five feet

U.S. Tied 1-1 with Colombia; France in Command; Czechs and Serbians Also Tied in Davis Cup Play

September 18, 2010 by WTM

Santiago Giraldo upset Sam Querrey 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 Friday to give Colombia a 1-1 tie with the United States after Friday’s opening singles in the Davis Cup Play-off Round in Bogota, Colombia.

In the opener, Mardy Fish edged Alejandro Falla 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to give the USA the early 1-0 lead.

The United States needs to defeat Colombia in this Play-off Round to stay in the elite 16-team Davis Cup World Group and be eligible to win the Davis Cup trophy in 2011. A loss would drop the United States into “zonal” competition where it will be ineligible to win the Cup until it emerges from a pool of second-rate tennis nations from North, Central and South America and again play in the Play-off Round and win. Only one other time in the history of the competition has the United States been relegated to zonal competition (1988).

Both Fish and Querrey appeared to struggle controlling their shots in the 8,700-foot altitude conditions on the clay court placed inside of the La Santamaria bullring. Fish won his match in three hours, 59 minutes, while Querrey was defeated in 95 minutes.

US tennis player Mardy Fish returns a ba — Mardy Fish

http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/mardy-fish-davis-cup-2010-match-1.jpg

Querrey struggled with his serve, connecting on only 48 percent of his first serves. He did have three set points at 4-5 on Giraldo’s serve in the third set, but was unable to convert. At 15-40, Giraldo hit a forehand winner and followed with another strongly hit forehand that forced a Querrey error to draw even. After Giraldo sailed a forehand long, Querrey had another look at a set point, but Giraldo saved it with an incredible backhand cross-court passing shot from five feet behind the baseline. Giraldo then held serve and immediately broke Querrey before serving out the match.

“Credit to him for saving those set points in the third,” said Querrey. “He made big first serves and struck some big forehands.”

Said U.S. Captain Patrick McEnroe, “The tactics for Sam were to try and keep the ball in the court. Sam never really got comfortable from the baseline today. And Giraldo came out firing and kept the momentum going.”

Fish and Falla combined for seven service breaks in the first set of the opening match, Falla breaking Fish four times to take the first set 6-4. The 2004 Olympic silver medalist, however easily won the second set 6-1 and the third set 6-4 to take the commanding two-sets-to-one lead. After Falla evened the match by taking the fourth set, both players exchanged service holds in the first nine games of the fifth set.

With Falla serving at 4-5, 30-30 in the fifth set, the Colombian floated a cross-court forehand long giving Fish his first match point. Fish nearly blew his opportunity as he had a short ball in the center of the court that he teed up to hit a match-clinching winner, but drove the ball into the top of the net. After missing his chance to close out the match, Fish stood in the center of the court with his hands on his knees contemplating the missed opportunity. After Falla netted a backhand on the next point giving Fish another match point, the American firmly took hold of his second opportunity, hitting a cross-court forehand that just snuggled inside the line for a winner giving him the match.

“It was a problem to get used to the altitude,” said Fish. “And also it was a bit nerves. I was just trying to do anything for a win.”

“I was really happy with his effort today,” said McEnroe of Fish. “There were a lot of ups and downs and Mardy’s mental toughness was the key. He had a lot of opportunities that he did not convert, but he hung in there and found a way to win.”

While John Isner and 18-year-old Davis Cup rookie Ryan Harrison are listed as the nominated team for the USA for Saturday’s doubles, it is expected that Isner will partner with either Fish or Querrey in the doubles. Colombia is expected to counter with Robert Farah, a standout player from the University of Southern California, and Carlos Salamanca.

“We’ve been in this situation before a few times—in a relegation match at 1-1 going into doubles,” said McEnroe, captaining the U.S. team for the final time in this series. “I feel good about our doubles. We have three players who have played together so there are a lot of options. I like that we have three or four players available tomorrow and Sunday.”

In the World Group semifinals, Michael Llodra and Gael Monfils put France on the verge of the Davis Cup final with a 2-0 lead over Argentina in Lyon.

Llodra got the ball rolling with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Juan Monaco and Monfils followed up nicely by beating David Nalbandian 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

France only need one more rubber to seal its place in the final against either Serbia or the Czech Republic. Llodra and Arnaud Clement will pair up in the doubles against Horacio Zeballos and Eduardo Schwank on Saturday.

