McIntyre Tennis

Canada Ready to Battle Slovakia in Davis Cup Qualifiers

By Mike McIntyre

Canada is set to open their Davis Cup tie against Slovakia on Friday at 3pm local time, 9am ET. The Canadians will be putting a much younger and different looking squad on the court than we have seen in recent years as 18 year old Felix Auger Aliassime and 19 year old Denis Shapovalov will carry the load in both singles and doubles.

Gone are familiar faces like Milos Raonic who is dealing with some knee issues, Vasek Pospisil who just had spinal surgery and of course the legendary Daniel Nestor who has recently retired. It is now up to the next wave of Canadian talent to show they are ready to get the job done for team Captain Frank Dancevic and Tennis Canada.

Action begins with two best-of-three singles matches on the red clay in Bratislava. The 25th ranked Shapovalov will get the call first against 26 year old Filip Horansky who is ranked 219th on the ATP Tour. Horansky has only four ATP matches under his belt with a 1-3 record. He has never faced either of the Canadian players before.

The second match of the day will pit Auger Aliassime, ranked 106th, against the 38th ranked Martin Klizan. Klizan is the veteran amongst the singles players at 29 years old and is a lefty. He will be playing in front of his hometown fans in Brastislava that will no doubt give him some added motivation to perform well. The Slovak has never faced Auger Aliassime but does boast a 1-0 career head-to-head against Shapovalov, beating him 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 on indoor hard court last year in St. Petersburg. Klizan has six career singles titles and an overall win/loss record of 140-133.

On Saturday Auger Aliassime and Shapovalov will first team-up in doubles against Filip Polasek and Igor Zelenay and then will play reverse singles against Horansky and Klizan if needed.

While Canada does not have an abundance of success on red clay, Shapovalov did make the semifinals last year on the surface at the Madrid Masters event while Auger Aliassime played the bulk of his 2018 calendar on clay - something that is rare among Canadian players.

Team Canada is rounded-out with Peter Polansky who is currently ranked 121st in the world and Captain Frank Dancevic who has come-in clutch for Canada in past ties and could play if needed. Neither Polansky nor Dancevic is expected to play unless of an injury or if there is a dead-rubber - a meaningless match - on Saturday.

Check back with us for more coverage throughout the weekend as well as updates on our Twitter page. You can also click here for an interview from my Southpaw Slice co-host Ben Lewis who chatted with Dancevic a day ahead of the tie for his take on what we can expect from the young duo of Auger Aliassime and Shapovalov.

Southpaw Slice Aussie Open Recap

Here’s my Southpaw Slice recap of the Australian Open with Ben Lewis that saw Novak Djokovic continue his brilliant run capturing the past three Grand Slams and Naomi Osaka who at the age of 21 now has two majors back-to-back.

Also a look on the Tennis Canada front at how Milos and Genie did as well as a big week for Canadians Bianca Andreescu and Brayden Schnur in California.

https://m.soundcloud.com/southpawslice/southpaw-slice-2019-australian-open-recapnewport-beach

 

Bianca Andreescu Defeats Genie Bouchard in All-Canadian Quarterfinal in Newport Beach

By Mike McIntyre

Tennis fans in Canada were looking forward to Friday's quarterfinal match in Newport Beach between Genie Bouchard and Bianca Andreescu. It offered an all-Canadian affair between the current No. 1 and the heir apparent and it featured two players who had started 2019 in strong fashion. Fifty-three minutes after it began however it was all over with a resounding 6-2, 6-0 victory from the 18 year old Andreescu.

 

The highlight for Bouchard was an ace on the very first point of the match as it quickly went downhill from her first service hold. Andreescu would break for a 2-1 lead in the opening set and never looked back as she dictated play the rest of the way. She would finish by winning 78% of her first serves, taking 5 of 9 break point opportunities and winning 58 points compared to a mere 31 from Bouchard.

Despite Genie's experience, it was Andreescu who seemed poised and confident throughout the match as her groundstrokes were hitting their mark deep into the court and her variety and spin also seemed to fluster a lackluster Bouchard. Andreescu has been making life difficult for most of her opponents so far this year as she has a sparkling 14-2 record if you add-up all of her qualifying and main draw matches.

As the two approached the net at the conclusion of the match they offered each other a brief but cordial handshake and then Andreescu quickly packed-up her gear and left the court without any type of celebration - a classy gesture considering the way she dismantled her older compatriot.

