8.7.2007 - After 3 1/2 months away from the tour Junior’s straight set win over Ginepri was a step in the right direction and hopefully tomorrow his body holds up and he gets through the young Italian Fognni. You don’t know what you miss about your job until you take a break from it. What I missed the most is scouting. I’m looking forward to Blake/Hewitt tomorrow. It seems like Hewitt is getting his game back and has an impressive record against James. This is just one of many incredible matches on tomorrow's ticket, Safin/Nadal is tomorrow nights popcorn match and must see TV.
8.12.2007 - We’re here in Cincy and it's scorching. Once again we’ve got a stellar field with the entire top 20 present. The cut off for qualies was 100 and I’d argue that the qualies draw here is stronger than the field they had in Newport last month. Junior's got no picnic draw with Baghdatis in the first round. The toughest part about returning to the tour from an injury is the mental aspect. When I was coming back from an ankle injury in 1988 it took me longer to get back mentally than physically….We don’t need to consult with Greg Sharko to know that Djokovic is the first guy to beat Roddick, Nadal, and Federer in succession to win a title. He may be the number three player in the world, but he’s serving notice that he’s now clearly on the same playing field as Ralph and Fed… What a buzz kill last night in Carson. Maria pulls the plug on her semifinal match with Petrova 20 minutes before the match due to a lower leg injury… I’m predicting Ivanovic today in straights…
8.19.2007 - Both # 1’s come in and beat players that they were undefeated against to claim titles this week. Fed struggled in a few of his early matches but turned it on in the final -- ala many of Pete Sampras’ title runs. Good effort from James in Cincy, this could be a result that turns his year around. I really believe that once Jankovic gets the monkey off her back and beats Henin she will win her first major.We are T-minus 4 days until the draw for the US Open comes out… It would be nice to see both of the William sisters healthy and ready to compete. I was happy to see the USTA award wild cards to young players…. Big props to Donald Young for notching his first ATP tour level win today over Delic… Hopefully by the start of the Open junior will be feeling good and his wrist will be fully recovered.
8.22.2007 - It seems like at every slam this year the women’s top half of the draw is overloaded. For the third slam in a row we’ve got a Justine/Serena quarterfinal clash looming. Another top half potential quarterfinal could be a skirmish between country women Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic. With those girls and Venus all in the top half, Maria has to love her chances of getting back to the final.The men’s draw is a little more spread out, but last year's finalist Fed and Roddick are on course to meet in the quarters. Djokovic and Ralph are on the same half and could meet in the semifinals. If Ralph stays healthy he’ll get there. Hewitt’s down there and has his swagger back, he could be dangerous.I thought i got on a flight to New York, but it feels like we're in London with the rain and cold here. Yesterday was a washout but today we’re going to see about hitting out at the BJK national tennis center. Junior dodged a potential bullet and drew a qualifier for his first round match.
8.25.2007 - We are T-minus 2 days until the start of the US Open and man it’s sweltering out in Flushing Meadows. It seems like the courts are playing slower than they have in years…Junior has a Monday start against a qualifier. Tomorrow he and I will have a practice session with Ralph and Uncle Tony. After an hour session with Nadal you’re totally gassed. Uncle Tony was MIA in Montreal and Cincy and Nadal struggled at both events, it seems like Ralph always picks up his intensity when Uncle Tony is around….I saw the William sisters practice yesterday and it amazes me that they can hardly play all summer and come out hitting the ball so cleanly. Even though they are in the brutal part of the draw, I’m picking a Williams to win it….Blake saves two match points in the third round of New Haven and makes it to the final. The last two weeks James has totally turned around his year, this has to be the most confidence he’s ever had coming into a slam.
