Dr. Ivo is having one of the best seasons in men's tennis, but you'd never know it by glancing at the ATP Race standings, as the Croat currently sits outside of the top 20. Look a bit deeper, however, into Karlovic's play this year, and much more is revealed. Ivo has won three titles this year (only the big three of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have won more trophies), and has done something that not even the world's number two and three can say have accomplished: He has won tournaments on three different surfaces. Ivo won on the green clay in Houston back in April, on the green grass in Nottingham in June and, this past week, he won on a hard court in Stockholm by defeating Thomas Johansson 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Karlovic's game is built around his best shot - the serve - which he uses to great effect in order to end points before they can really even begin. So far this year, Karlovic has amassed 1,135 aces, which leads the ATP Tour by a wide margin. But Ivo's stellar results this year can also be attributed to an overall improvement in his tennis game, which has allowed him to win more points that don't end after the opening shot. Playing with more confidence and versatility this year (his volleying and movement at net are greatly improved), Karlovic has transformed himself from a carnival sideshow into one of the main attractions on tour.
With so much discussion at this time of year centered on who will qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup, I bet that those who do make it to Shanghai are happy that Karlovic is unlikely to make the cut. His play this year leads me to believe that he'd do well at the Qi Zhong Stadium - well enough to upset a high-seed, given the chance.
WTA - Recently on ESPN.com, Pete wrote about the "new" Elena Dementieva, in which he talked about how he will miss the erratic Russian's all-too-frequent nightmares while serving. To put it another way, she's the anti-Ivo Karlovic. Well for one week at least, that side of Dementieva seems to have been forgotten, as she came back to stun Serena Williams in Moscow, dropping only two games in the last two sets to win the final 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.
It is usually Dementieva who is associated with mental lapses and stretches of inconsistency, but in the finals of the Kremlin Cup, it was her opponent who was afflicted with these faults. Serena made 59 unforced errors in the match, giving Dementieva a golden opportunity to win her hometown tournament. The Russian seized her chance, roaring back after losing a hard-fought opening set to win the second in comfortable fashion. In the final set, she contuned to blitz Williams, even after dropping her opening service game. Serena's collapse was very surprising; she hadn't lost a set on the way to the final. But Elena's newfound command of her serve - and the fact that she won twelve of the last fourteen games in this contest - were even more shocking that Serena's woes.
Once ranked as high as No. 4 in the world, Dementieva is now unseeded in some tournaments, including the said Kremlin Cup. This fall from grace makes for tougher early round matches, but Elena navigated her way through these potential landmines in Moscow, beating Alicia Molik, Patty Schnyder, Victoria Azarenka and Dinara Safina before getting to Serena in the final. Before this week, Dementieva had twice lost in the finals of the Kremlin Cup, and had never won even a set against Serena Williams in their four previous matches. She ended both of those droughts; is this really the start of a "new" Dementieva? She still has a chance to qualify for the year-end championships, so we'll find out soon enough.