Despite the loss Bouchard sports a respectable 5-3 record to start 2019 and aside from today's lopsided loss and quick exit versus Andreescu, the 24 year old has looked more confident and content on and off the tennis court lately. There are encouraging signs that both Bouchard and Andreescu could make their way into the top-50 on the WTA Tour, providing Canada with a solid one-two punch in Fed Cup play.

As for the take-away from today's match between the two, it reminds me of a comment made by Bouchard from back at the 2017 Rogers Cup. In reply to my question about the up-and-coming Andreescu, Bouchard joked that finally, "Someone else can carry the burden for Canada." With her strong play out of the gate this year and the potentially symbolic win over Bouchard - the country's current No. 1 - Andreescu may indeed be ready to take that challenge and see how it feels.

Southpaw Slice Season Preview

By Mike McIntyre

Happy to share our first Southpaw Slice episode of 2019. Ben Lewis (@BenLewisSN590) and I take a look at Bianca Andreescu's big week in Auckland where she made her first WTA Final, discuss early season wins from Kevin Anderson, Roberto Bautista-Agut and Kei Nishikori on the men's side and Aryna Sabalenka and Julia Goerges on the women's. We also look into the Hopman Cup victory from Switzerland and offer a preview of the Canadian's in Aussie Open qualifying too.

 

 

 

Australian Open Just A Week Away

By Mike McIntyre

The first Grand Slam of 2019 is only a week away and tennis fans are anticipating some great tennis action this year in Melbourne at the Australian Open. Defending champion Roger Federer will have his work cut-out for him at the age of 37 although he has defied his age by winning the previous two editions of the tournament. With 20 Grand Slam titles already behind him, it shouldn't be that shocking if the Swiss legend was somehow able to pull off the feat yet again. That being said, let's look at who the main contenders and some darkhorse candidates are to unseat him this year.

Despite Federer having won the last two Aussie Opens, sportsbettingdime.com still has Djokovic as the tournament favorite. The current World No. 1 shook-off a slow start in 2018 and caught fire after winning his fourth Wimbledon title last July. The 31 year old also won the US Open as well as ATP Tour Masters 1000 events in Cincinnati and Shanghai. Djokovic only stands three major titles from tying Rafael Nadal on the all-time list with 17. Djokovic started this season by falling in the semifinals in Doha to Roberto Bautista Agut - ranked 24th on the Tour, who would proceed to win the title.

Kevin Anderson has proved over the past two seasons that he is much more than just a big serve. The 6'8'' South African is now ranked 6th in the world and has had back-to-back seasons being a finalist at a Grand Slam. Anderson started this season strong by winning the title in Pune, India over Ivo Karlovic. A super nice guy off the court, it is easy to root for Anderson to break through and capture his first Grand Slam title in 2019.

Alexander Zverev has been mentioned as a Major contender and possible heir to the Big Three whenever they do eventually retire from the sport. That being said, the 21 year old German has never made it past the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam despite the fact he has been successful at every other level of ATP play. Zverev partnered-up with 8 time major champion Ivan Lendl late last year and if anyone can appreciate taking a little extra time to win a first Slam title it would be Lendl who didn't win his first one until the age of 24.

Karen Kachanov is another young talent to keep an eye on this year. The 22 year old Russian was one of the few who was able to beat Djokovic late in 2018 as he captured his first Masters 1000 at the indoor event in Paris. Kachanov has not yet made it past the fourth round of a Slam, but it would be shocking if that did not happen this year somewhere along the line.

Finally, we have to mention Rafael Nadal despite the fact he is already dealing with a thigh injury to start his season and the fact he was practically unable in 2018 to complete or compete in any hardcourt tournaments save for the Rogers Cup that he won in Toronto in August. Nadal will be hoping he can at least participate and finish the Aussie Open on his own terms, something he could not do a year ago when he had to retire in his quarterfinal match against Marin Cilic while trailing 0-2 in the fifth set.

In terms of some darkhorse candidates let's lead off with Australian hopeful Nick Kyrgios who on any given day could upset just about anybody on the entire ATP Tour. Kyrgios' issues are mostly mental though his body has also been letting him down with increasing regularity in recent times.

Another player with loads of talent but a weakening physique is 28 year old Canadian Milos Raonic. With that booming serve, Raonic will always be dangerous on a hard court but he has seen just about every part of his body fail at one point or another the past couple of years. Raonic came into this event a year ago out of shape even by his own admission, but if he's fit to start 2019 then he will be a dangerous player to face.

