Tag: Sloane Stephens

American Women – More Fizzle than Sizzle at U.S. Open

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With the exception of Serena Williams, there was more fizzle than sizzle on the courts for the American women at the 2014 U.S. Open.

The pre-match publicity set high expectations for the American women. Unfortunately, they didn’t live up to the hype.

The best news was that twelve of the seventeen women advanced past the first round and Serena captured her 18th Grand Slam.

First round losers included Taylor Townsend, Lauren Davis, Alison Riske, Grace Min, and Danielle Collins.

The second round reduced the number of American women from twelve to four.

The losers included Vania King, Coco Vandeweghe, Shelby Rogers, Madison Keys, Christina McHale, C.C. Bellis, Sloane Stephens, and Madison Brengle. The losses by Keys and Stephens were particularly painful.

Varvara Lepchenko, Nicole Gibbs, and Venus Williams bowed out in the third round, with 2-1 records.

There were some bright spots. Overall, the American women won 21 matches and lost 16. (Serena Williams won seven of those matches).

Despite first round loses, Americans Taylor Townsend and Donald Young teamed up to reach the semifinals of the Mixed Doubles. Unfortunately, success in professional tennis is usually measured in Grand Slam singles wins and trophies.

C.C. Bellis charmed spectators with her tennis and innocence. Time will tell if she turns out to be a rising star or the next Melanie Oudin.

The 2014 U.S. Open was a test of not only the player’s tennis skills, but their physical strength and fitness level. Eugenie Bouchard and Peng Shuai can attest to that. Much of the event was played under the WTA Tour’s extreme heat rules, which presented an extra challenge to players in all brackets.

What is in store for the American women when the Williams sisters retire? At the moment the answer is simple. There is heir apparent among the younger American women.

Congratulations to Serena Williams on another great Grand Slam performance.

 

American Men and Women Have a Weak Showing at 2014 French Open

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Another Grand Slam event has passed and no American players were serious contenders for the title. What is the USTA Player Development Program doing?

Rafael Nadal won another French Open. Rafa has now won nine French titles.  Since the first tournament in 1891, Americans have won the event a total of 11 times. Four of those victories have come during the open era.

On the women’s side Maria Sharapova captured her second French Open. She defeated 20-year old Simona Halep in a knockdown-dragout match that lasted for more than three hours.

With the exception of John Isner and Sloane Stephens, the American players had a lackluster performance. After Isner, the highest ranking American male was ranked 64th.

In the men’s draw Bradley Klahn (71), Michael Russell (98), and Robby Ginepri (279) lost in the first round.

Sam Querrey (67) and Steve Johnson (64) won their first round matches, but lost in the second round.

Donald Young (79) and Jack Sock (75) won two rounds before bowing out in the third round.

John Isner (11), seeded 10th, held his seed by winning three matches before being defeated in the round of 16.

Overall, the American men won 9 matches and lost 8.

On the women’s side, tennis enthusiasts got a sneak peak of American tennis without the Williams sisters. Fans anticipated seeing the players face off in their third round; however, both Venus and Serena lost in the second round.

Only Taylor Townsend and Sloane Stephens advanced beyond the second round. Townsend won two matches before losing in the third round and Stephens won three before she was defeated in the fourth round.

In the last six Grand Slams she has reached the fourth round. In four of those tournaments she was the last American in the bracket. That sounds good, on paper, but….

The following American women fell in the first round: Grace Min, Lauren Davis, Christina McHale, Vania King, Shelby Rogers, Anna Tatishvili, and Madison Keys.

In addition to the Williams sisters, the second round losers included Varvara Lepchenko, Coco Vandeweghe, and Alison Riske.

At the moment Serena Williams is the only elite American male or female player. Although John Isner has been consistent, it is unlikely he will win a Grand Slam event.

Stephens has shown that she has the potential to play in the upper echelon. Time will tell whether there are too many players such as Simona Halep, Eugenie Bouchard, Belinda Bencic, and Garbine Maguruza, who will prevent her from being an elite player.

Another Grand Slam has passed and there is no evidence the USTA Player Development Program is having an impact on American tennis.

USTA Women’s Player Development – Quantity or Quality?

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After dominating the women’s circuit in 2013, it was no surprise to see Serena Williams’ name at the top of the WTA January 6, 2014 rankings. Given the global appeal of the sport it was also no surprise that players from 10 countries filled out the top 10 slots.

  1. Serena Williams  United States
  2. Victoria Azarenka  Belarus
  3. Maria Sharapova  Russia
  4. Na Li  China
  5. Agnieszka Radwanska  Poland
  6. Petra Kvitova  Czech Republic
  7. Sara Errani  Italy
  8. Jelena Jankovic  Serbia
  9. Angelique Kerber  Germany
  10. Caroline Wozniacki  Denmark.

Only two Americans earned spots in the top 25. In addition to Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens was ranked 13th. The top 25 included players from 16 countries. The following six countries had multiple players in the top 25:

  • 5 Russia
  • 2 Germany
  • 2 Italy
  • 2 Romania
  • 2 Serbia
  • 2 United States.

