Doug's Sports Dish

On Hiatus

2010-11-29T21:43:00Z

U.S. Open Picks/Draw

2010-08-29T17:05:00Z

Men’s Singles:

Winner: Andy Murray

Finalist: Roger Federer

Yes, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have divided up Slams for years, including 20 of the last 22 majors, and left the field few spoils. Both have good reason to add another: Nadal is on top of his game and seemingly healthy for once heading into NYC; Federer is rounding into late season form. They aren’t my picks. I gave the nod to Andy Murray a year ago and I’m going with the Scot again. He’s shaken off his mid-season slump. He has a maturing repertoire of weapons. Plus, he’s eager to cast the GS monkey on his back. I think he’s ready and hungry to finally bag his first major.

I believe Nadal will someday capture the USO, just not this year. The No. 1 Spaniard at least has no nagging physical issues, but didn’t show his best stuff in Toronto, where he fell to Murray in the semis, or at Cincinnati, where he slouched out to Marcos Baghdatis in the quarterfinals. The reigning Wimbledon and French Open champ has a rough quarter with the likes of Philipp Kohlschreiber and Ivan Ljubicic and then in the quarters either David Ferrer (who beat him here in ’07), resurgent David Nalbandian or No. 8 Fernando Verdasco. The 24-year-old Nadal is desperate to win here, and that sense of urgency will carry him past Nalbandian into his third straight semifinal in New York.

Murray’s path to the last four includes No. 25 seed Stanislas Wawrinka and then a possible matchup in the fourth round with No. 20 seed Sam Querrey (who has yet to shine at a major), but his biggest test will be hard-swinging Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals. The Wimbledon finalist from the Czech Republic beat Murray at Roland Garros this year and also won their only meeting on hard courts at Adelaide back in 2006. The 23-year-old Scot, who slumped out in the fourth round to Marin Cilic last year, loves New York and has too much to prove. His cagey, all-around game will be too much and he will prevail to face Nadal.

No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic is the big name in the third quarter but the Serb has done little to mark him as a sure thing to live up to his seeding. I’m taking No. 19 seed Mardy Fish, who’s become a paragon of fitness and is playing some of his best ball, to knock the Djoker in the fourth round. Meantime, the draw has broken well for No. 9 seed Andy Roddick, whose main threats are streaky No. 17 seed Gael Monfils of France in the third round and No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko in the fourth, who is still playing into form after missing much of the season with injuries.

It’s tough to gauge where the American’s game and health are. He hasn’t played near the level he hit in the spring at Indian Wells (finalist) or Miami (winner). The effects of his mild mononucleosis diagnosis are unclear, though he said Saturday he felt almost 100%. Roddick showed his heart – never in question with big-serving Texan – in beating two top-5 players and reaching the Cincy semis two weeks ago. His loss to Mardy Fish up a set and 5-2 was dismal, but he’s flying under the radar and I like him to face Fish again in the quarterfinals. Roddick, who turns 28 Monday, is the better big-match player, and he will come out on top of the rematch and advance to semi in New York.

Second-ranked Federer leads the charge in the final quarter and there doesn’t appear to be anyone among the veterans in his quadrant that can derail the six-time finalist from Switzerland. No. 32 Lleyton Hewitt could put up some resistance in the third round, as could No. 13 Jurgen Melzer or former USO finalist Juan Carlos Ferrero. Croatia’s Cilic has been a big disappointment since reaching the Australian Open semis, and he won’t have enough to power past No. 5 seed Robin Soderling, who has had an excellent season after reaching a second-straight Roland Garros final. Federer, however, is finding his range and the slick hard courts at Flushing Meadows play into his strengths – serving, movement, and backhand slice. He will outgun Soderling and then put another beating on Roddick to reach his seventh consecutive final.

In the final, Murray will show he’s learned from two timid showings in previous Slam appearances (both losses to Federer). This time, he will rise to the occasion, play aggressive when he needs to, and let the artistry of his shotmaking and defense propel him to the first Grand Slam title for Great Britain since Fred Perry in 1936.

Interesting first-round matchups:
1. Donald Young vs. Gilles Simon: One-time U.S. star-in-the-making gets another wild card and takes on former top-10 player from France.
2. John Isner vs. Frederico Gil: Is the big guy’s ankle healed enough for him to win?
3. Michael Llodra vs. Tomas Berdych: Tricky left-handed net charger could cause problems for Czech.
4. Djokovic vs. Troicki: All-Serbian rematch from Cincy, where Djokovic improved to 4-1 over his compatriot.

Women’s Singles:

Winner: Kim Clijsters

Finalist: Maria Sharapova

Without Serena Williams and Justine Henin, the women’s draw feels flimsy and wide open. Any number of established pros with Grand Slam credentials – Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Venus Williams – or an eager upstart like Caroline Wozniacki or Victoria Azarenka could emerge with the spoils. The defending champ and mother of 2 1/2-year-old Jada, Kim Clijsters, is my slight favorite, presuming the hip she tweaked in Montreal is feeling OK.

Top-seed Caroline Wozniacki is playing solid ball again, witnessed by her titles at Montreal New Haven the last two weeks. Last year’s finalist is a great mover and fighter but will be hard-pressed to live up to her seeding. Her serve remains attackable and she will have to manage the pressure of top female dog in New York. The Dane is in a loaded quarter that includes 2006 USO champ Sharapova and 2004 winner Kuznetsova, along with the dangerous Na Li of China. Sharapova hasn’t hit on all cylinders since shoulder surgery, but the 23-year-old Russian has been moving in the right direction for months. With Serena out, she is the strongest player mentally and if she serves well and avoids the occasional lapse – such as the match points she gave up in the loss to Clijsters in the Cincy final – she can do serious damage. I like the No. 14 seed to take out Wozniacki in the fourth round and then upend her Russian counterpart Kuznetsova, who has also shown signs of a revival after a miserable season.

The second quarter is a toss up among the flagging former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, last year’s semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer, the erratic Nadia Petrova and Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva. On paper, No. 4 Jankovic is the favorite, but the Serb and 2008 USO finalist has given little indication she’s prepared to break out of her months-long slump and go deep at a major. She has the tools and desire to do so, but unless she returns to the relentless baseline play she’s capable of and stops complaining about her niggling injuries, she will struggle. If she looks locked in early, I give her the nod to outwit Wickmayer in the last 16 and then battle No. 17 Petrova in the quarters. Depending on which side of the bed the big-serving but scatterbrained Petrova wakes up on, it could be a long or short day for Jankovic. I’ll take Jankovic, but she’ll be no match for Sharapova in the semifinals, who will feast on the Serb’s serve.

No. 3 Venus Williams is the highest seed in the third quarter, but she is no lock to reach the semifinals. The American hasn’t played since Wimbledon (capped by a disappointing quarterfinal loss to Tsvetana Pironkova), has lost a half step at 30 and hasn’t played her best in Queens since her title run nearly a decade ago. She’s capable and unpredictable, but recent history suggests she won’t last much past Labor Day. That will leave it up to French Open champion and No. 6 seed Francesca Schiavone, hard-hitting No. 10 Victoria Azarenka or perhaps plucky Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 19, the youngest player in the top 40. Italy’s Schiavone has done nothing since Paris, which means she’ll be rolled out of the tournament by either Azarenka or the fast improving Pavlyuchenkova, who should meet in an enticing third-round clash. The No. 20 seed from Russia is due and will out hustle Azarenka, then dismantle shaky Schiavone (if she makes it that far) and out-steady Williams (who, by the way, has a possible rematch with Pironkova in the third round) to reach her first Grand Slam semi.

That takes us to the final quarter, populated by No. 2 Clijsters, French Open finalist and No. 5 Sam Stosur, perennial hopeful Elena Dementieva and occasional world-beaters Marion Bartoli and Jie Zheng. Two possibly dangerous floaters also lurk – former No. 1s Dinara Safina and Ana Ivanovic – in this quadrant. The unseeded Russian and Serb could cause problems and both have shown glimpses of restored confidence this summer, but neither has dialed in enough to get past the fourth round. I like Stosur, bad arm and all, to keep her fine season alive and reach the quarters over Dementieva, who at 28 seems a bit depleted and hasn’t found her form since her calf injury at Roland Garros.
The fifth-seeded Australian won’t have enough to get past Clijsters, however, who has always excelled on U.S. hardcourts and has too much power and athleticism.

That’s basically the same formula – great defense, opportune offense, dictating play from the baseline and solid serving – that will push the 27-year-old Belgian past Pavlyuchenkova in the semis and Sharapova in the final for a third USO crown. What will Jada think this year?

Interesting first-round matchups:
1. Dinara Safina vs. No. 24 seed Daniela Hantuchova: Slovakia’s Hantuchova gets a second straight crack at Safina, who beat her in New Haven this week.
2. No. 11 Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Kimiko Date Krumm: Ageless Krumm is the kind of player that can cause big hitters like Sveta headaches.
3. Melanie Oudin vs. qualifier Olga Savchuk: Can last year’s Comeback Kid get off to a decent start? Oudin hasn’t won two matches in a row since April.
4. Vania King vs. Christina McHale: Two young Americans face off. 113th-ranked McHale, 18, is improving fast; King reached second round as a 16-year-old qualifier in 2005 and the third round a year ago.

Former No. 1s Forge Paths Back

2010-08-01T19:27:00Z

By Friday’s quarterfinals, only one of the three former No.1s in the draw at the Bank of the West was still alive. So what do we make of Dinara Safina, Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova more than halfway through the 2010 season?

Let’s start with Safina. After holding the top ranking for much of 2009, the powerful Russian has failed to go past the quarterfinals at any event in 2010 and owns a sad looking 5-8 record this season (including a second consecutive defeat to 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm in her opener at Stanford).

Safina, who has fallen to No. 35 and is sure to fall further, is a realist and a hard worker. As she told tennisreporters.net after her loss Monday night, “Players aren’t afraid of me anymore. Now I have to earn their respect back.” Both of those qualities could help the Russian return to the top 10. But my guess is that the big-boned Muscovite will struggle to make it back to elite status.

