2014 Citi Open - General Discussion Thread

Who will win the 2014 Citi Open title?

  • Tomas Berdych

    Votes: 5 12.2%

  • Milos Raonic

    Votes: 10 24.4%

  • Grigor Dimitrov

    Votes: 10 24.4%

  • Kei Nishikori

    Votes: 5 12.2%

  • John Isner

    Votes: 4 9.8%

  • Richard Gasquet

    Votes: 3 7.3%

  • Kevin Anderson

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Feliciano Lopez

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 4 9.8%
  • Total voters
    41
Down_the_line

Down_the_line

G.O.A.T.
2014 Citi Open (US Open Series)
William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center
Washington, D.C., United States

July 28 - August 3 2014​


Level: ATP World Tour 500
Surface: Hard
Draw size: S-48, D-16

Seeds:
[1/WC] Tomas Berdych (CZE)
[2] Milos Raonic (CAN)
[3] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) *Withdrew*
[4] Kei Nishikori (JPN)
[5] John Isner (USA)
[6] Richard Gasquet (FRA)
[7] Kevin Anderson (RSA)
[8] Feliciano Lopez (ESP)
[9] Ivo Karlovic (CRO)
[10] Santiago Giraldo (COL)
[11] Radek Stepanek (CZE)
[12] Jeremy Chardy (FRA)
[13] Vasek Pospisil (CAN)
[14] Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)
[15] Denis Istomin (UZB)
[16] Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)
[17] Julien Benneteau (FRA)

Draw:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2014/418/mds.pdf

Defending champions: S-Juan Martin del Potro (ARG), D-Julien Benneteau (FRA) / Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)


I know a lot of people don't take this tournament too seriously but this is a great lineup for a 500 event in my opinion. Minus the top players, you've pretty much got most of the top field of hard court players here. It should be a good week of tennis and a definite step up from the clay tournaments and small hard court tournaments going on for the last several weeks.

I think this is a great chance for Raonic to step up and claim his first ATP 500 title. He's at the level where he can beat anyone outside the Big 3 and this tournament offers the conditions he likes the most.
 
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Pumped for the potential Hewitt-Raonic in the third, and the Potential Tomic-Dimitrov

If those matches happen it'll be great to watch :)

Although Tomic had an Achilles injury in the win over Karlovic.
 
Well, for Raonic to do it, he needs to go through Isner and Dimitrov. Tough, but then, so it is for them :-)

Great field for a 500, and most of them are going at each other in the rankings, so ...
And look at that dough :-))
 
Last edited:
Singles qualifying is complete. The 6 qualifiers are:

Robby Ginepri (USA)
Yuichi Sugita (JPN)
Jared Donaldson (USA)
Rajeev Ram (USA)
Illya Marchenko (UKR)
Alex Kuznetsov (USA)
 
mightyrick said:
Isner looked really good at Atlanta. I'm picking him for DC.
Click to expand...

He's got some points to defend, as he made the final last year, losing to del Potro. It would be remarkable if he was actually able to better that and take the title. I don't see it though. The competition is much higher in this tournament. Plus, Isner had an outstanding summer last year (Atlanta title, Washington final, Cincinnati final, US Open 3rd round). Is he in the same form this year?
 
Marius_Hancu said:
Well, for Raonic to do it, he needs to go through Isner and Dimitrov.
Click to expand...

Not Dimitrov.

Marius_Hancu said:
0710-maria-sharapova-splash-8.jpg

http://www.tmz.com/2014/07/10/maria-sharapova-bikini-grigor-dimitrov-mexico-photos/?adid=hero5
Click to expand...

More together time available:

---
Washington (AFP) - Ninth-ranked Grigor Dimitrov, coming off a Wimbledon semi-final run, pulled out of next week's ATP Washington Open after doctors diagnosed him with the flu and a sinus infection.

Dimitrov, linked romantically with WTA superstar Maria Sharapova, had been seeded third in the $1.9 million ATP and WTA hardcourt event behind world number five Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and sixth-ranked Canadian Milos Raonic.
---
 
Looks to be a good draw. Too bad Grigor is out. Isner could do well, but the DC draw has a whole different level of talent. It will be fun too see if Kei is healthy and playing well.
 
Last edited:
Down_the_line said:
He's got some points to defend, as he made the final last year, losing to del Potro. It would be remarkable if he was actually able to better that and take the title. I don't see it though. The competition is much higher in this tournament. Plus, Isner had an outstanding summer last year (Atlanta title, Washington final, Cincinnati final, US Open 3rd round). Is he in the same form this year?
Click to expand...

He's doing better this year to start than he did last year. He has better performances at both Wimbledon and Roland Garros. Granted, he did lay an egg against Jack Sock at Newport, though.

Isner beat Berdych last year in DC.
Isner is 2-0 against Raonic.
Isner has never played Nishikori.

On this surface, in this venue, the only guy in the draw who I think can potentially trouble an in-form Isner is Feliciano Lopez. That guy is a return machine. But the rest of the guys in the draw... I'm just not seeing it.

I know Dimitrov is out, but I can't see Dimitrov dealing with Isner here, either.

I think it's Isner's to lose.
 
Julien Benneteau is now the #17 seed and took Dimitrov's place in the draw. The lucky loser who gets Benneteau's old spot in the draw (vs. Dudi Sela) is still to be decided, it seems.
 
Heads up for Canadians:

The Citi Open is on Sportsnet One for the next 5 and a half hours (4PM-10PM EST, 1PM-7PM PST). Ginepri-Falla on now.
 
Rob_C said:
Anyone that has the Tennis Channel, can u tell me which match(es) is being televised right now.
Click to expand...

