Cincinnati Tennis

Notable events at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati are as follows:

The men

Zverev shows a temper. 

Alexander Zverev refused to shake the umpire’s had after he lost to Sugita in an early round.  Zverev has shown some irascibility in other matches.  He is still young, but keeping cool under pressure is an important aspect of success on the tour.  He should be aware of that.

Dimitrov showing some signs. 

Grigor Dimitrov had several good wins in this tournament, beating Feliciano Lopez, Stan Wawrinka, and Steve Johnson.  As pointed out in previous posts (He’s no Fed, baby!) Dimitrov has been playing aimless tennis, with serves placed passively into the box and groundies that appear to be simple rally balls.  That approach caused him to lose a lot of matches this year, but in this tournament he served to the extremes of the box and hit his groundies, particularly his forehand, with much more authority.  He lost to the eventual winner, Marin Cilic, but Dimitrov fans can feel encouraged after this week.

Steve Johnson is U.S. number one. 

Stevie Johnson continues to improve against top players.  He beat Tsonga in this tournament and became the number one ranked American player.  He’s got a big serve and forehand.  We’ll see how far those assets can take him.

Murray dominates Raonic again. 

Ever since the Australian Open, where Raonic looked as if he was going to beat Murray, but then succumbed to health problems, Murray has dominated this matchup.  Murray has been playing the best tennis in the world over the last several weeks, and thus his win is no surprise.  If you want to see why Jimmy Arias called Raonic the third best player in the world right now, and why so many people predict Raonic will win a slam, take a look at the point he played against Murray in their first set, with Murray serving at 3-2, 30-30. 

Nadal does not look good.

Rafa lost to Borna Coric in this tournament and looked bad while doing it.  He cited fatigue in his post match interview, but let’s be frank:  it’s not possible to effectively play Rafa’s physical style year after year.  Rafa is a big guy, and moving his frame around the court the way he has in the past seems very hard now.  In my opinion Nadal has also lost some competitive intensity, which is understandable after so many years on the tour and so many matches.  Nadal is now in the unenviable position of being a huge target for players while no longer having the huge game that made him such a target.

The women

Karolina Pliskova finally manages her nerves. 

Pliskova, like her compatriot Thomas Berdych, has a big frame, huge weapons and easy power.  However, she has been her own worst enemy in many matches, where she has appeared to succumb to nerves.  She overcame that problem this week though, as she powered her way to the title.  She gets so many free points on serve and off the ground she could be a real threat if she stops snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.  She is someone to watch at the Open.

Serena stays at #1. 

Angie Kerber fell short in this one, losing to Pliskova in the final.  Had she won, she would have assumed the number one ranking.  If Serena really cared about that she would have played a couple of rounds at this tournament, but in my opinion she’s more interested in being completely fit and sharp for the U.S. Open.  In skipping this tournament Serena claimed injury (shoulder), but don’t expect her to be hampered in New York. 

The winners

On the men’s side, Marin Cilic defeated Andy Murray in the final.  This is the first match Murray has lost in a long time, and as I said earlier, I believe Murray is playing the best tennis in the world right now.  As we know from his U.S. Open win, Cilic can be a very tough customer when he plays his best. 

On the women’s side, Karolina Pliskova beat Angelique Kerber in straight sets.  This win has already been discussed.