At 24, Safina is still young enough to make a comeback (or two or three – this is the WTA after all). But back injuries – she has a lumbar spine injury -- seldom disappear for good. And let’s be frank: She rose to the top of the rankings without a major title and in talent vacuum that had sucked both Belgians and Sharapova out of the game. How much of her problems are physical and how much are psychological is tough to say. Safina says it’s more of the former.

“I had one week off completely where I couldn’t even walk,” she said. “Then I went to Argentina for three weeks to do rehab. I had inflammation again and started to work on my core and it wasn’t easy. It was two hours of stretching and working on my abs. It was tough.”

Her summer schedule is packed, including stops at San Diego, Cincinnati, Montreal, possibly New Haven and the U.S. Open. If her back has been that bad, can she hold up? “I’m doing that because I’ve played nothing this year,” she said. “Now it’s a new time for me. I’m playing well but you need a breakthrough and in many matches I’m playing, I'm just not closing them up. I’m playing better and trying to win matches, but I need to start to cruise and I’m not there yet.”

Interestingly, her older brother Marat Safin told me at Wimbledon that Safina should step away from the game for a few months to let her mind and body heal. “I think she needs six months off and then come back, not play two weeks here and two weeks there and get injured,” the two-time major winner said.

Another question is whether she can get her emotional mind back in a winning groove. She admits she was in a kind of zone when she climbed to No.1 and consistently dictated from the backcourt. “I was winning, but some of the matches I was lucky winning,” she said of her pre-tailspin form. “The same way now where I’m up and I lose, then I was down and I would pull them out. That’s confidence, knowing how to close and player having the right respect for me.”

True to form, she won’t throw in the towel. “I working hard and I'm not giving up,” said Safina, who has been working on an interim basis with Argentine Gaston Etlis after splitting with longtime coach Zelko Krajan. “I’m on tour and I want to win something. It’s a pity I came back injured and that I re-injured myself again. But people are starting to lose respect for me so I have to earn the respect back. What brought me to No.1 is the mentality of working hard and never giving up. And I’m not going to change as long as I’m healthy.”

Ivanovic is still a shadow of her 2008 self, when she won the French Open and briefly alighted at No.1. I’d be shocked if she ever approached the top ranking again despite her tender 22 years. But I give her more of a chance than Safina to turn it around and challenge for majors – but an outside chance at that.

AI has had some good results this year, notably a run to the semis in Rome with wins over Victoria Azarenka, Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova. She reversed a crushing defeat to Alisa Kleybanova in Paris at the Bank of the West earlier this week and played solid in a straight-set second-round loss to Marion Bartoli. But it’s evident in her matches that the Serb has not re-mastered the elements that made her formidable: a consistently dictating forehand, above-average backhand, solid serving and decent defense. There are glimpses, but her overall play remains patchy.

The upside is that Ivanovic clearly loves the game and is not afraid to keep trying. She desperately wants to be good. “I feel like I got the joy back like when I was 16 or 17 rather than feeling like I have so much pressure on me,” she said in a post-match press conference at Stanford. “I still think I’m very young. It all comes down to pressure because regardless of my ranking I still have a lot of expectations of myself.”

The Serb remains upbeat about her prospects and is not delusional about how far she has to climb back after falling outside the top-60. She’s jettisoned tinkering with her strokes (the serve, though, needs major work) and is getting more comfortable with coach Heinz Gunhardt. She says she feels quicker after working with her new trainer, Marija Lojanica, who also trains the Serbian Fed Cup team. And she is slowly restoring her shattered confidence after a year and a half of inexplicable decline. That means learning to manage her emotions.

“We talk a lot about approach and preparation and Steffi was also an emotional player like I am and was also nervous before matches and everyone goes through that,” Ivanovic said of her discussions with Gunhardt, Steffi Graf’s former mentor. Like Graf, Ivanovic should start to see the court as a refuge from whatever demons have plagued her. Better results will follow.

Sharapova holds the brightest prospects for a return the Grand Slam winner’s circle. She took more steps this week by beating back Elena Dementieva in three sets and coming back against Agnieska Radwanska 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 Saturday to reach the Bank of the West final. The No. 5 seed faces eighth-seeded Azarenka today.

This is the level of tournament Sharapova needs to start winning if she expects to gear up for a big run at a major later this summer in New York or next year. Though she pushed Justine Henin at Roland Garros and Serena Williams at Wimbledon and owns two Tier III titles at Memphis and Strasbourg this year, quality wins have been few and far between for the 23-year-old Russian. Consider that before she bested Jie Zheng in the opening round at Stanford she had yet to beat a top-25 player in 2010.

The former No. 1 will never settle for mediocrity, much less second best. As she said in one of her post-match pressers: “I could have done better and I've had my fair share of opportunities, but that's the past. My mentality is to keep fighting, getting the most out of my matches and work myself toward the US Open.”

On the court, three-time major winner Sharapova is gaining momentum. With her shoulder injury behind her, the Bollettieri-trained Siberian has returned to her old motion. The power is coming back, but she will have to serve big and more consistently if she wants to add a fourth Slam to her resume. Movement and net play will never be her strong suit, but she is stepping into her returns to put pressure on her opponents’ serves and her will to win is undiminished. The only question is patience. How long she will suffer second- and third-tier victories and exits in the first week of majors before the fierce competitor decides it’s not worth it? A steady boyfriend, along with her already outsize fame and fortune, could complicate matters.

“I worked on patience so long during the injury and obviously wanted good results and wanted to go far in the Slams and this year it hasn’t happened. But that the way it is and I’m not going to quit because I didn't,” she said. “I was No. 1 in the summer I got injured and had just won a Slam (the ’08 Australian Open) and little do you know, I’m out of game next nine moths. I’m not one to sit and say what could have been and I’ve said this from day one that I’m just really fortunate to have come back.” I’m expecting big things from Sharapova in the months ahead, including a victory at the Bank of the West today.

Fan Blogs
I’ve been watching the behavior and reading some of the tennis fan blogs at the Bank of the West. They both inspire and irk. On the one hand, I’m thrilled when tennis gets ink, cyber or otherwise. The sport needs passionate followers. More power to them if they take the time to promote the game – usually at their own expense -- through biting, funny, insidery and often insightful discussions.

What I dislike is the backseat, snarky commentary from folks who rarely step up to ask a question or do any actual interactive reporting. I found it kind of amazing, too, when one fan blogger down at Stanford would have the gall to A) to write to me privately for advice a few months back; fail to acknowledge themselves in any shape or form at a small press conference; and C) then backhandedly diss me and my colleague (after a sugar-coated compliment, of course) from that same press conference. Huh? Where’s the civility and respect? Perhaps I’m over-reacting, but I did find it all kind of disheartening and odd.

Wimbledon Picks

2010-06-20T13:55:00Z

Wimbledon Predictions

Wimbledon appears slightly more open to me than in recent years on both the men’s and women’s sides. I would not be surprised if the tournament generates some unexpected results. The question is will anybody notice with most eyes on the World Cup? As usual, here are my picks and a quick look at how I see the draw unfolding.

Men's Singles:

Winner: Federer

Finalist: Nadal

It’s hard to bet against a six-time champion who hasn’t gone home before the finals since 2002. Roger Federer is always more dangerous on grass than any other surface, and the gap with his peers is a bit wider here than anywhere else. Wimbledon is the place he most reveres, the place that started his amazing haul of 16 majors. Still, there is trouble in the reign of Federer, who has played spotty tennis the last five months (I know, haven’t we doubted him before?). Except for his Australian Open title – his lone win in 2010 – he has been downright pedestrian this season. Still, I see him stepping it up again in London – and frankly, if he doesn’t turn it up a notch he could fall short of an eighth straight final at the All-England Club.

On to the draw. Federer is the top seed due to the Wimbledon seeding formula, though he ceded the top ranking to Rafael Nadal at the French Open. It should be pretty smooth sailing for the Swiss maestro until a possible third-round contest against a lefty -- either Spaniard Feliciano Lopez or Roland Garros semifinalist Jurgen Melzer. Federer should survive. I like big-swatting Tomas Berdych to advance against Federer in the quarterfinals, perhaps over No. 7 seed Nikolay Davydenko who is dangerous on any surface but is just coming back from a wrist injury. The No. 13 seeded Czech is unpredictable but he has the game for grass – punishing serve, flat strokes, first-strike capability off both wings. He should also be confident after his semifinal showing in Paris. He will push Federer, but the Swiss will have too many tricks up his sleeve and Berdych can be shaky in important matches.

The second quadrant is filled with talent – No. 3 Novak Djokovic, No. 12 Marin Cilic, No. 20 Gael Monfils, former champ Lleyton Hewitt, resurgent Ivan Ljubicic and of course, last year’s finalist Andy Roddick. Djokovic, despite his high ranking, has been a bit of a mystery this year, with disappointing results in the majors. He has grass court cred, including a semifinal showings in London three years ago, and he’s due to go deep in the second week at a Slam. He could have a tough second rounder versus Taylor Dent, but should be fairly safe until a tough fourth round against resurgent 2002 champ Hewitt, who topped Federer to win Halle last week. The Serb will prevail.

Fifth seed Roddick has a brutal draw, including a second round against Eastbourne winner Michael Llodra of France, and a fourth round against either Cilic, Ljubicic or Queens finalist Mardy Fish. I’m taking Cilic to advance. Roddick will have plenty of motivation to avenge his five-set loss to the Croat in Australia, but he will have to serve big to do it. He will, bombing Cilic and then riding that momentum past Djokovic in the last eight to meet Federer in the semifinals. As much as I’d like to see Roddick finally go on to win Wimbledon, by the time he reaches Federer he will be spent and unable to summon his best, which is what he needs to beat the Swiss on grass.

