...But Americans can play

Last week, I tore into the American style of tennis. I said that they are over-dependent on their serves and they lack the tools to compensate for a bad serving day.

In Memphis, Sam Querrey served 53 percent and was still able to overcome fellow American John Isner, who served 65 percent. Querrey was also out-aced 19 to 17. With experience, Querrey has developed a superior ground game and that was on display throughout the tournament. See a recap of the match at http://www.memphistennis.com/news/story-63.

Querrey outlasted Andy Roddick earlier in the tournament, triumphing 6-1 in the third set. Breaking Roddick once is a task in itself, and Querrey was able to do it three times on only four chances. Querrey may have been a threat at the Australian Open if it weren't for a laceration on his arm that kept him short of full strength.

Not only did Querrey win the hard-court singles title, he went home with a doubles crown too. His partner. . . none other than Isner. They won in straight sets.

Where do they get their height? Not their moms.

Querrey has played doubles in four tournaments this year, coming out victorious in two of those. In the other two, the established team of Dlouhy and Paes were too much to handle.

In other news in Memphis, Maria Sharapova showed that she could shake off her lackluster performance at the Australian Open. She cruised through a relatively easy field with little trouble, winning the final while only dropping three games.

A possible developing story on the men's side is the progression of Ernests Gulbis. If you haven't heard of him or haven't seen him play then you might be in for a treat this year. Gulbis has all the potential in the world, but hasn't quite found the mindset to rise to the top.

In Memphis, Gulbis upset Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych in consecutive rounds before falling to Querrey. Gulbis snagged a set off a former talented underachiever, Roger Federer. Once Federer gained control of his shots and mind, he has risen to greatness. Is Gulbis headed in that direction? See Gulbis' profile at http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Ernests-Gulbis.aspx?t=pa.

I believe that Gulbis is the next Jo-Wilifried Tsonga. I predicted Tsonga's rise to the top before he went to the Australian Open semifinal in 2008.

Gulbis will vault his way into the upper echelon of tennis, starting with a deep run at the French Open, maybe reaching the quarterfinals. He will follow that up with a solid performance at Wimbledon, falling to a top five ranked player in the fourth round. The young Latvian is my Player to Watch.

Breaking down American tennis

A match begins. The American player steps out first and blisters serves from start to finish. The opponent, from anywhere else in the world, blocks back the serve and patiently plays out each point.

The overwhelming power on the serve is an advantage that almost every successful American player has. It's hard to think of any American that has made his success with a great return game in the modern era.

Andre Agassi and James Blake are the only two players that lived and died on their groundstrokes and have made a mark on the ATP Tour.

Pete Sampras and Andy Roddick rely heavily on their first shot to break an opponent down. The up-and-coming American players in the men's game are Sam Querrey and John Isner. They combine for 13 feet and 3 inches of height and have totaled 264 aces so far this season.


Isner and Querrey play doubles together
at the U.S. Open (provided by nytimes.com)





The other highly-touted young American is Donald Young. He stands at 6 feet tall and has only smacked 13 aces this year. What does that lead to? Young is ranked 152 in the world, while Isner and Querrey sit in the top 35.

Why does it seem that an American without a serve is doomed to mediocrity in tennis. Agassi was able to time the ball with precision, taking time away from his opponents and taking titles left and right all the way into his mid-thirties. Read a small bio of Agassi at http://www.all-about-tennis.com/andre-agassi.html.

Why can no one replicate that?

Isner graduated from the University of Georgia in 2007. He was instantly successful on tour, running deep into tournaments and upsetting Roddick at the U.S. Open in 2009.

Oddly enough, he didn't even win his last college match. He lost to Somdev Devvarman of the University of Virginia in the NCAA Final. In this match, Isner was not broken, but still fell short of victory.

Devarrman was incredibly scrappy, getting to every ball and grinding out a 3-set victory. Read more about the match from Devvarman's perspective at http://www.theculturalconnect.com/new/2007/06/24/tennis-champ-somdev-devvarman-desi.

Devvarman turned pro in 2008, but has failed to break into the top 100. What does he lack? A dominant serve.

With many Americans relying heavily on their serve, they fail to improve other parts of their game. Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open with a backhand that could barely even be called a groundstroke.

It wasn't until the last few years that Roddick has solidified his weaker wing and been able to hang with people like Roger Federer off the ground.

Can American tennis catch the other countries in the other aspects of the game? Can Roddick turn his improved strokes into another Grand Slam title? Will Isner or Querrey rise to the top 10? Will Young or Devvarman ever make an impact on the tour?

Men's tennis in 2010 has a lot of question marks, the answers will most likely have to wait until Wimbledon, as Americans struggle to advance at the French Open.

