Kevin Kim (USA): W1 and L8 since Jan.1 2007

[Black Max]

Can anyone explain this dismal showing by Kevin Kim?
The guy is ranked 124 in the world... He won't stay there for much longer if he doesn't shake himself out of that rut.

he looks so small when he's out on the court sometimes. i feel like he needs to work on fitness a lot to keep up personally. plus i think the confidence of his good australian run is waning as time passes

[!Tym]

I saw his match against Murray at the Sybase Open earlier this year. Supposedly, someone said he's been battling an injury and that's affected him.

To be honest, it may be that he's just now getting his sea legs/range back. He's certainly no world beater, but also not the level he's played at this year.

Against, Murray, it was like literally watching a 2001 version of him all over again. I.e. "EVERYONE knows he's not that consistent, all you have to do is keep the ball in play three or four times and he'll miss," per Mr. Vince Spadea who ain't afraidaya.

That Kim, there was basically like no rhythm to watching his matches. He'd hit one pancake flat winner out of nowhere, then three or four inexcusable errors in a row off just, basic routine, rally shots. He also would always seem to get shaky on key points/games.

When he first started to win (not a lot) but at least some matches at the tour level, it was because he made a conscious decision to stop going for low-percentage shots, play high-percentage, and actually start using his speed and movement (which are actually pretty good).

Again, this version against Murray, you could have taken any random day from a couple years ago and it'd look like an exact clone.

He actually hit some really big shots in this match for winners, but all in all, it was a match in which Murray really didn't seem to need to do anything except show up. I mean literally, Kim was like down 5-love in what seemed like just seconds, before he started to find any kind of range *at all* on his shots.

All in all, I wouldn't be surprised if injury has had something to do with it. I mean he really looked like a guy who needed to do some hard-core drilling sessions to find his range and calibration again. Honestly, his body-language just didn't suggest to me someone who had any real sense of where his balls were going to being landing at all.

With that said, guys like Sanguinetti are a nightmare matchup for Kim, but add someone like Murray who's also got the big serve and can bop as well as massage groundies, and it spells blow out. But again, having seen the match, I think in this case, it was more so an out-of-practice Kevin Kim just having no idea where his balls were going to land than Murray really needing to do much of anything except show up and say thank you for the day off at the end of the match.

[Fedace]

Originally Posted by Black Max

Can anyone explain this dismal showing by Kevin Kim?
The guy is ranked 124 in the world... He won't stay there for much longer if he doesn't shake himself out of that rut.

Kevin Kim will be in top 100 after this tournament, he has never been above 70 or so, so what is new? he is playiing his best and making pretty good money, so what is wrong with that? did you expect him to be top 20, he has no major weapons so what do you expect.?