I'm getting used to a trend where I post an article applauding the triumph of some underdog or other only to be immediately discounted by their loss in the next round.
Sure that happened again in Miami -- John Isner and Amer Delic both lost their second round matches, and Mardy Fish was upset by Nicolas Massu. But on the other hand, I did get a few right.
Taylor Dent was impressive in his third round win over Tommy Robredo, a man who's won two titles already this year and has brought his ranking from #22 in January to #16 now. And Samantha Stosur simply crushed second-seeded Dinara Safina in straight sets, the first time she's ever scored a victory against the Australian Open runner-up.
There will be plenty more upsets in Miami, I predict. But this could be the tournament for Taylor and Samantha to really shine.
I'll be rooting for them -- hopefully for more than one more round.
Showing posts with label Amer Delic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amer Delic. Show all posts
March 29, 2009
March 28, 2009
¡Bienvenidos a Miami!
Some were greeted with open arms while others were asked to pack their bags almost as soon as they touched down.
The second ATP World Tour 1000 event of the season is off to a strong start in southern Florida, with most of the top seeds -- both men and women -- in action. There were, as always, plenty of upsets, and more than a few qualifiers made it to past the first match of the draw -- some, even further.
American men had a strong start -- the seeded players, Andy Roddick, James Blake and Mardy Fish, all received byes in the first round. But beyond that, four men who had to win two qualifying rounds just to make the main bracket showed up strong. John Isner and Amer Delic are both playing their second round matches today, while Taylor Dent and Robert Kendrick followed up their first round victories with triumphs over #19 Nicolas Almagro and #23 Robin Soderling respectively.
It wasn't all good news, of course. Lleyton Hewitt, who is desperately trying to launch a comeback, has had some success this year. He made it to the quarterfinals in Sydney and the semis in Memphis, even taking the first set from eventual champion Roddick. But he also lost a tough first round match at the Australian Open to Fernando Gonzalez and a Davis Cup match to Thailand's Danai Udomchoke, then ranked 155th in the world.
Lleyton had received a wildcard entry to Miami and showed signs of the old, #1 player he once was in the first round against a sprightly Dudi Sela. But he was stopped short by Gilles Simon in his next game -- he won less than forty percent of the points on his serve and committed six double faults. If this performance is any indication, it may be a while before we see him become a real force again.
On the women's side there was also plenty of drama. Elena Dementieva gave me another scare, almost losing her second round match for the second straight week, but she she pulled through to make it past Anastasia Pivovarova in the third set. Caroline Wozniacki also dropped a set to Australia's comeback kid Jelena Dokic, before she earned the right to meet Patty Schnyder later this weekend.
But it was smoother sailing for some names you may have forgotten -- or not even known. Nicole Vaidisova was once ranked seventh in the world, but a tough end to 2008, in which she lost five first round matches after making the quarters at Wimbledon, dropped her down to #71. So far in Miami, though, she hasn't lost a set, and only gave up one game to twenty-eighth seed Alona Bondarenko.
Samantha Stosur is out to make a name for herself this year. Once a top-ranked doubles player, she's had some success on the singles court this year. She beat ninth-seed Ai Sugiyama in Brisbane and took Aggie Radwanska to three sets in Indian Wells last week. In Miami she took advantage of a weak service game from Sybille Bammer and won, 6-1, 6-1, in just over an hour.
You may not have heard of Anastasia Yakimova -- I certainly hadn't. But the Spanish-born Belarusian is ranked #84 in the world and has seven ITF titles to her name. She's only made it past the first round in one WTA tournament this year, but this week she took out a resurgent Marion Bartoli in straight sets. We'll see if she can keep the momentum going further into the draw.
Sure there's still a long road ahead, but it already looks like Miami is off to an exciting start! Stay tuned!
The second ATP World Tour 1000 event of the season is off to a strong start in southern Florida, with most of the top seeds -- both men and women -- in action. There were, as always, plenty of upsets, and more than a few qualifiers made it to past the first match of the draw -- some, even further.
