Category: Tennis

American Juniors – Future Champions or Pretenders?

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Taylor Fritz’s win in the 2015 U.S. Open Boys’ Juniors marked the third consecutive Grand Slam won by an American boy in 2015. The finals were a repeat of the French Open; however, Fritz defeated countryman Tommy Paul in their most recent matchup in the finals.

For the record, Russian Roman Safiullin won the Australian Open. Tommy Paul won the French Open, and Reilly Opelka captured the Wimbledon title.

Overall the 15 American boys had a 24-14 win-loss record in the U.S. Open.

American Boys 1st Round 0-1 2nd Round 1-1 3rd Round 2-1 Quarters 3-1 Semis 4-1 Finals 5-1/6-0
Taylor Fritz W
Ulses Blanch X
Alex Rybakov X
Vasil Krikov X
Patrick Krypson X
Ganni Ross X
Reilly Opelka X
Tommy Paul X
Nathan Ponwith X
Sam Riffice X
Eduardo Nava X
Alexandre Rotsaeart X
Jeff Wolf X
Michael Mmoh X
William Blumberg X
Total W-L 9-6 6-3 4-2 2-2 2-0 1-1

Overall the 19 American girls were impressive, but not quite as dominant as the boys. Their combined win-loss record was 19-19.

Sofia Kenin reached the finals before bowing out to Hungarian Dalma Galfi in the finals. This was the first time a Hungarian had won the U.S. Open – Girls Juniors.

In addition to having Kenin in the finals, Francesca DiLorenzio was defeated in the semifinals and Kylie McKenzie lost in the quarterfinals.

American Girls 1st Round 0-1 2nd Round 1-1 3rd Round 2-1 Quarters 3-1 Semis 4-1 Finals 5-1/6-0
Abigail Desiatnikov X
Alexa Graham X
Tornado Alicia Black X
Sofia Kenin X
Kelly Chen X
Kylie McKenzie X
Amanda Anisinova X
Natasha Subhash X
Claire Liu X
Hurricane Tyra Black X
Ravenna Kingsley X
Francesca DiLorenzo X
Michaela Gordon X
Kayla Day X
Usue Maitane Arconada X
Caty McNally X
Carson Branstine X
Ingrid Neel X
Alexsandra Sanford X
Total W-L 9-10 4-5 3-1 2-1 1-1 0-1

American tennis fans should be encouraged by the increased number of solid junior boys and girls and the success they enjoyed in 2015.

Will the current group of American juniors move on to be the next round of journeymen? Or, will some of them make the transition to the professional game and become the Grand Slam champions of the next decade?

Next stop, 2016!

Serena Still the Most Dominant Player in Women’s Tennis

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Bummer! Serena Lost!

After being the most dominant player in women’s tennis for the past decade, it is disappointing that Serena Williams was not able to cap off 2015 with a calendar Grand Slam.

At the same time the fairy tale finish of Italian finalists Roberta Vinci and Flavia Pennetta gives hope to underdogs everywhere. They demonstrated that even against the most staggering odds, it is possible for unseeded and lower ranked players to win matches they are “supposed” to lose.

Day-in and day-out Serena Williams has been the player to beat at the U.S. Open since her first match there in 1998. Her win-loss record in the tourney is 84-10; she has won the championship six times, and has been the runner-up on two occasions.  Even though Serena has dominated the U.S. Open, she has raised the bar for how the sport should be played and she has made her competitors better players.

Overall, the American women were a force to be reckoned with. In addition to Serena’s strong showing her sister, Venus, reached the quarters while Madison Keys and Varvara Lepchenko were ousted in the 16s.

American Women 1st Rd 0-1 2nd Rd 1-1 3rd Rd 2-1 16s 3-1 Qrtrs 4-1 Semis 5-1 Finals
Serena Williams X
Bethanie Mattek-Sands X
Coco Vandeweghe X
Sloane Stephens X
Madison Keys X
Irina Falconi X
Samantha Crawford X
Venus Williams X
Madison Brengle X
Anna Tatishvili X
Lauren Davis X
Vania King X
Sofia Kenin X
Alison Riske X
Jessica Pegula X
Nicole Gibbs X
Louise Chirico X
Christina McHale X
Jamie Loeb X
Varvara Lepchenko X
Shelby Rogers X
Sachia Vickery X
TOTAL W-L 13-9 7-6 4-3 2-2 1-1 0-1

Combined, the 22 American women had a solid 27-22 win-loss record.

