In contrast with Wimbledon 2007 where apart from the final excitement was almost alien to the tournament, the US Open 2007 is bubbling with exciting matches and is the show case for many younger players many of them qualifiers some wild cards, who've proven themselves respectable opponents. Not in order of merit Paul Capdeville (24 ), Steve Darcis (23), John Isner (22), Donald Young (18), Philipp Petzschner (23), Alun Jones (27), Ernests Gulbis (19), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (22), gave great account of themselves in very interesting matches and some are still contending for the title.
John Isner and Ernests Gulbis stand out from the group for the dangerous nature of their games.
Players beware of letting "Big John" get enough points to be entered directly in the main draws at the up and coming indoor season! Because if he does there will be plenty of upsets all the way to the top.
Ernests Gulbis is a 1000 karat diamond, handicapped by a slight weakness in movement and may be body strength due to his size and growing, otherwise he has it all! This young men gave me flash backs of a young Pete Sampras in 1990; smooth, sharp eyes, great service, first and second, fabulous hands, tactically smart, effective under pressure, mixes up intelligently, serves and volleys when needed, loose as a goose and shooting from the hips from both wings. I must make a compliment here, there are just a handful of true tennis coaches around the world and Nicky Pilic (a former great tennis player also blessed with plenty of talent) is one of them. The youngsters he works with are never stymied by the typical one mode robotics baseline tennis, Pilic keeps their creativity intact while teaching them a good dose of solid (attacking) tennis principles. Nicky, congratulations on a great job!
Going back to the US Open even Carlos Moya from the Spanish armada has shown his grit with great forays to the net to pick up crucial points in a highly spirited match with Phillip Kohlschreiber a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4 and the list of highly contested matches is almost endless in the men's draw:
Max Mirnyi - Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(6).
Rafael Nadal - Alun Jones 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
Novak Djokovic-Radek Stepanek 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(2)
Teimuraz Gabashvili - Fernando Gonzalez 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 5-7, 6-4
Tommy Haas - Steve Darcis 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
James Blake - Fabrice Santoro, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
David Ferrer - David Nalbandian 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-5
Juan Ignacio Chela - Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4, 6-7(5), 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
Stanislas Wawrinka - Robby Ginepri, 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
....and there are plenty more exciting matches in the men's draw I did not even mention, I can not say the same in the women's draw were in most cases it seems to be total domination and total debacle with most matches being pretty lopsided, here are some exceptions:
Tamira Paszek - Patty Schnyder 4-6, 6-4, 7-6
Shahar Peer - Nicole Vaidisova 4- 6, 7-6, 7-5
Agnieszka Radwanska - Maria Sharapova 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
As a tennis lover I like tennis whether it is men's or women's, but I have big reticence’s looking at the women's draws and see match after match with short scores like 6-1 - 6-1 or consistently a 6-1 or a 6-0 in the third sets has if there was no battle to be fought. Women's tennis has made great strides, but many players still have to learn to fight to the end, to never get disappointed and never ever give up. We only can hope that their matches are more spirited as we get the final phase of this great tournament.
We can expect some big matches coming up especially, Roddick – Federer and I hate to make predictions, but I get the feeling Carlos Moya may have his hands full with Ernests Gulbis not to mention Nadal against Ferrer which could be another cracker!
Yes, I cannot hold back my excitement at the perspective of some great close matches, that is what tennis is all about fierce competition. "It's hard to beat a person who never gives up." Babe Ruth
Let us all enjoy this excellent US Open 2007 and expect some surprises!
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Sérgio Cruz is an ex # 1 National Champion, Davis Cup Player from Portugal and former Coach Jim Courier ATP World Ranking # 1
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