8.29.2007 - Three big questions for day three: Number one—what is the status of Ralph’s knee? He tweaked it toward the end of last Sunday’s practice session with Junior and Nadal is the type of player who depends on his wheels… Will today be Tim Henmans last match at a slam? Tursunov has Tim’s number, especially at the majors. I’ll definitely be out there supporting this great champion. Safin/Dancevic is the other key match of the day and the question is which Safin will show up?The US Open went from last to first as slams go regarding player amenities. Big props to the USTA for doubling the size of the locker room, improving the quality of the players lounge, and adding a totally legit weight room/gym facility…
8.31.2007 -Yesterday was a struggle but a good test for Junior. It was a strange match with many ebbs and flows. At 3-2 in the second set my guy goes on a nine game trot and I’m thinking he’s going to roll to the W in four, but the cagey veteran scraped out the fourth set and I figured the fifth set was going to be brawl, that was not the case and Murray got out of jail 6-1 in the fifth. He plays Lee next. I was out scouting Hyung-Taik’s match yesterday and there were about 800 Korean’s supporting him…. Donald Young got a free pass to the third round, I was looking forward to seeing him and Gasquet mix it up…… Big props to Brave Tim for beating Tursunov for the first time at a slam! He’s got Tsonga up next and with Nadal’s knee not being right this could be a great opportunity for him…. The match everybody’s been talking about-- Isner/Federer—should be interesting. For Isner it’s a question of handling his nerves and for Fed it’s a question of handling Big John’s serve..
9.1.2007 - What a day in tennis. One of the better matches that I’ve seen in a long time took place out on Armstrong between Djokovic and Stepanek, and at the same time on Ashe there was an epic battle between Fish and Rebredo going down. Mardy saved two match points in the fourth set but couldn’t find the finish line and let Rebredo get off the mat down 1-4 in the fifth….. Tim Henman ends his story book career, I got only two words to say about him—pure class….. How about this Italian wizard with his magic laser? This Italian doctor named Pier Francesco Parra has used his laser treatments to treat all kinds of athletes and travels the world with his portable laser machine, I don’t how it works, but it does, just ask Ralph….. My guy is going back out to his favorite court (Grandstand) to take on Lee, it’s gonna be an electric atmosphere between the Murray supporters and Lee’s Korean fans….Now the ladies tournament begins. I’m looking forward to a great round of 16 match up between Venus and Ivanovic.
9.4.2007 - I left the US Open the day after Junior’s match with Lee and now I’m following the tennis on TV. Andy didn’t play well against Lee and needs more matches, after a few more tournaments he’ll be right….On the women's side I don’t see anybody stopping Anna “Chuck full O’nuts” Vetadze from reaching the final where she will take on a Williams sister. After seeing Venus take Ivanovic to the woodshed the other day I’m leaning towards her making the final. I didn’t think I’d ever say this but Venus is playing better than Serena. That said, I’m picking Serena to beat Henin in three sets tonight, revenge for Wimbledon and the French…. I thought since James had won his first five setter that he’d be able to handle Haas if it went the distance, guess not…The only way Roddick has a chance against Fed will be if he goes for second serves and can end the night with 35 aces…I’m seeing a repeat of last years semi Federer/Davydenko and a repeat of the last two major semis between Djockovic and Ralph…
9.5.2007 - Yesterday was a poor prognosticating effort by me; I made two bad picks… I gotta give huge props to the little people. Ferrer deserves the game ball for his efforts against Ralph, man that guy has some serious wheels…. Plain and simple: Justine out ran and out hit Serena. This is the third slam win in a row for the Belgian over Williams and you can’t call that luck….Is it just me or is there something odd about Justine and Venus being in the same half of the draw and not playing their quarterfinal matches on the same day????? You can’t get a much better double billing in sports than tonight’s quarterfinal clashes. Let’s hope the Federer/Roddick match provides the same atmosphere as Pete and Andre’s epic 2001 quarterfinal dual.
9.5.2007 - Let’s hope the Federer/Roddick match provides the same atmosphere as Pete and Andre’s epic 2001 quarterfinal dual.