It is exciting to see promising Americans working their way through the ranks as top junior players. Over the next three months they will have a chance to hone their skills in China and neighboring countries in hopes that some day they can fill the void that will be left when the Williams sisters retire.

Next stop! Australian Open January 18, 2016

American Men at U.S. Open – When Will Insanity End?

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“Insanity is doing something over and over and expecting different results.” – attributed to Albert Einstein.

Unfortunately, this saying applies to the USTA’s player development program, particularly on the men’s side.

Sixteen American men were entered in the 2015 U.S. Open. The group included a handful of up-and-coming juniors; however, the majority were the same American men who are excellent players who have had lackluster performances in the Grand Slams.

Those who exited the tournament after first round losses included:
• Tommy Paul
• Tim Smyczek
• Steve Johnson
• Ryan Shane
• Frances Tiafoe
• Ryan Harrison
• Bjorn Fratangelo
• Denis Kudla
• Sam Querrey
• Jared Donaldson

Second round losers included:
• Mardy Fish
• Jack Sock
• Rajeev Ram
• Austin Krajicek.

After two rounds only Donald Young and John Isner remained.

As a junior Donald Young was billed as the next Arthur Ashe. Unfortunately, he has never lived up to that billing, typically losing in the first round of most Grand Slams. This was his best showing in a Grand Slam since 2011. Young’s singles record at the U.S. Open has been 9-11.

Since 2010 John Isner has been a consistent performer, usually winning two or three matches before bowing out. Isner’s previous best at the U.S. Open came in 2011 when he reached the quarterfinals. Isner’s career record at the U.S. Open has been 21-9.

Young and Isner won their third round matches, but lost in the fourth round to Wawrinka and Federer, respectively.

To put things in perspective, Roger Federer has been 85-10 at the 2015 U.S. Open, prior to this year’s event.

Overall, the 16 American men won 10 matches and lost 16 at this year’s event.Insanity USTA Player Development

On a positive note, the American juniors have dominated play in the U.S. Juniors Open; however, the new general manager of USTA Player Development, Martin Blackman, has been quick to temper expectations for the juniors.

The bottom line … It is tough to develop strong juniors. It is even more difficult to train strong juniors who can make the transition to the professional game and compete and win Grand Slam events.

We’ll see if the latest change by the USTA puts an end to the insanity known as USTA Player Development.

American and Russian Juniors Dominate Wimbledon

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The American and Russian juniors dominated the 2015 Wimbledon Junior Championships.

The Russians dominated the girls event. Of the seven players, three made it to the quarters and the two who made it to the semifinals met in the finals. Unseeded Sofya Zhuk defeated fellow Russian Anna Blinkova in the finals in straight sets and gave the Live@Wimbledon Studios a poised and charming interview afterwards. It was refreshing to hear her passion for life and tennis.

Nine of the ten American girls won their first round matches. Unfortunately, Tornado Black and Michaela Gordon were the only girls who made it as far as the quarterfinals. Overall the American girls were 17-10.

American Girls 1st Round 0-1 2nd Round 1-1 3rd Round 2-1 Quarters 3-1 Semis 4-1 Finals 5-1/6-0
Francesca DiLorenzo X
Kayla Day X
Ravenna Kingsley X
Carolyn Dolehide X
Sofia Kenin X
Usue Maitane Arconada X
Claire Liu X
Tornado Black X
Ingrid Neel X
Michaela Gordon X
Total W-L 9-1 6-3 2-4 0-2 0-0 0-0

The American boys owned the tournament. Combined, they had a 21-7 record.

All eight entrants were victorious in their first round matches. Taylor Fritz (#1 seed), Reilly Opelka, William Blumberg, and Tommy Paul (#7 seed) reached the quarters. Blumberg and Paul lost in the quarters and Opelka knocked out Fritz in the semis. The 6’10″Reilly Opelka defeated Mikael Ymer of Sweden, 7-6,6-4. It is great to see an American junior hoist the trophy at the end of the tournament; however, it may not bode well for the entertainment value of the sport when the victor had 15 aces in the championship match and there was only 1 service break in 2 sets.

On a positive note, it was encouraging to see  anAmerican junior win back-to-back Grand Slam events. (Tommy Paul won the French in June). Time will tell whether the recent success of the boys translates to titles for American men in future Grand Slams events.

