match to win the match 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
French Open
vs. Anna-Lena Friedsam (R2): In a "here we go again" match for Serena fans, Williams struggled again in an early round of the French Open. She held in only 50% of her service games, being broken three times to lose the first to Anna-Lena in what was looking like it could be the shock of the tournament. But, like any match when Serena is losing, Williams' game was lackluster and not close to how she played to win the Australian Open and Miami earlier in the season. Friedsam even had two break points in the first game of the second set, but couldn't convert. Even then, Serena just couldn't seem to break Anna-Lena's spirit. The second set was on serve even at 4-3 in the second set, with Friedsam to serve. That's when Serena pounced, winning a tough break of serve and serving out the set to 30. The third set was all but inevitable, with Serena breaking in the first game of the set. And when Anna-Lena did not convert her two break points in the second game of the set, the match was essentially over. Down 3-5, Friedsam was broken once more to lose the match 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
vs. Viktoria Azarenka (R3): This match was the closest-call of the tournament, not only because of how the scoreline looked at one point, but because of how Serena was playing. This was a match where Serena was playing pretty well, but yet still was a couple games away from losing. Azarenka served the ball beautifully in the first set, only being broken once, and going 2/2 in break point opportunities to take the first set 6-3 against Serena. Playing well would not be good enough for Williams, she would need to raise her level even higher. And for much of the second set, that just didn't happen. Serena was broken in the third game of the second set, and Vika even got the scoreline up to 6-3, 4-2, needing just two holds to win the match. However, a break to 30 got the match back on serve, and Serena broke again in Vika's next service game to win the second set 6-4. But, Azarenka did not waver, breaking Williams in the first game of the third set and holding to love to go up 2-0. From 2-0 on, Serena raised her game to an un-playable level, only losing four points in her final three return games, and coupled with a rise in the level of her service games, won six straight games (beating Azarenka 3-6, 6-4, 6-2).
vs. Sloane Stephens (R4): This match was another very close-call for Serena, as she was one game away from losing it. Williams was lifeless in the first set, not even coming close to breaking Stephens, and dropping three of her first four service games. The first set of this match was the worst Serena played all tournament, and it seemed for a little while as if Williams was a bit disinterested in the match. And when Stephens held to take a 6-1. 5-4 lead, there were questions in my mind as to whether Serena would be able to hold in that tenth game. Williams came through, however, holding a tense game to 30, and then only losing two points in her next two games to take the second set 7-5. And when Serena saved two break points down 0-1 in the third set, the end seemed near for Sloane. Stephens was broken a couple service games later, and then once more to end the match. The final score: Williams wins 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
vs. Timea Bacsinzky (SF; to be referred to solely as Timea in this post): Fighting a terrible illness, Williams had a very tough time with Timea in this scintillating semifinal matchup. After a few holds to start the match, Williams was broken to 40 in a tense game to go down 3-2. And while Serena would get another chance to break down 4-5 in the first set, she could not convert and Timea took the opening set by a score of 6-4. With how sick Serena looked, there were questions in my mind, at least, as to whether or not she would continue. And when Williams was broken in a long deuce game to go down 3-2 in the second set, the end seemed all but inevitable. However, perhaps being so far down and sick allowed Serena to really hit out and not worry about the pressure of winning a grand slam anymore, as Williams did not lose another game in the match. Serena won 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
vs. Lucie Safarova (F): A still-sick Serena Williams played a tense Final against Lucie Safarova. Williams broke Safarova quickly to take a 3-1 lead and did not give the break back for the rest of the set, winning it 6-3. And when Serena got the double break lead in the second set to lead 4-1, her 20th grand slam was seemingly in hand. But, nerves got the best of Williams for the moment and Safarova broke twice (and was not broken) to take a 5-4 lead in the second set. Even when Serena broke Lucie's serve once more to take a 6-5 lead in the second set, she could not grab the opportunity and lost the second set in a tiebreak, 7-6(2). And when Safarova broke Serena's serve in the first game of the third set and easily hold the game after, it seemed for a moment as if Lucie would be the one holding the trophy a little while later. However, Williams would not be denied, breaking the Safarova serve in every return game for the rest of the match (going 3/4 on break points) and not facing a break point herself to win the match 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-2 and capture her 21st major championship.