If they want to hype a soap opera then the cameras need to be on the Young/Sugita match...going to a third.

They ought to cover the Rampras/Donaldson match...it's deep in the third.
 
stringertom said:
If they want to hype a soap opera then the cameras need to be on the Young/Sugita match...going to a third.

They ought to cover the Rampras/Donaldson match...it's deep in the third.
Click to expand...

That's exactly why I asked. Was hoping to be able to catch a replay of either or both of those matches when I get home from work.

On another note, not sure why Tomic got scheduled on Stadium while DY and Donaldson were on Grandstand. Yet, they put Tiafoe on Stadium. I know he's from DC but the other two are more accomplished.
 
Rob_C said:
That's exactly why I asked. Was hoping to be able to catch a replay of either or both of those matches when I get home from work.

On another note, not sure why Tomic got scheduled on Stadium while DY and Donaldson were on Grandstand. Yet, they put Tiafoe on Stadium. I know he's from DC but the other two are more accomplished.
Click to expand...

They're doing the same thing @Stanford with Cardinal grad WC Kristie Ahn on Stadium court as the featured night match vs Vandeweghe.
 
norbac said:
This is the most impressed I have ever been in my life. I think he will overtake Youzhny soon.
Click to expand...
Donskoy does look really good. Beautiful strokes.

tipsa...don'tlikehim! said:
The american guy is 16 ! wow he plays not bad
Click to expand...
Annacone and Gimelstob on the US feed are ripping his serve motion to shreds. I have to agree with them. For a guy who's so athletic it's jarring - and looks like it will limit him - or worse lead to arm issues.

His BH looks better than most of the current American men. He can even hit a respectable 1H slice BH.
 
West Coast Ace said:
Annacone and Gimelstob on the US feed are ripping his serve motion to shreds. I have to agree with them. For a guy who's so athletic it's jarring - and looks like it will limit him - or worse lead to arm issues.

His BH looks better than most of the current American men. He can even hit a respectable 1H slice BH.
Click to expand...

Honestly, the service motion is hideous! That bent left arm and super-high right elbow are absolutely cringe-worthy. How did the coaches at College Park let him hit serves like that!? The BH is probably his best shot right now. The FH is big, but prone to mishits and UFEs. It will be interesting to see how he develops. Seems like a very athletic and talented guy, but the technique is kinda dubious. Hope he fixes it up and doesn't let it hinder him in the future.
 
TeamOB said:
Honestly, the service motion is hideous! That bent left arm and super-high right elbow are absolutely cringe-worthy. How did the coaches at College Park let him hit serves like that!? The BH is probably his best shot right now. The FH is big, but prone to mishits and UFEs. It will be interesting to see how he develops. Seems like a very athletic and talented guy, but the technique is kinda dubious. Hope he fixes it up and doesn't let it hinder him in the future.
Click to expand...

I think its a case of early success leading to acceptance of 'his game', technically flawed or not.

There's a clip on MTF of him hitting a cpl yrs ago. He used to hit forehands without his left hand touching the racket during the preparation or the backswing. The coaches, or someone, should have at least addressed that flaw.

Edit: During the replay on Tennis Channel, the commentators said he and his coaches spent 8 months on reworking his forehand.

Here's a clip of his old forehand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3-wVLlmLCQ&list=PL976CC6F061A8C284&index=1
 
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Still, not bad for a premiere ATP match at age 16. Lots of time to work on the junk in the serve (6 DFs!) but he's got much of the rest of his game in order. Decent stats on the return game (55% points won on 2nd balls).

I'm also impressed with Donaldson...could have won tonight.
 
Today's results - 1st round (July 28/14)

Robby Ginepri[Q] def. Alejandro Falla 6-4 6-2
Rajeev Ram[Q] def. Jared Donaldson[Q] 6-7(1) 6-4 7-5
Lukas Lacko def. Filip Peliwo[WC] 7-5 6-3
Tim Smyczek def. Alex Kuznetsov[Q] 6-3 6-0
Evgeny Donskoy def. Francis Tiafoe[WC] 6-4 6-4
Malek Jaziri def. Sergiy Stakhovsky 7-6(2) 6-4
Bernard Tomic def. Alejandro Gonzalez 6-3 6-2
Donald Young def. Yuichi Sugita[Q] 6-4 4-6 6-4
Benoit Paire def. Frank Dancevic 6-4 6-0
Marinko Matosevic def. Illya Marchenko[Q] 6-4 7-5
 
West Coast Ace said:
Donskoy does look really good. Beautiful strokes.

Annacone and Gimelstob on the US feed are ripping his serve motion to shreds. I have to agree with them. For a guy who's so athletic it's jarring - and looks like it will limit him - or worse lead to arm issues.

His BH looks better than most of the current American men. He can even hit a respectable 1H slice BH.
Click to expand...

TeamOB said:
Honestly, the service motion is hideous! That bent left arm and super-high right elbow are absolutely cringe-worthy. How did the coaches at College Park let him hit serves like that!? The BH is probably his best shot right now. The FH is big, but prone to mishits and UFEs. It will be interesting to see how he develops. Seems like a very athletic and talented guy, but the technique is kinda dubious. Hope he fixes it up and doesn't let it hinder him in the future.
Click to expand...


Tiafoe needs to switch to a higher ball toss so he can use his legs more.

Aside from that, I'm impressed with his power and poise.
 
Tomic loses to Istomin 4-6 6-7(6).

I really don't know what people see in this guy. He's crafty and he's got talent, that much is clear, but he won't get anywhere near the top with that nonchalant game of his.
 
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