“I am so relieved tonight. I was very worried during the two matches but I (wanted to) go all out and shake them and that’s what we did,” captain Guy Forget, who guided France to the 2001 title, told a press conference. “Of course we can still lose this one but we could have lost the first two singles.”

Serbia managed to level its semifinal with the Czech Republic at 1-1, shrugging off the shock withdrawal of world No. 2 Novak Djokovic.

Radek Stepanek gave the Czechs the lead, beating Djokovic’s replacement Viktor Troicki 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

Stepanek converted five of his seven break points and 24 of his 29 net points, while Troicki made 50 unforced errors, including a wide backhand down the line which handed Stepanek victory after three hours.

“I expected to play Djokovic and not Troicki so I had very little time to adjust and prepare a different strategy, hence I am very pleased with my performance,” said Stepanek.

Troicki said: “This is one of the most painful defeats of my career. I can’t explain what happened after the opening set, I just lost my rhythm and focus.

“I didn’t know I would stand in for Djokovic until this morning when he told me he was unfit to play but there is no excuse.”

But No. 37th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic then beat Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych, the world No. 7, 7-5, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5) to level the tie.

“It was a great atmosphere and I am glad the fans got behind me when I needed their support most,” Tipsarevic said in a courtside interview after coming back from a break down in the fourth set.

FISH’S WIN IN ATLANTA SIGNIFICANT IN QUEST FOR RETURN TO TOP 20

July 26, 2010 by WTM

By Charles Bricker

What a pleasure it was to see Mardy Fish playing defense and hitting running forehands. Not just running forehands to stay in a point but running forehands that took him from defense to offense with one sweep of his racket.

This was the new diet Mardy Fish. Mardy Lite, you might say. Down 30 pounds, looking svelte and quicker. No more muffin top showing when his shirt flew up. And this new fitness was a big reason why he took down Big John Isner 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on a sweltering Sunday in the final of the Atlanta Tennis Championships.

How could he lose 30 pounds? He’ll tell you he’s on a new, smarter diet and has a real commitment to getting back into the top 20, though, in reality, he was so overweight that probably that first 10 to 15 pounds came off pretty easily. All he had to do was knock off the fries and the other culinary grease.

Fish’s foot speed is never going to approach Rafa Nadal’s, but there is no doubt he is faster, and quicker. He never looked faster than when tracking down Isner’s crashing forehands to the corners, and he never looked quicker than the fine work he did against Isner’s big serving.

The 6-foot-9 Isner, who trains with Fish at Saddlebrook Resort just outside Tampa, had only five aces in the opening two sets and, though he cracked another nine in the final set, it was Fish’s good returning that got him into the third set.

And on Isner’s second serves, Fish was super-aggressive throughout this match, taking the returns very early — perhaps three-to-five feet inside the baseline — and not allowing Isner to take early control of the points off his seconds.

While Isner had nine aces in that final set, he got only 58 percent of his first serves in and Fish was 9-7 on John’s seconds. That helped him get into the tiebreak, where he made two more big plays on Isner’s second serves.

Trailing 0-1 in the breaker, Isner broke off an enormous kicker on second serve, but Fish, stretched wide on the ad court, made a super two-handed return. Then, at 0-2, Isner slammed a body-shot second serve at Fish, whose feet, so much quicker now than a year ago, made just enough space for himself to parry back a deep return, take control of the point and go up 3-0.

That was the key to the breaker.

For Mardy, he’s now 18-2 in his last 20 matches and has won 10 in a row, combining this ATP 250 title with the championship he won on grass at Newport a couple weeks ago. When the new rankings are out Monday, he’ll be around 34 to 36 from 49 — about 45 spots better than when this streak began.

A 250 is the lowest level ATP tournament on the schedule, but Fish wins over Andy Roddick and Isner in the semis and finals at Atlanta are very significant. This level of fitness has been a long time coming for Fish, who has been goaded by a succession of coaches who have tried to get him into better condition — from Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe to Todd Martin, who worked with him a couple years ago.

Can he maintain it? That’s a question. This is a 28-year-old player who, on the upside, should have two or three very good years in him but who, on the downside, has had multiple wrist surgeries and now knee surgery last year. You always worry about a player with injury history, but all Fish can do now is maintain what he’s done, physically, over the last year — schedule smart and hope to stay off the injured list.

