Ricky Dimon

• Thoughts on the U.S. Open Series - Part II

  2009-07-27 00:57:22
  

  Indianapolis quarterfinals

  Frank Dancevic d. (1) Dmitry Tursunov 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2
  If I had a dollar for every time I heard Justin Gimelstob discuss the “one-dimensionality” of Tursunov and the “versatility” of Dancevic, I would be an extremely rich man. Anyone watching and listening to Gimelstob would have thought Dancevic was in the process of a 6-0, 6-0 drubbing of Indy’s top seed. Well, he wasn’t, but he did pull out his first career victory over Tursunov in four meetings. Dancevic had never even won a set against Tursunov, but after losing the first on Friday, he won two in-a-row to reach the semifinals. What a VERSATILE player, this Dancevic!
  

   

  (3) Sam Querrey d. (7) Marc Gicquel 7-5, 6-3
  The leader of Querrey’s fan following was interviewed during the match and he talked about how the posse at first called themselves “Sam’s Club.” Fortunately it had since been changed to “Samurai,” and Querrey has them and only them to thank for this victory. I don’t care how good you are at tennis, you don’t win ANY tennis match when you’re fan following is called “Sam’s Club.” The head dude said they needed something more “fierce”…hmmmm, kind of like Querrey’s first serve! Querrey had a ridiculous 19 aces in 11 service games against Gicquel.
  

   

  Robby Ginepri d. Alex Bogomolov 7-5, 6-1
  Not sure how Bogomolov reached the quarterfinals of an ATP event, and also not sure the exact details of this one since it was the only quarterfinal that wasn’t televised. Prediction of the exact details? Bogomolov quickly remembered who he was, asked himself what the heck he was doing in the quarterfinals of an ATP event, came up with the answer to that question at 5-5 in the first set, and didn’t hit another ball in the court the entire match.

   

  John Isner d. Wayne Odesnik 7-5, 6-7(2), 7-5
  I can’t decide what’s a bigger surprise: that three unseeded players are in the Indianapolis semifinals, or that the Isner-Odesnik match did not go to a third-set tiebreakers. Actually I can decide: that this match did not go to a third-set tiebreaker is FAR more surprising. After all, 1) only two of the seeded players in Indianapolis (Tursunov and Querrey) are particularly good at tennis, and 2) each of the two previous Isner-Odesnik matches had gone to third-set tiebreakers. This one should have, but on match point with Odesnik serving at 5-6, 30-40, Isner hit a backhand first-serve return that hit the net cord and dribbled one inch onto Odesnik’s side. Game, set, match. For what it’s worth, I think Odesnik would have won the ‘breaker.

   

  By the way, you know how players who hit a net-cord winner always apologize while they secretly want to punch the air with celebratory Rafael Nadal-esque fist pumps? Well, Isner’s apology after the net cord shot on match point was the first genuine one I have seen in my entire history of watching tennis. He seriously looked like he wanted to do it over…and maybe he would have asked to do it over, except I think he had the same feeling as me that he would have lost the ‘breaker!

   

  Semifinals

  Sam Querrey d. Frank Dancevic 6-4, 6-4
  Querrey is one win away from his second ATP title. “The Samurai” is one win away from its first ATP title. Note: I’m pretty sure Querrey’s fan following (now known as ‘the Samurai’) was either non-existent or still called “Sam’s Club” when Querrey won his first title back in February of 2008. Whatever the case, Querrey is into his second ATP final in three weeks after defeating Dancevic in straight sets.

   

  This match got bounced from ESPN2 because rain apparently delayed some NASCAR event that was supposed to be on the worldwide leader in sports earlier in the day. Just when I thought tennis coverage was getting decent (not good…just DECENT), I learn that tennis is not even as important as NASCAR in the United States! Wow. Just wow. The only good news is that I did not have to sit through five service breaks in the second set alone. That’s right: five in one set between two guys who live on their serves. Unbelievable.
  

  
  

  Robby Ginepri d. John Isner 6-4, 6-3
  Isner’s only chance in this one actually came a whole night before. He and Ginepri played doubles together (lost a quarterfinal match), and after beating Wayne Odesnik in two hours and 37 minutes earlier in the night, you have to think Isner was tempted to fire a direct hit into the back of his partner’s head with one of his booming first serves. Turns out he should have; at least he should have if he valued a spot in the singles final more than Ginepri’s life.