Wimbledon
vs. Heather Watson (3R): Like the Safarova match at the French Open, this match seemed to be in hand for Williams until things got interesting in the second and third sets. In the first set, Serena only lost three points on serve and broke Watson two times to take a very easy, straight-forward set 6-2. And for the first two games of the second set, she had no serving problems either, only losing a couple points in the two games she served. However, she couldn't break Watson and was promptly broken herself in her third service game of the set to 40. And while she broke Watson right back, Serena never looked comfortable on the court, allowing the raucous crowd to get to her head. She struggled to serve in her next service game, and a couple games after that, was broken to 30. This gave Watson a 5-4 lead, which she made good on, winning the set in a tense final game. Watson used that momentum to take a 3-0 lead in the second sets, which put her three games up on Serena. However, upon blowing two game points in the fourth game of the set to give Serena one break back, the ending seemed inevitable for Watson. She eventually went down 4-3, and the crowd seemed dejected. However, out of nowhere, Serena lost her next game on serve to love, and Heather even got within two points of the match on two different occasions (both 40-40), but could not hold on to her serve, as Serena broke in one of the tensest games I have ever witnessed as a tennis fan/blogger. From there, Serena would not be denied as she closed out the match with a hold and a break. Serena Williams wins, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
vs. Viktoria Azarenka (QF): If Serena Williams thought she was in the clear after the win against Watson, she would be mistaken, as Viktoria Azarenka had other plans. In the first set, the margins were super thin, as Azarenka was playing some of the best tennis of her life to break Serena in the fourth game of the set and then manage to hold on to that break lead for the entirety of the set and win 6-3. Serena Williams was playing good tennis, but good wouldn't be enough to take down a fired-up Vika. So, Serena had to dig deep for the rest of the match, because even as she raised her level, Azarenka's level refused to dip. On serve in game five of the second set, Vika had a break point at 30-40, but just couldn't manage to break, as Williams barely escaped. And that game certainly was on Vika's mind for a little while longer, as she couldn't manage a hold for the rest of the set and lost it 6-2. And after being broken for a 2-0 lead in the third set, it seemed as if Azarenka's run at Wimbledon was basically over. But, Vika still fought. Viktoria Azarenka was not broken for the rest of the match, and despite incredible serving from Williams still had a break point down 3-5 in the final set. She couldn't convert it, however, and after a couple more incredible serves by Serena, the match was over. Serena won it 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Serena Williams has had an unbelievable season. She is more than doubling up the point total of number two in the world, Maria Sharapova, and playing at a level of tennis previously unheard of so late in her career. But, there were many times this season where the "Serena Slam" (and chance for the "Calendar Year Slam") could have easily been stopped, and this post shows just how deep Serena Williams had to dig to accomplish all that she has this season.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Bucharest Gives Sorana Cirstea a Chance to Revitalize Her Career
*Note: The blog, after undergoing a small suspension due to the writing of my novella, "Homeless and Silent", which you can find on amazon here, is back. The novella very affordable, 99 cents without Kindle Unlimited and free with Kindle Unlimited. It's written in an unconventional style and uses stream-of-consciousness elements. Enjoy!
It seems like just yesterday Sorana Cirstea was on top of the tennis world. The tournament was WTA Toronto, one of the biggest tournaments on tour outside of the Grand Slams, an event in which almost all of the top players regularly enter. After Cirstea's breakout tournament win in Tashkent over Sabine Lisicki in 2008 and French Open quarterfinal run in 2009, Toronto provided Cirstea the perfect opportunity to bring her game back to the level it was at a few years back, if not soar higher. Toronto was the time when Sorana's middling career could take off once more.
The 2013 WTA Toronto was the tournament of Sorana Cirstea's life. Cirstea made the Final of the tournament, and while she lost to Serena Williams, it was an unbelievable run from a largely unheralded player. The players that Cirstea beat made the feat all the more impressive. Sorana beat Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Jankovic, Petra Kvitova, and Li Na all in succesion. This included beating Jankovic and Li Na in straight sets. Considering that all of these players have, at least, made a major Final, it was almost inconceivable that Sorana Cirstea could pull this off. But, she did, and in August of that year, shortly after the Toronto run, she reached her career high ranking, number 21 in the world. The bad news for Sorana? It was all downhill from there.
Cirstea couldn't maintain the momentum she sustained in Toronto. She rounded out the 2013 season without making even the Quarterfinals of another event and went on a four-match losing streak to end the season, only winning one set in that span. In fact, Sorana only won three matches from the time she won her semifinal in Toronto until the end of the year. For a player with so much hope and promise, thoroughly deserved given the caliber of players she beat in Canada, this was very disappointing.
And it didn't get much better for Cirstea in 2014. She started off the year on a three-match losing streak (seven-match losing streak overall), meaning that she didn't even get a win (or even a set)until after the Australian Open. There were only two occasions in 2014 when Sorana could even put together two wins in a row (excluding Fed Cup), and the French Open was the last time all year that this occurred. WTA Montreal (the tournament switches between Toronto and Montreal every year) was a full-blown disaster for Cirstea as she lost in the First Round, and a ton of the points from her 2013 run fell off, meaning that her ranking went down the tubes. Cirstea ended 2014, like 2013 on a four-match losing streak.
