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Bryans Best in All-American Final in Rome

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 02 May 2010 14:18:46 +0000

Bob and Mike Bryan added another trophy to the case Sunday morning, winning the title in Rome over friends and fellow Amerians John Isner and Sam Querrey. All this national media attention of late has been good for the twins.

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Around the Net Post — The Hole-in-One of Tennis

Joe Samuel Starnes — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:25:30 +0000

Let me set the scene for you: Weekly doubles match, indoors, Court 3, under a bubble covering four clay courts. In the very first game I was struggling to hold serve when Anthony Pozzi, a good friend and lefty opponent possessing a devastating drop-overhead volley (yes, it doesn’t seem possible but it is — a dropper from the overhead position), hit an overhead backhand parallel to the net, bound for Court 4, an almost sure putaway. But after a long winter of doubles against him, I anticipated this move and sprinted diagonally toward the space between the net posts of the two courts, my eyes wide and wild with the distinct possibility of hitting a forehand winner around the net … Of course, I’m not Roger Federer, not even close. I missed the shot, running smack into the Court 4 net post, scraping up my right hand and bruising my left thigh, not to mention getting tangled in the netting separating the two courts. They broke my serve, and we went on to lose the match. I am certain if I had nailed the ball around the net posts that we would have gone on to win. At least I didn’t hurt myself seriously — James Blake broke his neck in 2004 in a net-post collision.

This foolish attempt of mine was another failed moment in a lifelong effort to hit a ball around the net post, the rare shot that is equivalent to golf’s elusive hole-in-one. I did it once in practice in high school, but that was a long time ago, and not during a match. I almost hit one in a 4.5 USTA league doubles match a few years ago, aided by the fact that the net on the adjacent court was down, providing ample space, but I still missed the shot. According to Patrick McEnroe’s commentary in this fantastic compilation video of Federer’s around the net post shots, an ATP player might hit a shot around the next post six times in their career. Me, I’ll be happy with one … Most likely, however, I’ll settle for none.

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American Siblings Dominate Doubles

Joe Samuel Starnes — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:41:38 +0000

Lost in much of the coverage of Federer the Great and Serena’s win in singles in the Australian Open were the feats by two sets of American siblings: twins Bob and Mike Bryan won their eighth Grand Slam title, and Serena and Venus Williams won their 11th. Americans may not win many singles titles these days, but we are dominating the doubles and adding to the all-time records.

The Bryans are only three wins behind the Woodies — Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde — from having the most major tournament doubles wins. The twins turn 32 in April, but do not appear to be slowing down. In addition to playing together well on the court, they have been making music off the court, releasing four songs last year on the EP Let it Rip.

Also often overlooked are the Williams sisters’ doubles record. They have won four of the past six grand slam titles, and are now the third most successful women’s doubles partnership in the Open Era, after Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver (21), and Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva (14).

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Cilic Outserves, Outlasts Roddick — A T.O. Jinx?

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:11:34 +0000

Marin Cilic served 20 aces to Andy Roddick’s 15, and although Roddick fought back from a two-set deficit to push it to a fifth, the lanky 21-year-old Croat came out on top in the quarters of the Australian Open, knocking Roddick out of the first Grand Slam of the year.

I have to think Terrell Owens jaunt through Australia was a jinx on Roddick. Owens, one of the NFL’s best receivers but such a pain that no team wants to keep him, even appeared in an ESPN interview with Roddick last week. Roger Federer, for his celebrity shoulder rub, was seen with Prince William of Wales.

Who do you think is keeping the right company?

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What Will the New Decade Hold for American Tennis?

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:48:32 +0000

From Pete Sampras’ win in the 1990 U.S. Open to Andre Agassi’s win in New York in 1999, American men won 21 of the 40 Grand Slams of the decade. The following ten-year stretch started strong, with Sampras, Aggasi and Andy Roddick combining for six more through September 2003. However, since Roddick’s U.S. Open win seven years ago, only Andy has come close, but has not been able to seal one of the big four trophies. He’ll have more chances, but he turns 28 this year, and the game keeps getting tougher. I expect him to win one more before he retires, either in London or New York.

The two Americans on the rise are John Isner and Sam Querrey, and Isner is fresh off a hot streak with his first ATP win in Auckland and then a run to the fourth round of Australia where he held a set point against No. 5 seed Andy Murray, although he lost it and all three sets. In the offing, America’s top young players, including Ryan Harrison, Devin Britton, and Jordan Cox, could be the future of American tennis. But it’s way too early to tell.

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Red Hot Americans Roll on in Australian Open

Joe Samuel Starnes — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:31:21 +0000

The big servers with the big streaks came through on Friday in Australia. John Isner started strong and finished well in the tiebreakers to beat Gael Monfils in four sets, and Andy Roddick survived a tough four-setter against Feliciano Lopez, placing each in the round of 16.

Roddick has been here many times before, but this is only Isner’s second time this far in a Grand Slam, following up on his fourth-round appearance in the 2009 U.S. Open (where he beat Roddick in five sets). The big Bulldog is hot, having won his first ATP tournament in Auckland preceding his run this week in Melbourne. Roddick also came in on a winning streak, having won the tourney in Brisbane.

Isner, my fellow Georgia alumnus who anchored a NCAA championship team for UGA, played so well last night I can forgive him for wearing Georgia Tech colors, certainly forced on him by Nike. For some reason the trend in tennis this year is for blue courts and shirts the color of tennis balls.