   

  Well, Isner didn’t, and he lost his one and only chance. The big man was clearly not yet recovered from his exhausting semifinal win (having just gotten over mono does not help, either), so he was no contest for Ginepri except when he won free points with huge serves. Still, Isner did well to keep each set relatively close and it could have been far closer if he had not missed all five of his break-point opportunities.

   

  Doubles semifinals

  Ernests Gulbis & Dmitry Tursunov d. Sam Querrey & Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi 1-6, 6-2, 10-8
  It’s hard to imagine–without the benefit of being there or watching it on TV–how amazing Tursunov must be playing in doubles this week in order to keep carrying Gulbis to ATP-level wins. I don’t care if it’s doubles; Gulbis should not be winning any matches of any kind right now. Either Tusunov is Superman on steroids, or Querrey already felt good enough about being in the singles final, wanted to spread the wealth, and purposely lost. Or, more likely, both!

   

  Final

  Robby Ginepri d. Sam Querrey 6-2, 6-4
  Before he gets to himself, Querrey has four people/things on which to blame this loss: 1) Ginepri, 2) John Isner, 3) “the Samurai,” and 4) his coach. 1) Ginepri played awesome, 2) By playing Isner in the semis, Ginepri got a look at a serve that is even bigger than Querrey’s, and 3) “the Samurai” never got emotionally involved in the match. Of course, Querrey’s faithful fan following was never able to get riled up because Querrey gave them absolutely nothing to work with. He gave maybe one fist pump the entire day, and quite frankly his play did not deserve anything more than one first pump!

   

  Which brings us to culprit No. 4, Querrey’s coach. Ginepri’s coach was not in Indianapolis this week, so Querrey’s coach–who works for the USTA–warmed Ginepri up before the match. Hmmm, sounds like the coach could be out of a job! Not really, but Ginepri sure was on top of his game whereas Querrey was just wretched.
  
  As bas as Querrey was–especially on serve–Ginepri played outstanding tennis. Returned well, retrieved well, and came up with some spectacular shotmaking. Ranked 95th in the world and recently recovered from a ruptured appendix, Ginepri also needed this far more than Querrey. Sure it has to be frustrating for Querrey to be 0-3 in ATP finals this season, but he is in good form, moving up to No. 31 in the world, and is just 21. Ginepri is 26 and has been close to falling off the tennis map, mainly due to physical problems. This is huge for him!

   

  Doubles final

  Ernests Gulbis & Dmitry Tursunov d. Ashley Fisher & Jordan Kerr 6-4, 3-6, 11-9
  The mystery that is Ernests Gulbis grows more mysterious by the day. I have struggled to understand how Gulbis can be so bad (in case you haven’t been following, he has been one of the worst players on tour in 2009), and now I am even more confounded after watching today’s doubles final. I know the following is hard to believe, but I’m not lying: Gulbis is GOOD at tennis! He was awesome in the final, and by various accounts he has been awesome in doubles all week. Thus it makes his atrocity in singles all the more perplexing.

   

  Perhaps Gulbis should just do himself and everyone else a favor and become a doubles specialist. Actually, he already is a doubles specialist; he just won’t admit it. He needs to admit and stop playing singles. I mean stop altogether. He has now won TWO doubles titles (also last season in Houston with Rainer Schuettler) and he has never come close to winning anything in singles. Gulbis has never been past the QUARTERFINALS of any ATP singles tournament; not even a small, no-name tournament.

   

  Seriously, though, he (and Tursunov) looks like he has so much fun playing doubles. With headsets on during the post-first-set interview for TV, Tursunov and Gulbis pretended they were flying a plane. “Bravo this is Flight 945,” Tursunov told Gimelstob. In the post-match interview, Gulbis told Gimelstob that all they talk about on the court is “girls,” and “what we are going to do after the match.” They have fun all right. But when Gulbis plays singles he is an expert at perfecting the Bataan Death March! Of course, he has a reason to look so forlorn all the time: he is never winning!

   

  Unfortunately, this week’s performance is probably going to instill hope (false hope?) in Gulbis. Perhaps even more terrifying is that it is going to instill hope in his fans. It would be a lot easier for them to just give up. But there’s no whey they can if they saw the talent that was on display in Indianapolis.

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