American Boys 1st Round 0-1 2nd Round 1-1 3rd Round 2-1 Quarters 3-1 Semis 4-1 Finals 5-1/6-0
Taylor Fritz X
Ulses Blanch X
Reilly Opelka X
William Blumberg X
Emil Reinberg X
Nathan Ponwith X
Michael Mmoh X
Tommy Paul X
Total W-L 8-0 5-3 4-1 2-2 2-2 1-0

Next stop, the U.S. Open!  Will the American and Russian juniors have a repeat performance?

Changing of the Guard in Women’s Tennis

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On Saturday, Serena Williams captured her 6th Wimbledon title and her 21st Grand Slam event with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Garbiñe Muguruza. By winning her 3rd Grand Slam event of the year Williams is positioned to be the first woman since Steffi Graf (1988) to win a calendar-year Grand Slam if she captures the U.S. Open in September.

Finalist Garbiñe Muguruza joins Eugenie Bouchard, Belinda Bencic, Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova, and Simona Halep as the young women who are part of the changing of the guard in women’s tennis. At the moment Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, and Coco Vandeweghe are the leaders of the pack of American women who have flirted with being in this group of elite players.Changing of the Guard in Women's Tennis

Collectively the 16 American women were 24-15 at the 2015 Wimbledon. The best showing was by the Williams sisters, Vandeweghe, and Keys who all made it to the round of 16. Venus was the only player to lose in the 16s as she bowed out to Serena.

On a positive note, three American women reached the Wimbledon quarters. The last time this happened was in 2004 when Serena, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati reached the round of eight. Unfortunately, Keys lost in three sets to Radwanska, while Vandeweghe suffered a similar fate at the hands of Maria Sharapova.

American Women World Ranking 6/29 1st Rd 0-1 2nd Rd 1-1 3rd Rd 2-1 16s 3-1 Qrtrs 4-1 Semis 5-1 Finals
Serena Williams 1 X
Madison Brengle 36 X
Venus Williams 16 X
Bethanie Mattek-Sands 158 X
Nicole Gibbs 103 X
Shelby Rogers 47 X
Irina Falconi 50 X
Coco Vandeweghe 51 X
Edina Gallovits-Hall 53 X
Sloane Stephens 58 X
Lauren Davis 60 X
Alison Riske 63 X
Varvara Lepchenko 40 X
Christina McHale 86 X
Sachia Vickery 98 X
Madison Keys 21 X
TOTAL W-L 8-8 6-2 4-2 3-1 1-2 1-0 1-0

Congratulations to Serena on her 21st Grand Slam title and to the young women who are part of the changing of the guard!

Another Weak Performance by American Men at Wimbledon

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Only one of the seven American men made it to the second week of the Championships at Wimbledon. The top performer for the Americans was Denis Kudla, a Ukranian who moved to the U.S. when he was a youngster.

Kudla entered the tournament ranked 105th in the world. He won three matches before losing in the round of 16.

The storyline hasn’t changed for the American men and it won’t in the near-term. The American men are excellent players, but they are not among the elite players in the world.

The top ranked American, #17 John Isner, won two rounds before losing to Marin Cilic in another excruciating five set match. Isner’s big serve isn’t enough to make him a Grand Slam champion.

American Men World Ranking 6/29 First Round Loss Second Round Loss Round of 32 Round of 16
John Isner 17th X
Denis Kudla 105th X
Donald Young 58th X
Steve Johnson 52nd X
Tim Smyczek 77th X
Jack Sock 31st X
Sam Querrey 36th X

Combined the American men were 7-7.

While the short-term outlook for the American men is dim, it should be noted that all eight junior boys won their first round matches in the Junior Championships. There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for the American men if the current juniors can make the transition to pro game in the next couple of years.

Wimbledon Trivia

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The following facts, figures are a small part of the Wimbledon trivia highlighted on the official website of The Championships.

The Crowd
• In 2014 the attendance was 491,084.
• On a daily basis there are 39,000 spectators
• There are 15,000 seats for the finals matches.

Courts
• 41 total
• 19 Championships grass courts (Centre + Numbers 1-19, less 13)
• 22 grass practice courts in Aorangi Park and at Southlands College.
• Championships playing height 8mm. Court grass composed of 100% rye grass.

Balls
• 54,250 balls are used
• Slazenger is the official ball.

Racket Stringing
• Championships stringing team string on average over 2,000 rackets
• 60% for men
• 40% for women.
• Over 40 miles of string.

