21st Century Toecutters: The Rise of Oz Tennis!

[stringertom]

There's a renaissance of Aussie men's tennis and it goes deeper than the high-flying Kyrgios saga prominently displayed at Wimby. These guys are deep and coming out of the wood works, riding herd like the gang of bikers in Mad Max. For every Nick, there's a Thanasi, James and Luke. For every Max, there's a Ben, Jordan (Thompson/Kerr) and Sam.

Track your fave from Down Under here. Keep us posted!

I noticed Saville and Mitchell both won today @Granby Challenger but luck of the draw pits them against each other in R16. Mitchell upended #2 seed Jaziri to advance. Thanasi had the day off @Binghamton Challenger in singles but won his dubs (w. Kudla) today.

 

[Wynter]

Tomic just beat Falla and has set up a match with Pospisil, I'll be backing him to win that. Then I think he's straight back into the Top 100.

Meanwhile I think Thanassi should be given the Aus USO Wildcard.

 

[stringertom]

Tomic just beat Falla and has set up a match with Pospisil, I'll be backing him to win that. Then I think he's straight back into the Top 100.

Meanwhile I think Thanassi should be given the Aus USO Wildcard.

Is it with two "s"es. I had been spelling that way but the Binghamton draw sheet had it with a single "s"???

Good to see Bernie on the mend. That shellacking from Nieminen had me worried he was gonna stay down for a while. There's no denying the talent but here's a rut that needs some solid attitude to climb up to being competitive again.

 

[Supertegwyn]

It's Thanasi Kokkinakis. He's a solid talent who (apparently) regularly beats Kyrgios in practice, but his body still isn't quite up to the rigours of men's tennis. I can verify that next year when I start playing at their courts.

 

[Wynter]

My bad then guys.

I've heard that as well Supes, Nick says a lot of the guys beat him in practice, not sure if he's super humble or what.

He thinks Thanasi is better though, we'll find out in the next few years

 

[stringertom]

My bad then guys.

I've heard that as well Supes, Nick says a lot of the guys beat him in practice, not sure if he's super humble or what.

He thinks Thanasi is better though, we'll find out in the next few years

No worries, mate...just wanted to get it sstraight.

Learning curves are all different so we may see a lot of these guys converge, hopefully at the top, in the latter part of the decade.

On a hopefully not too prolonged a sad note, Mattie Ebden had to retire in today's match due to a wrist injury. Gives me shivers after all of JMDP's woes when the wrist is mentioned.

 

[Wynter]

No worries, mate...just wanted to get it sstraight.

Learning curves are all different so we may see a lot of these guys converge, hopefully at the top, in the latter part of the decade.

On a hopefully not too prolonged a sad note, Mattie Ebden had to retire in today's match due to a wrist injury. Gives me shivers after all of JMDP's woes when the wrist is mentioned.

I think theres another young guy, about 21, Alex Bolt I think, he's in the top 200 at the moment, haven't seen him play though, so no idea if he'll kick on.

Bad news about Ebden though :/

 

[stringertom]

I think theres another young guy, about 21, Alex Bolt I think, he's in the top 200 at the moment, haven't seen him play though, so no idea if he'll kick on.

Bad news about Ebden though :/

Bolt lost 3R qualifier @Wimby. He went to Poznan Challenger last week and lost 1R to Taro Daniel. Currently, he's #228.

 

[stringertom]

Thanasi wins in straights today and faces Stakhovsky in the QFs tomorrow @Binghamton Challenger. This will be a nice test to see how he's progressing.

 

[kiki]

Geez¡¡¡ no more WASP Australians?? a bunch of greco aussies or serboaussies? shouldn´t they review their inmigration policy? didn´t they have enough with Philippoussis and Djokic? I mean, what is next, an Indo aussie or Vietno aussie on the swimming pool or the cricket turf?

 

[stringertom]

Geez¡¡¡ no more WASP Australians?? a bunch of greco aussies or serboaussies? shouldn´t they review their inmigration policy? didn´t they have enough with Philippoussis and Djokic? I mean, what is next, an Indo aussie or Vietno aussie on the swimming pool or the cricket turf?

So the US should have dumped Sampras for having a first-generation Greek-American mother? Should Agassi have played for Iran because his dad boxed in the Olympics for Iran? This is sad!

 

[Supertegwyn]

Geez¡¡¡ no more WASP Australians?? a bunch of greco aussies or serboaussies? shouldn´t they review their inmigration policy? didn´t they have enough with Philippoussis and Djokic? I mean, what is next, an Indo aussie or Vietno aussie on the swimming pool or the cricket turf?