2015 for Sorana has been poor, as well. She hasn't had a main-draw win in a WTA Tour-level event all season and has lost in qualifying for both the French Open and Wimbledon. Cirstea actually started this year on a six-match losing streak, which means she was on a ten-match overall losing streak including 2014. And while she finally won two matches in a row in her quarterfinal run in her previous tournament, Contrexeville, Cirstea desperately needs points. Sorana Cirstea is currently ranked number 161 in the world.
So, what does this all have to do with WTA Bucharest this week? Well, Bucharest is a Romanian tournament and Cirstea, being Romanian, received a wild card into the main draw, meaning that she didn't even have to remotely consider the possiblity of playing qualifying matches to get into her home-country tournament. Having the wild card gives Cirstea a nice platform to attempt to at least partially regain her 2013 Toronto form and get valuable points. At number 161 in the world, Cirstea is stuck playing qualifying matches at the majors, so a run in a tournament like Bucharest, which is a WTA-level event but not a high profile one, can allow Sorana to perhaps win a few matches and get her ranking closer to 100, which is around the place she needs to be to avoid slam qualies.
Her First Round opponent in Bucharest, Sesil Karatantcheva, is also very beatable. Sesil is currently on a three-match losing streak, and with the crowd thoroughly behind Sorana, oddsmakers only have Sorana as a slight underdog in the match. And while it isn't a cakewalk draw, Sorana can avoid the top two seeds until the Semifinals if she keeps winning. Perhaps Cirstea's home-country tournament could be yet another turning point in Sorana's career. It is important to note that, at 25, Cirstea has a lot of time to turn her career around, and a couple wins at a tournament like this could be exactly what she needs.
Sorana Cirstea has proven to the world before that she has what it takes to play with some of the best players in the world. It takes serious guts to come from a set down to a player of Sabine Lisicki's caliber and have the mental strength to take a third set tiebreak to win a WTA Title. It's also true that to make the Quarterfinals of a major, you have to have serious talent and mental fortitude. And tennis fans won't ever forget Cirstea's unbelievable run to the WTA Toronto Final.
WTA Bucharest could be the tournament that revitalizes the talents and mental strengths that once made Sorana such a formidable player. Playing in front of her home-country fans, the strain of having to potentially qualify gone from her mind, with a very winnable First Round match in front of her, it wouldn't be very surprising to see Sorana rise to the challenge once more.
It wouldn't be shocking to see a small WTA tournament in Bucharest, Romania revitalize Sorana Cirstea's career.
It seems like just yesterday Sorana Cirstea was on top of the tennis world. The tournament was WTA Toronto, one of the biggest tournaments on tour outside of the Grand Slams, an event in which almost all of the top players regularly enter. After Cirstea's breakout tournament win in Tashkent over Sabine Lisicki in 2008 and French Open quarterfinal run in 2009, Toronto provided Cirstea the perfect opportunity to bring her game back to the level it was at a few years back, if not soar higher. Toronto was the time when Sorana's middling career could take off once more.
The 2013 WTA Toronto was the tournament of Sorana Cirstea's life. Cirstea made the Final of the tournament, and while she lost to Serena Williams, it was an unbelievable run from a largely unheralded player. The players that Cirstea beat made the feat all the more impressive. Sorana beat Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Jankovic, Petra Kvitova, and Li Na all in succesion. This included beating Jankovic and Li Na in straight sets. Considering that all of these players have, at least, made a major Final, it was almost inconceivable that Sorana Cirstea could pull this off. But, she did, and in August of that year, shortly after the Toronto run, she reached her career high ranking, number 21 in the world. The bad news for Sorana? It was all downhill from there.
Cirstea couldn't maintain the momentum she sustained in Toronto. She rounded out the 2013 season without making even the Quarterfinals of another event and went on a four-match losing streak to end the season, only winning one set in that span. In fact, Sorana only won three matches from the time she won her semifinal in Toronto until the end of the year. For a player with so much hope and promise, thoroughly deserved given the caliber of players she beat in Canada, this was very disappointing.
And it didn't get much better for Cirstea in 2014. She started off the year on a three-match losing streak (seven-match losing streak overall), meaning that she didn't even get a win (or even a set)until after the Australian Open. There were only two occasions in 2014 when Sorana could even put together two wins in a row (excluding Fed Cup), and the French Open was the last time all year that this occurred. WTA Montreal (the tournament switches between Toronto and Montreal every year) was a full-blown disaster for Cirstea as she lost in the First Round, and a ton of the points from her 2013 run fell off, meaning that her ranking went down the tubes. Cirstea ended 2014, like 2013 on a four-match losing streak.
2015 for Sorana has been poor, as well. She hasn't had a main-draw win in a WTA Tour-level event all season and has lost in qualifying for both the French Open and Wimbledon. Cirstea actually started this year on a six-match losing streak, which means she was on a ten-match overall losing streak including 2014. And while she finally won two matches in a row in her quarterfinal run in her previous tournament, Contrexeville, Cirstea desperately needs points. Sorana Cirstea is currently ranked number 161 in the world.
