Top Spin Blog » U.S. Open

Looking for the Rocky of Tennis

Joe Samuel Starnes — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 01:09:54 +0000

Most every article or broadcast preview of the U.S. Open I’ve seen focuses on the obvious questions, as though most tennis journalists are sharing notes– will Nadal win his first Open? Can Federer reclaim another title? Is Murray going to cash the U.S. Open Series bonus check for obscene millions and go to Disney World with an Olympus camera? Blah, blah, blah…

But first thing on Monday is a match I’m excited about. Michael Russell, 32 with a career ATP match record of 40 and 88 after 12 years on tour, plays perennial top tenner Nikolay Davydenko on the Louis Armstrong Stadium court the first match of the day. Russell, ranked 80, is the obvious underdog to No. 6 Davydenko. The two middleweights (Russell is 160 pounds to Davydenko’s 154) have never played before.

I’m going to be at the Open tomorrow morning and pulling for Russell for all I’m worth. American tennis needs a Rocky, a player from down in the rankings who has been battling on the minor league circuits for years. ESPN wrote an article about his tough career path three years ago – and he’s still out battling. This is a great shot for him, on a show court, in the Big Apple.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

“How I Met Your Mother” The Cause of a Rushed Ceremony

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:42:55 +0000

Dick Enberg tried to cut off Juan Martin Del Potro from speaking in Spanish so America could rush to watch one of two episodes of “How I Met Your Mother.” Way to go, CBS!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

“Vamos, Del Po!”

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:25:23 +0000

“Vamos, Del Po!” says Bill Tilden’s ghost. “My record of six in a row will live for 100 years and more.”

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Bill Tilden’s Record of Six Wins on the Shoulder of a Tall Argentine

Joe Samuel Starnes — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:51:05 +0000

Roger Federer broke Pete Sampras’ record of 14 grand slams this summer, but today has the chance to tie a major American tennis landmark if he wins his sixth straight U.S. Open. William T. “Big Bill” Tilden II won the U.S. Championships six straight years, three times at Forest Hills in 1920, ‘24 and ‘25, and three times at the Germantown Cricket Club, a block from his home in Philadelphia, in 1921-23. Federer looks poised to win his sixth, but Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina stands in his way this afternoon.

In Tilden’s 1920 win in New York, a small plane crashed next to the court during the fifth set, killing two, but after a break they played on. The Sept. 7, 1920, headline in The New York Times read: 10,000 SEE PLANE KILL TWO IN CRASH AT TENNIS TOURNEY.

It is a shame that this story and others about Tilden are rarely talked about. The McEnroes, Mary Carillo and others act almost like Tilden never existed, instead fawning like mindless children excited about the celebrities in the crowd. Tilden’s tennis victories are on par with what Babe Ruth did in baseball and Bobby Jones in golf. His tennis accomplishments deserve more discussion as his record teeters on the verge of being tied.

See You in Texas — U.S. Will Try to Avenge 0-6 Wimbledon Singles Record Against Spanish in Davis Cup With Mardy Fish’s quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal, the American...
Greatest Tennis Player of All Time? Roger, Of Course, Despite the Fact I’ve Beaten Him 17 Times The GOAT discussion reached its most ludicrous point yesterday when...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Britton Falls to Federer In Three in U.S. Open First Round

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:38:49 +0000

Devin Britton had a few chances, but couldn’t capitalize. If he watches the replay, will hear John McEnroe bemoaning his failure to attack the net on every point. Here is a link to a good story about the match by Howard Fendrich of the Associated Press, but if you want some really entertaining reading, check out Britton’s blog from this year’s Wimbledon where he finished in the semifinal in the juniors.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Former College Standouts Isner and Devvarman Shine on Monday

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:27:12 +0000

Reigning NCAA champion from Ole Miss Devin Britton played the big match in the spotlight on Monday, losing in three to Roger Federer on the Ashe Court, but it was former two-time champ Somdev Devvarman and one-time runner up John Isner who came through with the big wins.

Isner, a former University of Georgia star ranked 55 in the world and rising, held off an amazing 10 set points in his three-set win over the 28 seed, Victor Hanescu of Romania. Isner next plays a Turkish qualifier, Marsel Ilhan, ranked 231 in the world.

Devvarman is a native of India who despite winning the NCCA men’s singles in 2007 (beating Isner in the final) and again in 2008 was snubbed by the USTA and did not get a wild card bid to the U.S. Open in either year as Britton did this year. Devvarman came into the tournament this year ranked 162 and had to win three matches in the qualies last week to make the main draw. On Monday he won handily, besting 106-ranked Fredirico Gil of Portugal in straight sets. Devvarman’s next match is against No. 23 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. I’m pulling for him to go a few more rounds, maybe even farther, and show the NCAA that he deserved wild card bids the past two years, the omission of which was an insult to college tennis.