Catering
Wimbledon is the largest activity for catered food in Europe:
• 350,000 cups of tea and coffee
• 150,000 bottles of water
• 207,000 meals
• 230,000 glasses of Pimm’s
• 190,000 sandwiches
• 150,000 bath buns, scones, pasties and doughnuts
• 130,000 lunches
• 100,000 pints of draught beer and lager
• 60,000 sausage baguettes
• 40,000 char-grilled meals
• 32,000 portions of fish and chips
• 30,000 liters of milk
• 142,000 portions of English strawberries
• 28,000 bottles of champagne
• 15,000 bananas (for players)
• 60,000 portions of ice cream
• 12,000 kg of poached salmon and smoked salmon
• 7,000 liters of dairy cream
• 6,000 stone baked pizzas.

Retail
The top selling items in the Wimbledon Shop were:
• 16,000 Men’s Championships Towel
• 9,000 Women’s Championships Towel
• 11,000 Mini Tennis Ball Key ring
• 10,000 Twin pack wristbands
• 10,000 Mini Umbrellas
• 8,000 Yellow Midi Autograph Balls.

Staff
Around 6,000 staff are on staff for the Championships:
• Ball boys & girls: 250
• Ball distributors: 7
• Building Services: 84
• Catering Staff: 1,800
• Cleaners (night): 191
• Cleaners (day): 114
• Court attendants: 151
• Data Collectors: 36
• Dressing room attendants: 22
• Groundsmen: 20
• Left luggage office: 30
• Lift operators: 30
• Physiotherapists: 14
• Practice courts: 8
• Media staff: 38
• Referee’s Office: 15
• Scoreboard operators & data collectors: 46
• Security guards: 700
• Stewards (Honorary): 185
• Stewards (Service & London Fire Brigade): 595
• Transport service drivers: 320
• 350 officials on duty comprising mostly British plus 60 from overseas.

Serving – Aces/Fastest Serve
• Men: 212 Aces – Goran Ivanisevic (CRO) 2001
• Ladies: 57 Aces – Alexandra Stevenson (USA) 1999,  Serena Williams (USA) 2008
• Men: 148 mph – Taylor Dent – 2010
• Women: 129 mph – Venus Williams – 2008.

Hawk-Eye – Challenges (singles only) 2014
• Men made 428 Challenges and 120 were correct, a 28.0% success rate.
• Ladies made 191 Challenges of which 49 were correct, a 25.7% success rate.

Broadcast totals for 2014
• Gentlemen’s Singles final drew a peak audience of 10 million viewers. (BBC)
• The Ladies’ Singles Final drew a peak audience of 3.1m viewers (BBC).
• ESPN’s broadcast of the Gentlemen’s Singles final drew an average of 1,894,000 homes and 2,456,000 viewers.
• Australia: Channel Seven indicated the Kyrgios quarterfinal match attracted a viewing peak in Metropolitan and rural districts at just over 3.4m – the Gentlemen’s Singles final peaked at 2.5m and the total reach for The Championships was close to 7m.

Website
• Unique users – 17.1 million users
• Visits – 63 million
• Page views – 473 million
• Geography split in order of most trafficked: UK, US, Australia, Canada.
• Mobile app downloads (iPhone, Android and iPad) – 1.7million
• Live @ Wimbledon – 1.3 million streams
• Live @ Wimbledon Radio – 6.3 million streams
• Wimbledon-hosted Russian service – 3 million streams.

As can be seen by this list of Wimbledon trivia, The Championships are much more than a great tennis tournament.

The Junior Team Tennis Scoring System

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With summer upon us it is time for clubs and recreation programs to begin play in the USTA Junior Team Tennis (JTT) program.

The rules are fairly simple. First and foremost, you have to be a junior player at any level. Players are placed on teams of at least 4 players of the same gender and ability.

Most teams hold practices several times a week that may include all players (boys and girls). Once a week, team matches are played that consist of 2 singles and 1 doubles. Play is the best of three sets using no-ad scoring with a tie-break at 6-6. If players split sets they play a 12-point tie-break for the match.

The interesting part of the program is the match scoring. The winner of a match is the team that wins the most games, not necessarily the most matches. Standings for the season are based on the team that has won the most games.

For example, a team can win one match 6-0, 6-0 and lose the other two matches 6-4, 6-3. They will be awarded 26 points, while the other teams earn 24 points. In this case, the team that won only one of the 3 matches came out on top.