The top of the bottom half features perennial British hope Andy Murray, who has the easiest draw of the top four seeds. Like Djokovic, No. 4 Murray hasn’t lived up to his ranking, especially since reaching the final in Melbourne. His season is a string of perplexing results. Heading into 2010, the Scot seemed the most likely newcomer to snag a Slam, but now he needs a big result to stay in the conversation. It’s hard to say if last year’s semifinalist will surge or melt under the usual British scrutiny, but he has handled it well in years past. His toughest resistance will be “Suddenly” Sam Querrey in the fourth round, and I’m going out on an American limb and picking Querrey to upset Murray (let’s hope England isn’t out of the World Cup by then, or the desperate soul-searching will reach intolerable levels). I like No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to come out of his section over the higher seeded No. 8 Fernando Verdasco, who has never done much on grass. Tsonga, on the other hand, has a perfect game for turf and is ripe for a second week appearance. In the quarterfinals, Querrey will play the best match of his young career against the Frenchman and reach his first Grand Slam semifinal.
The bottom quarter is all about No. 2 seed Nadal. It won’t be an easy path for the Spaniard, who won here in 2008 and could not defend his title due to knee tendinitis in ‘09. Nadal has young Japanese Kei Nishikori in the first round and then could face the likes of veteran James Blake, dangerous John Isner and Swede Robin Soderling, who he beat in the Roland Garros final. I’ll take Nadal over all of them, including his no-love-lost opponent Soderling in the quarterfinals (remember their nasty rain-delayed contest here a few years back?). Nadal, whose knees will hold up well on the soft grass, will have too much big-match experience for Querrey and reach his fourth consecutive final (not including 2008 when he didn’t play).   In the final, Nadal will be hungry to back up his reclaiming of the top ranking, but Federer, in perhaps his last big surge, will come up with the goods and tie Pete Sampras’ Open era record of seven Wimbledons (and extend his own major record to 17).

Some juicy first-round matches: Cilic vs. Florian Mayer; Fish vs. Bernard Tomic; Tsonga vs. Robert Kendrick; Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut.

Women's Singles:

Winner: Serena

Finalist: Henin

Serena has no equal on any surface other than clay when she’s healthy and hungry. The defending champ should be the player to beat after another disappointing Roland Garros. It won’t be a cakewalk. Serena’s quarter in the top half includes a likely date with 2004 champ Maria Sharapova, which should be a showstopper. I like last year’s semifinalist Li Na to meet Serena in the last eight from a section that features slumping Svetlana Kuznetsova and No. 7 seed Aggie Radwanska. Serena will blow by Li, who can’t match her firepower. The bottom quarter is anyone’s guess. The top seed, No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki, is still a question mark with her bum ankle. Aravane Rezai, Jie Zheng and Sam Stosur are all capable of making the quarterfinals – and just as easily bowing out in the second round. I’m going with the hot Stosur, who showed in Paris she can be a world-beater. But Serena on grass? Not this time.

The top section of the bottom half is all about Belgium. Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin and Yanina Wickmayer are all in this section, though No. 4 Jelena Jankovic is the highest seed. No. 8 Clijsters and No. 17 Henin should face off in the fourth round, one of the juiciest matchups of the tournament. I like two-time Wimbledon finalist Henin to advance to the quarterfinals, where she will meet Jankovic. Henin will show the Serb that good offense beats good defense on grass.

Venus Williams always comes alive on grass, and this year should be no different. She will cruise to the last eight and meet former finalist Marion Bartoli, whose flat strokes can cause havoc on grass. Bartoli will have a tough test against French Open champ Francesca Schiavone in the fourth round, but will prevail only to be dusted by Venus. In the semis, Henin’s willingness to attack the net at key moments will be the key, and she will reach her third Wimbledon final over five-time champ Venus. In a repeat of the Australian Open final, Serena will be pushed to three sets but will come up with the big serves – and fighting spirit – for a fourth Wimbledon and 13th major.

First-round match-ups worth checking out: Serena vs. Larcher de Brito, A.K.A. the “vuvuzela” special; Kuznetsova vs. Amanmuradova; Azarenka vs. Lucic; Wickmayer vs. Riske.

Clijsers Breaks Down Sharapova-Henin

2010-05-25T11:55:00Z

I had the chance to interview Kim Clijsters by phone in Belgium this morning for an upcoming magazine article so I picked her brain a bit on the popcorn women’s match of the day: Justine Henin vs. Maria Sharapova. “That’s the one I’d like to watch,” agreed Clijsters, a two-time French Open finalist who is out nursing a muscle tear in her left foot sustained last month in Fed Cup. Unlike many players these days, Kind Kimmie was willing to offer some views on the highly anticipated contest.

First a few facts: Henin, 27, leads the head-to-head of the two former No. 1s 6-3, but Sharapova won their last meeting, blitzing the then-wavering Henin 6-4, 6-0 in the 2008 Australian Open quarterfinals. Four months later, Henin would retire. The four-time French Open winner got the best of Sharapova, 23, in their only meeting at Roland Garros in the last eight in 2005 and is 2-0 on dirt against her.

Clijsters, who told me she planned to hit today for just the second time since the injury (she hit once and the injury flared up, so she backed off), is leaning towards Henin. “I think Justine on clay is a little bit too tricky for Maria,” she said, praising her fellow Belgian’s ability to retrieve balls, mix spins and take Sharapova out of her rhythm. “On clay she cannot retrieve so many balls,” she said of Sharapova. “Maria is not the most handy player when it comes to putting spin on the ball or slicing balls back.” The two-time U.S. Open champ said Sharapova’s best hope is to dictate early in rallies and attack serves. “If Maria is ready to go and is sharp and gets a good look at the returns, she can be really dominant. A lot of it will depend on how Maria plays.”

Tenth-ranked Clijsters, who beat Henin twice on hard courts in two meetings this year, has noticed Henin’s more aggressive style. “She is a lot more powerful and takes a lot more risk,” says Clijsters, who turns 27 on June 8. “That’s something that I’ve noticed in playing against her a couple times. She really goes for a lot more from the return onwards. Takes a lot of risks with her serve too. She gets a lot more free points as well.”

So who is she going with to take home the hardware? Clijsters is leaning towards Henin to win the whole tournament, especially because it means so much to her. “Her connection to the French Open will automatically bring that focus more easy than, say, at the U.S. Open,” says Clijsters. “That is definitely an advantage for her.” The Belgian hedged a bit and said there are a number of names that could prevail. “To me Venus and Serena in any Grand Slam are up there, though Venus not as much at the French as at Wimbledon.” Clijsters also mentioned Jelena Jankovic and Sam Stosur.

“A few names have caught my eye in the last few weeks, including (Aravane) Rezai,” she added of the surprise Madrid champion. “She’s a player, too, that in the past, I’ve seen her beat good players but not through a whole tournament…She looks fitter than in the past. That’s a big difference for her game because she has always been able hit the ball really hard but a lot of times without control. When she had to step out wide she had to go for it because she couldn’t do anything else. She can retrieve more balls and hang in there more.”

Also, in case you missed this doubles story on Bopanna-Qureshi from Friday, here’s the link.

Rafa's Achilles' heel -- the Knees

2010-05-23T17:37:00Z

My Nadal cover story on Friday in USA Today in case you missed it.

Roland Garros Predictions

2010-05-23T00:06:00Z

Following a tradition I started with the blog, I will pick the winner and finalist for Roland Garros and then sit back and let the embarrassment ensue. I will also take a quick look at how I see the draw unfolding.

Men's Singles:

Winner: Nadal

Finalist: Federer

Pick against Rafael Nadal, who appears healthy and hungry and just about unbeatable? Folly. This is the only “duh” aspect of the entire tournament, especially with title contenders Juan Martin del Potro and Nikolay Davydenko out of the action with injuries. Not that the No. 2 Spaniard has an easy ticket to the final. But first, the top half of the draw.

Defending champ Roger Federer has a brutal section, with possible meetings with either 2008 semifinalist Gael Monfils or fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round and Marin Cilic or Nadal-beater Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals. Though all dangerous, none of those four has been particularly impressive or consistent this spring, which is why I like Federer to reach the last four and take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

My upset special in the first round is Richard Gasquet over Andy Murray, who is competent on clay but has kind of lost his way and his swagger since Australia. There are some other excellent dirtballers in the second quarter – Mikail Youzhny, Tommy Robredo, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Gasquet among them, but I going with Tsonga, who is due for a big result even if clay can take the patience out of his big game. In the semis, a roughed up but resilient Federer will school Tsonga and reach his fifth Roland Garros final in a row.

The top of the bottom half is also packed with quality claycourters such as Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Ferrer, and the top seed in the quadrant, No. 3. Novak Djokovic. No. 6 Andy Roddick, the USA’s best hope, has a tough road, and if he survives Eduardo Schwank in round two and Juan Monaco in round three, I don’t see him boxing his way through Ferrer, who had had one of the best springs on clay and is back in top-10 form. But I’m going with Djokovic to find his way into a third RG semifinal. The Serb will have to suck it up after a lackluster campaign on dirt, but he has the talent, pedigree and, when he is in the right frame of mind, the fight to some day win in Paris.

But reaching the semifinals is no picnic when Nadal is across the net. Nadal, 49-1 in best-of-five set matches has too much stamina, spin, mental toughness and now confidence to go down to anyone early. He has some obstacles – wily veteran Lleyton Hewitt in the third round, resurgent Ivan Ljubicic in the fourth and a potential clash with fellow Spaniard and No. 7 Fernando Verdasco in the last eight. They might push Nadal – or maybe not – but he won’t bend. In the semis, Djokovic will not have the game plan or enough big match play under his belt to bother Nadal, who will cruise into his fifth final in six years. Nothing I’ve seen with Federer tells me he’s solved the Nadal riddle. The Spaniard will continue his domination of the Swiss on clay and walk away with his fifth Coupe des Mousquetaires while continuing his Borg-ian march on claycourt history.

Some interesting first-round matchups beyond Gasquet-Murray include Sam Querrey vs. Robby Ginepri, Julien Benneteau and Ernests Gulbis, Roddick vs. Jarkko Nieminen and Verdasco vs. Igor Kunitsin.

