predictions of who will make QFs for men's singles and dubs?

[jcgatennismom]

With the crazy rankings this year, there should be more upsets. Who will still be around Wed? What US player has best chance at US Open WC? Do you think any of the players who were on SF teams will have the stamina to win 6 singles matches to win the championship?

So far only one top 8 seed fell-#7 Monday, freshman from Tenn but several seeds had tough 1st rounds:
#1 Liam Draxl was down 5-6 in 3rd vs McNally who had a matchpoint, and then McNally was up in TB before Draxl prevailed
#4Vacherot was down a set and 2-5 before recovering to beat AZ freshmen Gustaf Strom in 3 setter
#6 Riffice had a close 3 setter with Ponwith
#8 DeCamps of UCF had a close 3 setter with Braswell of Texas

The two seeds that breezed through their opener were #5 Vale 1, 0 vs VA freshman Van Schulenberg and #3 Hady Habib (2,1) vs Tulane opponent

 

[bobleenov1963]

Stupid USTA national campus not making the bench overhead cover so that players can stay cool during the break between games and change over, like what the AO did. It is freaking 89 degree hot in Orlando, and one of the coaches from USD is using the umbrella to help his player to stay cool during the change over. An absolute disgrace by both the NCAA and USTA.

 

[jcgatennismom]

Stupid USTA national campus not making the bench overhead cover so that players can stay cool during the break between games and change over, like what the AO did. It is freaking 89 degree hot in Orlando, and one of the coaches from USD is using the umbrella to help his player to stay cool during the change over. An absolute disgrace by both the NCAA and USTA.

Did your son ever play high level junior tennis tourneys in the summer? You are complaining about college students who play no ads. I remember summers when my son played a week in Macon followed by a week in Mobile-one June he played 20 matches in a month between two long junior tourneys and 2 men's opens and all were in full sun. (It was his choice to try to fit in men's opens around the jr events). Do you think all the places where guys play Futures have covered benches? Usually Futures/Future Qualis are one match per day, but if there is a rain delay, TDs might schedule the last 2 rd of Qualis on the same day-imagine playing a 3 hour 3 setter when it is 96 degrees outside, 105 absolute temp on court with only a 2 hour break before the next match.

Yes, Orlando is tough in these conditions but the players will be prepared for the few summer Futures. Think about the 16s/18s kids who play National Clays in Boca-that's an 8 day long tourney in hot and humid Florida in July for the kids who last to the end

If players are going to play summer jr, college, or pro tourneys, they have to be fit, know how to hydrate, add in those electrolytes, pace themselves. My son played a 3 1/2 hour 3 setter at age 11 in GA in July. Tennis is not for wimps.

 

[silentkman]

Stupid USTA national campus not making the bench overhead cover so that players can stay cool during the break between games and change over, like what the AO did. It is freaking 89 degree hot in Orlando, and one of the coaches from USD is using the umbrella to help his player to stay cool during the change over. An absolute disgrace by both the NCAA and USTA.

how exactly is this the fault of the USTA? we all know they have a ton of rules.

 

[silentkman]

Did your son ever play high level junior tennis tourneys in the summer? You are complaining about college students who play no ads. I remember summers when my son played a week in Macon followed by a week in Mobile-one June he played 20 matches in a month between two long junior tourneys and 2 men's opens and all were in full sun. (It was his choice to try to fit in men's opens around the jr events). Do you think all the places where guys play Futures have covered benches? Usually Futures/Future Qualis are one match per day, but if there is a rain delay, TDs might schedule the last 2 rd of Qualis on the same day-imagine playing a 3 hour 3 setter when it is 96 degrees outside, 105 absolute temp on court with only a 2 hour break before the next match.

Yes, Orlando is tough in these conditions but the players will be prepared for the few summer Futures. Think about the 16s/18s kids who play National Clays in Boca-that's an 8 day long tourney in hot and humid Florida in July for the kids who last to the end

If players are going to play summer jr, college, or pro tourneys, they have to be fit, know how to hydrate, add in those electrolytes, pace themselves. My son played a 3 1/2 hour 3 setter at age 11 in GA in July. Tennis is not for wimps.