Tennis Theatre
Not sure of what Pete was referring to in regards to Elena Dementieva's serving mishaps? Take a look at this video (it appears to be from the Fed Cup years back), where even the commentator can't avoid the subject. In fact, he encourages it:
Next Week's Tournaments
Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid (ATP - Indoor Hard - Madrid, Spain)
- Website
- Singles Bracket
- Doubles Bracket
Television Coverage:
- Monday: 6:00 am - 1:00 pm (First Round; Live)
2:00 pm - 6:00 pm (First Round; Live)
7:00 pm - 4:00 am (First Round; Tape) - Tuesday: 4:30 am - 6:00 pm (First/Second Round; Live)
7:00 pm - 4:00 am (First/Second Round; Tape) - Wednesday: 4:30 am - 6:00 pm (Second Round; Live)
7:00 pm - 4:00 am (Second Round; Tape) - Thursday: 4:30 am - 1:00 pm (Third Round; Live)
1:30 pm - 6:00 pm (Third Round; Live)
7:00 pm - 4:00 am (Third Round; Tape) - Friday: 7:30 am - 12:00 pm (Quarterfinals; Live)
1:30 pm - 6:00 pm (Quarterfinals; Live)
6:00 pm - 10:30 pm (Quarterfinals; Tape)
10:30 pm - 3:00 am (Quarterfinals; Tape) - Saturday: 7:00 am - 12:30 pm (Semifinals; Live)
5:00 pm - 10:30 pm (Semifinals; Tape) - Sunday: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm (Finals; Live)
8:00 pm - 10:30 pm (Finals; Tape)
Zurich Open (WTA - Indoor Hard - Zurich, Switzerland)
- Website
- Singles & Doubles Bracket
Television Coverage:
- Saturday: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Semifinals; Live)
10:30 pm - 2:30 am (Semifinals; Tape) - Sunday: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm (Finals; Live)
11:00 pm - 1:00 am (Finals; Tape)
Beyond the Bracket
Last week's if... questions sparked a great number of well thought out and inspired comments; it was one of my favorite Monday Net Posts because of the amount of interactivity. Thanks a lot for your feedback. Here's a rough tally (I went through the first day's comments, which is a good sample size) of the answers from the Tribe, and my responses as well:
- if...you could see any non-Grand Slam, non-Masters Series/Tier 1 tennis tournament, what would it be?
Tribe: Queens, with Estoril in second place.
Ed: I've yet to see clay or grass court tennis in person, so the tournament I choose would have to be on one of those surfaces. Clay seems just completely foreign to me here in the U.S. - I've never even played on it - so I will go with the dirt in Barcelona, since the event is a good lead-in to the French Open, and usually touts a strong field.
- if...you were to bet your life savings on who would finish highest in the rankings in 2008, who would it be: David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo, Richard Gasquet, or Andy Murray?
Tribe: Ferrer got 20 votes in the first day, Murray got 14, and Gasquet got four. The closest Robredo got was courtesy of FoT, who said "Well, I want to say Ferrer, but Robredo always seems to be right up there every year." So, maybe a 1/2 vote for Tommy?
Ed: I asked this question because all four of these players were finalists last week, and you could make a case for all of them (even Robredo) as the best of the lot. I don't think David Ferrer is going to duplicate his achievements from this year in 2008, but I do think that Gasquet or Murray will finally make the leap we've been waiting for. They've were both in the top 10 this year, but not for very long. That will change next year, and as much as it pains me to go against my boy, the correct answer to this question is Andy Murray, who at the beginning of this year looked as good, if not better at times, than fellow prodigy Novak Djokovic. And Murray's starting to play well of late...
- if...you could play doubles with any three tennis players, dead or alive, who would they be?
Tribe: Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, and Roger Federer all had double digit tallies. Martina Hingis had a lot of support as well, coming in fourth place.
Ed: This one's easy. Steve Tignor, Asad Raza, and Andrew Friedman - teams don't matter. Let's make it happen boys. (If I get a dream singles match though, it's against Federer.)
- if...you could only listen to one commentator for televised tennis matches, who would it be? And, who would you least pick?
Tribe: John McEnroe and Andre Agassi were the unanimous choices for the favorite commentator - Andre obviously made a hell of a first impression at this year's U.S. Open. For the talking head you could do without, Ted Robinson, Dick Enberg, and Mary Carillo all received a number of votes.
Ed: My least favorite is Barry McKay, who was also mentioned by a few of you. Just way too over-the-top on too many points; thankfully, he only covers the odd FSN or Tennis Channel final. My favorite is McEnroe - John, but I like Patrick a lot too. Both are incredibly insightful tennis minds.
- if...Justine Henin, Venus Williams and Serena Williams played a full ATP schedule for a year, how many wins combined would they have at season's end?
