Wk.28- Hewitt’s Last Hurrah?

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

The World Cup is finished. Congratulations Germany. You guys really were the best team. In fact, you were frighteningly good. Goodbye to Wimbledon, as well, though not the grass. Not yet.

Who likes old finals? With a combined age of 68, two very old people took to the court and played young tennis on an old tennis court. It was reminiscent of the good old days. Karlovic, now up to 29 in the world, lost to Hewitt, who has risen to 41st in the world. When was the last time they were both seeded at a slam? 2009 US Open. It could happen again, exactly five years after the last time it happened. Also, Federer and Hewitt are back as the respective number one of their nations. So is the norm finally happening again?

I consider any tournament older than 35 years to be respectably venerable. The Hall of Fame Championships are 38 years old this year. Former winners include but are not limited to Teacher, Masur, Paes, Dent, Rusedski [who won it once for Canada and twice for Britain], Philippoussis, Santoro, Isner and Hewitt. The Mercedes Cup is sixty-five. Former winners include von Cramm [aged 45], Drysdale, Emerson, Gerulaitis , Borg, Leconte, Lendl, Mecir, Agassi, Ivanisevic, Stich, Muster, Corretja, Kuerten, Norman, Coria, Nadal, Ferrer, Del Potro and Agut. The Swedish Open is now sixty-six years old. Some of the former winners are Rosewall, Santana, Emerson, Nastase, Orantes, Smith, Borg, Wilander, Sanchez, Norman, Moya, Nadal, Ferrer, Soderling and Cuevas. So we have three historical tennis tournaments with a great list of former champions and three champions from three different backgrounds from three different nations with different careers and career trajectories. Is tennis the most diverse sport?

But enough of my talking, lots of other stuff happened this week...


*WEEK 28 CHAMPIONS*
NEWPORT, USA
S: Lleyton Hewitt def. Ivo Karlovic 6-3/6-7/7-6
D: Guccione/Hewitt d. Erlich/Ram
BASTAD, SWEDEN
S: Pablo Cuevas def. Joao Sousa 6-2/6-1
D: Brunstrom/Monroe d. Chardy/Marach
STUTTGART, GERMANY
S: Roberto Bautista Agut def. Lukas Rosol 6-3/4-6/6-2
D: Kowalczyk/Sitak d. Garcia-Lopez/Oswald


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: HEWITT, AUS
...winning your thirtieth career title and second of the year is impressive. Winning your third doubles title at the same time is also very impressive. In 1998, Hewitt won in Adelaide, beating Stoltenberg in three tight sets. The home crowd was a factor in the match for the South Australian. Enqvist beat him in the final of the same tournament the next year, but Hewitt won in Delray Beach, beating Malisse in the process. Malisse is now retired. His first 29 opponents in finals are all retired. He bested Enqvist in Adelaide in 2000 and won Sydney also that year. He won Queens and Scottsdale in 2000 as well. He was ushering in a new era, one he started almost all on his own [Safin helped] and one he molded. In 2001, he won Sydney and Queens again plus a first title in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. He won the US Open, too, and flew out just a couple of hours before all planes were grounded.