U.S. Davis Cup: Roddick, Isner, Bryan & Bryan In his first official order of business, U.S. Davis Cup...
Isner-Mahut Wimbledon Rematch: What Were the Odds? According to this blog post on Wimbledon.com, the odds were...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Jordan Cox Drilled in U.S. Open Qualies

Joe Samuel Starnes — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:55:17 +0000

Riding a last-minute bid into New York, 17-year-old Jordan Cox lost 1 and 2 to Sebastien De Chaunac of France, a man almost twice his age. De Chaunac, 32, is in his 13th year on tour, and at 149 in the world, has achieved his highest rank ever. Cox, a Wimbledon juniors finalist, is 1134.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

What’s Left of U.S. Open Tickets On Sale Saturday

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:35:32 +0000

It’s that time of year again where the USTA puts up for sale to members the seats that haven’t been hogged by corporate sponsors (most of the best Ashe sports will be filled with New Yorkers out to be seen who don’t give a hoot about tennis, or sometimes left empty while higher decks are full). Your best bet is to buy grounds passes early in the tournament and skip the marquee matches in Ashe. If you buy Ashe seats in the upper level, bring your high-powered binoculars because the view can be the equivalent of watching from an airplane bound for LaGuardia. The best deal is the week before the tournament starts — for free you can go to the qualifying tournament that precedes the Open, scheduled this year for Aug. 24-28. The main draw runs from Aug. 31-Sept. 13.

Here’s a quote I found about the worst venue in sports, and I can confirm its veracity.

Arthur Ashe Stadium , home to the U.S. Open , has upper tier seats that are 120 feet off the ground, higher than the nose bleed seats at most baseball stadiums. Add to this the fact 13,000 fans have to shoehorn into the decks above the luxury boxes, far enough away from the action to make one envious of the blimp pilot high above this wretched venue.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Roddick and Blake Hoping to Renew U.S. Open Glory

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:23:34 +0000

It has been five years since Andy Roddick cradled the U.S. Open cup during that short window between Sampras’ retirement and Federer’s rise. In fact, it has been five long years since any American man has won any Grand Slam.

It seems like long odds that Roddick or James Blake or any of the other 17 American men in the tournament will break that streak this year, but I think Blake has the best chance based on the draw.

Roddick, seeded eighth, has a tough draw with the Magician, Fabrice Santoro, in the first round. This will be a big night match and could spell trouble for Roddick. He has a 2-1 record against Santoro, but the last time they played—a match in Paris on indoor carpet last fall—Santoro won in three sets.

If Roddick wins his first round, he could play the dangerous Latvian Ernests Gulbis, a French Open quarterfinalist earlier this year, looming in the second round. Gulbis is ranked 40^th, but has a big game and potential to win. Roddick has lost to lesser players than Gulbis this summer.

Blake, seeded ninth, faces fellow American Donald Young in the first round, certain to be another night match in the Ashe Stadium. Blake has a much better draw than Roddick. If successful in early rounds, Blake is on a track to meet the new world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the quarters.

Don’t count Blake out. He recently beat Federer in the Olympics, and he beat Nadal in 2005 when they last met in Flushing Meadows. (He has lost to Nadal in three sets twice this year, but has a 3-2 career record against him.) If any American is going to make a run deep to Super Saturday or beyond, my money is on Blake.

See You in Texas — U.S. Will Try to Avenge 0-6 Wimbledon Singles Record Against Spanish in Davis Cup With Mardy Fish’s quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal, the American...
Can Fish Turnaround the Spanish Beatdown of American Players? The matches between Spanish players and Americans at Wimbledon have...
Greatest Tennis Player of All Time? Roger, Of Course, Despite the Fact I’ve Beaten Him 17 Times The GOAT discussion reached its most ludicrous point yesterday when...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Nineteen American Men To Take the Singles Court in U.S. Open

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:00:24 +0000

Three American men qualified for the U.S. Open this week, putting a total of 19 U.S. players into the men’s singles draw.

Qualifiers were Ryler De Heart, who won his final round in the qualies in a third-set tiebreaker, Ryan Sweeting and Robert Kendrick. They join six American wildcards Brendan Evans, Scoville Jenkins, Amer Delic, Jesse Levine, Sam Warburg and Austin Krajicek, and ten American men who were granted direct entry into the tournament based on their rankings.

Krajicek earned his bid by winning the 18-and-under national championship in Kalamazoo, Mich., earlier. The teenager from Brandon, Fla., will play for Texas A&M where he will be a freshman this fall.

The highest ranked American not to make the tournament is 30-year-old Kevin Kim, ranked 142 in the world. He lost in three sets in final round of the qualies to Sweeting. Alex Kuznetsov also lost in the final round of qualies, going down 6-4 in the third and final set.

Only seven of the American men in the Open are ranked in the top 100. The ATP World rankings of the U.S. players competing at Flushing Meadows as of Aug. 18 is as follows:

8. Andy Roddick

9. James Blake

35. Mardy Fish

53. Sam Querrey

62. Robby Ginepri

89. Bobby Reynolds

99. Donald Young

103. Vince Spadea

106. Jesse Levine (W)

113. Robert Kendrick (Q)

118. Wayne Odesnik

124. John Isner

133. Amer Delic (W)

168. Sam Warburg (W)

190. Brendan Evans (W)

196. Scoville Jenkins (W)

259. Ryler De Heart (Q)

276. Ryan Sweeting (Q)

892. Austin Krajicek (W)

See You in Texas — U.S. Will Try to Avenge 0-6 Wimbledon Singles Record Against Spanish in Davis Cup With Mardy Fish’s quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal, the American...
Can Fish Turnaround the Spanish Beatdown of American Players? The matches between Spanish players and Americans at Wimbledon have...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.