So, what does this all have to do with WTA Bucharest this week? Well, Bucharest is a Romanian tournament and Cirstea, being Romanian, received a wild card into the main draw, meaning that she didn't even have to remotely consider the possiblity of playing qualifying matches to get into her home-country tournament. Having the wild card gives Cirstea a nice platform to attempt to at least partially regain her 2013 Toronto form and get valuable points. At number 161 in the world, Cirstea is stuck playing qualifying matches at the majors, so a run in a tournament like Bucharest, which is a WTA-level event but not a high profile one, can allow Sorana to perhaps win a few matches and get her ranking closer to 100, which is around the place she needs to be to avoid slam qualies.
Her First Round opponent in Bucharest, Sesil Karatantcheva, is also very beatable. Sesil is currently on a three-match losing streak, and with the crowd thoroughly behind Sorana, oddsmakers only have Sorana as a slight underdog in the match. And while it isn't a cakewalk draw, Sorana can avoid the top two seeds until the Semifinals if she keeps winning. Perhaps Cirstea's home-country tournament could be yet another turning point in Sorana's career. It is important to note that, at 25, Cirstea has a lot of time to turn her career around, and a couple wins at a tournament like this could be exactly what she needs.
Sorana Cirstea has proven to the world before that she has what it takes to play with some of the best players in the world. It takes serious guts to come from a set down to a player of Sabine Lisicki's caliber and have the mental strength to take a third set tiebreak to win a WTA Title. It's also true that to make the Quarterfinals of a major, you have to have serious talent and mental fortitude. And tennis fans won't ever forget Cirstea's unbelievable run to the WTA Toronto Final.
WTA Bucharest could be the tournament that revitalizes the talents and mental strengths that once made Sorana such a formidable player. Playing in front of her home-country fans, the strain of having to potentially qualify gone from her mind, with a very winnable First Round match in front of her, it wouldn't be very surprising to see Sorana rise to the challenge once more.
It wouldn't be shocking to see a small WTA tournament in Bucharest, Romania revitalize Sorana Cirstea's career.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Heather Waston and the Lack of a Champion's Mindset
Heather Watson started off the 2015 season with a bang. In Hobart, in the Brit's first tournament of the year, she stormed through the field to win her second WTA title. During this run, she did not drop a set and beat accomplished players like Sloane Stephens and Roberta Vinci before beating Madison Brengle, a fast riser on the WTA Tour, in straight sets to win it. After losing six of her last seven matches in 2014, this was just the start Watson needed to catapult her up the rankings. In fact, Watson got up to the best ranking of her career, number 38 in the world. So, what happened?
A champion, when they win a smaller tournament like Hobart, uses that run to propel them to greater heights in better tournaments. Look at Timea Bacsinszky, for example. Upon winning her first title in a very long time early this year in Acapulco, she went on to win the following tournament in Monterrey, make the Quarterfinals of Indian Wells, and just recently, make the Semifinals of the French Open and come within three holds-of-serve from the Final. Timea took the momentum and experience of winning this smaller tournament and used it to fuel her to greater things in her career. And although Timea's rise was extremely rapid, Watson could have certainly followed a similar (if less dramatic) path. Instead, Heather Watson shrunk.
Following the win in Hobart, Watson only got four games in a loss to Tstetvana Pironkova in a match in which Watson lost the second set 6-0. Perhaps you could chalk that up to a "champion's hangover". However, her straight set loss to Kateryna Kozlova, a player currently ranked number 150 in the WTA rankings, was a bit more shocking. Watson did have a run to the Round of 16 at Indian Wells, but, that could be because she was playing the unsteady Julia Goerges and Camila Giorgi before facing the slumping Aga Radwanska more than anything else. Watson's form got very poor following her time in southern California.
A First Round win in Miami was then followed by four losses in a row, two of them being to Polona Hercog and Mariana Duque-Marino. Now, no disrespect to those two ladies, but they are players that Watson has to be beating, especially after showing her form in Hobart. After all, Hercog is ranked number 81 in the world and Duque-Marino is ranked number 99 in the world. Those are players that Watson, if she truly had a champion's mindset, would be straight-setting, rather than losing to. Instead of using the momentum and form that she had following her win in Hobart, Watson totally dumped that form and let herself slip a bit.
Following that four match losing streak, Heather's form has not improved much. After her loss to Duque-Marino in Madrid, she then lost in her second match at Rome to Carla Suarez-Navarro in straight sets and then had another loss in the Second Round of the French Open, this time to Sloane Stephens. Perhaps the grass would revitalize her form? That doesn't seem like the case, as Watson lost in straight sets to Aleksandra Krunic, a player ranked only number 82 in the world.