Immigrants are Australian too

 

[Wynter]

Immigrants are Australian too

Don't tell Tony that

 

[Supertegwyn]

Don't tell Tony that

For an immigrant himself he sure treats them as absolute ****.

 

[stringertom]

Thanasi went meekly vs veteran Staks. Despite a superior serving %age (62 vs 49), Kokki had zero breaks on three chances in the 3&2 loss. He won just 4 points on Stak's first delivery.

Room to grow, time to do it.

 

[Supertegwyn]

In the race: Hewitt at 35, Kyrgios at 39, Groth at 59, Tomic at 65 (an increase of 68 places), and Marinko at 67. Not bad at all!

 

[Wynter]

Hewitt at 35 is pretty amazing tbh.

 

[Oz_Rocket]

I think theres another young guy, about 21, Alex Bolt I think, he's in the top 200 at the moment, haven't seen him play though, so no idea if he'll kick on.

He's a leftie with a big serve and forehand. A relative late bloomer compared to some of our other young guns and probably doesn't have the raw talent of the Special Ks. But he's in the mix and will benefit from being around a high performing cadre of fellow Aussies.

 

[stringertom]

Thanasi granted a WC @Lexington Challenger, along with rising US youngster Jared Donaldson. They both plays Brits in 1R...Ward for Donaldson and Smethurst for Kokki.

 

[stringertom]

Ducky is sixth seed @Lexington and plays US WC Eric Quigley. Saville is also in the draw and plays a qualifier TBD today. A possible qualifier is Jordan Thompson. If Ducky and Saville advance, they play each other 2R.

 

[Wynter]

Thank for the update Stringer

 

[stringertom]

Thompson lost the qualie but could get in as LL...he was the highest seed to lose the final round.

Meanwhile, I omitted Matt Reid, who is leading #2 seed Polansky by a set. Ducky has also taken the first set.

 

[stringertom]

Ducky and Reid advance, both in three. Reid plays Chase Buchanan while Ducky awaits the winner of Saville and Jordan Thompson, who did get in as a LL.

Ben Mitchell is in the draw as a SE (due to his run at Granby). He plays Emilio Gomez, USC player and son of RG champion Andres Gomez. Looks just like his dad but is a righty.

 

[stringertom]

Mixed bag @Atlanta...Matosevic wins but Ebbie (injury not severe?) and qualifier JP Smith are out in straights.

 

[stringertom]

Ducky and Reid advance, both in three. Reid plays Chase Buchanan while Ducky awaits the winner of Saville and Jordan Thompson, who did get in as a LL.

Ben Mitchell is in the draw as a SE (due to his run at Granby). He plays Emilio Gomez, USC player and son of RG champion Andres Gomez. Looks just like his dad but is a righty.

Ben lost in three to Gomez but Kokki won easily today.

 

[stringertom]

Matt Reid up a set in 2R @Lexington. If he wins, he guarantees an Ozman in the SFs as he will play the Ducky/Thompson winner in the QFs. Kokki is also alive in that half...plays Copil tomorrow for a QF spot.

 

[Oz_Rocket]

Arggh, you cursed Matt Reid! He lost in 3

Also as of today we have 6 Aussie men in the top 100 for the first time since 2001. And with some of our up and coming players we might get some more.

Kudos to Craig Tiley and Tennis Australia for their work in nurturing junior talent. I can see some programs like our national Super 10s competition will help identify kids fairly early and allow them to tap into national level resources.

 

[stringertom]

Arggh, you cursed Matt Reid! He lost in 3

Also as of today we have 6 Aussie men in the top 100 for the first time since 2001. And with some of our up and coming players we might get some more.

Kudos to Craig Tiley and Tennis Australia for their work in nurturing junior talent. I can see some programs like our national Super 10s competition will help identify kids fairly early and allow them to tap into national level resources.

My bad...was getting excited about that guaranteed spot in the SFs but Ducky will have to earn it against Buchanan now. Should be a good match...this is a former boys finalist at USO (lost to Bernie) who went the college route.

 

[stringertom]

Thanasi advances with a three-set win vs Copil. Faces Bemelmans tomorrow night. Ducky goes on earlier vs Buchanan...first match @noon.

Matosevic advanced tonight vs Smyczek in straights @Atlanta and faces Isner @4pm tomorrow.

 

[Wynter]

Nice work Kokki!

Moves into the top 200 in the ATP Race. And he missed most of the Post RG and grasscourt season. Here's hoping he can make some waves there next year.

 

[westside]

First time in a long time where I've looked at the potential Davis Cup team and asked; "Who do we sit out?"

 

[Wynter]

First time in a long time where I've looked at the potential Davis Cup team and asked; "Who do we sit out?"

