McIntyre Tennis

Who Will Capture the 2018 US Open?

Article and Photographs by Mike McIntyre

With the final Grand Slam of 2018 fast approaching, it remains to be seen if someone unexpected can challenge for the US Open. The first three majors of the year have gone to the usual suspects - Roger Federer at the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal (comme d'habitude) at the French Open and a resurgent Novak Djokovic recently at Wimbledon. What are the chances that those all-time greats can be bested in New York?

If you're looking to play the odds, sportsbettingdime.com has a list of trustworthy betting sites you can utilize.

Let's take a look at some of the next-tier of contenders.

Alexander Zverev

The leader of the so-called "Next Gen" on the ATP World Tour, the German has yet to translate the success that has propelled him to No. 4 in the world to the Grand Slam level. A disappointing showing at the Masters 1000s in Toronto and Cincinnati don't lend to much optimism however the young talent has recently brought Ivan Le

ndl into his team. Having an eight-time major champion in one's corner can't hurt. The fact that Lendl didn't win his first Slam until the age of 24 will probably also help this partnership thrive.

Kevin Anderson

The 6'8'' South African proved at Wimbledon that his finalist showing last year at Flushing Meadows was no fluke. He has found a consistent top-ten level in his game and is a class act both in victory and defeat. His confidence is now as powerful as his booming serve and he truly believes he belongs at the top of the men's game. Anderson is an opponent that nobody relishes playing at the moment.

Marin Cilic

Let's not forget that Cilic is one of the few players outside of the "Big Four" who has one a Grand Slam in the past 15 years. The 2014 US Open champion has had decent results lately making the quarterfinals in Toronto and the semifinals in Cincinnati and clearly enjoys playing in New York. He made the finals of the Australian Open at the start of the season and should not be overlooked on the other hard court Slam of 2018.

Stan Wawrinka

It has taken the three-time Slam champion a little longer than expected to start posting favorable results since coming back from a knee injury to start the year. He missed the US Open last year but has won there in 2016 and also has semifinal showings from 2013 and 2015. He fell to Roger Federer in the quarterfinals in Cincinnati recently but put-up a brave challenge before going down 6-7, 7-6, 6-2.

Juan Martin Del Potro

There are few players who are more likeable on the ATP World Tour than the affable Del Potro. Nine years since his lone Grand Slam title here in New York, the Argentinian has rebuilt his game after multiple wrist surgeries and is back to displaying the ferocious game that we hoped he was still capable of showing us. A solid 2018 including the semifinals at Roland Garros and quarterfinals of Wimbledon are proof that he can handle the best-of-five set grind. His maiden Masters 1000 title back in March in Indian Wells was also a huge moment that reveals his prowess on the hard courts as well.

Check back with us often over the next two weeks as well for regular updates and analysis from the US Open. Whether is it Djokovic, Nadal, Federer or one of the above mentioned players, we will have you covered throughout the final Grand Slam for 2018.

What's Wrong With Andy Murray?

By Mike McIntyre

After losing his third consecutive opening round match this past week in Miami, Andy Murray appears to be pushing the panic button. In an announcement confirmed earlier this week, the fifth ranked player in the world has parted ways with part-time coach Alex Corretja after a three year partnership.

While Murray is certainly in need of a shake-up, splitting with the former two-time French Open finalist as the clay-court swing approaches might not be the best move. Murray's game transitions well enough on all surfaces, but clay is certainly his least favorite.

One rumor that surfaced shortly after the coaching split with Correjta was that former world No. 1 Ivan Lendl has made a pitch to become Murray's next mentor. I cannot begin to describe what a terrible pairing that would turn out to be.

Aside from having absolutely no coaching experience, Lendl had been away from the tennis scene almost entirely since he retired. Back issues and a keen interest in golf have kept him off the court and we have not see him stay associated with the game in the same way guys like John McEnroe and Pete Sampras have. Simply put, Lendl is not in touch with the evolution the game has seen since he hung-up his raquet in 1994 nor does he have any input on today's crop of current players on the ATP World Tour.

Furthermore, Lendl's game itself is in total shambles as evidenced by his drubbing at the hands of an injured McEnroe at the end of February at the BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden. After spraining his ankle in a pre-match warm-up, McEnroe was noticeably hobbling around the court and yet still managed to soundly defeat the out of form Lendl 6-3. A former eight time Grand Slam champion, Lendl could barely keep the ball in play. 

While Murray is undoubtedly looking to discover the secret formula that would allow him to win his first major, he needs someone who can bring more to the table than an impressive resume from twenty-plus years ago on the tour. He needs someone with insight into the nuances that exist in today's hard-hitting game. He needs someone who can offer sound scouting reports on all players within the top 150 in the rankings and someone who can put together tactical advice that can be practically implemented. Lendl, for all he accomplished during his career, is not that man.