Preach!!!

 

[silentkman]

Did your son ever play high level junior tennis tourneys in the summer? You are complaining about college students who play no ads. I remember summers when my son played a week in Macon followed by a week in Mobile-one June he played 20 matches in a month between two long junior tourneys and 2 men's opens and all were in full sun. (It was his choice to try to fit in men's opens around the jr events). Do you think all the places where guys play Futures have covered benches? Usually Futures/Future Qualis are one match per day, but if there is a rain delay, TDs might schedule the last 2 rd of Qualis on the same day-imagine playing a 3 hour 3 setter when it is 96 degrees outside, 105 absolute temp on court with only a 2 hour break before the next match.

Yes, Orlando is tough in these conditions but the players will be prepared for the few summer Futures. Think about the 16s/18s kids who play National Clays in Boca-that's an 8 day long tourney in hot and humid Florida in July for the kids who last to the end

If players are going to play summer jr, college, or pro tourneys, they have to be fit, know how to hydrate, add in those electrolytes, pace themselves. My son played a 3 1/2 hour 3 setter at age 11 in GA in July. Tennis is not for wimps.

Do college players cool down after a match? from what I've seen at the D3 level, the answer is no. do they make an effort to maintain their body after the match is over?

 

[bobleenov1963]

Did your son ever play high level junior tennis tourneys in the summer? You are complaining about college students who play no ads. I remember summers when my son played a week in Macon followed by a week in Mobile-one June he played 20 matches in a month between two long junior tourneys and 2 men's opens and all were in full sun. (It was his choice to try to fit in men's opens around the jr events). Do you think all the places where guys play Futures have covered benches? Usually Futures/Future Qualis are one match per day, but if there is a rain delay, TDs might schedule the last 2 rd of Qualis on the same day-imagine playing a 3 hour 3 setter when it is 96 degrees outside, 105 absolute temp on court with only a 2 hour break before the next match.

Yes, Orlando is tough in these conditions but the players will be prepared for the few summer Futures. Think about the 16s/18s kids who play National Clays in Boca-that's an 8 day long tourney in hot and humid Florida in July for the kids who last to the end

If players are going to play summer jr, college, or pro tourneys, they have to be fit, know how to hydrate, add in those electrolytes, pace themselves. My son played a 3 1/2 hour 3 setter at age 11 in GA in July. Tennis is not for wimps.

@jcgatennismom: Since you mentioned that tennis is not for wimps, please explain why they have this at the AO Open:

I guess all ATP/WTA players, by your definition, are wimps too.

This is USTA national center. The least it could do is to make college tennis players, which are competing at the elite level, more comfortable like this. It doesn't cost that much money to begin with. The NCAA should at least demand something like this during the NCAA tournament.

 

[andfor]

@jcgatennismom: Since you mentioned that tennis is not for wimps, please explain why they have this at the AO Open:

I guess all ATP/WTA players, by your definition, are wimps too.

This is USTA national center. The least it could do is to make college tennis players, which are competing at the elite level, more comfortable like this. It doesn't cost that much money to begin with. The NCAA should at least demand something like this during the NCAA tournament.

Those are for the pros in a revenue generating event and tour. To your point, you would think with all the money the USTA has they would be able to have some type of cabaña covering for the players seating area for change overs. That said, has any NCAA venue provided covered player seating? Are the coaches demanding it?

It will not change until the coaches demand it, then someone has to come up with the money to make it happen. Remember this event often moves to another venue year over year and I know this is year two for Orlando to host. All this plus I can't recall a player having a heat illness that was medically debilitating (standard heat/loss of conditioning default is not what I'm talking about) ever in the NCAA's. The NCAA tennis players are in elite physical condition by and large.

 

[bobleenov1963]

Those are for the pros in a revenue generating event and tour. To your point, you would think with all the money the USTA has they would be able to have some type of cabaña covering for the players seating area for change overs. That said, has any NCAA venue provided covered player seating? Are the coaches demanding it?