American men had a strong start -- the seeded players, Andy Roddick, James Blake and Mardy Fish, all received byes in the first round. But beyond that, four men who had to win two qualifying rounds just to make the main bracket showed up strong. John Isner and Amer Delic are both playing their second round matches today, while Taylor Dent and Robert Kendrick followed up their first round victories with triumphs over #19 Nicolas Almagro and #23 Robin Soderling respectively.
It wasn't all good news, of course. Lleyton Hewitt, who is desperately trying to launch a comeback, has had some success this year. He made it to the quarterfinals in Sydney and the semis in Memphis, even taking the first set from eventual champion Roddick. But he also lost a tough first round match at the Australian Open to Fernando Gonzalez and a Davis Cup match to Thailand's Danai Udomchoke, then ranked 155th in the world.
Lleyton had received a wildcard entry to Miami and showed signs of the old, #1 player he once was in the first round against a sprightly Dudi Sela. But he was stopped short by Gilles Simon in his next game -- he won less than forty percent of the points on his serve and committed six double faults. If this performance is any indication, it may be a while before we see him become a real force again.
On the women's side there was also plenty of drama. Elena Dementieva gave me another scare, almost losing her second round match for the second straight week, but she she pulled through to make it past Anastasia Pivovarova in the third set. Caroline Wozniacki also dropped a set to Australia's comeback kid Jelena Dokic, before she earned the right to meet Patty Schnyder later this weekend.
But it was smoother sailing for some names you may have forgotten -- or not even known. Nicole Vaidisova was once ranked seventh in the world, but a tough end to 2008, in which she lost five first round matches after making the quarters at Wimbledon, dropped her down to #71. So far in Miami, though, she hasn't lost a set, and only gave up one game to twenty-eighth seed Alona Bondarenko.
Samantha Stosur is out to make a name for herself this year. Once a top-ranked doubles player, she's had some success on the singles court this year. She beat ninth-seed Ai Sugiyama in Brisbane and took Aggie Radwanska to three sets in Indian Wells last week. In Miami she took advantage of a weak service game from Sybille Bammer and won, 6-1, 6-1, in just over an hour.
You may not have heard of Anastasia Yakimova -- I certainly hadn't. But the Spanish-born Belarusian is ranked #84 in the world and has seven ITF titles to her name. She's only made it past the first round in one WTA tournament this year, but this week she took out a resurgent Marion Bartoli in straight sets. We'll see if she can keep the momentum going further into the draw.
Sure there's still a long road ahead, but it already looks like Miami is off to an exciting start! Stay tuned!
January 22, 2009
The Match(es) of the Moment
I was originally planning to dedicate this morning's post to what I considered the most memorable match of the second round, but man were there a lot to choose from.
I'll start with the one that made my jaw drop this morning.
Venus Williams hasn't been the biggest threat on hard courts in several years. Even though she won the Sony-Ericsson WTA Championships on the surface last year, she did so almost as the underdog with an eighth seed. In the Majors she hasn't made it to a final on anything other than grass since 2003. Even still you know opponents were terrified to see her in their side of the draw in Melbourne this week. And pundits were talking about the potential semifinal matchup between her and her sister as soon as the bracket was released.
But all those players can breathe a sigh of relief this morning -- on Thursday Carla Suárez Navarro, playing in her very first Australian Open, took Venus out of contention in three sets.
The match started predictably enough, with Williams winning the first set 6-2 in less than half an hour. She won all eleven points on her first serve and almost half the points on Carla's serve. But in the second set Suárez Navarro amped up her game -- she served more winners and fewer errors than she had in the first and converted both of her break opportunities. The third set went the distance -- sixty-three minutes and eighty points played. Venus couldn't capitalize on match point with Carla serving at 4-5, and a double fault in the subsequent service game handed the match to the forty-sixth ranked Suárez Spaniard.
No one expected the result. In the preview of the match posted on the Open's website before the match, Alan Trengove wrote:
But I can't help feel that it's just an indication of how wide open the women's draw really is. With five different women holding the top ranking last year, the #1 spot is really up for grabs at this tournament.