If he can do all that he’s still got top-20 ability in him.

Charles Bricker can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com

CLIJSTERS vs. HENIN: INCONSISTENCY RULED THIS CLASSIC

April 2, 2010 by WTM

By Charles Bricker

Kim Clijsters is into Saturday’s Sony Ericsson Open final against Venus Williams and here I am 20 minutes after this confounding 6-2, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6) victory over her compatriot, Justine Henin, and I’m still not sure how she reached the championship match.

I imagine Henin about this time is sitting on a bench in the locker room also pondering how this one got away or, rather, how Clijsters could have won after all the points she donated.

* Clijsters: One ace and 10 double faults, including a few of the worst second serves you’ll ever see from a former No. 1 player in a crucial situation.

* Clijsters: 37 winners and 63 unforced errors, and the vast majority of those gaffes in the final two sets after she was just about impeccable in set number one.

* Clijsters: Serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set, looking about as torpid as a slug.

* Clijsters: Up 6-3 in the third-set tiebreak and she (a) flaps a backhand cross-court five feet wide, (b) just misses on a forehand up the line and (c) slops a 70 mph Henin second serve into the net. Incredibly, Henin lost the final two points, and the match.

But, despite all the bad stuff coming off Clijsters’ racket, please note. She won, and I doubt she’s deeply interested in how.

The triumph came on her fourth match point, and then she cracked a broad smile as she took the obligatory winner’s bow on court. I wasn’t certain if the smile was relief or happiness because it was the first show of emotion in the two hours and 33 minutes it took to put a wrap on this less than classic semifinal.

There was some great shot-making out there, as you would expect with two of the best three players in women’s tennis opposing each other. But the sad fact is that far too much of this match was a confusing mix of great running forehands followed by blown overheads, spectacular defensive plays followed by double faults. Henin is not to be excused here. She had two aces, eight doubles and more inexplicable errors than I can recall her having in the recent past.

You could argue that with a couple of extremely aggressive hitters you’re going to get some uneven tennis — the sort you often get with Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams. But this didn’t have that sort of feel to it after the opening set. It just felt like a couple of champions who forgot how to string together a run of solid play.

This wasn’t even remotely close to the sensational final they played at Brisbane in early January.

I have a pretty good idea what happened to Henin out there tonight. A certain amount of fatigue set in and that dicey lower back of hers also might have flared up. Her backhand was horribly off much of the match.

Clijsters, however, is a mystery. She’s at her best when she’s sitting on the baseline dictating play and letting the smoothness of her stroking generate the pace, and that’s what she delivered in the opening set.

But then she has those moments when she feels like superwoman and tries to turn the volume up a couple notches, and things go off. For some time she looked OK in the second set, if not brilliant. She was up 2-0, then 3-1, but gave the break back on a double-fault into the net. Slowly, her consistency disintegrated.

In the tiebreak, Henin bolted out to 4-0 and won it when a Clijsters lob drifted wide.

Into the third set they went with Henin carrying the momentum. Clijsters tried to return to the sort of relaxed aggressiveness she displayed in the opening set, but by this time, with both players starting to drag, you could see they would both struggle to the finish line.

Give both players deserved credit for mental strength, though you would expect that from them. Both have played matches similar to this and they know there’s no reason to start pouting on court. You stay the course, put up with the errors and hope there’s just enough winners in your racket to bail you out.

Ultimately, Clijsters won this match with superior ground stroking, even if she had to hit two unforced errors to get one winner. Henin of course won’t be happy with this loss, but she’s only three months into her return and she’s doing everything but winning the big ones.

I think she’s still laboring a bit to find her identity on court. She wants to be an aggressive service-returner, but she’s not picking her spots well, often trying to crush a return from a difficult position wide of the sideline.

It will come. Her conditioning could be her only problem and probably accounts for her lack of rally consistency, especially off the backhand side. The mild fatigue also showed up in her serving. Her toss was a periodic problem throughout this match and, of the 32 combined service games, there were 12 breaks.

Did Venus Williams watch this match? Not likely. She’s played Clijsters 11 times, so she shouldn’t need much of a scouting report. Williams raced into the final earlier in the day with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Marion Bartoli.

Charles Bricker can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com