Hewitt would go on to win titles in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. He won Sydney so many times. He slowly started to win less and less. He won none in 2008, 2011, 2012 or 2013. He has won two this year and I think he will retire after the Australian next year. I understand the feeling. I always feel different in the country I was born in. I’m an Aussie, too, and I just feel different. I couldn’t explain and I don’t know if it is just me. Hewitt always did very well there. So well you felt the surface didn’t matter. Hewitt was seeded third here. He should have lost to Harrison in the first round -- he was literally hit off the court. He came back like he has done so many times to win 1-6, 7-5, 6-4. Next up he faced dangerous qualifier Pavic. Dangerous to some perhaps. Hewitt dropped just four games and moved on. Hewitt was in a bad mood when he faced Sock. He blew the American away 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the final, his first in six months. That’s not a real drought. Just ask Murray. Hewitt scraped past Karlovic and his cannon to win title number two. He is now thirtieth in the race. How’s that?
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RISER: BAUTISTA-AGUT, ESP
...I have talked about this man a lot over the past couple of weeks. Not only did he win the title but he also became the third ranked Spaniard. That is a fantastic achievement. I am going to be talking about Spaniards again below. I am bored of talking about Spaniards. Where have all the Russians gone?
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SURPRISE: GROTH, AUS
...this man has never won a match at a slam. He has only qualified thrice. He has an 8-13 record in singles and 6-8 record in doubles. He has no titles. Until March of this year he had never even won a challenger. He has never been in the world’s top hundred until now. He lost the match he hit the fastest serve ever in. He was married to someone even more erratic than himself (Jarmila Gajdosova), though more talented. He's been winning futures for so long one has to wonder when he is going to achieve this bright future. Here was a man who always seemed to run into a seed in the slams when he did manage to qualify. And this man, this journeyman, this journeyman of journeymen. This man with the big serve and seemingly nothing else has finally made a run. He dismissed Young in round one. He then beat Jaziri, but needed a pair of breakers. He rolled past Mahut 6-3, 6-4 to make his maiden semifinal. It was not to be but it was a great tournament nonetheless. He did not lose a set all the way to losing to an even bigger server. Groth moves on now, full of confidence. And he should be confident. He has nothing to defend and he has hit form. He should aim for the top 60 next.
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FRESH FACE: CUEVAS, URU
...a first time titlist at the age of 28. The man born on the first of January has finally won one and it was on clay, wouldn’t you know. Cuevas has always been dangerous on clay, though questionable elsewhere. He has a game suited for the dirt. He has a game that is perfect for winning on the dirt though he did need help from the draw, but then again who doesn’t? Look at Bartoli winning Wimbledon last year. Did she play anyone ranked higher than twenty? No. Did she play whoever was in front of her? Yes. Did she get an enormous slice of luck? Yes, of course she did.
Cuevas was much the same here but on a smaller scale. He eased passed Chardy 6-2, 6-2. The good form was not to be continued, however. He struggled past Lindell [a Swedish wildcard] in over two and a half hours 4-6, 6-2, 7-6. It looked as if Verdasco would simply sweep him aside. Nope. Cuevas won the first set breaker 8-6 and never looked back, taking the second set 6-3. Once in the final he decided to dominate and did so. He demoralized Sousa [in his second final] 6-2, 6-1. It was an incredible performance, a far cry from his struggles with Lindell. Cuevas rose to about sixty in the world.
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VETERAN: LOPEZ, ESP
...he won this title at Queens, too. Lopez is putting together quite a year, especially for a vet. He should have played on the grass. For a veteran that was not an experienced decision. It used to be Lopez was dangerous at every tournament. It used to be Lopez could string together months of consistent play and push even the best to the very limit. It used to be that Lopez could out serve anybody and volley in a god-like manner. It used to be his serve was nigh on unbreakable and he would win epic five set matches and only break serve once. It used to be that forehand could always find your backhand. It used to be he was one of the best all-courters in the world. It used to be was not only an incredibly gifted player but also incredibly gifted in the hair department. It used to be he was the best lefty Spaniard on hard courts. But ‘used to be's’ don't count anymore, they just lay on the floor until we sweep them away.
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DOWN: FERRER, ESP
...by all means, have a poor Wimbledon. By all means, make it plain just how much you want to get back on the dirt. But then why would you, once you are back on the dirt, decide to crash out? Ferrer inexplicably lost 6-3, 6-3 to Berlocq. No fight, no resistance. The only question that remains is does he deserve an E or an F?
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UPSET: SOCK, USA
...Isner is having a banner year. A return to the top ten is the jewel in his 2014 thus far. Title number eight was also acquired, and title number two off US soil and number two on New Zealand soil. He also had a career performance at the French [fourth round] not to mention a third round performance at Wimbledon. He lost to Lopez there, an acceptable loss. Isner eased past Odesnik and Krajicek without looking troubled. He was laughing and joking with Sock before the match. Then the men’s doubles titlist won the first set 6-4. He and Isner held all the way to a breaker which Sock won 7-4. Sock had not read the script and Isner was sent packing.
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1. STUTTGART Final - AGUT d. ROSOL
...6-3/4-6/6-2. I have officially given up writing out the Spaniard’s name in full. Anyway he ground out the in-form Rosol. Despite Rosol hitting some big shots and threatening to make it go the distance, Agut held firm. The Spaniard had never been to a final before 2013 and now he has won two and even been to the fourth round of a slam. He is up to eighteenth in the world. It is an impressive late career ‘bloom’ so to speak. It echoes of Benneteau except the Spaniard actually knows how to win titles. Expect the Spaniard to win a third title this year and excel in the remaining Masters.
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2. NEWPORT Final - HEWITT d. KARLOVIC
...6-3/6-7/ 7-6. Being a foot smaller than his opponent appeared not to affect Hewitt a great deal. This classic huge server versus great returner battle could have gone either way. After breaking once and holding on to take the first, Karlovic decided to serve even bigger. It worked. He won the second set breaker 7-4. He dragged the match into a third set breaker. Hewitt managed to win that 7-3 and win his second title of the year. Hewitt is now fourth all time with regards to grass court titles won, with eight. McEnroe also has eight but Connors has nine with Sampras just ahead on ten. Federer has fourteen. How in the heck is anyone going to catch him? Even with the expanded grass ‘swing’ that looks like an impossible record to break.
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3. BASTAD 1st Rd. - OLIVO d. ROBREDO
...7-6 /6-3. Olivo came through qualifying as the fifth seed. Renzo was 282 in the world. When the 282nd best player in the world is being seeded fifth in the qualifying the standard of the qualies is low. Olivo dismissed fourth seed Zopp 6-2, 6-2. Olivo then won his first round when Mathieu retired. He snuck the first set against Robredo 8-6 in the breaker. He just got better and better. He broke four times in the end. Robredo had been made to look his age.
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4. STUTTGART 1st Rd. - ROSOL d. LOPEZ
...
4-6/6-3/7-6. Why on earth Lopez elected not to play on grass I will never know. He did not play well against Traver in the second round and was then not at his best against Rosol in the quarterfinals. He has only himself to blame.
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*BOGOTA, COLOMBIA*
=SF=
Gasquet [1] d. Tomic
Karlovic [2] d. [4] Stepanek
=FINAL=
Gasquet [1] d. [2] Karlovic

...The field here is weaker than bad instant coffee. Gasquet is the only player who has been to more than one slam quarterfinal. He is by far and away the best player here. I should not be so cautious about picking him and yet I am.

*HAMBURG, GERMANY*
=SF=
Ferrer [1] d. [4] Dolgopolov
Fognini [2] d. [3] Robredo
=FINAL=
Fognini [2]d. [1] Ferrer

...With Ferrer in bad form, the rest of the field will all have a chance to win. It is a very talented field, too.


Now it’s goodbye to grass....

Thanx all and visit WTABACKSPIN please.

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