The scoring system seems inappropriate for the following reasons:
• Most players are familiar with playing on teams where points are awarded for matches won. If there is a tie in the standings, it would be broken by sets won, and games won. In JTT, the only thing that matters is games won!
• When players are just learning the sport they are forced to learn the JTT scoring system on top of everything else. It seems that a simpler approach will make the sport easier to learn.
• The scoring system puts pressure on players to win every point. Often they are struggling to stand in the proper space and keep track of the score. The pressure of trying to win every point adds an unnecessary burden.
• Players are rewarded for beating their opponents as badly as possible. Is that the message that should be sent to entry level players and intermediate players in a recreation program?
• If the two singles matches are played first and one team wins both matches by a score of 6-3, 6-2 or worse, then the match score is 24-10. It is impossible for the other team to win the team match even if they lose the final match 6-0, 6-0.

The rationale provided by the USTA divisional organizers justifies the scoring system by saying:
• Every game matters – players shouldn’t give up if losing or take it easy if winning.
• A lower skilled player can contribute to the team, even if he/she never wins a match.
• In cases where teams have less than 4 players, you can either play the doubles or two singles. Once two matches are completed, it is possible the match has been decided, i.e. one team won both matches.
While the merits of the scoring system can be debated ad nauseam, league coordinators usually notify parents about the intricacies of the unique scoring system in advance. In other words, most players enter the team match knowing how the winner will be determined.

Despite the oddities of the Junior Team Tennis scoring system, the important thing is that kids are playing tennis.

I am Serena Williams – What is Your Super Power?

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Given her performance at the 2015 French Open,  the perfect Christmas gift for Serena Williams is a t-shirt that says, “I am Serena Wiilams –  American tennis player. What is your super power?”

She was one of 17 women playing as an American at the 2015 French Open. The event had a lopsided draw for the American Women – 13 were in the upper half and 4 were in the bottom half.

First round losers for the Americans from the upper half of the draw included:
• Alexa Glatch
• Venus Williams
• Shelby Rogers
• Christina McHale
• Alison Riske
• Coco Vandeweghe
• Bethanie Mattek-Sands
• Taylor Townsend
• Varvara Lepchenko

All four of the women from the bottom half of the draw were eliminated in the first round.
• Louisa Chirico
• Nicole Gibbs
• Lauren Davis
• Madison Brengle

After the first round there were only four American women left in the draw and they were all in the upper half. Both Irina Falconi and Madison Keys were 2-1, winning their first two rounds before bowing out in the third round. Sloane Stephens was 3-1 before losing to Serena Williams in the fourth round.

Williams was not particularly dominant  as she captured her 20th Grand Slam (6 Australians, 3 French, 5 Wimbledons, and 6 U.S. Open Championships). She only won 2 of her 7 matches in straight sets.

Overall, the American women were 14-16.

After the first two Grand Slams in 2015, the scorecard reads – two wins for Serena Williams. Historically she has fared well in Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Is a calendar year Grand Slam in the cards for Serena? Will the other American women make a stronger showing at Wimbledon? The former is more likely than the latter.

Stay tuned, the Championships will begin on June 29 and run through July 12th.

American Juniors Dominate French Open

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In the online version of Tennis Briefs Bob Larson recently reported that Patrick McEnroe, former director of player development for USTA, said that he believes the current gang of teenagers is a good reason for optimism.  In other words, McEnroe expects to see American juniors dominate the Grand Slams in the not-to-distant future.

McEnroe was correct, at least as it pertains to the French Open Junior Championships.

Eight of the 64 boys were Americans – of which Tommy Paul and Harry Taylor Fritz met in the finals. Paul was the upset winner.

William Blumberg was ousted in the first round and Alex Rybakov, Ulises Blanch and Nathan Ponwith won their initial matches before losing in the second round.

The remaining four players won their matches in the round of 16. Reilly Opelka was defeated in the quarterfinals and Michael Mmoh was ousted in the semifinals. Three of the four semifinalists were Americans.

Overall the American boys were 21-7.

There were also eight American girls. The following four girls lost in the first round: Raveena Kingsley, Sofia Kenin, Francesca Dilorenzo, and Michaela Gordon. After winning her first match Usue Maltane Arconada was defeated in the second round.

Carolyn Dolehide won two matches before losing in the third round and Katherine Steward was defeated in the fourth round.

The last American girl standing was C.C. Bellis. She won four matches before bowing out in the semifinals.

Overall the American girls were 10-8.

Hats off to the American Juniors. Hopefully Patrick McEnroe is correct and we will see American juniors dominate the Grand Slams for many years to come.