It will not change until the coaches demand it, then someone has to come up with the money to make it happen. Remember this event often moves to another venue year over year and I know this is year two for Orlando to host. All this plus I can't recall a player having a heat illness that was medically debilitating (standard heat/loss of conditioning default is not what I'm talking about) ever in the NCAA's. The NCAA tennis players are in elite physical condition by and large.

I watched the match between Vale (UF) and Holmgren (USD) and during the break the USD coach had to use the umbrella to keep Holmgren cool for a few minutes. To me, that's just not cool. I even saw another coach did the same thing on the next court for his double players. Totally unacceptable, IMHO.

Even my son's private high school has cabana covering for the players seating area for change overs. Tennis season is in Spring season here so it is not as hot like Orlando in late May and early Jun.

 

[silentkman]

I watched the match between Vale (UF) and Holmgren (USD) and during the break the USD coach had to use the umbrella to keep Holmgren cool for a few minutes. To me, that's just not cool. I even saw another coach did the same thing on the next court for his double players. Totally unacceptable, IMHO.

Even my son's private high school has cabana covering for the players seating area for change overs. Tennis season is in Spring season here so it is not as hot like Orlando in late May and early Jun.

of course

 

[CincyIllinifan]

Still have two Illini alive in the singles - nice wins by Kova (against Spizzirri), and Montsi (Finn Reynolds). Not sure how far they’ll advance - tough draw for both of them.

 

[jcgatennismom]

Still have two Illini alive in the singles - nice wins by Kova (against Spizzirri), and Montsi (Finn Reynolds). Not sure how far they’ll advance - tough draw for both of them.

Glad to see there is still some reps for the Big10 left. Zeke played his heart out yesterday but it wasn't enough.

I watched part of Kovacevic's match yesterday. He was hitting a ton of aces in the first set; I saw on the stats for 1st set that he didnt drop a single service point in the set. Too bad he has to play Galarneau, another guy with Challenger wins, today. Both Kova and Galaneau breezed through their 1st two rounds. I thought Blumberg looked good yesterday too; he has defeated two talented players fairly easily so far-Kingsley and Habib. I think Blumberg will win his quarter. The bottom right quarter of the bracket is the toughest with Cukierman, Galarneau, Kovacevic, and Rodriguez of SC-ironically those 4 are the top 4 collegians playing in NCAAs per UTR, and unfortunately only one will make SFs. All are UTR 13.8+.

Besides Kova and Blumberg, Riffice is the only US player left in singles. He has dropped the 1st set in his early matches. After the late night FL team matches, I dont know if he will have the energy to battle Vacherot or Hijikata to win his quarter if he gets through Montsi today. Blumberg has the best chance of the US players to win NCAAs and earn the WC. However, if Kova can outace his opponents in his quarter, he has a chance too.

I will say that I am surprised by the long rallies in both the men's team and singles matches. What happened to serve +1 or winning the 4 ball or less rally? Are players concerned their ace serves will be called out? Reasonable take but I think the guys with Challenger wins have better serves, win the point with shorter rallies, and have the best chance to have energy left for SF and finals.

 

[bobleenov1963]

The TC announcers/commentators have said that none of these college players have yet developed a strong serve to win free points, get themselves out of a jam, and finish the game quickly.

 

[bobleenov1963]

Watching the match between Galarneau and Kovacevic and the coaches are holding umbrellas for the players. I guess these players are wimps

 

[Wild Card]

Cukiermans coach is following him around the court between every point...... Riffice or Blumberg to win

 

[mikej]

Cukiermans coach is following him around the court between every point...... Riffice or Blumberg to win

Riffice seems to have decided he’s all in over his last four sets (2,0,2,0) and if he’s all in it’s going to take a monumental effort to break him down in this kind of heat - guaranteed he wants it even hotter

going to take a big serve and forehand to get through him - Vacherot a possibility

 

[jcgatennismom]

Watching the match between Galarneau and Kovacevic and the coaches are holding umbrellas for the players. I guess these players are wimps

When I said tennis isnt for wimps, I meant it isn't for whiners-it's for hardworking realists-not people who expect ITA, USTA, ITF to fix every situation for them. A lot of situations this year weren't fair to all teams-rankings, unequal fall play, etc. Players and coaches made their appeals to ITA/NCAA, but when they didnt get the seeding or selection they had hoped for, they performed the best they could in the situation they were given. At least in college, players have coaches, trainers, and nutritionists-for those on the pro circuit, they are on their own.