Tribe: I asked this question to see what you thought the best women could do against the men if they had a lot of chances to play against each other. Could the WTA's best adapt their games throughout the course of a year against the harder-hitting men? A couple of you said maybe a few wins, but most (five on day one) said they wouldn't win even one match.
Ed: I honestly believe that if Justine Henin had 30 or so chances to play against players from the ATP Tour, she would be able to win a match or two. I don't think either of the Williams sisters would, but Henin's ground strokes are on an entirely different plane than the rest of the WTA Tour, and I think it could translate to some success against the men as well.
- if...Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal took 2008 off, who would you most like to see win Roland Garros and Wimbledon?
Tribe: Lots of Richard Gasquet love - eight of you wanted to see him win Wimbledon, and ten wanted to see him win in front of the French crowds at Roland Garros. He gets the nod for the French, but Andy Roddick ran away with the Wimbledon votes, notching 17 tallies, many surely out of pity.
Ed: Completely agree with the crowd here - Richard becoming the first Frenchman to win on the terre battue since Yannick Noah would be a sight to behold, and after this year's Australian Open and U.S. Open losses to Federer (when Roddick played good tennis), I feel that Andy deserves some Grand Slam love as well. No better place than where he's come so close before - the All England Club.
- if...EA Sports created a tennis video game, would you buy it?
Tribe: 13 of you said you would buy it; 21 of you said "no thanks."
Ed: Emphatic yes. I can't believe that EA Sports, which has cornered the sports video game market, hasn't ventured into tennis for at least one year. It's not like I don't enjoy what's out there - Virtua Tennis for the Sega Dreamcast was great fun, while Top Spin for Xbox refined the game play even further. But I'm curious to see what simulation that EA could come up with, since they've done so well with the NFL and NHL in the past. Just put Federer on the game cover, not Roddick or Sharapova.
- if...you couldn't watch tennis for a year, what sport would you focus on the most instead?
Tribe: In Major League Baseball, the Tribe (the Cleveland Indians) are one of the last four teams remaining in the playoffs, and it seems like the success of that "Tribe" translated into baseball votes in our "Tribe". Baseball won this vote, with football (both European and American) coming in second place.
Ed: I watch every New York Rangers game that is broadcast already, so even though hockey is neck-and-neck alongside tennis in my sports hierarchy, I don't think I could focus on it any more than I already do. With that said, I would devote more attention to another favorite sport of mine, English football. My club? Exeter City. No joke - they aren't even in the Football League, but they are still my adopted side after a three week sojourn in this Devon city a few summers ago.
- if...you had to select one match to show an audience of sports fans, but not tennis fans, what match would it be?
Tribe: Federer. Nadal. This year's Wimbledon final got ten votes, while the 2006 Rome epic got just a few less. Then their meeting at the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup (good match, but didn't go the distance) garnered enough support for third place.
Ed: All three of these matches are great options, but if you want to make a statement to someone who doesn't follow tennis, the U.S. Open is unquestionably the setting you need to display. Trust me on this one, because tennis-haters who have sat down and watched a good, live match from Queens with me are soon captivated. None of the above matches come close to the electricity and energy that is present at a night match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Of course, you also need to show great tennis, and the match that has both of these qualities is the classic 2005 U.S. Open quarterfinal between Andre Agassi and James Blake.
- if...you had the option, would you prefer to see the tennis year end after the U.S. Open?
Tribe: 11 yes, 29 no.
Ed: Given what I just wrote above about the US Open, wouldn't it be even more dramatic and riveting if the tournament was the conclusion to the tennis year? The Tennis Masters Cup is a great idea, but it's almost like an afterthought; even to many serious fans, it comes and goes by pretty quickly, without a great deal of fanfare. Tennis is built upon the Grand Slams, and the U.S. Open - one of the grandest of these events - would be a fitting way to mark the end of a long, but exciting, year of tennis.
One more question for you all: if...you had the choice, would you like to see one "if..." question per week on the MNP?
- Ed McGrogan