Finally, another opponent that could very well contend for a Slam in 2019 is Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece. A part of the talented NextGen group of under-21 players on the ATP Tour (he won the NextGen finals in fact to close-out 2018), Tsitsipas made his first Masters 1000 finals in Toronto last summer defeating Djokovic, Zverev and Anderson before falling to Nadal. The 20 year old has plenty of personality and flash on the court and is someone the Melbourne crowd could certainly get behind.

Lastly, don't forget about the likes of Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem and Juan Martin Del Potro for this year's list of contenders. All three have made Slam finals before, with Cilic and Delpo each winning one at the US Open.

Check back with us throughout the two week event that begins on January 14th for full coverage and analysis of this exciting early season tennis event.

Bianca Andreescu Emerges as a Threat on the WTA Tour

By Mike McIntyre

John McEnroe once joked with me that Canada would have a top-ten player if the sport was played on ice - a reference to our hockey prowess and lack of a legitimate threat in singles at the time. In the past five years however, tennis in Canada has taken a big rise in credibility with the likes of Milos Raonic and Genie Bouchard both making Grand Slam finals and at times being a presence in the top 5 in the World rankings. Denis Shapovalov announced himself as another talented Canadian player when he made the semifinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal in the summer of 2017 and Felix Auger-Aliassime has also grabbed some headlines as the youngest player in the top 200 on the ATP Tour last year. We can now add Bianca Andreescu to the growing list of headline-catching Canucks after her coming out party this past week in Auckland.

The 18 year old Andreescu who hails from Mississauga and also developed part of her game at a young age in Romania, made it through three qualifying matches before delivering four big-time upsets to make it all the way to the finals at the ASB classic before being beaten by the No. 2 seed and defending champion Julia Goerges 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 on Sunday. Playing in her very first WTA final, Andreescu seemed anything but nervous as she was not at all challenged by the more experienced Goerges in the first set despite leading the Tour in aces in 2018 and being known for her usually powerful serve. For a moment it seemed like Andreescu's dream run would indeed end with a trophy being held above her head to complete the unlikely week of upsets.

Following the first set that saw Goerges struggle with a first serve of only 41% the German took a well-advised bathroom break and left the court. When she came back it was like a totally different player had taken her place - and how often do we see that happen? The veteran move paid-off and saw Goerges break Andreescu immediately and then hold serve for a 2-0 lead. Andreescu stayed focused despite signs that her troublesome back was flaring-up once again, and got back into the match for 4-4. Then while back on serve at 5-4, Andreescu admitted after the match that she started to look ahead prematurely. "It was really hard for me to stay in the moment and I was like - oh my God - I'm like one game away from winning the tournament." 

After evening the match at one set apiece with a late break in the second frame, Goerges took control while Andreescu looked like she had little left in the tank and began to fade after a week that saw her play eight matches while dealing with the aforementioned back issue as well as a difficult cold as well. "My body is honestly a mess" the Canadian phenom revealed.

Despite the loss, it was a week that Andreescu will never forget nor will the legions of Canadians who stayed up late or woke up early to support her throughout her magical emergence on the WTA Tour. Her mother Maria revealed to me earlier this week that her daughter was initially shocked at her big wins over former World No. 1's like Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams but was now starting to feel that she belonged at this high level of play. Her ranking will shoot-up on Monday from No. 152 to a career-high of No. 107. 

It should be noted that Andreescu's success cannot be deemed a total shock as she was a highly touted junior player once reaching No. 3 in the world and who had also won the Under 16 and Under 18 Orange Bowl tournament - a feat also accomplished by the likes of Chrissie Evert and Ivan Lendl to put the accomplishment into perspective. That being said, just because one is a successful junior does not necessarily equate to enjoying continued success when joining the professional ranks.

Andreecu has put in an incredible amount of time to develop her fitness and add variety to her game that at first glance seems to be built upon her impressive power. This week in Auckland tennis fans were treated to all aspects of her game that included some serious hustle and a wide array of tactical variety as well. Playing the always tricky Su-Wei Hsieh in the semifinals, Andreescu actually out-drop shot-ed her Taiwanese opponent and turned the tables on the No. 3 seed en route to a straight set 6-3, 6-3 victory.