As far as the heat, that's smart for coaches to bring out umbrellas for their players over changeovers. It is unrealistic to expect NCAA to erect covered for benches for an event held for 2 weeks in Orlando every other year or so. I would not be surprised if USTA is charging them a lot for use of courts. I once asked a college coach why more teams didnt travel to Orlando to play spring break matches at Lake Nona and was told the court expense was unreasonable. Now maybe USTA is doing one of its few good deeds a year, and allowing use of the courts for free or low cost but USTA usually does not do anything unless it makes them $.

From your prior posts, you live in the elite world of DMV, sending your son to an expensive music college, hiring top 200 pros to hit with him before he dropped tennis to write music and play the guitar. In the real world, there are some D1 players who buy their own racquets and strings, and players who ride up to 8 hours in cramped vans to play matches. Some teams dont have their own courts, and coaches have to work out court time with local clubs. The coaches and players do it because they love the sport. Tennis has never been fair-there are players who come from JUCOs due to limited finances, need to improve English, or subpar academics yet transfer later to D1 and play well. Conversely, we knew of one kid with tennis courts of 3 different surfaces at his home with his own hyberbaric oxygen chamber. We knew of a girl who flew with her parents to mostly grade 5 ITFs around the world-42 different countries-couldnt go deep in the ones in the US. She joined a Power 5 Cali team, and over the 2 years on the team, she only played 5 matches and only won one.

Read the Coddling of the American Mind-remember what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. There are no snowflakes playing tennis this week on the courts at Lake Nona.

 

[jcgatennismom]

Riffice seems to have decided he’s all in over his last four sets (2,0,2,0) and if he’s all in it’s going to take a monumental effort to break him down in this kind of heat - guaranteed he wants it even hotter

going to take a big serve and forehand to get through him - Vacherot a possibility

Riffice looked a lot better today-took care of business quickly. Hopefully after the short singles match, he will be ready to battle Vacherot tomorrow. Great job for all 3 Americans who made it to R16 to win again today to reach QFs.

 

[silentkman]

When I said tennis isnt for wimps, I meant it isn't for whiners-it's for hardworking realists-not people who expect ITA, USTA, ITF to fix every situation for them. A lot of situations this year weren't fair to all teams-rankings, unequal fall play, etc. Players and coaches made their appeals to ITA/NCAA, but when they didnt get the seeding or selection they had hoped for, they performed the best they could in the situation they were given. At least in college, players have coaches, trainers, and nutritionists-for those on the pro circuit, they are on their own.

As far as the heat, that's smart for coaches to bring out umbrellas for their players over changeovers. It is unrealistic to expect NCAA to erect covered for benches for an event held for 2 weeks in Orlando every other year or so. I would not be surprised if USTA is charging them a lot for use of courts. I once asked a college coach why more teams didnt travel to Orlando to play spring break matches at Lake Nona and was told the court expense was unreasonable. Now maybe USTA is doing one of its few good deeds a year, and allowing use of the courts for free or low cost but USTA usually does not do anything unless it makes them $.