Play Lleyton and Bernard but take Nick and Kokki as the doubles team

Or Guccione and Groth

I don't think the special K's are there just yet. Matosevic I just don't like :-?

 

[westside]

Play Lleyton and Bernard but take Nick and Kokki as the doubles team

Or Guccione and Groth

I don't think the special K's are there just yet. Matosevic I just don't like :-?

Hard to overlook Groth considering his doubles results the past few months, but can you really go past Hewtt/Guccione?

We have options and i love it :twisted:

 

[stringertom]

Ducky through to the SFs with a straight set win vs Buchanan.

 

[stringertom]

Kokki gets through too in 2TBs despite horrific serving stats (43%, 11DFs). Guaranteed an Aussie finalist now with the Ducky/TK SF.

Matosevic lost in Atlanta.

 

[Wynter]

Nice, I might try and tune in amd watch that match.

I haven't seen much of Duckworth although I think he and Mitchell had a 5 setter at the AO a few years ago.

 

[Wynter]

Tomic has a chance of a good run in Washington

Gonzalez-Istomin then what is most likely Dimitrov. A match between those two would be interesting to see.

Meanwhile Hewitt is likely to face Matosevic and then Raonic. Thi is all if the draw stays true to form of course.

 

[stringertom]

Nice, I might try and tune in amd watch that match.

I haven't seen much of Duckworth although I think he and Mitchell had a 5 setter at the AO a few years ago.

8-6 in the fifth for Ducky @AO'13. Ducky has strong bloodlines...his grandmother is Beryl Penrose, who won the AO singles and dubs in 1955.

 

[tennisfan17]

Anyone know where kyrgios has been? With his new ranking I wonder why he hasn't entered in any of these main tour events :/ I could just be being really stupid right now though

 

[Wynter]

Anyone know where kyrgios has been? With his new ranking I wonder why he hasn't entered in any of these main tour events :/ I could just be being really stupid right now though

At home recuperating, he'll be here later on around USO time. He might go into a warm-up the week before or so. Or go into the Canada Masters, no idea. He hasn't left Aus yet though.

 

[tennisfan17]

At home recuperating, he'll be here later on around USO time. He might go into a warm-up the week before or so. Or go into the Canada Masters, no idea. He hasn't left Aus yet though.

Awesome! Thanks for the update

 

[Wynter]

On his website

"My next event will be the Toronto ATP 1000 event in early August and until then I will be working with my team in a training block in both Melbourne and Canberra."

 

[stringertom]

Ducky through to the finals with a straight set win vs Kokki. Break the shackles to Mother England by thumping the less-than-mighty Ward for a title!

 

[stringertom]

All 4 Aussies in Washington main draw are in the bottom half: Tomic vs Gonzalez, Ducky (WC) vs Johnson, Matosevic vs a qualifier to play Hewitt (bye) in 2R.

Groth plays Ginepri in 2R qualies today. Hope he gets in!

 

[Oz_Rocket]

And Ducky takes the Lexington title over Ward 6-3 6-4.

I can really sense that we've turned a corner with Australian tennis with everyone from older blokes like Matosevic to the wayward Tomic and our younger guns collectively achieving more than they otherwise would.

We're still along way off having top 10 regulars but it is better than the wasteland we've had for the best part of a decade.

 

[stringertom]

And Ducky takes the Lexington title over Ward 6-3 6-4.

I can really sense that we've turned a corner with Australian tennis with everyone from older blokes like Matosevic to the wayward Tomic and our younger guns collectively achieving more than they otherwise would.

We're still along way off having top 10 regulars but it is better than the wasteland we've had for the best part of a decade.

He'll get a much needed day of rest Monday...his 1R match in DC is probably Tuesday. Hope he can do some damage @ATP500 level.

 

[stringertom]

Groth lost the qualie match but should get in as LL due to Dimitrov's WD.

 

[stringertom]

Eminem wins in straights to set up a duel with Rusty. It's the first night match.

Groth did get the LL spot. Plays Sela tomorrow, a day with all 5 Aussies in action. Ducky plays Steve Johnson and Bernie faces Istomin.

 

[dominikk1985]

Geez¡¡¡ no more WASP Australians?? a bunch of greco aussies or serboaussies? shouldn´t they review their inmigration policy? didn´t they have enough with Philippoussis and Djokic? I mean, what is next, an Indo aussie or Vietno aussie on the swimming pool or the cricket turf?

WASP australians were british criminals anyway.

 

[stringertom]

WASP australians were british criminals anyway.

You should read "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes for an informative and entertaining account of the settlement. The author was the long-time art critic for "Time" magazine, born in Sydney. He died a couple of years ago.