Ricky Dimon

• Delray Beach: Out With the Old, In With the New

  2008-02-18 15:22:00
  

  Championship Sunday in Delray Beach, Florida proved to be full of surprises. Whether it was a team or an individual, it was not a good day to be a veteran.
  
  First up was the doubles final between the Bryan Brothers - Bob and Mike - and the team of Max Mirnyi and Jamie Murray. The top-seeded Bryans hold 44 career doubles titles. Mirnyi and Murray had won just one match prior to this week.
  
  Perhaps 2008, however, is the year of the upset. After all, the New York Giants stunned the previously - undefeated New England Patriots in one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history just two weeks ago. Now obviously any surprise in professional tennis would never register on the same scale as the Super Bowl, but you get the point. The point on Sunday was that Mirnyi and Murray did, in fact, pull off the upset win over the Bryan Brothers.
  
  It was decided in a super-tiebreaker after the two teams split sets. Mirnyi and Murray took the first set when the Beast served it out at 5-4 after breaking the Bryan Brothers at 4-4. While returns of serve are the weakest aspects of both Mirnyi and Murray’s games, they came up with some enormous return winners in the 4-4 game, including a ridiculous one-handed backhand stab down line by Mirnyi on break point.
  
  After dropping the second set 6-3 and getting down 3-0 in the decisive tiebreaker, Mirnyi and Murray looked like their impressive run in Delray Beach would end up one stop short of the title. But both of them came up with huge serves at opportune times and showcased incredible hands up at net to win almost all of the key points in the tiebreaker from 3-0 until the end.
  
  Now Mirnyi and Murray already have a title to their credit despite being a team that has not even been in existence for two full months. Keep an eye on this tandem as the season progresses!
  
  If the doubles result was a surprise, the outcome of the singles final was an absolute stunner. 18-year-old Japanese qualifier Kei Nishikori upset top-seeded James Blake 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday afternoon to take home the title. Nishikori’s two handed-backhand dictated play throughout the last two sets and he even came up with consistently clutch shots with his forehand, clearly his weaker side.
  
  Fans had to be shocked that Nishikori came back and one after losing the first set to the favored American, but maybe we shouldn’t have been totally surprised. After all, Nishikori just making it to the final redefined improbable. He had to win eight matches to capture the title; you only have to win seven matches in the main draw of a Grand Slam to win the championship. Nishikori, however, had to win three qualifying matches just to make the main draw.
  
  It gets even better. In the semifinals he dropped the first set to Sam Querrey, then fell behind again when he lost serve in the third set. Nishikori quickly broke back and eventually sent the deciding set into a tiebreaker, where he promptly stared four match points in the face. This kid saved them all and won it on his first championship point, running around to his forehand to hit a punishing return off of a Querrey second serve.
  
  What an amazing week for the 244th-ranked player in the world. Nishikori is only 18 years of age, and he just turned 18 at that! He will no doubt be a household name on the ATP Tour for years to come, and if he can improve his serve to the point where it is a weapon (it’s not right now), he could get close to the very top.

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