Number One may still be a long shot for Amer Delic, one of only two American men to make it through the qualifying rounds in Australia, but he's certainly on the rise. In the main draw the twenty-six year old has had to fight more than most. His first round match went five sets and almost three hours against countryman Taylor Dent, but he was even more impressive in the second round against 28th-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Less than an hour into the match, he was down two sets to love, and it looked like he would soon be headed home. But he rallied in the third set with the help of six aces and won the fourth in a tiebreak. The deciding set took sixteen games and seventy-two minutes, but Delic had better first and second serve percentages. There was only one break the entire set, but it was the one that counted. Amer became the fourth U.S. man, and the only one not ranked in the top 25, to make it to the third round.
Next he faces world #3 Novak Djokovic, to whom he lost in four sets at Wimbledon two years ago. It'll be a tough task, especially after two five-set matches in sweltering heat, but stranger things have certainly happened.
The last two matches yielded results I've been looking forward to for some time. Marcos Baghdatis followed up a straight-set win in the first round by knocking out #16 Robbie Soderling with relative ease. And, in a matchup I was a bit torn over, Jelena Dokic continued her comeback with a win over a still-stuggling Anna Chakvetadze. They'll both struggle in the next round, Marcos against Mardy Fish and Jelena against Caroline Wozniacki, but whatever the results, they've both chosen to make their statements here in Australia.
See you next time!
I'll start with the one that made my jaw drop this morning.
Venus Williams hasn't been the biggest threat on hard courts in several years. Even though she won the Sony-Ericsson WTA Championships on the surface last year, she did so almost as the underdog with an eighth seed. In the Majors she hasn't made it to a final on anything other than grass since 2003. Even still you know opponents were terrified to see her in their side of the draw in Melbourne this week. And pundits were talking about the potential semifinal matchup between her and her sister as soon as the bracket was released.
But all those players can breathe a sigh of relief this morning -- on Thursday Carla Suárez Navarro, playing in her very first Australian Open, took Venus out of contention in three sets.
The match started predictably enough, with Williams winning the first set 6-2 in less than half an hour. She won all eleven points on her first serve and almost half the points on Carla's serve. But in the second set Suárez Navarro amped up her game -- she served more winners and fewer errors than she had in the first and converted both of her break opportunities. The third set went the distance -- sixty-three minutes and eighty points played. Venus couldn't capitalize on match point with Carla serving at 4-5, and a double fault in the subsequent service game handed the match to the forty-sixth ranked Suárez Spaniard.No one expected the result. In the preview of the match posted on the Open's website before the match, Alan Trengove wrote:
"The 20-year-old Spaniard would have a better chance at Roland Garros, where she reached the quarterfinals on clay courts as a qualifier. On hardcourt, she could be overwhelmed. Williams in straight."
But I can't help feel that it's just an indication of how wide open the women's draw really is. With five different women holding the top ranking last year, the #1 spot is really up for grabs at this tournament.
Number One may still be a long shot for Amer Delic, one of only two American men to make it through the qualifying rounds in Australia, but he's certainly on the rise. In the main draw the twenty-six year old has had to fight more than most. His first round match went five sets and almost three hours against countryman Taylor Dent, but he was even more impressive in the second round against 28th-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu.Less than an hour into the match, he was down two sets to love, and it looked like he would soon be headed home. But he rallied in the third set with the help of six aces and won the fourth in a tiebreak. The deciding set took sixteen games and seventy-two minutes, but Delic had better first and second serve percentages. There was only one break the entire set, but it was the one that counted. Amer became the fourth U.S. man, and the only one not ranked in the top 25, to make it to the third round.
Next he faces world #3 Novak Djokovic, to whom he lost in four sets at Wimbledon two years ago. It'll be a tough task, especially after two five-set matches in sweltering heat, but stranger things have certainly happened.
The last two matches yielded results I've been looking forward to for some time. Marcos Baghdatis followed up a straight-set win in the first round by knocking out #16 Robbie Soderling with relative ease. And, in a matchup I was a bit torn over, Jelena Dokic continued her comeback with a win over a still-stuggling Anna Chakvetadze. They'll both struggle in the next round, Marcos against Mardy Fish and Jelena against Caroline Wozniacki, but whatever the results, they've both chosen to make their statements here in Australia.
See you next time!
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