Andy Murray can change coaches and bring in every former Slam winner who is still alive at the moment and it won't make a bit of difference until he takes a long, hard look at himself in the mirror. It is time for a pulse-check in order to figure out if he has the drive to fight through these current obstacles and find a way to persevere against his biggest problem - himself.

Routed in three Grand Slam finals has undoubtedly taken it's mental toll on Murray as he has been a total basket-case on the court since losing to Novak Djokovic in Melbourne in January. Always known as a monotonous bore during his press conferences, Murray is now starting to show the same lack of interest in his play on the court as well.

The three first round losses in-a-row to average players is inexcusable. Marcos Baghdatis defeated him in Rotterdam in early February 6-4, 6-1. Baghdatis had his best moment on the circuit five years ago when he made the Aussie Open final and has struggled with consistency and physical fitness ever since.

Murray was then beat 7-6, 6-3 by American phenom-in-stasis, Donald Young. It was arguably the victory of Young's career as he has been nothing but unattainable hype ever since he broke onto the pro-tour a few years back.

The worst loss of all occurred this past week in Miami as Murray was knocked off by Alex Bogomolov Jr. by a score of 6-1, 7-5. Bogomolov is a 27 year-old journeyman who often finds himself playing on the challenger tour and should likely not even defeat Andy's doubles-specialist brother Jamie.   

Murray can now move towards the clay-court season and hope that the change of scenery can kick-start a new chapter in his disappointing season. His record on the red-dirt was 7-4 a year ago, but he failed to advance past the quarter-finals of any of the four tournament's he entered on the surface.

Unfortunately I predict another two months of misery for Murray before he can head home in June to face his critics in the United Kingdom prior to a Wimbledon that will likely bestow upon him the most challenging and bitter criticism he has had to face in his career thus far.

Will Murray be able to dig deep and and turn things around to silence his growing list of detractors or are we in for what could be a slow and painful collapse from a player who just doesn't have the mental fortitude to make his stamp on the men's game? Stay tuned, as not even Murray himself can give us an answer to that question at present time. 

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Sampras Eases Past Agassi at BNP Paribas Showdown in New York

By Mike McIntyre

It was like looking through a time-warp Monday night in New York. Madison Square Garden opened its hallowed gates for an evening of classic tennis between some of the greatest players to ever pick-up a racquet. 

The BNP Paribas Showdown tried to re-ignite legendary rivalries between Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe as well as Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. With 37 Grand Slams between the four players there is no doubting their past accomplishments. Yet while on paper the idea seemed intriguing, in real life it did not quite translate as planned. The evening did however prove that tennis still has a place at MSG and that the people of New York would love to watch the sport live more than once a year.

Lendl and McEnroe kicked things off at 7pm as the arena was still filling up. Unfortunately the match was nothing close to any of their gripping encounters from the 1980s that included 20 ATP World Tour finals. After years of hitting golf, rather than tennis balls, Lendl clearly lacked the necessary match practice to keep up with McEnroe and found himself in a 0-4 hole pretty quickly.

The lack of competitiveness had a distinct hand in keeping the crowd subdued as they collectively wondered if we'd see anything that relatively resembled what one might expect from two men who hold 15 Grand Slam titles between them. It's one thing to watch a dull match when there is at least something on the line, but in an exhibition it becomes just plain painful pretty quickly.

Just when it appeared that Lendl might be picking his game up slightly, McEnroe retired leading 6-3 with an ankle injury he had sustained while warming up two hours prior to the event. The fact that an injured Johnny Mac was able to still dominate his opponent spoke volumes to the disparity that existed between the two on this night.

Almost as disappointing as the lack of competition between these two old rivals was the complete absence of any of McEnroe's typical bad-boy antics. No cursing the umpire or an unsuspecting spectator. No thrown racquet or disputed line-calls. McEnroe's silence was even more surprising than that of the crowd but I guess it's hard to blow a gasket when you're leading so comfortably.

The main tilt between Agassi and Sampras got underway around 9pm and just from watching the warm-up you could tell that this would be a much more skillful match. Aside from the fact that these two American legends are roughly twelve years younger than their opening act, they have both been playing competitive exhibition matches of late.

Agassi played twice against retired head-case Marat Safin in Taiwan in January, while Sampras played two weeks ago against current pro Gael Monfils in San Jose. The two were clearly trying to arrive in New York prepared yet not for what some media had anticipated as a grudge match after last year's embarrassment in the "Hit for Haiti" fundraiser.