Women's Singles:

Winner: Henin

Finalist: Rezai

The top half of the women’s draw is by far the tougher section, with the first quarter loaded with talent. 2002 winner Serena Williams, if she is to complete the second leg of a calendar-year Slam, has her work cut out. While she may rise to the occasion, I like four-time champ Justine Henin to dust off her clay credentials and make a big run in Paris. She’s going to have to get by the big-hitting Maria Sharapova in the third round, who just won her second title on dirt. And then possible last year’s surprise semifinalist Sam Stosur, who has backed up her run with a fine clay season. Then it’s another clash with Serena, who took Henin out in the Melbourne final. Although the 22nd seeded Belgian has been hot and cold this spring – winning Strasbourg, losing in the first round at Madrid – I give her the edge because of her movement on clay. She’s simply the best. So she will eek past Serena in what should be the tournament’s best quarterfinal.

I like No. 4 Jelena Jankovic from the second quadrant, which features Yanina Wickmayer, last year’s finalist Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva, No. 8 Aggie Radwanska and 2008 winner Ana Ivanovic, who is unseeded. Jankovic is the most complete player on dirt in this group. She’ll probably struggle along the way or have a lapse or two, but the Serbian desperately wants to prove she belongs in the title conversation. She’ll push Henin in the semis, but the Belgian has too much power and repertoire and will prevail.

I have little faith in the big names in the bottom half of the draw. My upset special for round one is Sorana Cirstea of defending champ Svetlana Kuznetsova, who has a losing record this year. The highest seed in the third quadrant, No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki, has been playing on a bum ankle for weeks and has barely won any matches. I’m tipping Na Li of China to emerge from this quarter, but it would not surprise me to see someone like Maria Kirilenko or Flavia Pennetta come through.   I’m going out on a limb with Aravane Rezai in the last quarter. Though Venus has shown flashes of the player who reached the RG final eight years ago, she has done little in Paris since and I find her game too inconsistent on clay. Rezai will take her out in the fourth round, if the second-seeded American survives Nadia Petrova in the third. The Frenchwoman will power past Elena Dementieva in the quarters to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal and then, riding a wave of French support, blow into the final. But it will end there with Henin, who after her loss to Rezai at Madrid will have learned her lesson. Henin has the experience and variety and will make mince meat of Rezai this time around for a fifth French Open championship.

Some first-round matches to watch include Alize Cornet vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Safina vs. Kimiko Date Krumm and Venus Williams vs. Patty Schnyder.

Meet Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez

2010-03-18T19:42:00Z

Until now, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez might be best known to U.S. tennis fans for either her multisyllabic name or the ire she aroused in Serena Williams at last year’s French Open. In the third-round match, the Spaniard declined to own up to a body-directed passing shot that appeared to glance off her wrist for a winner. Serena argued with the umpire and was overheard by courtside mikes saying: “I’m gonna get you in the locker room. You don’t know me.” She added while sitting at the changeover, “She’d better not come to the net again.”

After winning the prestigious Orange Bowl in 1999, the 33rd-ranked Martinez has cobbled together an unremarkable career. In 2008, she finished in the top 100 for just the second time in a decade. But last year, at 27, she had a breakthrough season, winning her first WTA Tour titles at Bogota and Bastad and finishing the season at No. 30. In January, she climbed to a career-high No. 25.

Here in the desert, the Barcelona-based player has turned up the heat, with back-to-back wins over quality players. She took out No. 3 seed Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 7-5 in the third round and last year’s U.S. Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer 7-6, 6-2 in the last 16. Today, she faces Samantha Stosur for a shot at her first Premier-level tournament semifinal. She is 1-1 in meetings with the 11th-ranked Australian, beating her last year in Bali but falling to her in three sets last month in Fed Cup. Both were on hard courts.

What’s most interesting about Martinez, a soft-spoken and genial sort, is not her backstory but her game. Among the bevy of baseline metronomes in women’s tennis, Martinez stands out. For one, she serves and volleys – often, and sometimes on second serves. She can create quirky angles, attacks the net from either wing and is a counnoisour of the drop shot from any position (sometimes ill-advised). A southpaw, she loves to slice her serve wide to the ad court and has creative hands at the net. She hits her backhand volley with one or two hands, depending on the situation. A classic disrupter, she gave the temperamental Wickmayer fits in their contest two days ago.
Her style reminds me of another great confounder/attacker of another era – American John McEnroe. (She even leans on her back foot while serving a bit like Johnny Mac). Martinez told me that’s a comparison she hasn’t heard before and that her idols growing up were Steffi Graf and, not remarkably, left-handed net charger Martina Navratilova.

 Martinez is the first to admit that she’s a anomaly, not only in women’s tennis but from her native Spain. “It’s a different game, I know,” she laughed. “It’s not a typical Spanish style.” From the age of 7, she says she liked being around the net, even if it wasn’t easy. Part masochist, part iconoclast, Martinez says: “I like when the game is difficult and I like to do things different.” Surprisingly, her coaches didn’t discourage her attacking style. They told her: “You have to come to the net because you are better when you do this,” she said. “It’s not normal. If you are good at it you have to do it.”

Like many net rushers/attackers, Martinez has had to learn how to organizer her game, and that takes time. “I think it is more difficult because you have to be more trusting,” Martinez told me in her imperfect English. “Attacking is more difficult than staying on the baseline. In her late twenties, she is coming into her own, later than most players mature, but not so late that she can’t think about breaking into the top 20, though she doesn’t like to set ranking-based goals. Her best results have been on clay -- at least that conforms to her Spanish heritage – but she says she is equally fond of cement and grass.

Befitting her journeywoman status, Martinez has reached the third round at every major, but advanced no further. In fact, her best results have come in doubles, which is no surprise considering her eye for angles and slicing left-handed delivery. Martínez owns 12 WTA Tour doubles crowns, including last year’s year-end championships with Nuria Llagostera Vives. Martinez and Vives upset Serena and Venus Williams on their way the title. If she gets past Stosur or goes further here, Martinez could have herself a statement tournament and would break into the top 25. “I think that I’m playing my best tennis now,” she said. “I am still alive and I have nothing to lose.”

Snow Dogs Meets Cool Runnings: The Story of Jamaican Musher Newton Marshall

2010-03-14T19:04:00Z

You won’t find Newton Marshall among the Iditarod leaders charging towards Nome in what is shaping up as another classic finish. But his story is as compelling as any of the 71 mushers who started the 38th edition of the so-called Last Great Race on March 6. Marshall, 27, is aiming to become the first Jamaican or Caribbean national to complete the 1,049-mile race from Anchorage to Nome. He would be just the third black musher to do so. The trip to Nome, however, pales beside the twisting journey Marshall took just to reach the starting line.

Marshall’s Iditarod mission is the brainchild of wealthy armchair adventurer Danny Melville. Melville owns a tour company in Jamaica and has been the visionary behind the Jamaican Dogsled Team, which is backed by, among others, singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett of “Margaritaville” fame. Melville has set his sights on mimicking the success of the Jamaican bobsled team, which first competed in the 1988 Calgary Olympics and brought unheralded media attention to the tiny Caribbean island.

Last month, I traveled up to Lance Mackey’s Comeback Kennel outside Fairbanks, Alaska, to learn about Marshall’s story first-hand.

The Road Leading to Mackey's Comeback Kennel

Marshall spent the winter training with legendary musher and three-time defending Iditarod champ Mackey, who is currently leading the Iditarod with about a third of the race to go (Mackey is also a two-time ESPN/ESPY “Toughest Athlete” nominee.) During my two days, I was able to watch Mackey and Marshall interact, conduct interviews and develop a more in-depth picture of Marshall’s extraordinary voyage from the impoverished St. Anne Parish in Jamaica to Alaska, where he is poised to become the next Jamaican sporting hero.

In the post that follows, I’ve created a multimedia platform with text, pictures and video that describes some of his story, including interview clips from Marshall, Mackey, and Mackey's wife, Tonya. You also can follow Marshall and Mackey’s progress at www.iditarod.com and learn more about the team at jamaicadogsled.spreadshirt.com.

Marshall comes from a hardscrabble background. He grew up poor and uneducated. In fact, he was illiterate until just a few years ago. He spent his youth living on a “compound” with four sisters and various cousins. His parents split when he was young and he was mostly raised by his grandmother.

With little education, Marshall bounced between odd jobs. He ultimately landed a gig as a gardener at Melville’s Chukka Cove company and graduated to working with the tour company's horses.

Marshall with one of Mackey's Numerous House Pets

Most pets in Jamaica are treated as disposable objects or, in the case of dogs, cheap alarm systems. Cruelty is widespread. Strays are everywhere. Yet Marshall found a way to express his gentle spirit through animals. He described to me how as a boy his first contact with pets was a stray cat that used to climb through a broken window in their house. It would enter and climb in bed with the four or five children sleeping together on one mattress. Marshall says it often snuggled up to his neck and kept him warm. He developed a sensibility for cats and later dogs, which helped when he began to work with the horses at Chukka Cove.

I’ve heard some people call him a “dog whisperer.” Mackey’s wife, Tonya, noticed his special affinity to animals, too.

Marshall’s skills didn’t go unnoticed at Chukka Cove. Soon, he was taking care of the tour company’s assortment of rescued mutts, used for dry-land sled dog tours. The team’s motley crew of mixed breed dogs were found on the street or collected through animal prevention to cruelty programs. Even so, at first Marshall had trouble imagining what the sport was, much less that dogs were able to pull humans.

Before long, he was being groomed for Melville’s grand vision – running a sled dog team in the Iditarod. The first stop was a stint training on real snow in Minnesota. Marshall had no idea what cold was. He slipped on the ice. Others recall Marshall calling from Minnesota and wondering, ‘How come I need to pee so much?’ It never dawned on him that he wasn’t able to sweat as much when bundled up against the elements. And why should it when you’ve spent your life escaping heat rather than seeking it? Marshall told me what his first exposure to sub-zero temperatures were like, both in Minnesota and later in Yukon, Canada, where he trained last year.