From your prior posts, you live in the elite world of DMV, sending your son to an expensive music college, hiring top 200 pros to hit with him before he dropped tennis to write music and play the guitar. In the real world, there are some D1 players who buy their own racquets and strings, and players who ride up to 8 hours in cramped vans to play matches. Some teams dont have their own courts, and coaches have to work out court time with local clubs. The coaches and players do it because they love the sport. Tennis has never been fair-there are players who come from JUCOs due to limited finances, need to improve English, or subpar academics yet transfer later to D1 and play well. Conversely, we knew of one kid with tennis courts of 3 different surfaces at his home with his own hyberbaric oxygen chamber. We knew of a girl who flew with her parents to mostly grade 5 ITFs around the world-42 different countries-couldnt go deep in the ones in the US. She joined a Power 5 Cali team, and over the 2 years on the team, she only played 5 matches and only won one.

Read the Coddling of the American Mind-remember what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. There are no snowflakes playing tennis this week on the courts at Lake Nona.

I think WSJ did a piece about the kid with the three different surfaces. i do know from talking to coaches that the perception is that the Americans don't work as hard as foreigners. for your reading enjoyment.

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ch...d1/2020-21D1XTE_ParticipantManual-Orlando.pdf

 

[JLyon]

I think WSJ did a piece about the kid with the three different surfaces. i do know from talking to coaches that the perception is that the Americans don't work as hard as foreigners. for your reading enjoyment.

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ch...d1/2020-21D1XTE_ParticipantManual-Orlando.pdf

interesting, 400 miles in a van is quite the haul, of at least 6-8 hrs. The MM's have butts of iron taking these long rides.

 

[JAJ]

Blumberg is wasting very little energy, relatively speaking. I’d rather be him than Draxl, who has played 3 very physical matches and has a South American waiting for him.

 

[silentkman]

interesting, 400 miles in a van is quite the haul, of at least 6-8 hrs. The MM's have butts of iron taking these long rides.

yep, I noticed that too. In addition, the women and men are using the same balls. i thought on the tour, the men used extra duty and the women used regular.

 

[jcgatennismom]

@silentkman @JLyon
The NCAAs reimburse for travel so coaches arrange for comfy charter buses with driver for the trip. Now for in season matches, the long van trips can be rough esp for tall freshmen who get the worst seats...seating usually by seniority regardless of line played. This year with COVID, most teams had to take 2 vans so players got to spread out. I heard (at least in early rounds) the only souvenir for going to NCAAs players received was a bag tag. If they wanted a hat or Tshirt that said NCAA 2021, they or their coach had to buy.

Usually only 8 players get to travel, but I think the whole team can travel for NCAAs. A few years back I went to an early round NCAAs, and a team with a large roster of 12-15 had all the guys there with plenty of bench guys cheering on the guys playing.

 

[jcgatennismom]

I think WSJ did a piece about the kid with the three different surfaces. i do know from talking to coaches that the perception is that the Americans don't work as hard as foreigners. for your reading enjoyment.

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ch...d1/2020-21D1XTE_ParticipantManual-Orlando.pdf

The kid with the 3 courts is now on the roster for one of top 16 teams-for duals only got to play 4 dubs matches as a freshman. College is a great equalizer. It gives the late bloomers a chance to catch up. At the NCAAs the best performers have been a mix of all ages-from freshmen to 5th year senior.

It is interesting to me that many top foreigners train in US-in FL, Cali, Smith Stearns in Hilton Head, etc. Cleeve Harper of Canada who clinched Texas' win over USC trained at Smith Stearns. Too bad more of Stan Smith's developmental magic didnt carry over to his son Ramsey at Duke. Anyway being a "no excuses" person, to those who say there are too many internationals in US college tennis, try to find tourneys in the US where your kid can play some of those guys before he/she goes to college. Your kid might get to play players from six continents without a passport.

 

[bobleenov1963]

When I said tennis isnt for wimps, I meant it isn't for whiners-it's for hardworking realists-not people who expect ITA, USTA, ITF to fix every situation for them. A lot of situations this year weren't fair to all teams-rankings, unequal fall play, etc. Players and coaches made their appeals to ITA/NCAA, but when they didnt get the seeding or selection they had hoped for, they performed the best they could in the situation they were given. At least in college, players have coaches, trainers, and nutritionists-for those on the pro circuit, they are on their own.