Underneath all of the talent we have witnessed is the fact that Andreescu is also a very humble and well-spoken young woman who carried herself like an excellent ambassador for her country all week long. She made a point of looking directly into the camera to thank all of the support she was getting back home in Canada and was extremely thankful in particular to her lone supporter courtside all week, Virginie Tremblay, saying, "Thank you to my fitness trainer/coach/everything this week...she's been a tremendous help."

Indeed one of the more emotional moments of the week was as Andreescu was seeing the final slip away from her while trailing 1-4 in the third set and was talking with Tremblay on what would become the final changeover. Tremblay tried her best to inspire an Andreescu comeback by saying, "You need to want it more than her. You need to take that little fire in you on every shot." Answering almost in tears, Andreescu replied, "I really want to."

Canadian tennis fans really wanted her to as well but resoundingly applaud her inspiring effort to start the 2019 tennis season with a bang and reveal to the world that she is going to be a future force to be reckoned with on the WTA Tour. Forget what John McEnroe said about having a top ten player if the game was played on ice - Canada could have several legitimate top ten players in the years to come with Bianca Andreescu proving that she will be doing her best to become one of them. 

What to Expect From Andy Murray in 2019?

By Mike McIntyre

Is there a bigger question mark in men's tennis to start the 2019 season than what we can expect from former World No. 1 Andy Murray?

After being forced to go through major hip surgery early in the 2018 season, Murray returned for a mere 6 tournaments that saw him continue to limp around the court at times. The three time Grand Slam champ and two time Olympic Gold Medalist was considered to belong to the "Big Four" along with Djokovic, Federer and Nadal prior to his injury woes but is now ranked 240th in the ATP Tour rankings due to his restricted tournament play.

Murray started this season at the Brisbane International and won his opening round match in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 against Australia's James Duckworth who is ranked 234th in the world. His second round match was - as expected - another story as he faced 16th ranked Daniil Medvedev. Murray's Russian opponent is a player on the rise in the men's game and after Murray held pace for 5-5 in the opening set, the young talent broke free to win six straight games and take a strangle-hold on the match. Medvedev would prevail 7-5, 6-2 in just over an hour and twenty minutes.

Murray's play understandably faded as the match wore on as the 31 year old still seems to be lacking the confidence in his physical abilities on the court. How much of that was due to the hip is unknown, although Murray did admit to some struggles during the match. His comments after the loss did not exactly inspire much confidence in his long-term potential to return to his previous form.

"OK. Not perfect,"  Murray said. "Better than how I was competing a few months ago, when I was playing and competing back-to-back days."

With the Australian Open less than two weeks away, it is hard to imagine Murray being capable of lasting long in a best-of-five set format. And if that hip is still problematic 12 months post-op, what are the odds that he ever going to be able to play pain-free?

If not for the comments about the continuing hip issues, it would still be expected that there would be a period of adjustment to being back to playing a regular schedule on the tour. Most players do not experience an immediate return to form like Roger Federer did where he won in his Grand Slam return in Melbourne in 2017. Most players need more time than that to get back to what they once were. Even current No. 1 Novak Djokovic took a few months where he looked like a fragile version of his former self before he returned to his dominating ways at Wimbledon last summer. The difference with Federer and Djokovic however is that they both seemed 100% fit when they came back, while Murray is clearly anything but.

While Murray may never get back to Grand Slam winning form, it would be a shame to see him unable to continue his career on his own terms. Aside from his tennis prowess, he's been a wonderful ambassador for the sport and a has been a true proponent for equality between the ATP and WTA Tour's - something that should be, but too often is not, the norm.

Perhaps the hip issues are less concerning than Murray's fans are no doubt wondering at present time. Match competition is different from practice and it could be that Murray simply needs to get his body re-adjusted to the rigors of competition. If so, one wonders if even entertaining the thought of playing best-of-five matches is in his immediate best interests. We'll find out soon enough as the January 14th start day at the Aussie Open is quickly approaching.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

‘OK. Not perfect. Better than how I was competing a few months ago, when I was playing and competing back-to-back days.’

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/02/already-learned-2019-murray-nadal-struggle-djokovic-federer-enjoy-solid-starts-8303180/?ito=cbshare

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

‘OK. Not perfect. Better than how I was competing a few months ago, when I was playing and competing back-to-back days.’

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/02/already-learned-2019-murray-nadal-struggle-djokovic-federer-enjoy-solid-starts-8303180/?ito=cbshare

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

2018 Season Southpaw Slice Season Review

As the 2018 tennis season is now officially complete, here is my recap along with co-host Ben Lewis on the Southpaw Slice podcast.

