By Chris Oddo | Monday, July 14, 2014
82-year-old Nick Bollettieri was finally inducted into the tennis Hall of Fame, while 33-year-old Lleyton Hewitt won another title.
Photo Source: Michael Dwyer/AP
With Wimbledon in the books, we were a bit more fragmented this week, with tour stops in Newport, Stuttgart, Bucharest, Bad Gastein and Bastad. It makes the logistics—and the live streaming—a bit harder but it doesn’t change the game we love.
Without any further ado, here are the week’s heroes and zeros.
Hero: Lleyton Hewitt
The Aussie squandered a few match points in the final at Newport, but in true gritty fashion Lleyton Hewitt came through to win his 30th career title, nudging his way past Dr. Ivo Karlovic in a very entertaining final, 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-7(3). Hewitt, who joins Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as one of only four active ATP players to have reached the 30-title mark, also went on to claim the doubles title alongside Chris Guccione.
He may not measure up to the aforementioned members of the big three when it comes down to depth and quality of legacy, but that doesn’t take any of the shine from Hewitt’s latest title or, for that matter, any of his achievements to date. And when it comes to heart, grit and character, he’s second to none. A fierce competitor and an animated character, Hewitt has never taken a day off in his illustrious career. Hell, he’s never taken A POINT OFF!!!
Of particular note in his final with Karlovic was the way that Hewitt steered back so many of Karlovic’s big serves, absorbing all the pace of one of the hardest serves in the game on a fast surface and, with a compact, sensible bunt-like swing, guiding it back with depth and pace. It was a remarkable display of classic grass-court returning done by one of the true masters of the game.
Zero: Juan Monaco
The former—and very recent—top 10-er drops to 8-13 on the season with a first-round loss in Stuttgart to Federico Delbonis. Monaco has now fallen in the first round of five events this year and has not been beyond the quarters of any. He’s No. 86 in the world today, and we think he’s just too good for that ranking.
Hero: The Hall of Famers
Every year, without fail, we tune into the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s induction speeches, and every year, without fail, we end up moved to tears of joy and inspiration. This year it was Nick Bollettieri’s long-awaited induction that moved us the most. The man, the myth and the legend, at 82 years of age, gave the most impassioned speech. It was delivered smoothly, with cadence, class and humility, as well as the fire and spunk that has characterized Bollettieri’s rise from inexperienced coach to well-heeled legend of the game and creator of the tennis academy.
Lindsay Davenport, so decent and humble, also gave a moving speech, as did five-time Paralympic champion Chantal Vandierendonck, British tennis historian John Barrett and tennis industry leader Jane Brown Grimes. It’s one of the underrated days on the tennis calendar, but when it’s all said and done, it always ends up being one of the most soul-quenching, illuminating and memorable.
Hero: Simona Halep
About this time last year, Simona Halep was outside the top 50 and had never won a WTA title. We’ve harped on this before, but what a transformation for the 22-year-old Romanian, who maintains her No. 3 ranking by winning her eighth career title at Bucharest, pulling a few points from the No. 1 spot in the race to Singapore, and further reinforcing the notion that she is THE REAL DEAL.
Though she had a relatively easy draw in Bucharest this week, the fact that Halep was able to rally to win another title after a long grind this summer that her saw reach the Roland Garros final and the Wimbledon semis shows that she gets what it means to suck up her fatigue and turn in a solid performance for the home crowd. Judging from the wildly enthusiastic turnout at the inaugural event in Bucharest, no fans went home disappointed.
Zero: Drake (the rapper, dude)
For calling out Nick Kyrgios, when all the 19-year-old Aussie said is that the music on his headphones prior to a match “wasn’t working for him.” Kyrgios didn’t say he didn’t like the music or anything to that effect. Just hinted that it was the wrong selection to use for getting pumped up for a match.
Hero: Andrea Petkovic
The German nabbed her second title of the year at Bad Gastein, proving that she really is one heck of a clay-courter. As in: 19-5 on clay in 2014 with two titles and a French Open semifinal to her name.
Hero: Roberto Bautista Agut
The Spaniard is on the rise, and he made that clear by winning his second title in the span of a month in Stuttgart. Bautista Agut rises to a career-high ranking as a result, and he has the rest of the summer to try to shoot for his first career hard-court title. He’s already done grass (‘s-Hertogenbosch) and clay (Stuttgart), so why not?
Some more studs and duds from the week that was:
Stud: Shelby Rogers and Grace Min
Both Americans produced miraculously good results at Bad Gastein last week. Rogers, 21, owned a career tour-level record of 3-8 heading into the week and came out of it with her first career final, which included stunning upsets of top 20 players Carla Suarez Navarro and Sara Errani.
Min, who entered Bad Gastein with a career record of 2-12, reached her first career semifnal before falling to Andrea Petkovic in three sets.
Dud: David Ferrer
The top seed took a pretty good thrashing at the hands of Carlos Berlocq in Bastad, falling 6-3, 6-3. It hasn’t been a horrible year for Ferrer, who is 33-13 with one title, but it hasn’t exactly been inspiring, either.
Stud: Jack Sock
Sock reached his first career semifinal at Newport, before being schooled in the art of grass court tennis by Lleyton Hewitt. Still, nice run. Baby steps, right? Sock moves to a career-high 69 in the rankings.
Stud: Sam Groth
The hard-serving Aussie also reached his first career semifinal, and will take his place in the ATP’s top 100 for the first time as a result.
Notes and Quotes, Odds and Sods
Congrats to these two beautiful people!
Didn’t know Joao Sousa was this funny. Great capture!
I guess somebody will have to ask Martina Hingis about this the next time they see her, because we’re all dying to know what was up here…
That’s the spirit, Tracy.