His next test is a tough one in No. 5 seed Andy Murray. Roddick plays Fernando Gonzalez, the Chilean who won a fantastic five-set match of high-powered ball bashing against Evgeny Korolev of Kazakhstan. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any two players hit the ball so hard as they did, particularly Korolev. It undoubtedly is the greatest Kazakhstan-Chile sports competitions of all times.

Isner is going to have to serve impeccably to beat Murray. It’s great to have another American this far in the tourney with Roddick, especially one who played four years of college tennis. It’s been a long time since a top American star who played even a year of college tennis — back to John McEnroe or Jimmy Connors, I believe — much less four.

Roddick and Isner with two more wins each could meet in the semifinals. Here’s hoping it happens. We are long overdue for another American star to join Roddick in the top 10. I just hope he can do it in red. But whatever color he wears, I’ll be cheering for him.

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Cramps, Cypriots and Agassi-Book Connections at the Australian Open

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:59:20 +0000

A very entertaining match last night/today in Melbourne: An inspired and later cramping Marcos Baghdatis came back from two sets down to beat David Ferrer, cheered on by a singing band of flag-waving compatriots from his home country of Cyprus. Baghdatis struggled through the final game, fighting a cramp in his left leg, and hopped and skipped and even sat down on the court between points, but was able to pull himself together for some stunning shotmaking to close out the fifth set 6-1.

I love seeing these middle of summer day matches, fans with their shirts off and in shorts, while here we are cold and stuck in a winter night. I also like learning about the many diasporas in Australia — I would never have thought much about Cypriots living in Australia if not for the game of tennis. You just don’t learn things like that from football.

I watched the DirectTV feed of the match, announced by Barry McKay and Jeff Tarango, a pair that has been narrating many matches on one of the five extra channels carrying tennis. The coverage is refreshing — no commercials! — and also great to hear a different perspective than McEnroe, Cahill, Carillo, and, the worst of all, the unbearable glibness of Gimelstob.

I was struck by the connections to Agassi’s memoir Open that this match afforded. Agassi’s first scene focuses on his win over Baghdatis in the 2006 U.S. Open, and reports that later they held hands in the training room while watching replays. Soon after, he writes about an early junior tournament when at the age of 10 he was cheated out of the match by none other than Jeff Tarango. Later, in the pros, when Agassi would beat Tarango, he never forget the match, thinking to himself, F-U Jeff, F-U.

I love the first week of the Australian Open, the hot-weather matches, the tennis night-dreams it permits, and all the stories it brings to mind. One of these years I’m going to figure out a way to make the trip.

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Americans in Australia: Russell and Fish Fall; Roddick, Odesnik Move On; Eight from U.S. See Action Today, including 17-year-old Harrison

Joe Samuel Starnes — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:14:23 +0000

Michael Russell won a set but fell in four to Juan Martin Del Potro. Mardy Fish, but Andy Roddick and Wayne Odesnik moved onto the second round. In Tuesday’s schedule, starting Monday night at 7, the remaining eight Americans see action. The most interesting match is wild card 17-year-old Ryan Harrison versus Serb Janko Tipsarevic. They are scheduled fourth on Court 18.

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Rod Laver Biography Back in Print from New Chapter Press

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:26:07 +0000

I wrote in May before the French Open that the tennis world should get ready for a Rafael Nadal grand slam. That seems like a very long time ago. In that post I quoted from the then out-of-print Rod Laver biography, The Education of a Tennis Player. I was delighted to learn today that it’s coming back into print from New Chapter Press. It’s very much worth the read if you want declare yourself knowledgeable in the always popular greatest of all time debate. New Chapter Press, coincidentally, is publisher of The Roger Federer Story: The Quest for Perfection by Rene Stauffer. (I prefer the much more modest Laver title myself.)

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My Result in the Lukoil Open: A Dream Come True, Sort Of

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 13:32:48 +0000

I had a dream sometime before dawn Thursday morning that my match in the Lukoil Open had gone to 15-games all in the third set, and that people all over the world were following it on the web. That’s obviously a combination of my own delusions and a hangover from the agonizing loss Andy Roddick suffered to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final.

The real-life results, however, were sort of similar. After the warmups, and 22-year-old Samuel Sherrill served a big first game, I thought I was in serious trouble. When Amy Oberholtzer, wife of a good friend and fellow Green Valley Tennis Club member Marc Oberholtzer, suggested during the first changeover that I use the scorecards to keep the small crowd there watching informed, I said in all seriousness that I wasn’t going to put the score up until I won a game. I was thinking I could be in for a double bagel. Fortunately, I held serve that first game, but he broke me twice and I lost the first set 6-2. Then a surprising thing happened in the second: At 2-2 I hit one good passing shot and he made a few errors and was able to break him and the held serve the rest of the way, including a long tough game at 5-4 when I served it out. His groundstrokes were tough, and I tried to get into net as soon as I could (see this video here for a point that it worked) on every ball because I knew there was no way I could slug it out with him.

Of course, the Lukoil Open is not Wimbledon and in the first round plays a super tiebreaker to ten points instead of a full third set. I played a few good points, but he hit some nice passing shots, and I dumped a high forehand volley into the net when serving at 6-8 that gave him three match points. He needed only one, and we were out of there. It was fun, and for a 42-year-old dude giving away 20 years to a Division III college player, I’m by no means disappointed. If I had won, the odds are likely I would have been victim to a double bagel, as Sherrill lost to Futures tour player Maksim Tikhomirov 0 and 1. I like to think I tired Sherrill out, at least a little bit.

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