We talk about the incredible seasons by Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on the men's side as well as the Grand Slam breakthroughs from World No. 1 Simona Halep, veteran Caroline Wozniacki and rising start Naomi Osaka.

As always, we give plenty of attention to the Tennis Canada crew and assess all of their players seasons. Spoiler alert - we give out one A+ grade and that goes to Rebecca Marino and her inspiring return to the sport.

We would also like to thank the long list of guests and guest hosts that joined us throughout the year. From athletes to their spouses, media personalities and more - we truly had an all-star group to help us along the way. So a big thumbs-up to the following:

Max Gao, Damien Cox, Caroline Cameron, Kelsey Anderson, Filip Peliwo, Chris Oddo, Kaithlyn McGrath, Mary Pierce, Jonathan Pinfield, Tom Tebbutt and Ed McGrogan.

We'll be back strong in 2019 to bring you weekly updates in the world of professional tennis with an even stronger crew of guests. We hope you'll join us!

Alexander Zverev Captures the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals

By Mike McIntyre

Alexander Zverev stunned World No. 1 Novak Djokovic on Sunday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory in which he played near flawless tennis. The 21 year old served noticed (literally) that he belongs in the top of the men's game as he captured the biggest title of his young career.

Despite the fact that Djokovic had yet to drop a set all week in London including a decisive 6-4, 6-1 victory over Zverev in round robin play, it was the German who was in total control of the match that counted the most.

Zverev served regularly at the 140mph mark or higher and with incredible precision against one of the best returners that the men's game has ever seen. His ground strokes were punishing and he played with just the right amount of aggression to deny Djokovic any opportunity to control the match on his terms.

There's little that remains for the now World No. 4 to accomplish on the ATP World Tour other than to translate that success in one of the four Grand Slam events. Many expected that to happen in 2018 but instead Zverev finished in the third round of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open and managed a quarterfinal showing at Roland Garros - the first of his career at a major.

We'll have to wait a couple of months now to see if he can take the success he has experienced in the Tour finals and turn it into something tangible at a major, but his victory could be sign that big things are soon to happen for him. Being ten years younger than Djokovic, and even more so than Nadal and Federer bodes well for Zverev's long term potential. While other talented players like Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic - among others - have seen a good chunk of their professional careers overshadowed by the Big Three, Zverev and his Next Gen crew will undoubtedly play the bulk of theirs once those legends have retired. Even if Zverev does not hoist his first Slam in 2019, he has given notice that his moment is coming given his strong finish to this year. 

Djokovic vs Zverev for the Championship of the ATP World Tour Finals

By Mike McIntyre

It should likely come as no surprise that Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev are the last two men standing at the season-ending Nitto ATP World Tour Finals in London. The resurgent World No. 1 from Serbia has been on fire since capturing Wimbledon back in July while the 21 year old German represents the future of the sport and already sits at an impressive No. 5 in the rankings.

Heading into the event, Djokovic was considered the heavy favorite and for good reason. In ten previous entries, he has walked-away with the title an impressive five times. This week at the O2 Arena, he has yet to drop a set in his four victories over John Isner (6-3, 6-4), Zverev (6-4, 6-1), Marin Cilic (7-6, 6-2) and Kevin Anderson in the semifinals on Saturday by a dominating scoreline of 6-2, 6-2. 

Having a win already this week over Zverev also bodes well towards capturing his sixth title in London and Djokovic holds a 2-1 career head-to-head record against his Sunday opponent as well. They faced one another a short while ago in Shanghai with Djokovic untroubled during a quick 6-2, 6-1 semifinal win.

For Zverev to have a chance on Sunday he will have to produce a flawless performance from the service line and hope that his shots have the same impact they had in his 7-5, 7-6 semifinal victory over Roger Federer. Zverev was asked after the match who he would prefer to face in the final and his answer doesn't inspire much confidence when he replied, "I mean I played Novak a few days ago where it didn't go too well for me. I don't hope he'll lose but you know - there's a slight preference maybe in opponents. But it's the finals so I'm just happy to be here."

For someone who is viewed as one of the future heirs to the "Big Four" of Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Murray, Alexander Zverev is going to have to elevate his game at some point to prove his critics that he indeed will take their place one day. A victory against Djokovic in London would certainly be a step in that direction.