Players from 37 countries were ranked in the top 100. The following 21 countries had multiple players in the top 100:

  • 11 United States
  • 7 Germany
  • 6 Italy
  • 6 Russia
  • 6 Spain
  • 5 Czech Republic
  • 5 Slovakia
  • 4 China
  • 4 France
  • 4 Japan
  • 4 Romania
  • 3 Serbia
  • 3 Ukraine
  • 2 Austria
  • 2 Belarus
  • 2 Belgium
  • 2 Croatia
  • 2 Israel
  • 2 Kazakhstan
  • 2 Poland
  • 2 Switzerland

A closer look at the rankings shows that most of the Americans women are not in the upper echelon.  The American women and their ranking in the top 100 follow:

  • 1  Serena Williams
  • 13  Sloane Stephens
  • 28  Jamie Hampton
  • 36  Madison Keys
  • 38  Venus Williams
  • 48  Bethanie Mattek-Sands
  • 52  Varvara Lepchenko
  • 55  Alison Riske
  • 65  Christina McHale
  • 67  Lauren Davis
  • 71  Vania King

On a positive note, there are more American players in the top 100 than any other country. On the downside, Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens are the only impact players.

Clearly, the focus of the USTA Player Development is quantity rather than quality. Time will tell whether Stephens and her younger counterparts will follow in the footsteps of the Williams sisters and someday become difference-makers.

 

U.S. Women – Hope and Change at Australian Open

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Very early this morning Mountain Standard Time, Victoria Azarenka maintained her number one ranking with the defense of her title at the Australian Open. For the Americans, the theme of the tournament was hope and change – led by Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens. There is hope that the change in American women’s tennis will include players who have the potential to consistently play at the level of the Williams sisters.

Oddly enough, Taylor Townsend was absent. As the 2012 junior winner, Townsend was given an automatic slot in the qualifying tournament for the Open; however, she reportedly did not enter the event because the USTA did not provide sponsorship funding. (Last fall, the USTA chose to stop funding her because she was “out of shape.”)

The Americans were represented by 3 junior girls and 11 women.

Junior Girls

Overall, it was a weak performance for the girls (3-3).

First Round

Jamie Loeb and Alexandra Kiick won their first round matches.

Christina McHale lost in the first round.

Second Round

Kiick advanced and Loeb was defeated.

Third Round

Kiick lost to eventual champion Ana Konjuh.

Women’s Open

Overall, the 11 American women won 14 matches and lost 11. Serena and Venus Williams accounted for 6 of the 14 wins and Sloane Stephens added another five victories.

First Round

Jamie Hampton, Varvara Lepchenko, Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens, and Venus Williams won their first round matches.

Lauren Davis, Christina McHale, Vania King, Melanie Oudin, Coco Vandeweghe, and Madison Keys lost their first round matches.

Second Round

Jamie Hampton, Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens, and Venus Williams won their second round matches.

Varvara Lepchenko lost in the second round.

Third Round (Round of Sixteen)

Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens won their third round matches.

Jamie Hampton and Venus Williams lost their third round matches.

Quarterfinals

Stephens upset Williams in the best win of her career.

Semifinals

Stephens was ousted by Azarenka.

Stephens demonstrated that she may have the ability to follow in the footsteps of the Williams sisters.

Unfortunately the other “talent” appears to be several notches below Stephens. The other unknown in the equation is Taylor Townsend. It seems rather bizarre that the USTA would drop sponsorship of her at a time when she was number 1 in the world in juniors. Hopefully that situation can be resolved to the benefit of all parties.

 

Mixed Results for American Women at U.S. Open

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Thank goodness for Serena Williams!

Once again Serena demonstrated that she is unequivocally the top player in women’s tennis and the only elite singles player in the United States.

While there are a handful of juniors and a half-dozen women under the age of 24 who have shown promise, time will tell if they will become elite players. Mallory Burdette and Sloane Stephens showed that they may be more than one-hit wonders by reaching the round of 32. Time will tell.

This year 16 of the 128 women players were from the U.S. and four reached the round of 32.

Round of 128
The 16 U.S. women players had an embarrassingly weak first round – 5 wins and 11 losses.
• Winners – Varvara Lepchenko, Mallory Burdette, Sloane Stephens, Serena Williams, Venus Williams.
• Losers -. Samantha Crawford, Victoria Duval, Julia Cohen, Melodie Oudin, Jamie Hampton, Nicole Gibbs, Coco Vandeweghe, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Christina McHale, Irina Falconi, and Vania King.

Round of 64
The women fared well in the second round – 4 wins and 1 loss.
• Winners – Varvara Lepchenko, Mallory Burdette, Sloane Stephens, and Serena Williams.
• Loser – Venus Williams.

Round of 32
With the exception of Serena Williams, the other American women lost (Stephens had a strong showing) – 1 win and 3 losses.
• Winners – Serena Williams.
• Losers – Varvara Lepchenko, Mallory Burdette, and Sloane Stephens.

Round of 16
Serena William remained on the winning track – 1 win and 0 loss.

Quarterfinals
Serena defeated Ivanovic handily – 1 win and 0 loss.

Semifinals
Serena blew out Errani – 1 win and 0 loss.

Finals
Serena wins in three sets against Azarenka – 1 win and 0 losses

At the Australian Open, the 10 American women won 9 matches and lost 10. (Serena won 3 matches)
At the French Open, the 12 American women won 15 matches and lost 12. (Serena won 0 matches)
At Wimbledon, the 10 American women won 14 matches and lost 9. (Serena won 7 matches)
At the U.S. Open, the 16 American women won 14 matches and lost 15. (Serena won 7 matches).

In the 2012 Grand Slams, the American women won 52 matches and lost 46. Serena Williams was 17-2. She won 17 of the 52 matches won by American women.

Given the track record of the USTA Player Development Program, hopefully, Serena can stay healthy for a long, long time.