As far as the heat, that's smart for coaches to bring out umbrellas for their players over changeovers. It is unrealistic to expect NCAA to erect covered for benches for an event held for 2 weeks in Orlando every other year or so. I would not be surprised if USTA is charging them a lot for use of courts. I once asked a college coach why more teams didnt travel to Orlando to play spring break matches at Lake Nona and was told the court expense was unreasonable. Now maybe USTA is doing one of its few good deeds a year, and allowing use of the courts for free or low cost but USTA usually does not do anything unless it makes them $.

From your prior posts, you live in the elite world of DMV, sending your son to an expensive music college, hiring top 200 pros to hit with him before he dropped tennis to write music and play the guitar. In the real world, there are some D1 players who buy their own racquets and strings, and players who ride up to 8 hours in cramped vans to play matches. Some teams dont have their own courts, and coaches have to work out court time with local clubs. The coaches and players do it because they love the sport. Tennis has never been fair-there are players who come from JUCOs due to limited finances, need to improve English, or subpar academics yet transfer later to D1 and play well. Conversely, we knew of one kid with tennis courts of 3 different surfaces at his home with his own hyberbaric oxygen chamber. We knew of a girl who flew with her parents to mostly grade 5 ITFs around the world-42 different countries-couldnt go deep in the ones in the US. She joined a Power 5 Cali team, and over the 2 years on the team, she only played 5 matches and only won one.

Read the Coddling of the American Mind-remember what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. There are no snowflakes playing tennis this week on the courts at Lake Nona.

You know there are always two sides to every stories. For every girl that you mentioned above, there is Jessica Pegula. I don't know if you're aware but the DMV has A LOT of wealthy immigrants who come from nothing. It is not fair to call them "elite".

 

[silentkman]

You know there are always two sides to every stories. For every girl that you mentioned above, there is Jessica Pegula. I don't know if you're aware but the DMV has A LOT of wealthy immigrants who come from nothing. It is not fair to call them "elite".

Jessica did not play college tennis. However I agree with her point. You are constantly hitting everyone over the head with your wealth and how great you are. You remind me of the Mac Davis song, 'It hard to be humble". Tennis will always have that elitist tag attached to it. its ironic that you complain about the term elite.

 

[bobleenov1963]

Jessica did not play college tennis. However I agree with her point. You are constantly hitting everyone over the head with your wealth and how great you are. You remind me of the Mac Davis song, 'It hard to be humble". Tennis will always have that elitist tag attached to it. its ironic that you complain about the term elite.

You should read the post again. I just mentioned the bench overhead cover and @jcgatennismom started going off by saying tennis is not for wimps, calling me “elite”.

 

[JW89]

...

 

[mikej]

In other news...

very impressive stuff from the men’s semi finalists today - Riffice has dropped a bagel on each of his last three opponents

 

[Wild Card]

Cukiermans coach is following him around the court between every point...... Riffice or Blumberg to win

So Blumberg is out...... Riffice looking comfortable

NB - can’t fathom why someone needs to continuously tell people how wealthy they are on a tennis forum? I can’t imagine anyone on here cares. Only come on here to read about tennis

 

[jcgatennismom]

You should read the post again. I just mentioned the bench overhead cover and @jcgatennismom started going off by saying tennis is not for wimps, calling me “elite”.

No you did more than that-you called the NCAA a disgrace but players were grateful just to have the NCAAs held this year even if it was not perfect. Some seniors returned for a 5th year (probably those on large scholarships) just to have the opportunity to win their conference and go to NCAAs again. Some started a Masters or 2nd Bachelors degree they wont finish. After waiting 14 months for the NCAAs, just getting to play was the priority-regardless of the weather and sun. Players also complied with harsher Covid restrictions than regular students to ensure they could compete. Coaches and unis did fundraising to cover the 5th year for seniors as NCAA allowed for one year for teams to exceed their scholarship quota-that was an increase to athletic budgets in a year when ADs had to make cuts. It was mentioned on the TC NCAA broadcast that the Roy Williams, former UNC basketball coach, was a major donor for scholarships for UNC 5th year seniors. Now student athletes who lost the spring '20 can still get waivers for their 5th year, but coaches will have to choose between keeping seniors and adding freshmen for 21/22 and beyond. Fans, coaches, ADs, and players made sacrifices of time and $ to make this season happen-that's why your calling it a "disgrace" was so offensive. To you sports may seem much less important than career success, but to these athletes, these memories will last a lifetime. They will work many jobs over 40+ years but they only have 4-5 years to play college sports.