Now, the easy response to all of this would be, perhaps Heather Watson only likes hard courts. After all, that is the surface where she won both of her titles on the WTA Tour. However, I do not believe this is the case. While Watson did go 2-5 on the clay, following her title in Hobart, she only went 5-5 on hard courts. In addition, during 2014, Watson only went 4-12 in WTA-level, main draw matches on the hard courts. In any case, when you had a tough season like 2014, a tournament win is vital for revitalizing your career, but unfortunately for Heather, it didn't seem to do much. It was the same ole' Heather following Hobart.
But, you might be asking, "What about after Watson's first tournament win? Did she show a champion's mindset there?" The answer is NO. At her last tournament in 2012, Watson won Osaka, only losing two sets in five matches and having the very impressive mental resolve of winning a third set tiebreak to beat Kai-Chen Chang in the Final. One would think that a big win like this would make Watson even more hungry for better results in the following season, and she would do everything in her power that offseason to make 2013 the best that it could be.
But, for Watson, 2013 was quite poor. She never won more than two WTA-level matches in a row and only advanced past the Round of 16 once at a smaller event in Memphis in which she only had to win two matches to the make the Quarterfinals. Even back in 2012 and 2013, one sees that Watson doesn't truly have the mindset of a champion. Mediocrity, with the occasional good tournament here and there, is perfectly fine with her, it doesn't matter whether it's 2012 or 2015.
In addition, let's take a further look into how Watson does when she played someone who is currently ranked below her current ranking of 65 (a big drop from earlier this year) following Hobart. This happened nine times following Hobart, and Watson is a terrible 3-6 in these matches. Yes, Heather Watson, after Hobart, has lost 2/3 of her matches against players who currently have a worse rank than her current ranking of 65. A champion beats the players that he or she is supposed to beat, but Heather flounders in these type of situations following her win. It's as if the knowledge that she actually won a tournament and is supposed to beat a player like Kozlova, currently ranked 85 spots below her, is too much for Watson to handle. Not to mention that, after Hobart, Watson is 4-5 against players ranked above her, so it's not like she is consistently beating players above her in the rankings either.
Heather Watson has a lot of thinking to do as she prepares for her next match against Varvara Lepchenko in her home country at Eastbourne. She needs to figure out how to stomp out players ranked below her and consistently challenge those above her in the rankings. It's not easy to have a champion's mindset. There is a reason that so few players win that elusive major title. But, a win just before the Australian Open in Hobart could have been what took Watson to the next level in her career. But, it almost seems as if Heather Watson is fine with not being the best that she can be. It's almost as if she has no problems with losing to players below her, while not raising her game to really challenge the best in the women's game.
And what does this tell me? It tells me that Heather Watson lacks a champion's mindset.
A champion, when they win a smaller tournament like Hobart, uses that run to propel them to greater heights in better tournaments. Look at Timea Bacsinszky, for example. Upon winning her first title in a very long time early this year in Acapulco, she went on to win the following tournament in Monterrey, make the Quarterfinals of Indian Wells, and just recently, make the Semifinals of the French Open and come within three holds-of-serve from the Final. Timea took the momentum and experience of winning this smaller tournament and used it to fuel her to greater things in her career. And although Timea's rise was extremely rapid, Watson could have certainly followed a similar (if less dramatic) path. Instead, Heather Watson shrunk.
Following the win in Hobart, Watson only got four games in a loss to Tstetvana Pironkova in a match in which Watson lost the second set 6-0. Perhaps you could chalk that up to a "champion's hangover". However, her straight set loss to Kateryna Kozlova, a player currently ranked number 150 in the WTA rankings, was a bit more shocking. Watson did have a run to the Round of 16 at Indian Wells, but, that could be because she was playing the unsteady Julia Goerges and Camila Giorgi before facing the slumping Aga Radwanska more than anything else. Watson's form got very poor following her time in southern California.
A First Round win in Miami was then followed by four losses in a row, two of them being to Polona Hercog and Mariana Duque-Marino. Now, no disrespect to those two ladies, but they are players that Watson has to be beating, especially after showing her form in Hobart. After all, Hercog is ranked number 81 in the world and Duque-Marino is ranked number 99 in the world. Those are players that Watson, if she truly had a champion's mindset, would be straight-setting, rather than losing to. Instead of using the momentum and form that she had following her win in Hobart, Watson totally dumped that form and let herself slip a bit.
Following that four match losing streak, Heather's form has not improved much. After her loss to Duque-Marino in Madrid, she then lost in her second match at Rome to Carla Suarez-Navarro in straight sets and then had another loss in the Second Round of the French Open, this time to Sloane Stephens. Perhaps the grass would revitalize her form? That doesn't seem like the case, as Watson lost in straight sets to Aleksandra Krunic, a player ranked only number 82 in the world.