There were other perks to working at Chukka Cove. Marshall’s family had so little money that they couldn’t afford books or clothes or lunch money to send him to school regularly. He never learned to read. He felt shame, but was determined to overcome it. At Chukka, he met a retired special education teacher from Michigan named Shelly Kennedy who spent winters in Jamaica and ran an ad hoc tutoring program on the company’s property. One day a shy kid with cherubic cheeks who looked far younger than his 18 years showed up. Marshall had heard about the American lady who could teach you to read. As soon as Kennedy gave him the green light, he couldn’t stay away from her classes. It wasn’t an easy trip – he had to walk, take buses, sometimes spend what little he had on a taxi or just hitch a ride. Sometimes he would show up at sunset as class was ending after finishing whatever job he was doing. Kennedy couldn’t let that kind of dedication go unrewarded. So she would stay in the dark with the kid holding a flashlight as they sounded out letters. Soon Marshall was reading whole words, then sentences. He now reads at a fourth or fifth-grade level and it has helped open his world and give him confidence.

When Marshall came back from his first trip off the island to Minnesota – his first trip anywhere – Kennedy noticed he wasn’t as dedicated in class. He seemed a tad full of himself. With so little of the world at his disposal, the kid was already immature for his age. It was a dangerous mix, hubris and childishness, and it contributed to what happened next. No one knows for sure why he did it, not even Marshall himself.

One evening when the Kennedy’s were back in Michigan, Marshall took the keys to a car on the property and went joy riding with a buddy through town. That was bad enough. But the kid could barely drive and didn’t have a license. He ended up ramming the car into a ditch, totaling the front to the tune of $8,000 in damage. No one was hurt, but he was do terrified that he told the Kennedy’s that he and his friend had been hijacked by armed robbers and forced to drive.

The lie quickly unraveled. Everyone around him – Melville, the Kennedys, other workers at Chukka Cover – was dismayed and disappointed. Marshall, who by then was living on the Kennedy’s property, was dismissed from their home and indefinitey suspended from Chukka Cove. Shelly Kennedy was upset but didn’t go ballistic. She had seen kids fall off and come back from her special ed days back in Michigan. Wasn’t it reminiscent of any number of teenagers doing something stupid? She wanted it to become a lesson so that Marshall could learn to be a better person.

Still, Marshall was despondent. He took a long walk along the coast and his friends and family thought intended to throw himself into the sea. He cried all the time, lost weight and barely functioned.

It was even worse when Marshall turned himself into the police after admitting his guilt for the accident. He got so emotional that the cops felt sorry for him and let him go.

He remained on the outside looking in. The job of training for the Jamaican Sleddog Team’s first big race – the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest – was given to another Chukka Cove worker. It stung. But over the next few weeks and months a contrite Marshall found the courage to call the Kennedy’s and apologize. He did the same to Melville and others at Chukka Cove, but all was not forgiven so easily. When the Kennedy’s returned in the fall, Marshall again apologized face-to-face and asked Kennedy if he could come back to class. Since she taught on Chukka Cove property, she wasn’t sure Melville would agree. He agreed that Marshall had learned his lesson and could continue, but there were conditions. Class was no longer free. Kennedy told Marshall he had to pay the storage fee for the damaged car, which amounted to about $5 per class.

A humbled Marshall became a dedicated student. He never missed class. He studied whenever possible. He also got back into the good graces of Melville. When Marshall’s replacement to run last year’s Yukon Quest had second thoughts and pulled out, Marshall got a second chance. He spent the winter training with Hans Gatt (who won a fourth Yukon title last month) and last year completed the grueling race from Yukon to Fairbanks, finishing a respectable 13th out of 29 mushers and winning the coveted Challenge of the North Award for best exemplifying the spirit of the Yukon Quest. It was a tough journey, not only because of uncompromising taskmaster Gatt but also due to the harsh conditions. Pushed to his limits, Marshall recalls experiencing hallucinations induced by the constant darkness and sleep deprivation during the Quest.

The Yukon Quest was only a warm-up act. Melville had bigger plans. So this year he sent Marshall up to Fairbanks to live and train with Mackey, the legendary musher, cancer survivor and all-around tough guy, to prepare for the much more competitive Iditarod. As Mackey explains, the Yukon Quest and Iditarod are roughly the same distance but two different animals. Before they left, he was confident Marshall would be able to finish.

During Marshall’s three months with Mackey, there were cultural differences to overcome. Mackey’s wife, Tonya, marveled at Marshall’s excitement when they gave him his first iPod. He was fascinated with the video game Wii (golf and bowling are his favorites). He struggled at times to manage basic tasks like ordering food at a restaurant. There were tough moments, and sometimes Mackey lost his temper.

Tonya often played peacemaker and eventually became a surrogate mother to Marshall, helping to ease the tension between demanding mentor and fraught mentee.

Even with his experience last year on the Yukon Quest, Marshall had much to learn. At 40, Mackey is also learning, because what you can pick up over the course of a day or a week or a winter takes a lifetime to master. Mackey’s mantra is patience. “It’s never the dogs’ fault,” he says. The musher always has final responsibility.

Mackey Instructs Marshall Outside his Home in Fairbanks

Despite lives worlds apart, the two mushers bonded. Like Mackey, Newton is a survivor just to have emerged from his small parish of St. Anne. Both have humble beginnings and checkered pasts. Mackey had a wild youth, battled drugs and throat cancer before becoming the most dominant musher in the sport’s history. Marshall could not read and was headed for a life of menial jobs and nearly sabotaged his big chance with his wanton joy-ride that got him thrown off the Jamaican Dogsled Team.

The paralles created a bridge between them, even if they didn't discuss it at length. In a sense, both grew up leading lives like dogs on a musher's gangline – defined only by limits. It’s why Mackey recognizes that if Marshall can finish the Iditarod, it could change his life.

Marshall’s time with Mackey and his family wasn’t all frigid temperatures and scooping dog poop and learning the ropes of mushing. There was fun, too.

Marshall was able to pal around with Mackey’s stepson, Cain Carter, and the two other handlers who help keep Mackey’s Comeback Kennel and its roughly 75 dogs humming. They went sledding together, traded musical tastes on their iPods and sometimes took turns showing off dancing moves. In this clip, Marshall dances at the small shack he shared with another handler on Mackey’s property.

The Toughest Job in Mushing: Picking up Poop

Some will probably call Mackey a mercenary and publicity seeker for agreeing to train Marshall. Like most things, he sees if differently. With the sport buffeted by financial woes this year, the sport needs all the help it can get.

Despite being 4,000 miles away from home, Marshall isn’t afraid to draw on his own traditions to help him reach his goal. That includes singing reggae and other Jamaican tunes to himself and his dogs on long runs, like this one here, which is one of his favorites.

Marshall told me that he cannot fail. He said that he feels the weight of his country on his shoulders as the most famous winter athlete from Jamaica since the bobsled team competed at the Olympics. He also feels great personal responsibility to Melville, his benefactor and employer. I asked Marshall, who dreams of making enough money in the Iditarod to buy a small home of his own in Jamaica, what compelled someone from the tropics to try to achieve something many who have grown up in cold climes and raced dogs never have.

Marshall, wearing bib No. 14, is currently in 49th place out of the remaining 58 mushers heading to Nome. He is more than half-way through the race and has dropped just two of his 16 dogs.

Marshall's Race Suit

Standing on Mackey's Deck overlooking his Kennel

Nalbandian Tries to Defy the Odds in Comeback from Hip Surgery

2010-03-14T02:13:00Z

David Nalbandian will never win over fans with his personality. Disdainful of the media, surly with tour officials and opponents and seemingly indifferent to his public persona, the Argentine has no time for the image-making responsibilities that come with sports celebrity.

But the former Wimbledon finalist’s crafty, dogged style can be captivating, even beautiful. For opponents, it can be maddening. So while it might be a stretch to say he was missed in the locker rooms or press briefings, Nalbandian’s return in February following hip surgery is a notable addition to the start of the 2010 tennis season, the meat of which really begins here in the California desert. With the women’s tour oversaturated with comeback stories, Nalbandian is the most intriguing return-from-prominence narrative on the other side of the aisle (Mario Ancic is a close second).

Nalbandian faces a tough road. At 28, he is on the back end of his career. And few players have returned to their previous level after going under the knife to repair a damaged hip, as Nalbandian did last May. It brought down the career curtain on some big names, among them three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten and former No. 2 Magnus Norman. What’s more, Nalbandian is no stranger to physically taxing matches. A shotmaker hiding inside a grinder’s mentality, Nalbandian often seems to possess a masochistic streak, preferring to torture and frustrate his opponents before putting them out of their misery. We sometimes joke in the press room that a two-set deficit for Nalbandian is a sign he’s done warming up.

Whatever his shortcomings, Nalbandian has always been a big tournament player. I use that phrase to distinguish him from being a big-match player, which, he has demonstrated on numerous occasions, he is not. Check the stats. Despite his all-surface talents, the Argentine has never won more than two titles in any season, and owns just 10 in a decade-long career. On the other hand, he has captured the season-ending Masters Cup and is one of only four active players along with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic with an appearance in the semifinals of all four majors.

In the players’ lounge Friday, the former No. 3 said it was too early to predict whether he could recapture the form that made him a deep threat in any tournament with mega prize money or best-of-five sets. His immediate goal is matches. “First of all, I want to be on court again and try to play healthy a few tournaments,” a surprisingly pleasant Nalbandian said after beating Stefan Koubek of Austria 6-2, 7-6 (2) to move into the second round. Sunday, he goes up against streaky No. 22 seed Jurgen Melzer, also of Austria. With a few tournaments under his belt, he added, he could better assess where his game is. “I think they can be high goals,” he said, “but I don’t know if I am 100%, 90% or 75%. I have to play a few tournaments to see how good I am.”

Nalbandian’s on-court ethic rarely has been in question. Off-court, there have been rumors and reports of life in the fast lane, both figuratively and literally (he is a big fan of race car driving). Nalbandian insisted he dedicated himself to his recovery all last year, working hard five days a week and only taking time to pursue his hobbies like fishing and speedy driving on weekends. He also hung out with his extended family at his home of Cordoba for the first time in years. “It was the most time I spent there since I was 12-13,” he says.