 

[Clemson_tennis]

In other news...

very impressive stuff from the men’s semi finalists today - Riffice has dropped a bagel on each of his last three opponents

bummer slate of quarterfinals. All routs

 

[mikej]

bummer slate of quarterfinals. All routs

but maybe predicts some good semis if those guys are all in great form

 

[JAJ]

I think scheduling all the quarters at high noon, in 105 heat index conditions, may partially explain all the second set blowouts. On the other hand, some of the guys with the most court time looked surprisingly good under those conditions. Riffice sure seems to have a second wind, and I was very impressed with Draxl's willingness to drag out points after what he's been through to get here.

 

[CincyIllinifan]

bummer slate of quarterfinals. All routs

Yeah, I know - disappointing. I thought the Rodrigues/Kova match would be a good one. Really surprised Kova went down so easily. I know Rodrigues is really good, I just thought it would be a lot better match.

 

[bobleenov1963]

Bob just leave this thread, you sound like a whiney little snowflake who looks for anything to be offended by.

I've been at the event this week and spoken to quite a few players, including players on my former team, and you've done more complaining about the cover and sun than any of them. SURPRISINGLY, they are more focused on winning rather than making excuses.

So kindly **** off and go enjoy whatever racquet club or country club you prefer to be pampered at.

You're such a clown. Schedule matches @12pm noon in >105 degrees heat index without proper equipment such as bench overhead cover to help players cool down during the change is a disgrace. That's not too much to ask. That's the reason why you're seeing so many blows out in the 2nd set. Vacharot shouldn't be losing 6-0 to Riffice in the 2nd set like that. You could see he was clearly struggling in the 2nd set due to the heat.

 

[mikej]

Lol, if guys like me can play USTA sectionals matches a few times a day at the same facility in the same summer heat, maybe it’s time for the college players who cannot handle it to try to match the fitness level of the ones who can (Riffice) - I’m all for it if they improve their changeover shade, that’d be lovely, but it’s also on the players to have some heat tolerance

 

[Sparlingo]

I think scheduling all the quarters at high noon, in 105 heat index conditions, may partially explain all the second set blowouts. On the other hand, some of the guys with the most court time looked surprisingly good under those conditions. Riffice sure seems to have a second wind, and I was very impressed with Draxl's willingness to drag out points after what he's been through to get here.

Should be a great match, the lone Canadian left in the draw versus the lone American left in the draw. It'll be the war of 1812 all over again, but without burning down the White House this time.

 

[bobleenov1963]

Should be a great match, the lone Canadian left in the draw versus the lone American left in the draw. It'll be the war of 1812 all over again, but without burning down the White House this time.

Riffice lives and trains in Florida so he is used to the FL heat. The match will start @2pm ET and the temperature will be around 92 degrees with 54% in humidity. If the match goes into a marathon with more than 15 shots between each point, the advantage goes to Riffice.

 

[Sparlingo]

Riffice lives and trains in Florida so he is used to the FL heat. The match will start @2pm ET and the temperature will be around 92 degrees with 54% in humidity. If the match goes into a marathon with more than 15 shots between each point, the advantage goes to Riffice.

Sounds like a big advantage. I thought that Draxl's opponent yesterday had run out of energy in the heat of the second set.

 

[mikej]

Yes being more fit than your opponent tends to be a big advantage in athletic competition, this isn’t a new discovery in 2021

 

[bobleenov1963]

Sounds like a big advantage. I thought that Draxl's opponent yesterday had run out of energy in the heat of the second set.

