Gonzalez an up and coming pro?

[HandyAndy]

Im not sure myself but Gonzalez is turning out to be a bit of a player. Despite getting flogged by Roger in three sets the other night he didnt put up too bad a fight. Ok. Roger wasnt playing his best in the first set but atleast Gonzalez was going for his shots and not tourmented by the 'Final' and 'Roger' himself. Yes there would have been nerves but he seemed to keep them in his body and not let them effect the way he played.

Overall i think he just needs to improve on the backhand. Roger has such good strokes that slicing the majority of those backhands are going to set him up for winners. Also he needs to start thinking more about his game, play differently for different people.


What do you think? Will he become a quickly rising legend?

 

[morten]

nope, will float betweet 10 and 20 in the rankings.

 

[Sagittar]

not a will be legend of course, and he's not a bit of a player!! he's a very good one ..

 

[Gilgamesh]

Rising legend? The guy is already what 26, 27? How many more years does he have left and what qualifies a player as a legend? I say at least 7-8 GS. Not sure if Gonzalez will win that many if any with Federer dominating on hardcourts and grass and Nadal dominating on clay.

However, Gonzalez does inject some fresh air into the tour especially if he can continue his high level of play but seriously the finals was a foregone conclusion. The only real question was will Fed win without losing a set. Not to mention Gonzalez has lost how many matches against Fed in a row? Something like 9 or 10? Even the Andy match was a foregone conclusion IMO before it even started (forget that stupid exhibition match) despite the commentators trying to hype it up as a potential challenge.

The problem with "solving" Federer is that Federer himself is still improving (which is remarkable considering how good he already is).

But like I said Gonzalez injects some fresh air. His style is fun to watch and at his best he will give anybody in the world (other than Federer or Nadal on clay) a challenge.

 

[Borat]

Late bloomer at 26. I think he will crack the top 10 and possible top 5.

 

[jaykay]

Late bloomer at 26. I think he will crack the top 10 and possible top 5.

As per ATP projections, he is going to be #5 next week; so he is already in the top-5 (see http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news;_y...8ZNQ4v7YF?slug=ap-rankings&prov=ap&type=lgns).

Gonzo is a wonderful player and played superbly in the 1st set; its a pity that it just wasn't good enough to rattle Roger.

I might add that his post-match comments were hilarious... demonstrated grace in defeat with a wacky sense of humor to boot.

Like another poster mentioned, he is a breath of fresh air and will fight hard for the spots just below Federer.

I defly like Gonzo...

 

[tennis_hand]

hope he can maintain his ranking.

but i don't wanna see he is another Baghdatis. don't enter a final and show no more again in a whole year.

 

[jaykay]

hope he can maintain his ranking.

but i don't wanna see he is another Baghdatis. don't enter a final and show no more again in a whole year.

Actually, Gonzo has made a radical improvement in his performance and an associated jump in his rankings since the last few months. He was in THREE finals before this AO (he lost to Ljubicic in one of the finals and to Federer in the finals of the other 2 tourneys), so atleast for now, he doesn't appear to be a flash-in-the-pan like Baggy.

 

[FedFan_2007]

I predict Gonzo will get to #2 in the world before the year is done.

 

[jaykay]

I predict Gonzo will get to #2 in the world before the year is done.

Brave prediction... and I concur.

 

[Sagittar]

Brave prediction... and I concur.

i don't think so !!

 

[Duzza]

hope he can maintain his ranking.

but i don't wanna see he is another Baghdatis. don't enter a final and show no more again in a whole year.

wow you guys are so right. Baghdatis didn't do anything. Oh wait, semi final of Wimbledon? Won Bejing? Quarters of a masters that Nadal won? number 11 in the world? What a disappointment...

 

[FedFan_2007]

Baggy is entertaining for sure. We need more personalities like him. Loveable losers.

 

[J-man]

I think Gonzo is a very talented player. Some one who can crack winners between 90-100 MPH is very talented. He is a late bloomer. He is 26. If he keeps working with Larry I think lots will come from him. We can see already a new sense of feel from him. More variety. Not like what he used to be.

He is doing great ranking wise already in the Top 5. I'm not sure if he can keep it there. But he will be a force to be reckoned with in the Top 10.

But we must not forget what happened to Baghdatis. He got to the finals last year unexpected like Gonzo here. And then tampered off for a bit making a couple good results but nothing special. Until he made the semi's at Wimbledon. Then this AO losing to Monfils. The point is, that Baghdatis, one could say buckled under the pressure that he now faced from the tennis community and his home country. The same is going to happen to Gonzo. It will be a big test to see how he contends with it for the next couple of months before the start of the clay court season. Which is a whole different story

 

[splitstep]

If he keeps working with Larry I think lots will come from him. We can see already a new sense of feel from him. More variety. Not like what he used to be.

I agree. I think Gonzo has an uncommon forehand and court speed I didn't realize he had (maybe its the 10lbs they say he lost). But the variety in his shots has to be a product of working with Stepanki (sp?). I really like how he was working his slice backhand to set up points for his big groundstrokes in the semifinal. Losing to Federer the way he did wasn't reallly that bad; he still had an awesome two weeks and stayed with Federer up until the first set tiebreak.

Barring injury, I believe Gonzalez will be a regular in top 10 this year, if not top 5 player, especially if he continues to show the smart play he demonstrated in the Aussie Open.