His recovery still took longer than anticipated. Nalbandian, who is ranked No. 139 but has a protected ranking, hoped to return in January at Auckland and then play at the Australian Open. He had to pull out, and then suffered another setback at his return in February on clay at Buenos Aires. He won his first two matches and then withdrew due to an abductor tear in his right leg. It left him wondering if he had come back too soon. “It was a long time out of the circuit,” he said. “I’m not 100 percent happy with the beginning of the year.”

That didn’t dissuade him from traveling to Sweden for his country’s first-round Davis Cup tie this month. Despite his backup role, Nalbandian played the hero in his first Davis Cup match since the ugly infighting during the team’s tense loss to Spain in the 2008 final. He bested Andreas Vinciguerra 7-5 6-3 4-6 6-4 in the decisive fifth rubber for 3-2 win in Stockholm.

Nalbandian admits it was “a lot of risk to play there.” But it was the kind of lift he needed, even if he has arrived at Indian Wells drained. “It was good for the mind, for the confidence….I’m a little bit tired, but it feels good.” He adds: “I think the people know I love Davis Cup.”

If Nalbandian can’t compete in the big events, will he hang it up? It’s hard to see a player with nearly $10 million in earnings that performs best at significant tournaments satisfied with a top-50 ranking and first-week exits at Slams. But he said that would not necessarily drive him from the tour. If he can’t be an elite player again, he said he would reassess -- “try new goals,” in his words. Then he smiled, his crystal blue eyes beaming. “It can be,” he said of attaining his former place in the sport.

Making Sense of the WTA’s New Sony Ericsson Deal

2010-03-10T22:16:00Z

Most tennis observers saw the positive news this week for women’s tennis with Sony Ericsson staying on as a major sponsor. Some of the news reports on the extension with the WTA left me wondering what the “same level of profitability” meant. It also wasn’t clear to me if the tour could go ahead and sell title rights before the current agreement ends in 2012.

The answer to the latter is no. By renegotiating the last year of the six-year deal that ends this year and extending an agreement to 2012, Sony Ericsson is taking its name off the WTA but not its position as sponsor kingpin. As the tour’s leading global sponsor, any other company seeking title sponsorship can’t sidestep Sony. The upshot: The WTA will have no title sponsor through 2012. “The agreement specifies that we will not sell above them,” a tour spokesman told me.

In the case of profit margins, which the tour has said will essentially remain the same, one must keep in mind that the $88 million Sony ponied up six years ago is a gross number and does not reflect all the goods, services and other benefits the tour delivers. Under the new terms, Sony is paying the tour less – 40% less than the $14.7 million annual average, according to Sports Business Journal – but also getting less in return. Thus, the tour’s profit margin is about the same, even though it is receiving less gross sponsorship money from Sony than before.

As reported, the tour has a free hand to re-sell the title sponsorship at its year-end event the through 2012. That includes the final year in Doha (2010) and two of the three years when it relocates to Istanbul from 2011-13.

WE'LL RETURN SOON

2010-02-20T21:32:00Z

I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus -- is there such a thing in this 24/7 news cycle we live in? -- but we will be back.

Agassi-Safin: Contradictions Part of their Appeal

2009-11-11T23:36:00Z

With Andre Agassi hitting the airwaves in force today – morning TV shows, NPR, David Letterman – and Marat Safin ending his career with a loss in Paris, it occurred to me that they make nice bookends for a quick discussion of what they have been unduly called out for: hypocrisy.

As we learn in Agassi’s new book, Open, the eight-time major winner consistently said one thing while thinking another, layered the truth in white lies and on occasion delivered outright falsities. The volatile Safin was equally prone to complete contradictions or statements that served the efficacy of the moment.

I don’t condone Agassi for his lies to the ATP after testing positive for meth anymore than I do Safin’s relentless double-sided bitching (good entertainment though it was). But I also think both these players deserve some slack. Everyone evolves. Everyone changes his or her mind from teenager to 30-year-old. Everyone is entitled to develop, grow up, or as in the case of Agassi, reinvent himself. These are young, famous, continually scrutinized and ultimately fragile people. Why should we hold them to a standard by which they are not allowed to change, to advance, to figure out who they are and what they are doing? They are human beings, flawed and often with the most narrow of blinders.

If they were politicians, different story. Those are people we elect with a contract that they will serve our needs based on their policy positions. When they switch mid-course for personal, political or philosophical reasons, we, the voters, get burned. Athletes? Not so much.

And, a large part of the appeal of personalities like Agassi and Safin is that we get to see them progress, see their mistakes, their struggles, their triumphs, and can relate them to our own lives, or identify with them, however great or small the similarities might be. Who couldn’t love a guy who was so excited after a brilliant drop shot winner that he pulled down his pants. Who can’t admire a man who goes out of his way to point out his flaws and has meantime become one of this era’s greatest philanthropists?

If you didn’t catch it, here is Monday’s USA Today’s Agassi story, with links to part II and part III of the interview, plus and a reaction story. Here, too, is my piece on Safin today.

My Dinner With Andre

2009-11-07T18:44:00Z

OK, it wasn’t over a meal, but I did spend a delicious hour with Agassi in Las Vegas at his eponymous academy a few days ago for a story in USA Today that will run Monday. Whatever one thinks about Agassi – pre- or post- his new book, Open – the guy knows how to articulate his views, however conflicted, duplicitous and self-serving they can feel at times. When you sit down with Andre, you have a conversation. That is rare in this era of Teflon tennis players.

Agassi preparing for the photo shoot on the roof of his academy in Las Vegas

The book is chock-full of insight one rarely sees in the jock genre. Agassi mocks several of his peers, among them Boris Becker (he and Gilbert call him “B.B. Socrates” for his phony high-minded intellectualism), Michael Chang for his holier-than-thou religiosity, and Thomas Muster, who once tousled his hair at the net following a loss. He disembowels Jimmy Connors, who he first met as a 7-year-old, labeling the five-time U.S. Open winner an “egomaniac prick.” He relates how after his final match in 2006 only one man stood apart and refused to applaud in the locker room – Connors. “Poor Andy” he says of Roddick, then coached by the five-time U.S. Open champ. He labels Nick Bollettieri “The warden,” and disses not only his tennis knowledge but also his narcissistic greed.

Gil Reyes, Andre’s surrogate father figure, comes off as a near hero. Ditto his two main coaches, Brad Gilbert and Darren Cahill. Andre’s childhood friend, confidante and ex-business partner, Perry Rogers, also is shown in a positive light. Their subsequent financial battle and personal rift is not discussed, however. Nor is Rogers mentioned in the acknowledgements, but as Andre explained to me, the book ends at age 36, before that happened.

Perhaps no one comes off worse than his father, Mike, who Agassi depicts as a tyrannical, sadistic, hard-charging and heartless figure that is “violent by nature.” There is a stream of other revelations – how he beat NFL great Jim Brown as a 9-year-old to win a bet for his dad; how his biggest fear going into the 1990 French Open final was losing his hairpiece; how his father gave him speed or some kind of upper as a junior before matches; and the most sensationalized portion, his use of crystal meth during his fog of 1997 and his lie to the ATP to avoid a drug suspension when he tested positive. (Agassi told me he wasn’t even sure what the drug was since his assistant “Slim” bought it, prepared it and dispensed it.) There is his ill-fated marriage to actress Brooke Shields and his warm-and-cuddly courting of Stef(anie) Graf. There are some beautiful lines in the book, too, such as this one about Agassi's tormented soul: “This gap, this contradiction between what I want to do and what I actually do, feels like the core of my life.” (Thanks J.R. Moehringer). And much more.

Suffice to say, this is a must-read for tennis fans and a near-must for anyone else.

Beyond the juicy anecdotes in the autobiography, the central question for me after reading the book and talking to Andre is this: If the eight-time major winner has had a consistent pattern of concealing the truth or outright lying, why should we believe what he writes now? Frankly, I’m not sure where I fall, particularly since I didn’t cover tennis during the most turbulent times of his career. People will have to make that determination for themselves. I will give him the benefit of the doubt in this regard. It’s his book, it’s his memory, it’s his view of his own life. He’s entitled to lay it out as he sees it, though the truth, too, can be “open” to interpretation.

Adam Scott Speaks about A.I.

2009-10-12T22:04:00Z

Misery loves company, or at least it provides a platform for commiseration. That could partly explain the growing romantic bond between tennis player Ana Ivanovic and Adam Scott, two promising young stars suffering through major slumps.

Scott, 29, and Ivanovic, 21, met prior to January’s Australian Open and have been captured by paparazzi together at golf events, the beach, and canoodling in New York City. While their relationship has blossomed, their careers have withered.

The likable Ivanovic won her first major at the French Open in 2008 and became the first from Serbia to reach No. 1 before a string of injuries and self-doubt undid her steady progress. Her last significant title came at Indian Wells, Calif., 19 months ago (she has none in 2009) and she pulled the plug on her season for what amounts to a mental health break following first round losses at the U.S. Open and Tokyo (including this odd announcement on her website in which she said she had over trained in the early part of the season and suffered from a shoulder injury that demanded a change to her service motion). Ivanovic, 3-4 since Wimbledon, dropped out of the top-10 and is sure to fall further than her present No. 13.

Scott, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour and just the second player born in the 1980s (along with Sergio Garcia) to reach the top-5 in the world rankings, has been embroiled in his own tailspin. The Adelaide native hasn’t posted a top-10 finish since tying for second at the Sony Open in January, and he’s missed 10 of 17 cuts thereafter. His ranking has fallen from a high of No. 3 to No. 69 in 16 months.

Scott was in town for last weekend’s President Cup at Harding Park, so I pulled him aside to get his view on sweetheart Ivanovic’s state of mind (she did not accompany him). Scott told me that they were able to sympathize with each other’s career woes and that it offered a point of intersection. “Yeah, for sure,” he chuckled. “It’s not easy.”

Scott, a somewhat controversial captain’s pick by fellow Aussie Greg Normal who went 1-4 in the competition won by the USA, explained that it was probably wise for Ivanovic to take some time away from tennis and didn’t question her reasoning. “It’s been a rough year,” he said. “If she thinks that’s the right thing to do, it’s the right thing to do.”

