Last week was a busy one on the ATP Tour with an ATP 500 in Hamburg, an ATP 250 in Gstaad and the US Open Series kicking off in Atlanta with the ATP 250 BT&T Atlanta Open. The tennis review looks back at a week that saw tempers flare, titles won and heads scratching.
1. Rafael Nadal’s time-taking between points really gets on his opponent’s nerves.
Fabio Fognini could not take much more of it in the heart of the second set of the Hamburg final against Nadal. The Italian blew up at the top seed, berating him for one of the Spaniard’s many much maligned behaviors.
Check out the video below to see Fabio Fognini lose it with Nadal.
Fognini had to take matters into his own hands, or words, because the ATP officials, well, don’t.
These kind of scenes might be entertaining, but they also make tennis a little bit of a circus. Perhaps it’s time to introduce a stop clock to monitor the game’s more infamous time wasters so that the likes of the talented Fognini can focus on taking their aggression out on the ball and not on their opponents at the changeover.
2. Rafael Nadal is still very much in love with tennis
Nadal’s slump has been one of the year’s headlines and at times he has looked like he really been suffering out there.
There was no sign of suffering when he converted match point in the Hamburg final though. Despite struggling with his serve and his forehand being dangerously short at key moments, Nadal fought and won his 67th career title, his 47th ATP Clay title, and the joy in his achievements showed.
The French Open winning style celebration was understandable- the Hamburg title is Nadal’s biggest since winning at Roland Garros in 2014, and the title could not have come at a better time as the tour builds up to the U.S Open where a confident, and hungry, Nadal will make events that bit more interesting.
3. Dominic Thiem is a future Roland Garros Champ
Thiem won his third clay court of 2015, (Nice, Umag, Gstaad) and third overall, when he defeated David Goffin in straight sets for the ATP 250 Gstaad trophy.
That collection is quite an achievement for a 21 year old and he follows in the footsteps of players of the likes of del Potro (2009) and Safin (2000) in winning multiple titles in one season before his 22nd birthday.
The question is whether Thiem will be like those top five ranking slam winning Champions or will he become a clay specialist of the likes of Muster, Costa and Coria, all who went on to win Roland Garros. The 21 year old’s clay court prowess certainly bodes well for his chances of becoming a Roland Garros champion at the very least in a few years.
Whichever way his career goes, he is certain to keep tennis fans entertained with his easy on the eye game and his choice of hairstyles.
4. David Goffin is struggling to make the next step
Goffin served for the first set against Thiem in Gstaad, and the Belgian, who led the head to head 4-1 before the match, then went quietly away in the match, succumbing to Thiem’s quiet intensity and great defense.
Letting that lead slip could have been down to Thiem’s great play, or it could have been to Goffin’s head. The world no.15 has been making great strides the last year- winning ATP 250 titles and a making 500 final (Basel), and is on the verge of breaking into the top 10.
That breakthrough is hard to achieve for anyone and with so much expectation on his shoulders to do it, Goffin may have had that thought in the back of his mind serving for the set.
The Belgian has withdrawn from Kitzbuhel where he was the defending champion so we won’t know if his ‘choke’ was a temporary glitch in what has, so far, been a smoothly progressing operation or a career-threatening weakness until the North American hard court events in a couple of weeks time.
5. The ATP Schedule is one of the world’s great wonders
With the US Open five weeks away, and the French Open now a distant memory, except for those hardcore Wawrinka fans of course, the Calender last week had its biggest event, a 500 one, on clay, another clay event, while the tournament to kickstart the US Open Series and its first winner of 2015 John Isner got lost somewhere in the background. (Even more baffling is that this week’s ATP 500 Citi Open is not even in the US Open Series due to TV licensing policies but more on that next week).
This head-scratching scheduling is just one of the many oddities of one of the world’s most professional, and for those that break into the elite, lucrative sporting associations joining other wonders such as the first slam of the year starting a month into an 11 month season, Newport coming the week after Wimbledon, and the tired-looking, anti-climatic final Indoor events.
6. John Isner won his third Atlanta title
The American won on home soil in Atlanta for the third consecutive year, though it was the lowest key victory of the week with Nadal dominating the headlines in Hamburg and Thiem’s clay court run attracting a lot of the attention.
Isner looked impressive as he always does on home hard courts, and he is once again looking good for a strong U.S Open lead up. Whether he can really break through and compete for his home slam is another thing, but he is certainly in the mood to get noticed, and with the tour now about to focus on the North American Summer Swing, he hopefully will.
Watch highlights of Isner’s BT&T Atlanta win over Marcos Baghdatis below
Commentary by Christian Deverille.
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