Now, the easy response to all of this would be, perhaps Heather Watson only likes hard courts. After all, that is the surface where she won both of her titles on the WTA Tour. However, I do not believe this is the case. While Watson did go 2-5 on the clay, following her title in Hobart, she only went 5-5 on hard courts. In addition, during 2014, Watson only went 4-12 in WTA-level, main draw matches on the hard courts. In any case, when you had a tough season like 2014, a tournament win is vital for revitalizing your career, but unfortunately for Heather, it didn't seem to do much. It was the same ole' Heather following Hobart.
But, you might be asking, "What about after Watson's first tournament win? Did she show a champion's mindset there?" The answer is NO. At her last tournament in 2012, Watson won Osaka, only losing two sets in five matches and having the very impressive mental resolve of winning a third set tiebreak to beat Kai-Chen Chang in the Final. One would think that a big win like this would make Watson even more hungry for better results in the following season, and she would do everything in her power that offseason to make 2013 the best that it could be.
But, for Watson, 2013 was quite poor. She never won more than two WTA-level matches in a row and only advanced past the Round of 16 once at a smaller event in Memphis in which she only had to win two matches to the make the Quarterfinals. Even back in 2012 and 2013, one sees that Watson doesn't truly have the mindset of a champion. Mediocrity, with the occasional good tournament here and there, is perfectly fine with her, it doesn't matter whether it's 2012 or 2015.
In addition, let's take a further look into how Watson does when she played someone who is currently ranked below her current ranking of 65 (a big drop from earlier this year) following Hobart. This happened nine times following Hobart, and Watson is a terrible 3-6 in these matches. Yes, Heather Watson, after Hobart, has lost 2/3 of her matches against players who currently have a worse rank than her current ranking of 65. A champion beats the players that he or she is supposed to beat, but Heather flounders in these type of situations following her win. It's as if the knowledge that she actually won a tournament and is supposed to beat a player like Kozlova, currently ranked 85 spots below her, is too much for Watson to handle. Not to mention that, after Hobart, Watson is 4-5 against players ranked above her, so it's not like she is consistently beating players above her in the rankings either.
Heather Watson has a lot of thinking to do as she prepares for her next match against Varvara Lepchenko in her home country at Eastbourne. She needs to figure out how to stomp out players ranked below her and consistently challenge those above her in the rankings. It's not easy to have a champion's mindset. There is a reason that so few players win that elusive major title. But, a win just before the Australian Open in Hobart could have been what took Watson to the next level in her career. But, it almost seems as if Heather Watson is fine with not being the best that she can be. It's almost as if she has no problems with losing to players below her, while not raising her game to really challenge the best in the women's game.
And what does this tell me? It tells me that Heather Watson lacks a champion's mindset.
Friday, June 12, 2015
ATP Stuttgart Semifinals Predictions
So, I've decided maybe once a week to do some Semifinals predictions for a tournament going on in that week and this is my first of this weekly installment. This week's tournament will be: ATP Stuttgart.
Rafael Nadal vs. Gael Monfils
In this big name clash, struggling Rafael Nadal takes on unpredictable Gael Monfils with a spot in the Final of ATP Stuttgart, an ATP 250 event, on the line. Both players are in, for their standards, mediocre form going into the tournament. For the first time since 2009, and only the second time since 2005, Nadal did not win the French Open. In fact, Rafa didn't even put up much of a fight in his highly anticipated clash with Novak Djokovic in the Quarterfinals of the French Open. Nadal lost in straight sets and was even handed a 6-1 third set loss to Novak.
But, although it was surprising in the way Nadal lost, the entirety of the late spring clay court season (which excludes Rio and Buenos Aires) certainly foreshadowed that Rafa's dominance at the tournament was not set in stone this season. Rafa lost in straight sets to Djokovic, Fognini, Murray, and Wawrinka, looking slow and off. In fact, Nadal has not looked right since his appendex issues at the end of last season. This tournament has been a struggle for Rafa, as well. He has been taken to three sets by both Marcos Baghdatis and Bernard Tomic and has not looked himself yet this tournament (or year for that matter). And although he was able to wear both Marcos and Bernie down in the third set, that is a much tougher task against Gael.
While Gael Monfils started the clay court season strong, he started to slide as the weeks went on. He started off the clay season in Monte Carlo where he made the Semifinals, including straight set wins over Grigor Dimitrov and Roger Federer. However, over the next two tournaments in Bucharest and Madrid, he went on to win only three of his next five matches, unexpected given his prowess on the surface. Monfils then didn't play at Rome, and then played three tough matches at Roland Garros before meekly bowing out to Roger Federer with a 6-1 loss in the fourth set against Roger.