For those of you who missed that one, here's a reminder of the bad blood that surfaced between these two usually classy guys. Things start playfully at the 1:32 mark of the clip when Sampras shows off his sense of humor by imitating Agassi's pigeon-toed walk. I have to admit that at the time I thought it was refreshing to see Pete show us his lighter side. Unfortunately Agassi responded by taking things to another level by making reference to Pete being a bad tipper. This statement was all the more hurtful since it was written in Agassi's autobiography which had already caused tension between the two. Sampras proceeded to aim a serve directly at Agassi and the mood for the rest of the evening was one of tense confusion as the crowd struggled to figure out if the two were seriously airing out their differences or not.

This time around fortunately the two stuck to playing tennis and did their best to rekindle memories from their glory days. For Sampras, he aptly proved he still has his greatest weapon of all - his serve. Agassi admitted after the match that while other parts of Pistol Pete's game might not be as vicious as they once were, the one device that always frustrated him still packed a punch. Agassi too showed us glimpses into the past with some torrid forehand returns that from time to time left Sampras flat-footed.

Mostly though, this was a night where Sampras was the sharper of the two. He moved well for a 39 year-old and often found his way to the net where he still could put away the majority of his volleys. His footwork seemed solid and he displayed a real desire to compete. Agassi did too, but more often than he would have liked saw his shots fall short of their intended targets. Sampras would prevail 6-3, 7-5.

While it was not the three set nail-bitter that fans were hoping for, it still brought us back to the greatest American tennis rivalry of the past twenty years. One more time Agassi and Sampras managed to divide a crowd's allegiances almost evenly down the middle. Chants of "Come on Andre!" and "Let's Go Pete" were being traded back and forth in the stands just as frequently as the two players traded their groundstrokes down on the court.

For the players, it was clear that their bodies would no longer perform the same reflexes and reactions that they once did so routinely. That's bound to happen when you've been away from the game for eight years like Sampras and five for Agassi and only find the time for a few exhibitions a year. The most difficult thing for some fans to watch in friendly matches like this one isn't that the players are no longer what they used to be, but rather that there is really nothing on the line for two great former champions to play for.

Despite the lament for something more meaningful to validate this tennis showdown, Agassi was able to find one word to explain why we were all here today: nostalgia. During changeovers the jumbo-tron played clips of their greatest Grand Slam matches against each other. Not only did these highlights enthral the crowd as they reflected on the past but Agassi and Sampras as well. My favorite image of the night was of the two sitting in their chairs with Sampras leading 5-4 in the second set and both simultaneously straining their necks to watch a montage of their 2001 U.S. Open quarterfinal match on the jumbo-tron. Even within a match that was not yet finished, nostalgia for what they once had together made them pause and reflect. The fact that they shared that moment with 17,000 tennis fans tonight in New York is meaning enough for me.

 

Lendl, Roddick, Safin and Sampras in Action in Atlantic City

By Mike McIntyre

The Caesars Tennis Classic is on today in Atlantic City and features some of the most exciting tennis players from the past twenty years.

First up is Ivan Lendl against Mats Wilander. That is followed by American Andy Roddick against recently-retired Marat Safin of Russia. Finishing the day is a battle between current player James Blake and former Grand Slam record-holder Pete Sampras.

Personally I would have enjoyed watching Pete take on Marat or Andy - but this is still a pretty entertaining line-up.

Have a look at the exhibition website. Hopefully we'll get a couple of video clips up in the days to come.

Quick Hits

By Mike McIntyre

Just a quick post to bring you up to speed on a few developments since the end of the Australian Open. The ATP and WTA Tours will now proceed with some smaller level tournaments on both hard and clay courts. March will showcase the two Masters Series hard-court tournaments in the United States before the official clay-court season is upon us and with it the road to the French Open in May. Until then, check back regularly for any exciting developments on the men's and women's game that you will not want to miss.

Lleyton Hewitt Injured:

Just when Lleyton Hewitt was rounding into top-twenty form, he has been hit by another injury. Hewitt had surgery on his right hip following his straight sets loss to Roger Federer in the fourth round in Melbourne. The injury was sustained during the Hopman Cup in January and is similar to the one on his left hip that kept him out of contention for much of 2008. Hewitt says he plans on coming back to the tour as quickly as he can and estimates that will be somewhere around the French Open.

For more info check out his official press conference transcript where he reported the news.

Ivan Lendl Exhibition:

Since retiring from the tour in 1994, Ivan Lendl has managed to stay away from playing any tennis exhibitions, instead choosing to focus on his golf game. That will change on April 10th as he plays former rival Mats Wilander at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The event will be called the Ceaser's Tennis Classic and will be the first in a new annual tradition. Some of the proceeds will be used to help the Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education group.

Also playing during the event will be Andy Roddick against recently retired Marat Safin. That's the same  Marat Safin who said we would never see him play in such exhibition events after his professional career ended.

