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 Rios still has some maturing to do
Posted: Saturday September 05, 1998 01:11 PM
Posted: Sat September 5, 1998 Click here to send a tennis question to Jon Wertheim. Slow day at the U.S. Open, so I though I'd answer some of your questions ...
Why is it that you are not able to differentiate between Marcelo Rios the
player and Marcelo Rios the person. It is interesting to note that you
never talk about him as a player, only at the personal level. This
actually tells us more about you than of Rios. Rios is No. 1 in the world and not because he does not know how to play. Be more objective, please. You sound a bit jealous.
Lots of folks angry at my dissing Marcelo. It's nothing personal, George and everyone else out there, I swear. Nor am I jealous. I just have a hard time digesting the fact that the top player in world has made it to the semifinals of a Grand Slam only once, routinely tanks matches (I'm sorry, but a 6-0 loss to 33-year-old journeyman Gianluca Pozzi is inexcusable), and displays little respect for the game, the tour or his opponents. Rios is obviously a wildly talented player; no one would argue that. He has pinpoint shots, perhaps the best feel of anyone on Tour, catlike quickness and an unbelievable serve for a guy who weighs 140 pounds. But the tennis world is still waiting for him to step up to the plate and display his gifts on a more consistent basis. Once he does so, and wins a big-ticket event, his critics will dissipate.
We have seen some good results from the 21-and-under crowd lately (Tommy Haas,
Nicolas Kiefer, Marat Safin, Leyton Hewitt). Who do you think has the most potential for the future?
Safin and Kiefer, in that order, are the best of the young guns. Haas, shouldered with the ridiculous tag of "the next Boris Becker," will be lucky to replicate the professional success of, say, Michael Stich. Hewitt is still young, but has hardly set the world on fire since winning an event in Australia nine months ago. Taylor Dent is the real deal, but he will need a few years to get in shape and develop more feel before he cracks the top10.
Does Steffi Graf's title in New Haven, in which she beat both Lindsay Davenport and Jana Novotna, your two U.S. Open finalists, make a difference in your prediction?
Not really. But thanks for the out. Beating Davenport and Novotna back-to-back is a mean feat and Graf has looked strong so far at the Open. Still, she's played so inconsistently this summer—dominating one match, losing to Magui Serna the next—that I can't see her going the distance here.
As a Russian myself, I'm interested in what has happened to Marat Safin.
He showed exceptional promise at the French Open, then seemed to
disappear. It seems a lot of people, including John McEnroe, believe the
18-year-old has the potential to be a tremendous player in the near future.
What do you think? Can he crack the top five, or is he like Mark
Phillipoussis—another big guy with powerful shots but little else?
Safin, who plays Thomas Muster next and then possibly Pete Sampras, will be a top-10 player by the end of next year. His fluid strokes and dignified power recall Sampras in his early days, and though Safin is a big kid, he moves like a gazelle. Unlike Philippoussis and maddeningly talented, maddeningly erratic countryman Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Safin plays intelligently and with a purpose. Unquestionably, he's one of the game's most encouraging prospects.
Whatever happened to the ATP Tour's experiment with coaching during match
play? What are your thoughts with regards to this experiment and to coaching during matches in general?
Coaches were allowed on the court during a recent tournament in Los Angeles, but, as I understand it, don't expect to see Brad Gilbert sitting courtside any time soon. Personally, I think coaching is a silly idea. First, one of tennis' unique assets is that the players are alone on the Court—no teammates, coaches or caddies to share blame and glory. I'd rather see players devise their own strategy and figure out for themselves how to exploit Novotna's backhand or Pat Rafter's weak second serve rather than rely on a hired gun. Also, if you polled college players about how much it helps to receive on-court coaching, most would say negligibly, if at all. My other critique is an economic one. The tour is already weighted so heavily in favor of the top players. In theory, only those at the top of the ladder will be able to afford a coach, which stacks the deck in their favor that much more.
Here's a ranking challenge for you. I've grown dismayed at the increased
reliance on the big serve by today's male players. If the service box was
shortened by six inches or so, what would the new top 10 men's rankings look
like? Happily, we would never hear the name "Philippoussis" again. Who
would be the veteran most likely to stage a comeback?
1) Sampras The change would obviously help smaller, craftier players like Michael Chang, Kiefer and Hicham Arazi. So, too, would it be a death knell for Goran Ivanisevic, Greg Rusedski and your man Philippoussis.
I used to be a big fan of Jacob Hlasek and Marc Rosset, the two famous Swiss players. Do you know what happened to them? I think Hlasek retired, but I'm not sure. The last I heard of Rosset he was winning the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics.
You almost received a horrible answer to your question the other night. Rosset had a seat reserved on Swissair Flight 111 that crashed over Nova Scotia. Fortunately, he decided to take a later flight. "I believe in destiny," he said Thursday, palpably shaken by the close call. Rosset, the Benoit Benjamin of tennis, lost his first match at the Open to Dominik Hrbaty. His record this year stands at 17-22. One of the tallest players in the game, the 6' 7" Rosset has a booming serve, but unfortunately he's always been about as mobile as a bridge abutment and has never been accused of being a tenacious player. His career, a mediocre one peppered with some modest successes, is coming to close. But I'm guessing that after Wednesday night, he has a different perspective on life.
What do you think are the chances for Jonas Bjorkman the U.S. Open? I would love to see a Pat Rafter-Bjorkman final this time around. I like Jonas's
versatility. Hurrah to the serve-(not the booming type!!!!)-and-volley
game.
Send your tennis questions to Jon Wertheim.
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