Seeing Double

If you've been watching professional tennis this year you might have caught notice of Marin Cilic. The 21-year-old Croatian has won two of his first three tournaments in 2010, his only loss coming in his first Grand Slam semifinal to an in-form Andy Murray.

He came into the year ranked number 14 and was called the "dark horse" of the Australian Open by many broadcasters. He lived up to the billing. After avenging his U.S. Open quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Juan Martin del Potro in the fourth round he upset Andy Roddick in a 5-set thriller in the quarterfinals. Read more about the match at http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8480029.stm.

Hitting the ball as big as ever and playing with the confidence of a top five player, Cilic seems destined to find his way into the Grand Slam conversation. But wait, hasn't this happened before?

A tall, big-serving Croatian rising to around the top ten after crossing the legal drinking age in the U.S. Wasn't it the same name, too?

Wrong.

It was Mario Ancic. They both weigh exactly the same (180 pounds), live in the same spot (Monte Carlo, Monaco), and represent Croatia. Only one inch, four letters, and four years separate the two eerily similar tennis players. See their profiles at http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Mario-Ancic.aspx AND http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Marin-Cilic.aspx.

Ancic entered 2006, the year he turned 21, ranked number 21 and in great form. During the year, he reached the quarterfinals of both the French Open and Wimbledon, losing to Federer in both tournaments. Soon after these good results, back problems stopped him from playing in the U.S. Open.

His fifth year on the tour ended with an injury and his sixth wasn't any kinder, as he found himself slowed down with Mononucleosis. His rapid drop through the rankings surprised many. Ancic, now 25, has failed to find the form that carried him to a career-high of number seven in the magical season of 2006.

Cilic, now in his fifth year as a pro, hopes he can avoid injury and live up to the expectations that have been set for him. Just like for Ancic, Federer will most likely be standing in the way at the French Open and Wimbeldon. Does Cilic have the game to do what Ancic couldn't?

They both play right-handed and hit two-handed backhands. They both idolize fellow countryman Goran Ivanesevic.

They even look alike. As the Doppelganger trend continues on Facebook, check this one out.







Photo of Marin Cilic courtesy of xinhuanet.com













Photo of Mario Ancic courtesy of vivanews.com






Do the similarities end?

Cilic better hope they do.

Cilic captured this year's Zagreb Indoors, defending his title. Who did he defeat in last year's final? None other than Ancic by the score of 6-3, 6-4, ironically in a tournament in Croatia.


Video of player introductions compliments of Youtube

Predictable as UN-usual

When the Australian Open began this year, parity was the talk of the town. Two weeks later, Roger Federer and Serena Williams hoisted the cup, shattering the dreams of many sportswriters. The Bryan twins even captured the men's doubles title.

In case you haven't noticed the trend here, they were all number one seeds.

With the rapid improvement of multiple players on the men's side and the return of Belgium's finest (Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters) to the women's side, few saw number one as a lock to win. Read more at http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4841206&name=tennis.

Can I blame them? No, it is a rarity for the Australian Open to turn out such a result. In fact, the top-seeded man and woman haven't captured the same major since the 2007 U.S. Open. In that tournament it was Federer and this year's runner-up, Henin, who turned favorite into champion.

Federer squeaked out of a tough first round win against Igor Andreev and cruised from there, upending young Brit Andy Murray in the final without relinquishing a set.

Serena battled back from a 4-0 deficit in the second set after losing the first to Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals. She went on to prevent her second consecutive loss to an unseeded Belgian in a major by defeating Henin, who just came out of retirement, in the final.

As the Australian Open is the first major tournament of the season, there is never an outright favorite. Coming off the short offseason, players are well rested and generally as healthy as they will be all season.

As Nikolay Davydenko did this year, one player usually pulls one or two big upsets and is anointed a "dark horse" in the Australian. Read more about Davydenko's upset at http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2010/01/Doha-Final-Davydenko-Saves-2-MP.aspx.

The Australian Open has not generated two one-seeded singles champions since 1994. That year Andre Agassi's rival and future wife Steffi Graf both won in straight sets. Pete Sampras and Graf were dominant forces from a completely different generation of tennis. Read recaps of every Australian Open at http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/event_guide/history/year_by_year.html.

Since then, a variety of players and styles have found their way to an Australian Open final. In 2010, the new decade started with arguably the most dominant players of last decade on top yet again.

How will this year of tennis go? How can one match make people's chatter go from Federer's demise to a possible Calendar Year Grand Slam? What did it take for Serena to finally defend an Australian Open title after failing to do so the previous three times? These are all questions racing through the mind of any tennis fan.

I see this year producing at least five different Grand Slam singles champions. Parity is here, it just hit a little delay.

Do you agree? Let me know with your comments.