David Nalbandian:

Speaking of hip surgery, after being out since May 2009 with an injury to his hip, David Nalbandian is looking ready to return to the tour on clay in Buenos Aires in two weeks. Nalbandian was aiming for a return at the Australian Open, but suffered an abdominal injury while practicing. While his ranking is officially 140th in the world, Nalbandian should have a higher protected ranking when he returns from his injury.

Ranking Movements:

The most noticeable change is Novak Djokovic overtaking Rafael Nadal as the number two player in the world. Nadal has dropped to the number four position after failing to defend the ranking points he earned winning in Australia a year ago. 

Youngster Marin Cilic moves up four spots into the tenth position after his first ever Grand Slam semi-final appearance in Melbourne. 

This Week on Tour:

In Chile we have the Movistar Open on clay with Fernando Gonzalez as the number one seed and Juan Monaco as the number two. Not too many other names worth noting at this one, except perhaps Jose Acasuso who is always a threat on clay.

Zagreb, Croatia hosts a hard court tournament with Marin Cilic as the top dog. Ivo Karlovic also lurks in the top-half of the draw, while veteran Ivan Ljubicic is the number two seed.

In Johannesburg, the SA Tennis Open is underway and showcases Gael Monfils and David Ferrer as the top two players. Aside from them the draw is quite sparse, so expect the two top-twenty players to meet each other in the final.

"You Can Quote Me on That"

I just got this in the mail today and it's pretty great. Here's Ivan Lendl  on John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors in 1987:

"I think Connors believes he has to hate everybody he plays [in order]  to play better, and McEnroe hates just about everyone who can beat him. He used to hate Jimmy Connors and me. Now he has to hate the top 50."

Ouch. Man, I miss the days of smack-talking tennis! I think I'll post a good quote every couple days.

Check out author Paul Fein's site www.tennisquotes.com for more info about the book and to get an autographed copy!

Have You Seen 'The French'?

Have you heard of photographer- filmmaker Willam Klein's documentary of the 1981 French Open, "The French"? It sounds like a classic and is available on DVD from ARTE Boutique. (Here are some stills and French audio commentary from Klein). Factoid: Klein turned down an offer to do a documentary of the Rolling Stones for this.

Here's a little of what Large at the No Mas blog has to say about the film:

For those of us obsessed with the huge tennis stars of the 70’s and 80’s (meaning just about every tennis fan on the face of the earth) it is essential viewing, just for what intimate access you get into the players offcourt universe in a Grand Slam setting.

Here are the conclusions I drew from this film:
Borg was the coolest motherfucker of all time. He was a cross between Humphrey Bogart, a Swedish porn star and a lazy but talented leopard. He cared little about tennis even though he was the greatest player of his era ...

Nastase was fucking hilarious. There’s a great scene where during a rain delay he’s got Chris Evert and Hana Mandlikova laughing like schoolgirls while he flashes his buttcrack at them in the clubhouse.

He has even got a picture of the Ivory Coast (!) Borg stamp, and impressions of McEnroe, Lendl, and Noah.

Here's the whole review.

Also, does anyone know who the very pretty boy in the last photo here is?

Ivan Lendl Interview

Ivan Lendl, along with Maureen Connolly, was inducted into the U.S. Open Court of Champions before the men's final yesterday.  To go along with the occasion he did a fairly lengthy press conference with the media.

The atmosphere was completely different from during his playing days - very friendly with Lendl even joking with the media.  Some highlights:

• After Serena Williams received an apology from the U.S. Open officials for the missed call in her match with Jennifer Capriati last year, Lendl called up a frend of his at the U.S. Open and demanded to know, "What about an apology for my call in 1991?"
• He played tennis for the first time in nine years three weeks ago - and then only because he auctioned off an hour of his time on court for charity.
• Lendl speculates on what his former coach Tony Roche may be working on with current pupil Roger Federer:

"Tony was ‑‑ we never really worked on any technique too much ‑ very little, if any. But Tony was fantastic at getting my feet going well. He always was concerned about my rhythm and timing of my feet. As I just said, when I moved well, you can't ‑‑ you know it better than anyone, if you don't get to the shot, I don't care how good you are, you can't hit it properly.

"And I'm sure he's doing the same thing with Roger; we never discuss it, what he does with Roger, because it's none of my business, that's between the two of them and I don't want to get involved."

Ivan Lendl Update

From the sounds of it, the name Lendl will no longer be synonymous with tennis.

First this week came the news that Ivan Lendl came up short in his attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open in golf. 

Now the Roanoke Times has a feature on one of one of Ivan's daughters, Marika, 15, as she attempts to win her second consecutive Scott Robertson Memorial golf tournament.  The article also mentions her 13-year-old sister Isabelle as quite a gifted junior golfer. 

A quick google search actually turned up this fan site that follows the Lendl family's golfing accomplishments.