Scott didn’t say if he was planning to join Ivanovic for a mini hiatus, but he said he is confident that she will be back. Few observers of the women’s game would want anything other than a strong return from one of the sport’s most pleasing stars, both on and off the court. “I think she’s so talented that she’ll be fine,” he insisted. “She just needs to get really healthy.”

Raising my Caipirinha

2009-10-02T23:02:00Z

Rio’s win in the Olympic sweepstakes is obviously the big headline of the day. My take? As a native Chicagoan, I’m disappointed, mostly because I know my birthplace of 3 million residents is one of the world’s great and perennially underrated cities. Rarely does anyone who visits come away unimpressed. It has tons going for it: world-class architecture, a stunning lakefront, excellent transportation infrastructure, sports-mad locals, a great music/comedy/entertainment scene, etc. Plus, it has that annual collective glee that bursts out in its many music and cultural festivals that only cities caked in ice for several months can showcase when the temperature rises. Summer in Chi-Town is full of fun, celebration and solidarity.

Did I think Chicago was going to win? I did. I’ll cop to bias when it comes to the Windy City. And I’ve long subscribed to the continental rotational theory, which based on recent and future Summer Games (’00 Sydney, ’04 Athens, ’08 Beijing, ’12 London) means that ’16 should have been in America. I suppose since it’s South America, that counts. Based on some articles I’ve read, it sounds like the U.S.O.C. bungled the bid. It apparently also has lost some of its influence.

“The United States, within the Olympic movement, hasn’t engaged as well as we could have for a long time,” Robert Ctvrtlik, the U.S.O.C. vice president for international relations, told the NY Times. “There’s a lot of politics going on. This isn’t just on the merits. I don’t think it’s anti-American. Maybe we still don’t have the horsepower to do some of the politicking within the movement.”

While the last minute lobbying of the Obama’s will be parsed in the days ahead – did it help or hurt? – certainly no one expected that kind of firepower to fall so flat. Voted out in the first round? Forget Second City. How about Fourth? Even some IOC members were stunned. “I’m shocked,” Australian IOC member Kevin Gosper told The Associated Press. “The whole thing doesn’t make sense other than there has been a stupid bloc vote. To have the president of the United States and his wife personally appear, then this should happen in the first round is awful and totally undeserving.”

No doubt Rio will put on a mind-bending party. South America also deserves its first chance to stage the Games. Hopefully it won’t bankrupt Rio or drag down the Brazilian economy. The Summer Games are an expensive prospect to carry. They certainly have the panache to put on a spectacular experience. My one caveat (at the expense of sounding bitter): My experience in Brazil and with Brazilians (both as tourist and journalist) is that organization is not their strong suit. But that never stopped me from downing a few caipirinhas.

Back in the Saddle

2009-10-01T22:41:00Z

Today is the first day of Q4 2009, and as good a time as any to get back on the blogging wagon after a month-long hiatus. This posting will just be a small warmup. Much has gone down in the tennis world since the end of August -- the emergence of Melanie Oudin and Yanina Wickmayer, the coming of age of Juan Martin del Potro, Serena-gate, and most recently the not-so-surprising return of Justine Henin. As rumors swirled of a return and compatriot Kim Clijsters fought her way to the U.S. Open title in just her third tournament back after a two-plus year layoff, I joked to a colleague of mine that Henin was no doubt sweating buckets on a treadmill in the middle of the night in Europe watching her longtime rival win the final on TV.

In any case, here's the sabbatical story I wrote when the news of Henin's comeback broke. I don't begrudge her the right to change her mind, but it is remarkable how adamant she was that she was done with competitive tennis just a few months ago. Even Larry Scott, who was WTA Tour CEO when Henin pulled the plug on her career (he's now head of the Pac-10 Conference) told me by email he was surprised. The video clip of her press conference at this year's French Open (as Tweeted by my friend and respected colleague Bonnie Ford at ESPN.com) proves how definitive she was. The first two questions in the clip are from yours truly, followed by Ford. Here also is my second-day follow on Clijsters' victory in USA Today, which only ran online.

I noted with interest Roger Federer's decision to pull out of Tokyo and Shanghai last week. Though he cited a "physically challenging year" for his withdrawal, I wonder if his back is acting up again. While it received less attention for his struggles in 2008 ("struggles" being relative since he won a major and reached two other Grand Slam finals), Federer told me this summer than it was a big reason he did not feel physically up to par for much of last year. He also had mononocleosis. The bad back affected his movement, but also his serving, which was horrendous in last month's U.S. Open loss to del Potro. According to the stats page I just pulled out of my file, the Swiss No. 1 hit a paltry 50% of his first serves in (41% in the first set, which he won 6-3) and blasted 11 aces -- 44 fewer than he did against Andy Roddick in his five-set Wimbledon win. While that doesn't tell the entire story of the match -- del Potro gets props for taking speed off his own first serve to up his percentage and pummel Federer with his increasingly deadly forehand -- it does suggest something was wrong, that perhaps Federer was not able to stretch up enough on his first serve comfortably. That he was having back issues was confirmed after the match by a member of his team, though Federer, class act that he is, never mentioned any physical ailment after his defeat.

Meanwhile, in Japan this week, the top women have dive bombed out of the tournament like kamakazi, bolstering the contention that few WTA players can manage the long season and their fragile psyches at the same time. Look for strong showings from two of the women still alive -- Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic -- for the remainder of the fall. Sharapova craves matches and is hell-bent on building up her match toughness, while Jankovic has mega points to defend from her late-season push in '08 to finish the year No. 1. It's only a year removed, but it must feel like a lifetime for the streaky Serb.

U.S. Open Picks

2009-08-30T13:14:00Z

We're down to the final major of the season, and I find myself more excited for New York than I have been in recent years. In 2008, the players dragged themselves in for the season-ending Slam after the Beijing Olympics. This year, everyone arrives fresher, more eager, with an eye for making up lost opportunities. More than a handful of players come into the Big Apple with bright prospects, and perhaps more important, fresh legs.  My predictions:

Men's Singles:
Winner: Murray
Finalist: Djokovic

The top of the men's game has rarely been as deep and consistent. Week in and week out, the top 6-8 players make deep runs in big tournaments. Whoever makes it to the second week here will have to play lights-out ball because there aren't likely to be too many surprises or upstarts in later rounds.

On the men's side, I'm going with Scotland's Andy Murray. He genuinely likes New York. He was a junior champion here and he calls it his favorite Slam (a poke perhaps at stuffy Wimbledon). He trains here and owns a place in Florida. He reached the NY final in '08, and throughout the season he has been the most consistent player on hard courts, with two big titles (Indian Wells and Montreal) and a ATP Tour-best 34-3 record. It won't be easy for him or anyone, but I think he has enough Grand Slam seasoning and confidence to muscle in on the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal duopoly (incredibly, they have won 17 of the last 18 majors). Two things could hold him back: His penchant for passivity in long matches; and a brutal draw.

Federer -- back at No. 1, secure in history with a record 15th Grand Slam, a father of new twin girls -- heads the top half of the men's draw. It's hard to argue with the silken Swiss reaching another final. He's the hottest player on tour with a 26-1 mark and four wins in his last five events. He's also the five-time defending champ. He brushed aside two of his main nemeses, Murray and Novak Djokovic in winning Cincinnati. During the three days I spent in Cincy reporting tomorrow's cover story on him for USA Today, he appeared as relaxed as I've seen him. As Mike Bryan told me, "He's on cloud nine." But I felt he was almost too relaxed, which is why I'm not picking him to reach the final.

Federer has a tough road even to the semis in the top quarter of the draw, with the likes of 2001 champ Lleyton Hewitt in the third round, James Blake in the fourth, and either French Open runner-up Robin Soderling or No. 8 Nikolay Davydenko in the last eight. Those opponents won't allow him to relax much, but 28-year-old has too many weapons -- not to mention the growing affection of local fans -- to fall before the final Saturday.

The other quarter in the top part of the draw features No. 4 Djokovic and No. 5 Andy Roddick. There are some other dangerous players around -- New Haven champ Fernando Verdasco, Tommy Haas, John Isner, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Igor Andreev -- but I expect Djokovic and Roddick to face off in the quarters. Roddick has owned Djokovic this season, going 3-0, all on hard courts. But this time I'm going with the Serb. Djokovic has been a bit of an enigma this year, reaching four Masters finals but repeatedly coming up short. What caused him to lose his way after a stellar start to 2008 that included an Australian Open title is unclear. Did he get too cocky? The racket switch to start 2009? The distraction of owning, running and playing in a tournament in his home country? Whatever the case, the super talented Serb is due for a big result, and despite the ill-will he generated with fans in New York last year, I'm picking the 22-year-old Serb to get past Roddick and Federer and reach his second U.S. Open final in three years.

The lower half is brimming with talent, too. The top quarter features No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Thomas Berdych, Fernando Gonzalez, Gael Monfils, 2007 U.S. Open semifinalist David Ferrer and, of course, third-ranked Nadal. That's a lot of firepower. I believe Nadal when he says he arrives in New York in less than top form, though the 23-year-old Spaniard usually downplays his chances. He played well to beat Berdych in Cincy, but overall he hasn't looked as sharp in his movement or serving as he did when he won in Melbourne or prior to his two-month injury absence. A tricky first-round opponent in returning Richard Gasquet won't cause many problems (Gasquet is still too shellshocked from his doping suspension) and I expect Nadal to get better with each match, but I'm not feeling it for him this year. One of the big hitters will take him out, likely Tsonga or Gonzalez, in the fourth round.

Murray has a wicked path to the last eight, with streaky Ernests Gulbis in round one, the dreaded Ivo Karlovic in round three, big-hitting Marin Cilic in round four and then dangerous sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals. Murray will use his speed, range, smarts and improved serve to beat them all back, and then he'll take out Tsonga in the semis to reach a second straight final in New York. If he hasn't run out of gas -- and I'm predicting he'll have just enough left in the tank -- this time he won't leave a bunch of balls sitting mid-court as in '08 and bring home Britain's first Grand Slam Championship in almost three quarters of a century.