In this tournament, Monfils took out clay courter Andreas Haider-Maurer in two tiebreaks, which was a good way to ease him into the clay court season. What concerned me about this match was Gael seemed more worried about putting on a show than winning, but Monfils proved that he was very worried about winning in his next match. Monfils had his most impressive win since Monte Carlo today, beating Philipp Kohlschreiber in Philipp's home country in three sets. For me, it was an unexpected win, but it showed that Monfils was taking this tournament seriously.
In the head to head, Nadal leads 10-2. It's important to note, however, that these two have never met on grass before. While they haven't played in 2015, the two have squared off in 2014, with Nadal winning both matches. While Nadal won in three sets in Doha, Rafa only gave up six games in demolishing Gael at the Australian Open. However, if we take away clay, which is the less like grass than hard courts and is also Nadal's favorite surface, Rafa's record is only 6-2, with him winning in straight sets in four of those matches.
Rafa has dominated this rivalry but is playing on what is by far his worst surface (although that's not saying much, he has won Wimbledon twice) and has generally looked shakier than Gael in his first two matches. However, I beleive that the concentration that Nadal shows on every point in comparison to Gael's numerous mental vacations during a match to be the difference. Rafael Nadal wins 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Marin Cilic vs. Viktor Troicki
The other semifinal match up is a very interesting clash between Marin Cilic and Viktor Troicki. Both players are no slouches on grass, with Troicki making the Round of 16 at Wimbledon before, and Marin having a great run to the Quarterfinals at Wimbledon, beating former Finalist Tomas Berdych in straight sets and even pushing Novak to five sets in their Quarterfinals match last year. It was the beginning of a hot streak for Cilic which concluded with him winning the US Open in September.
Both players were very shaky during the late spring clay court season. Viktor only won four matches from Monte Carlo to Roland Garros and accumulated a poor record of 4-6. This included three losses in his first match played. In five of Viktor's six clay season losses, he lost in straight sets too, so his level of competitiveness over the past couple of months has not been too high (including a poor effort at Roland Garros in which he lost to Simone Bolleli in straights, only winning nine games in the process).
At this tournament, Troicki is playing much better. He has only lost one set in three matches played, and today, he beat Sam Groth who was undefeated in his seven previous matches of the grass court season (although five of them were challenger matches). His win over Groth had a 6-1 second set, which is really impressive considering that Groth has won of the biggest serves on tour. Troicki should comes into this match full of confidence.
Marin Cilic also had a rough clay court season, although his Roland Garros campaign was a decent one. Before coming to Paris, Cilic had also only won four matches on the dirt, and put together a mediocre record of 4-5 from Monte Carlo through Geneva. This included two exits in his first match at a tournament, and four losses in straight sets. However, at the French Open, Cilic, who has been injured for much of this year, won his first three matches in straight sets, including a surprisingly-easy win over Nice finalist Leonardo Mayer. And although he lost easily to David Ferrer, Cilic had already made a statement that he was going to turn his season around.
Marin's good form continued this tournament. After a straight set win over Matthias Bachinger in his first match, Cilic managed to get past Mischa Zverev in a third set tiebreak. And while this might indicate poor form to an outsider, it is important to note that Mischa was playing in his home country and was on a five match winning streak, including straight set wins over Dominic Thiem and Andreas Seppi. Cilic did very well to make it out of that Zverev match with a win, and should be relieved and play loose against Troicki.
The head to head is very interesting. These two played (excluding a retirement) seven times, with Cilic winning four of the seven. However, the order in which they won is a bit odd. Marin won the first four matches, all on hard courts, only losing two sets in the process. However, in their past three matches, although the most recent being in 2013, Troicki won all three, not losing a set in any of the matches (two on hard, one on clay). This shows that perhaps Viktor discovered the key to Marin's game.
While Cilic's form is rapidly improving, Viktor is playing very well on the grass, and his straight set win over Groth today is very impressive. The fact that Troicki hasn't dropped a set to Cilic also suggests that he has become very comfortable playing that Croat. I think Troicki will be too strong. Viktor Troicki wins 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Rafael Nadal vs. Gael Monfils
In this big name clash, struggling Rafael Nadal takes on unpredictable Gael Monfils with a spot in the Final of ATP Stuttgart, an ATP 250 event, on the line. Both players are in, for their standards, mediocre form going into the tournament. For the first time since 2009, and only the second time since 2005, Nadal did not win the French Open. In fact, Rafa didn't even put up much of a fight in his highly anticipated clash with Novak Djokovic in the Quarterfinals of the French Open. Nadal lost in straight sets and was even handed a 6-1 third set loss to Novak.
But, although it was surprising in the way Nadal lost, the entirety of the late spring clay court season (which excludes Rio and Buenos Aires) certainly foreshadowed that Rafa's dominance at the tournament was not set in stone this season. Rafa lost in straight sets to Djokovic, Fognini, Murray, and Wawrinka, looking slow and off. In fact, Nadal has not looked right since his appendex issues at the end of last season. This tournament has been a struggle for Rafa, as well. He has been taken to three sets by both Marcos Baghdatis and Bernard Tomic and has not looked himself yet this tournament (or year for that matter). And although he was able to wear both Marcos and Bernie down in the third set, that is a much tougher task against Gael.