Riffice also trained at the USTA facility where the NCAA is taking place as a junior so another advantage to Riffice.

 

[mikej]

Riffice also trained at the USTA facility where the NCAA is taking place as a junior so another advantage to Riffice.

1) it’s a hard court with the same dimensions anywhere else - maybe you should watch the movie Hoosiers
2) I’m familiar with folks saying this, and it’s marginally true, but mostly not - the facility opened at the end of 2016, near the end of his junior career

 

[bobleenov1963]

1) it’s a hard court with the same dimensions anywhere else - maybe you should watch the movie Hoosiers
2) I’m familiar with folks saying this, and it’s marginally true, but mostly not - the facility opened at the end of 2016, near the end of his junior career

There is home court advantage in the NBA for a reason. The court is the same but the environment is not.

Not all players can handle FL weather in May and it has nothing to do with fitness. That's why the PGA does not have golf tournaments in Florida beyond the first week of May.

 

[mikej]

There is home court advantage in the NBA for a reason. The court is the same but the environment is not.

Not all players can handle FL weather in May and it has nothing to do with fitness. That's why the PGA does not have golf tournaments in Florida beyond the first week of May.

re: NBA - in the team event, sure, the hundreds of UF fans packing the stands are gone this week

re: it has nothing to do with fitness - lol

 

[Sparlingo]

Even the fittest people have trouble breathing in Florida conditions that are extremely hot and humid until they get acclimatised to it. The body makes adjustments. @bobleenov1963 is probably right that Riffice has an advantage. One thing though is that Draxl has a smaller body to drag around the court and hasn't seemed tiried so far.

 

[bobleenov1963]

Even the fittest people have trouble breathing in Florida conditions that are extremely hot and humid until they get acclimatised to it. The body makes adjustments. @bobleenov1963 is probably right that Riffice has an advantage. One thing though is that Draxl has a smaller body to drag around the court and hasn't seemed tiried so far.

Exactly. I once talked to Arantxa Rus when she was competing in the ITF tournament in Naples. Rus was a very "fit" athlete but she said that it took her four weeks to get used to the weather in Naples in the summer. You're only kidding yourself if you don't think Riffice does not have an advantage. Riffice attends UF in Gainesville (aka the swamp) and that place is just as hot and humid as Orlando. His body is already used the hot and humid environment.

 

[mikej]

Riffice attends UF in Gainesville (aka the swamp) and that place is just as hot and humid as Orlando. His body is already used the hot and humid environment.

where does Riffice go to school? That’s totally new information - I’d appreciate if you could inform me of more things I already know as a Gainesville resident and frequent poster about UF tennis

I’ve been clear in some prior posts that he wants it as hot as possible this week and that’ll give him an advantage - can go back and quote myself from days ago if needed

because training in these conditions has made him more fit and heat-tolerant than the competition

kind of like me complaining that I cannot climb Everest as easily as people who routinely train at high altitude - so it goes - you’re ready for what you train for

 

[mikej]

Riffice seems to have decided he’s all in over his last four sets (2,0,2,0) and if he’s all in it’s going to take a monumental effort to break him down in this kind of heat - guaranteed he wants it even hotter

going to take a big serve and forehand to get through him - Vacherot a possibility

My prior comments for reference - yes he’s trained in these conditions and yes he has an earned advantage

no it’s not unfair, and no it’s not up to the ITA to make it feel like Montreal so no one is too hot

 

[JAJ]

One can argue both sides of this and still be completely rational, but regardless of how much anybody trains in the heat, I think putting the NCAA tournament at Lake Nona in late May heavily favors certain teams over others. If you played half your regular season indoors and the balance of it under normal (non-Florida or Texas) spring conditions, it's a lot tougher for your team to show up in this kind of heat and not have it impact you and candidly, these past two weeks haven't really been that bad by Florida standards. I thought the 2019 conditions were far worse, in terms of the heat as well as those love bugs. But at this point, anyone still standing should be considered fully acclimatized. Now it's just a question of what they have left in the tank.