Women's Singles:
Winner: Serena
Finalist: Safina

How can you pick against Serena Williams in the majors, considering her unwavering ability to turn it up on big stages, not to mention opponents -- Venus notwithstanding -- that wilt under the pressure of important venues? The 11-time major winner hasn't done much outside the Slams. Her only three tournament victories over the last 12 months are in New York, Melbourne and London. But if she gets to the second week and smells the trophy, few can stop Serena but Serena herself.

I've always felt that when the 27-year-old American gets smug, when it comes too easy, she loses focus. I believe that was her downfall after the 2002-03 "Serena Slam." She's not as sure a pick as last year when she came in licking her wounds from the Wimbledon defeat to her older sister, but I'm giving her the nod. However, it would not surprise me if one of the three Slam-less wonders on the top half of the draw -- No. 1 Dinara Safina, last year's finalist Jelena Jankovic, or perennial Slam contender Elena Dementieva -- winds up with the spoils.

In the top half, Safina has a tricky third round opponent in fellow Russian Alisa Kleybanova but otherwise has a pretty clear path to the quarterfinals. The bottom part of the first quarter should see an all-Serb matchup in the fourth round with struggling Ana Ivanovic and rebounding Jankovic (unless promising German Sabine Lisicki knocks off Ivanovic a round before). I've lost faith in the '08 French Open champ and former No.1 for the moment, and if they meet, Jankovic will prevail. The Safina-Jankovic should be a classic power vs. guile match-up, and though Jankovic beat Safina in the final at Cincinnati, this time the 23-year-old Muscovite will manage her game better and reach a fifth straight Slam semi.

In the other quarter of the top half, I like the recovering Maria Sharapova to make a run to the semifinals, though it won't be a cakewalk. She will have to get by No. 4 Dementieva in the third round, who is arguably the hottest player on tour coming into New York following her victory in Toronto (over Sharapova in the final). I like New Haven winner Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark to advance to the quarters over French Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova and face 2006 Open champ Sharapova, who will outhit her to reach the semis. The all-Russian semis promises plenty of grunting and baseline fireworks, but Safina is the more experienced Slam player at the moment. Sharapova is still a few months (and a more reliable serve away) from becoming a legit Slam contender, but she's making progress fast.

The lower half of the draw pits Serena and Venus for the semifinals, but my pick to reach the last four from the top quarter is mom Clijsters. With several top-20 wins under her belt, the athletic Belgian is already back in the mix and probably just a few tournaments away from looking like a top-5 player. Venus, 28, hasn't won a event on cement in the U.S. since '02 and lost two her last three matches to unheralded competition. She could step up and blow through people as she often has in majors, but she's too unpredicable. In this quarter, wild card Clijsters will out-hustle the hardworking No. 8 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who has had a solid season (two Slam quarters) since winning Miami in April.

Serena's quarter has hardworking Sybille Bammer and resurgent Samantha Stosur; none can match the American's power on hard courts. No. 7 Vera Zvonareva has done little since coming back from injury, so I'm going with veteran Amelie Mauresmo of France to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since '06 in New York against Serena. There, the Frenchwoman will be overwhelmed. Clijsters' defense will give Serena problems in the semis, but clutch serving and a few extra fist pumps will pull her through to a fifth New York final and second in a row.

Serena is her generation's big-match player. I expect Safina to finally play closer to her ability in her third major final, but Serena is her generation's big-match player. One way or another -- blowout or nailbiter -- she will bag a 12th Slam.

Time for Querrey to Make His Move

2009-08-19T01:12:00Z

If Sam Querrey is to step up and take it to the next level, he has to learn to separate friendship from business, especially against his American peers. He admitted as much Monday night following a 6-3 6-4 first-round win over Yen-Hsun Lu here at the Cincinnati Masters.

“Those are the three guys that kind of when I was 17, 18 they would invite me to their house and practice,” explained Querrey, referring to the three players ahead of him in the rankings, Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and James Blake, who together own 9-1 mark against their younger compatriot. “I mean, you don't feel bad if you beat them. You want to beat them. But at the same time, you're showing them a lot of respect out there because they've kind of showed you the way and they've been role models. They've given know me so much advice out there. You almost feel bad beating them.”

Querrey’s emotional discord when playing his compatriots is evident in his results: He’s a combined 1-9 vs. Roddick (0-3), Fish (0-1) and Blake (1-5). He can go a long way towards severing the national umbilical cord in Wednesday’s evening match against fifth-ranked Roddick, who took him out in the round of 16 at Washington, D.C., 7-6, 6-4, two weeks ago. It could be the most important contest of Querrey’s summer, which has seen the towering talent play at a consistently high level but continue to underperform in big events.

Querrey is no longer the gee-shucks kid who once went on court with a hole in his shoe. Now 21 and ranked in the top 30, Querrey says that he’s earned enough respect of his own the last three years to put feelings for his American peers aside. “It’s getting better,” he said. “It's just tough playing them. They're your friends, guys you watched growing up. You got to get over this little hump.”

Querrey has put together a fine summer at some of the tour’s smaller events, winning Los Angeles and reaching the final at Newport, R.I., and Indianapolis. He is second in the U.S. Open Series points race. A string of wins, even against lesser competition, is not to be discounted, and can propel a player forward, much as it did No. 6 Juan Martin Del Potro last summer when the Argentine won four consecutive tournaments leading into New York. “I've got a lot of confidence just after those three (events),” said the 26th-ranked Californian. “Look at Del Potro last year here….Hopefully, I could do something like that.”

But Querrey has yet to score a major breakthrough at a Slam or Masters, including a disappointing first-round exit at Montreal last week to 45th-ranked Philip Petzschner – a result Querrey said “sucked it up.” And though he has beaten decent pros such as No. 22 Tommy Haas and No. 30 Dudi Sela this summer, he also counts losses to No. 181 Rajeev Ram and No. 95 Robby Ginepri. His sole win over a top-10 player in 2009 came against Gilles Simon, who he bested at the lightly regarded World Team Championship round robin at Dusseldorf.

Querrey reached a career-best fourth round at the U.S. Open last year but followed with first-round exits at the Australian Open and Roland Garros this season. He reached the third round at Wimbledon, and knows he’s still searching for a serious run when the world is watching. “I want to start doing a little better in the bigger events,” he said. “That's how you're gonna get your ranking up. That's it.”

The 6-6 right-hander will never be known for his wheels, but he has the tools to reach the top 15, and perhaps even go higher. His serve is a major weapon – he is seventh on the men’s tour in service games won at 86% -- his fitness has improved, and hard work on his return-of-serve is paying off. “I'm returning much better I think than I was a year ago,” he said. “I'm fitter and making better decisions on the court.”

Blake, who has beaten Querrey twice this year and bowed out in three sets to Igor Kunitsyn here Tuesday, said the goofy, laid-back surfer in tennis attire is poised to make a move. “Sam is playing a lot better,” said the 24th-ranked Blake. “I think we've all kind of seen how good he is. Whether it's in practice or matches, he's got such a big serve that he can be dangerous to anyone….I love his attitude and his confidence.”

With a 34-20 record through Monday, Querrey says his goal is to get another 25 matches under his belt and finish in the top 20. Barring a disaster in New Haven next week, Querrey should arrive at the U.S. Open as a seed for the first time at a Slam.

Against Wimbledon runner-up Roddick, Querrey will have to serve huge, pick his spots to attack and manage his game smartly. The crowd will be behind Roddick, the 2003 and 2006 champion here. “I'm sure it's gonna be another close one,” said Querrey. “He's playing well. I'm playing well. Just gonna have to adjust a couple things to get him this time.”
 Beating Roddick would go a long way in establishing Querrey as the No. 2 American both in ranking and bragging rights. But he still sounds a little conflicted about his fellow Yanks. “I want to do the best I can, but I don't want them to drop,” he said. “I want all of us to keep going up. At the same, I want to be the highest, too.”

Catching up with Lance Mackey

2009-08-17T22:26:00Z

I spoke the other day to 2007-09 Iditarod champ Lance Mackey – dragged him off his Bobcat truck to take the call, in fact. It had been a while since I'd spoken to the iconoclastic musher, so I was eager to hear what he's been up to. Mackey told me he took a bit of time off after his third consecutive Iditarod win with trips to Barbados and Las Vegas -- "nice," he purred in his raspy voice. He went east for a couple of business trips and more recently has been a regular on the local speaking circuit (he hits a lot of summertime state fairs). But for the most part he has stayed close to home to work on his house -- a necessity in the months when the sun rarely sets. “It’s still got Tyvec on the outside,” he said, “but I added a two story addition on the side.”

Mackey's Tyvec-laden House in March

The hardworking/hardscrabble cancer survivor told me that he started gearing up for his 2010 assault on the 1,100 race from Anchorage to Nome a week ago. After a summer of leisure, his superlative line of dogs has been doing their paces with dry runs on wheeled sleds. Snow won’t hit the trails outside his home near Fairbanks till about October. His young male dogs spent the summer in Seward giving rides to tourists, while his older ones “sat around all summer being lazy,” he said.

There will be a new addition to the Mackey household come December. No, not another kid. The 39-year-old Mackey has signed on to work with Newton Marshall, a Jamaican attempting to be the first person from his island nation to complete the “Last Great Race” (Cool Runnings anyone?). Marshall will be the first from ReggaeLand to attempt the race, but despite his rookie status he is not a novice to mushing. Earlier this year he became the first Jamaican to complete the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest, another grueling race.

Nor is Mackey a stranger to sharing some of his training secrets. Last year, he helped train native Alaskan and Army National Guard staff sergeant Harry Alexie for his Iditarod run, which he completed 10 days, 12 hours (finishing 37th out of 51). Mackey said his son, Cain Carter, and his dog handler, Braxton Peterson, will train Marshall’s dogs. He sounded a tad concerned that Marshall was not due to arrive in Alaska until December, “right in the middle of race season.” Coming from the easier climes of the Caribbean nation to frigid tundra will be “culture shock,” predicted Mackey.