While Gael Monfils started the clay court season strong, he started to slide as the weeks went on. He started off the clay season in Monte Carlo where he made the Semifinals, including straight set wins over Grigor Dimitrov and Roger Federer. However, over the next two tournaments in Bucharest and Madrid, he went on to win only three of his next five matches, unexpected given his prowess on the surface. Monfils then didn't play at Rome, and then played three tough matches at Roland Garros before meekly bowing out to Roger Federer with a 6-1 loss in the fourth set against Roger.
In this tournament, Monfils took out clay courter Andreas Haider-Maurer in two tiebreaks, which was a good way to ease him into the clay court season. What concerned me about this match was Gael seemed more worried about putting on a show than winning, but Monfils proved that he was very worried about winning in his next match. Monfils had his most impressive win since Monte Carlo today, beating Philipp Kohlschreiber in Philipp's home country in three sets. For me, it was an unexpected win, but it showed that Monfils was taking this tournament seriously.
In the head to head, Nadal leads 10-2. It's important to note, however, that these two have never met on grass before. While they haven't played in 2015, the two have squared off in 2014, with Nadal winning both matches. While Nadal won in three sets in Doha, Rafa only gave up six games in demolishing Gael at the Australian Open. However, if we take away clay, which is the less like grass than hard courts and is also Nadal's favorite surface, Rafa's record is only 6-2, with him winning in straight sets in four of those matches.
Rafa has dominated this rivalry but is playing on what is by far his worst surface (although that's not saying much, he has won Wimbledon twice) and has generally looked shakier than Gael in his first two matches. However, I beleive that the concentration that Nadal shows on every point in comparison to Gael's numerous mental vacations during a match to be the difference. Rafael Nadal wins 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Marin Cilic vs. Viktor Troicki
The other semifinal match up is a very interesting clash between Marin Cilic and Viktor Troicki. Both players are no slouches on grass, with Troicki making the Round of 16 at Wimbledon before, and Marin having a great run to the Quarterfinals at Wimbledon, beating former Finalist Tomas Berdych in straight sets and even pushing Novak to five sets in their Quarterfinals match last year. It was the beginning of a hot streak for Cilic which concluded with him winning the US Open in September.
Both players were very shaky during the late spring clay court season. Viktor only won four matches from Monte Carlo to Roland Garros and accumulated a poor record of 4-6. This included three losses in his first match played. In five of Viktor's six clay season losses, he lost in straight sets too, so his level of competitiveness over the past couple of months has not been too high (including a poor effort at Roland Garros in which he lost to Simone Bolleli in straights, only winning nine games in the process).
At this tournament, Troicki is playing much better. He has only lost one set in three matches played, and today, he beat Sam Groth who was undefeated in his seven previous matches of the grass court season (although five of them were challenger matches). His win over Groth had a 6-1 second set, which is really impressive considering that Groth has won of the biggest serves on tour. Troicki should comes into this match full of confidence.
Marin Cilic also had a rough clay court season, although his Roland Garros campaign was a decent one. Before coming to Paris, Cilic had also only won four matches on the dirt, and put together a mediocre record of 4-5 from Monte Carlo through Geneva. This included two exits in his first match at a tournament, and four losses in straight sets. However, at the French Open, Cilic, who has been injured for much of this year, won his first three matches in straight sets, including a surprisingly-easy win over Nice finalist Leonardo Mayer. And although he lost easily to David Ferrer, Cilic had already made a statement that he was going to turn his season around.
Marin's good form continued this tournament. After a straight set win over Matthias Bachinger in his first match, Cilic managed to get past Mischa Zverev in a third set tiebreak. And while this might indicate poor form to an outsider, it is important to note that Mischa was playing in his home country and was on a five match winning streak, including straight set wins over Dominic Thiem and Andreas Seppi. Cilic did very well to make it out of that Zverev match with a win, and should be relieved and play loose against Troicki.
The head to head is very interesting. These two played (excluding a retirement) seven times, with Cilic winning four of the seven. However, the order in which they won is a bit odd. Marin won the first four matches, all on hard courts, only losing two sets in the process. However, in their past three matches, although the most recent being in 2013, Troicki won all three, not losing a set in any of the matches (two on hard, one on clay). This shows that perhaps Viktor discovered the key to Marin's game.
While Cilic's form is rapidly improving, Viktor is playing very well on the grass, and his straight set win over Groth today is very impressive. The fact that Troicki hasn't dropped a set to Cilic also suggests that he has become very comfortable playing that Croat. I think Troicki will be too strong. Viktor Troicki wins 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)